Hello. I’m new here and have just completed my first week on LCHF and I have lost 3.7kg / 8.1 lbs I’ve been asked a few times how I’ve done it so I’ve posted an earlier response below, hope it helps. (this community is so friendly and helpful - thank you again)
Thank you. I honestly don’t know! I’m amazed. I think my body has reacted well to the lack of carbs (other than fresh veg). I thought I had been eating far too much cheese and mayonnaise (yum!) normally with egg. I track my food intake every day on a fitness app as I like to know the macronutrients. From this site I learned to have around 20g of carbs or less a day and 180grammes of fat. Some days were over but I mostly have an average of 30g of (gross) carbs each day. I think on this regime it’s the first time I’ve really trusted it. For example I was tempted to not eat all of the cheese or double cream but I put my faith in the daily allowance and I enjoyed it! Absolutely no wine choc fruit bread pasta rice. The first few days I drank gin and soda with cucumber and mint or whisky and soda rather than wine, which I use to love! I seem to like (my body told me so!) a fresh mint tea after supper. I have been snacking on cheese and cucumber slices. And I am loving garlic mushrooms cooked in garlic butter and cream. Who’d have thought it?!!
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help2020
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Sort of! Brunch. Some days I make it to 10.30/11am Thought I could have skipped lunch today but ate something. Last night I was in two minds to eat at all. Do you fast intentionally?
That's quite the start, well done. I stuck to around 45g carbs daily, so more than your amount and things went a little more slowly, but the science is sound.
I used cronometer. I weighed a lot of food, but you don't have to. They use USDA etc databases which are really good. So take cucumber, for example, it allows you to enter the weight in g or oz, or small, large (eg you could say 1/2 are large cucumber) or cup chopped or a cup sliced.
You can see your total carbs for the day, and tap on it to see what contributed to the number.
And you really don't have to do this for long. Your instincts develop very quickly. I was tied to the app when I was calorie counting, but I only go to it now when I see something I want to make, and input all the ingredients to see how many carbs per serve. Or when I am worried TheTabbyCat isn't getting enough protein 😂
Lol, that's sweet! I have no experience with fitbit or these other apps. Before, I calorie counted which I found fine, and as you say, soon became intuitive. Intuitive is good! I don't really want to pfaff too much with entering data etc. Anyway, I am definitely eating much better now, and that can only be a good thing!
One of the things worth understanding about low carb, is when you first go on it, your body sheds a lot of water. Your muscle glycogen (sugar) is used up, and the water that accompanied it is released. Your insulin level drops, and with it salt levels, which reduces blood plasma volume. It can also release intracellular fluid, aka oedema. This is all good, because this fluid is a strain on the joints and affects the appearance as much as fat. The drop in plasma can lower blood pressure. In fact, you often to to take to eat plenty of salt so don't have problems.
I did the maths to work out how you could lose 8.1lb of fat in a week. While calories in/calories out isn't useful weight loss advice, it is still true. 8.1lb represents about 28,000kcal, so that's about 4,000kcal deficit each day. You could achieve that by eating nothing for the entire week, and running for about 4 hours every day.
Absolutely fantastic!! Go you!! Thank you for telling us how you've done it. You've reminded me about mint tea too 🙂 keep going and you'll soon be at your target weight. Good luck for this week 🙂
To add to Hidden 's point about not overdoing it. I haven't been following an aggressive LCHF (eating up to 3 x 15mg carb portions daily, but have steadily lost 45kg over 46 weeks (7 stones). So around a kilo (2 pounds) per week.
I find that a steady approach is sustainable long-term. It also means that my skin has tightened gradually and so my belly has reduced to nearly flat without much wobbliness (if there is such a word).
Wow well done that’s amazing! Yep I just followed the plan.. my body decided to do the rest 😊 I had no specific rapid weight loss goal and I’m not counting calories, it just happened.. lets see what this week brings. I’m eating 185 g fat per day and 20-25g carbs. Thanks for your insight
Apologies I’ve just seen this so ignore my last question! You’ve done incredibly well! I’ll continue to follow the recommended plan and see how many body reacts
I started middle of may I think. I am following LCHF I’ve done a bit of fasting this past week so not having breakfast but having brunch. So I will start the day with a coffee with cream. Then have brunch about 11 ish then main meal around 5 or 6. I always have half a cucumber and a slice of cheese for the evening to nibble on as before this evening I would nibble on bad things. And I have apack of pork scratching in the evening too. I can’t do exercises cause I have so much pain. I’m hoping the weight loss will help my other conditions.🌸🌸
Amazing! I found that’s about where I’ve naturally fallen with the routine very early on —coffee and cream for breakfast brunch then main meal later the cucumber cheese on a night. Love pork scratchings! This is so reassuring!!
I'm no medic, but my understanding is that under extreme diets, the body stops 'feeding' parts of the body that aren't essential, so some side effects of such diets include:
* decreased energy
* brittle hair and nails
* hair loss
* extreme fatigue
* compromised immune system
* weakened bones and osteoporosis
Some people prefer to kick off a diet with a significant calorie reduction to get the weight moving, but typically only sustain that for a couple of weeks before easing off, and often with medical supervision.
Short answer: The weight-loss is great, but take care. 😄
Yes, I follow LCHF. I don't count carbs in everything. But I limit specific carb foods: Rice, bread, Pasta, Potato, beans/grains, to up to 3 x 15g portions daily.
That means my daily carbs are probably around 50g. More than double someone who goes ketogenic and frankly I've found the fairly reliable 1kg / 2lbs per week to be safe, healthy and not extreme.
The other biggie for me is avoiding any foods with >5g/100g sugar, no more than 1-2 fruit per day (and no juices). Meat/fish portions at meals of around 150g, the rest a pile of veggies. Aside of meals I can grab a snack or two daily (Greek yoghurt or a couple of cheese crackers).
The final piece is exercise. Initially walking, later running (Couch to 5k). Important to do exercise you like or it won't stick.
it reads like help2020 is eating to appetite. Advising her to eat more than her body is telling her she needs feels like bad advice.
We shouldn't overreact to one week of low carb. It's like she's shed more than 2 litres of water. If she keeps that up, we don't need to worry about her metabolism; she will have long before turned in jerky!
help2020 if you continue to lose weight at this rate for a few more weeks, that's the time to panic.
Yes. I really appreciate everyone’s advice. And you are correct, I am eating to appetite. Believe me, I’ve never not eaten when hungry which is how I ended up here, haha! I’m quite clued up and responsible (mostly!) but I understand some new members may not have the knowledge. Thanks again. Onwards and upwards or should I say, downwards! ( I bet you’ve not heard that before on here haha!!)
This is absolutely amazing. I've managed to remove most of the carbs from my food (except fruits and veggies), but I'll look to making proper meal menu after June to see how I can get this belly fat out once and for all. Well done again.
Thank you so much thisnewlife. For the first two weeks I’m omitting fruit and eating just kale, spinach, asparagus, limited tomatoes and green salad leaves but will increase intake and start eating raspberries after the first two weeks are done.
Can you help by telling me how you calculated your carb and fat intake , basically what do you eat, how do you portion it? You can also help with recipes as well. I have jost joined the lchf now and I'm kicking off right away cos I'm impressed with your result.
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Day 4 - I need to improve
Am I doing it wrong
Friday 
Egg Off entry no 2
