UPDATE: I’ve been eating strictly ketogenic foods all week, and started strength training again. Weight keeps increasing, pants keep tightening. No idea what’s going on here.
Alarming weight gain
halfasleepb
#22
I don’t know why this could be happening. Have your medications changed? Do you have a blood glucose monitor? Some monitoring might help you troubleshoot your eating pattern.
akirby83
(Adam Kirby)
#23
Hmm, my first thought would be meds of any kind. Or a weirder idea, could whatever that caused your hearing loss in December be causing some kind of metabolic issue? It looks like your upward trajectory has been happening since that time.
FowlTemptress
(Lee)
#24
Did you say that you don’t track your macros and calories? If not, I would start, just to see if the carbs are creeping up somewhere. I slacked off on tracking for a while and had a stall - when I started tracking again I realized I was eating much more dairy than I thought and not nearly enough protein.
Also, I know Fung says not to worry about calories, but that is absolutely not the case for everyone. As a short, middle-aged woman, I have to be very careful not to go over 1200 calories.
One more thought about dairy - if you eat a lot of it, cut it out for a couple of weeks and see what happens. I had to drastically reduce my dairy because of lactose intolerance. I don’t feel any discomfort when I eat it, but it still causes me internal inflammation and bloat.
I now use only two or three tablespoons a day total (including cheese) and it’s helped a lot. I think I would feel even better if I totally cut it out but I’m not there yet mentally.
gabe
(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” )
#25
I actually bought a BGM when I was stalled around 80kg, but never tried it because it seems so complicated… all that calibration etc, I just never got around to it!
I’m not on any medications at this moment.
gabe
(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” )
#26
Good advice. Maybe I should track macros and calories. But half the reason why LCHF was such an appealing lifestyle was precisely that it was ad libitum. So I don’t know what to make of this.
I’ve basically reduced my diet to meat, fish, and veg. I’ve eliminated milk (goodbye, half and half cappuccino!) and cream though I’ve allowed myself a bit of full fat cottage cheese until I run out in a few days. I’m planning to not buy ANY dairy at all after I’ve run out.
Still, it makes no damn sense why I’ve rapidly put on this amount of fat in the last couple of months. I’m baffled and troubled by it.
G
gabe
(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” )
#27
Quick update: my weight continues to increase. I’m now officially very worried. I’ve been working out consistently for 3 weeks now, serious strength training, interval training, and biking for some endurance training. My diet remains “lazy keto” ad libitum consumption of permitted foods; no real change since all of last year when my weight was stable.
Now seriously considering tracking calories and macros. Despite the fact that one of the reasons I got into LCHF was because of the appeal of ad libitum consumption and not worrying about bullshit like calorie counting.
EDIT: my pants and shirts don’t fit me, so yes the weight gain is, imho, almost entirely fat.
akirby83
(Adam Kirby)
#28
What is your current fasting insulin and cortisol? Without some biomarkers to reference you’re in the dark, and your guess that it’s calories to blame is blind speculation.
gabe
(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” )
#29
Way ahead of you. Just had everything tested this week, apart from cortisol, which I had tested a few months ago while I was stalled. My stress levels are, imho, unchanged.
There’s more but that oughta do it.
gabe
(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” )
#30
@akirby83 I should add that I was reading up on insulin yesterday, and chronic hyperinsulinemia comes with a bunch of symptoms that include, obv, weight gain, but also hearing issues like those which I’ve experienced.
What do you make of my fasting insulin level? I had one done that was borderline in October but it’s in Australian units, so I don’t know how to compare them.
akirby83
(Adam Kirby)
#31
Great, everything looks good. Insulin is not super low but it certainly doesn’t explain your weight gain. It is in a nice normal range not anywhere near pathological. Have you ever tried a carnivore experiment? Amber O’Hearn has recounted how keto worked for her at first but eventually she started gaining weight even on keto. Granted this was after a pregnancy or two so you two are in completely different hormonal ballparks. But IMO you should try a carnivore experiment.
Still though, I find it very interesting that your weight gain started right around the time of your unexplained hearing loss.
gabe
(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” )
#33
Thyroid is fine but perhaps this might be part of what’s causing the problem:
This is a test from December. Thoughts?
J_A-M
(Jay AM)
#34
I don’t see you mentioning what your fat intake is like. I disagree with others that tracking is necessary for any reason other than to recognize problems like carb creep, excess protein, too little fat. It’s necessary for people that are restricting calories mostly.
A couple things, you are exercising a lot at high intensity and I doubt your weight gain is fat. Second, since you only keep mentioning protein and not fat, I’m wondering if you’re needing to intake more fat and less protein. Especially if your protein sources are low in their own fat. It’s worth trying at this rate. But, it’s not worth stressing about.
VirginiaEdie
(Edith)
#35
What about iodine? I’ve just started reading up on that, so I am not well versed at this point. The book I am reading, “The Iodine Crisis” by Lynne Farrow mentions that we don’t get enough iodine from the foods we eat and that the iodized salt is an unreliable source. (The book is not sciencey enough for me but it’s a start. ) Also, iodized salt only provides enough iodine to prevent goiter and mental retardation in children. It is not enough for optimal health.
One of the signs of iodine deficiency is unexplained weight gain. It may even be related to hearing loss. You might want to look into it.
I hope you figure things out.
Edith
akirby83
(Adam Kirby)
#36
That is very interesting. I stopped used pink salt for exactly that reason… Since I cook most of my meals and was only using pink salt I didn’t know the risk of getting iodine deficient, so I decided to play it safe and go back to regular iodized salt. Sounds like even that might not be enough.
N1coleS
(Nicole Sawchuk)
#37
This thread is interesting. Since I introduced exercise in January, I have been slowly experiencing weight gain as well. My measurements have increased slightly but seem steady the last few months, so for me I believe it is muscle gain (or I hope it is). Clothes are tighter than they were in December. I tried adding more fat to my diet, but it didn’t seem to be doing much. My hunger just increased with the increased fat. So I actually increased my protein consumption in the last month and cut out more vegetables (I’m not quite carnivore as I still enjoy a small amount of nuts) but I definitely eat way less veggies than before just to see what would happen. It seemed my body is a little happier. My BG dropped further and small things like my hair getting shinier and stronger. I was also able to fast for longer than 24 hours. But cramping in my feet and legs got a little worse, so I have had to up my salt intake again. I think part of the weight gain is my body is rebuilding itself after prolonged fasting and shedding of old weight. So as long as I don’t keep increasing my weight and my waist measurements stay steady, I will keep on with this higher protein but now I might look into the iodine issue.
gabe
(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” )
#38
Update: the LCHF weight gain continues. And it’s definitely mostly fat. No idea what to do! Just had some blood tests, maybe the answer lies there…
mabrown69
(Matthew)
#39
Low testosterone could stall you out. This level varies throughout the day so make sure it is tested fasting, early in the morning. Also, make sure your protein intake hasn’t sneaked up at the expense of fat intake. This happens really easily. If it has, insulin will still be too high and stop weight loss or even promote weight gain. I have found you can help add the fats back by making sure you are adding them in preparing your proteins. (Add butter, cook in olive oil or coconut oil, add olive or avacado as a garnish). If nothing else is working, you may invest in a ketone monitor (blood) and see if you are burning fat or not.
The last 10 pounds