BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb What is an average weight loss?

I've been low carbing for 3 weeks and I've only lost 5 lbs :-(
I guess I expected a lot more weight loss. What would be a good average? BTW, I'm a grazer, I snack a lot on vegies, like celery, peppers, cheese, eggs and am wondering, maybe I'm just way over on my 20 grams, even with eating the right kinds of stuff?
Any ideas?

Well, a big part of it is - how much are you seeking to lose? If you're only seeking to lose 10 pounds, 5 pounds is a huge change!

Snacking is really good - you want to eat regularly to keep hunger levels low. Also drink a ton of water, and take vitamins. Vitamins are really critical to losing weight.

Here, do this. Write down what you eat all day tomorrow and post it here. We'll help out!

Sorry, was off for awhile. I'll do that on sunday and let you know monday, thanks.

I don't believe in the word diet. I call it change of life style. 6 years ago my husband and I were over weight, health problems starting to arise so we started eating healthily permanently. We have both got down to our desired weight and health problems disappear.

An average day's eating for us. Cereals in the morning, bowl of soup with a couple of slices of wholemeal bread for lunch and a normal meal in the evening. Fruit in the afternoon. No snacking in between meals and eat nothing after 6.00 p.m. After a while it becomes way of life. I admit it took a while to adjust as I always had cream biscuits and cakes in the house.

ToeTapping - the original meaning of "diet" was "how you eat". Like in "the diet of the Iriquois indians". Diet should always be about a way you eat - not about a temporary change. You can't be healthy with a temporary change <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

See you say "normal meal" but what would that be? For some people a "normal meal" is a quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, chocolate shake and a gallon of ice cream <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> That's why they keep gaining weight!

I have to say that "snacking in between" *should* happen. You should eat small, healthy snacks like celery sticks. If you starve yourself between noon and 6pm, that's not good for your body. Now eating SUGAR is bad - but eating HEALTHY snacks is very good.

it depends on each individual . Some has more or less weight to lose , depending on how much you want to lose in the 1st place that's.

so there's no fixed answer to your question I'm afraid.

I have lost 8 lbs in 2 months, but it's discouraging, but, I'm still hanging in there. I have about 20 to go to be at my ideal weight, and I know that my ideal weight is not what it was when I got married, before I had 5 kids, that would be ludicrous! Nice, but ridiculous. So anyway, Here's the rundown:
Saturday:
2 calcium chews (total of 6 grams)
1 vit - 0
3 tsp yogurt - 3 gr.
2 eggs
2 slices cheese
4 slices of bacon
6-8 oz piece of steak - on the grill YUM!
2 lg peppers, 1 lg tomato, 1 lg onion (shish-k-bobs, on grill yum yum!)
And I drank 2 bottles of crystal light and 5 bottles of water.
That's pretty much standard, with eggs, meat and cheese, and vegies. I don't do fruit yet. but when I can start adding carbs it will be fruit and more yogurt.

Sunday was pretty much the same except I had broccoli and carrots and chicken for dinner.

So... any ideas on what to change to lose more weight?

Thanks!

Terrye

Oh, about the yogurt... I get cold sores a lot and I heard an old wives tale about eating yogurt to keep them away, it works and I did the math. About 1 tsp of yogurt is about 1 gram.

oh another interesting (well, different anyway, from my norm) is that I don't have bowel movements anymore. What is that all about?? I think I eat enough vegies, both raw and cooked that that shouldn't be a problem.

OK first off if you are having NO bowel movements at all, I would go to see a doctor. That's not healthy. You are not taking in all liquids - you definitely should be having some. So I would contact them promptly to talk with someone. If anything, low carb should mean you eat a lot of fiber, meaning you have easier poops (i.e. less constipation). But even babies on breast milk have bowel movements.

On the diet, I don't think there's enough veggies or food in general in your list. You really have to have breakfast, lunch and dinner - plus healthy snacks in between. If your body thinks it is being starved, it will shut down metabolism to conserve energy. So you won't lose weight. Also, veggies are more nutritious and energy wise than eating just straight cheese all day, for example. A low carb diet assumes a balanced level of veggies and protein. If you eat 100% fat all day, you'll gain weight even though it's "low in carbs". I'm not saying you're eating 100% fat <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'm just saying there need to be more veggies in there, for several reasons.

Why not have a salad with lunch and dinner? Having a salad with those 2 meals can really help to fill you up, add great nutrition into your diet, and vitamins too. Add in broccoli, zucchini, celery. Low carb means we get most of our energy from fat - but you can eat too much fat, too, if you're not eating a balanced diet <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />