Week 2 I felt great.. Week 3 Menstrual cycle and feel terrible

(Smudge) #1

Last week (week 2) I was elated I’d lost 6lb… I drank twice over this weekend (vodka and Coke Zero) plus my ladies week started and I feel fatter than I did when I started, I feel bloated, swollen, definitely feel like I’m retaining water… I drank tons yesterday but not much came out… in a total paranoid Pete… am I getting it wrong my macros have seemed ok… I’m working on 15g net carbs… I’m trying to be strict but struggling with choice… I miss certain veg/fruit yoghurts etc… I’m literally limiting myself to chicken, broccoli, kale, spinach, eggs, cheese, salad and mayonnaise (oh and lots of butter/coconut oil)

Any advice you can give me? Greatly appreciated.

(John) #2

I can’t address the female-specific issues nor will I try.

I am in week 5 myself, and the first 4 weeks were a little bumpy. Not a straight line at all, neither in weight loss nor how I felt.

My approach is to just follow the plan for 8 weeks before I make any judgement call on how effective it is and how much effort it will be for me to stick to it long term.

You do have to get a little creative and shop carefully, but you can certainly have a much wider range of foods than what you have mentioned.

My breakfast this morning was a serving of Fage 5% plain greek yoghurt and about 3 oz of blackberries. Right about 10g worth of carbs, plenty of protein and fat (and active bacteria cultures) from the yoghurt. Yes, that’s half of the day’s allowance, but my lunch and dinner will be lower carb and will take care of the other 10g.

It’s not NO carb, unless you plan on going carnivore.

#3

I’d say you can’t judge anything because of the cycle. Keep on course, don’t change anything and see what happens a few days after the cycle is over.

Keep the measurements though because this is making you a baseline of what happens when you have a cycle, and then next month if it’s the same you won’t be surprised.

(Danielle) #4

I usually don’t weigh myself for my shark week. Between bloating, and cravings… I know the scale will just be mean. Just skip it all together.

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #5

The weight you lost was water weight.
Drinking lots of alcohol or too many caffeinated drinks may lead to dehydration and cause fluid retention.
You have probably retained weight again, and considering it’s shark week that’ll happen anyway it’s just a double whammy for you.
It’s not really advisable to drink alcohol during adaption as your body needs to stop producing ketones in order to process the alcohol, you effectively kick yourself out of ketosis for 12 hours.