(Update: after learning that low-carb diets that exclude moderate carbs are a bad idea for me, I began a diet called TrimHealthyMama and blog about it here. I absolutely love it and have been on it for over a year now. I don’t eat sugar and won’t ever go back.)
About 7 weeks ago I started a low-carb diet in an attempt to boost my postpartum weight loss. The first month I lost about 10 pounds, but with a negative side effect: I had NO energy.
Enthusiasts call this the “low-carb flu“, and say it will end after a few days. But for me, it persisted for weeks, making it impossible for me to exercise or even have normal activity levels.
I tried lifting weights and couldn’t complete one set, I felt like I had lead in my veins. No good.
I added a bit of carbs back in (the occasional sweet potato, gluten-free toast, a bit of fruit) and my energy level soared.
I’ve read that some people can’t successfully stay low-carb without unpleasant consequences: one example is hypothyroid symptoms.
Some recommend “carb re-feeding” in which a person eats as many carbs as they want for one day a week in order to avoid this.
I will say that eating fewer carbs has had the effect of dramatically increasing the number of vegetables I eat every day, which is definitely a good thing.
A typical breakfast for me is eggs cooked with veggies in a frittata (onions, tomatoes, spinach, sweet peppers), and lunch is a piece of meat or fish with lots of veggies on the side (kale, salad greens, squash, zucchini). Then, supper is another piece of meat or fish with even more vegetables.
My grocery spending has also dramatically increased as a result of avoiding pasta, potato and rice or legume based dishes. I’m ok with this for now.
The Paleo diet, which includes sweet potatoes and fruit (so it’s more moderate carb), seems like a better fit for me. I read Chris Kresser’s Your Personal Paleo Code and it has excellent advice for people who experience problems eating low carb.
Unfortunately, adding carbs back in means the weight loss nearly stopped. I’ve only lost 2 pounds in nearly 3 weeks. It’s extremely discouraging! For the reasons I mentioned in the first post in this series, my body has been changed a lot by what I’ve been through this past year. I forgot that the antibiotics I took while in the hospital could also be contributing to the problem, by changing my gut flora in an unhealthy way.
Another book, The Skinny Gut Diet, that I read recently convinced me of the need to add probiotics back into my regimen. The guts of overweight people tend to be different than that of thin people.
This is one reason why two individuals can eat the same number of calories and get two different results. The simplistic calories in/calories out model has been disproven. (The author also recommends supplemental fiber pills, which I’m not going to do, but I do sprinkle ground flax on my food occasionally.)
The good news is that since adding moderate carbs back in, I have the energy to exercise, so I’m back on a daily program of walking or biking, and every-other-day weight lifting. Here’s hoping I’m able to get back to this soon:
This picture was taken when I was 7 weeks pregnant and my pants were just beginning to get tight. Sadly I’m not at this point yet!
You are eating healthy, and that’s what matters! 🙂
I’m not into Paleo, but I love Chris Kresser, and I just found out that my lacto-vegetarian diet I’ve been on for the past yr or so has failed – I am SO depleted in omega 3’s/DHA. We’re taking the leftover CLO for now, and when it’s gone we’re going to add salmon back into our diet (DH has at least been eating eggs, but I don’t do well w/ the whites and don’t like the yolks by themselves).
Emily, I think we all have the experiment, tweak and listen to our bodies. We all have different needs, different bodies. Vegetarianism was horrible for me, I definitely thrive with high protein.
ITA. This is the LAST time I try to live on a vegetarian diet. (I already knew that vegan didn’t work for me.) I’ll at least be eating salmon 3X/wk.
My third-and last- baby is 3 years 2 months and I still have 10 pounds to lose. And my body has shifted sonmuch that I should try to lose an additional 10 after that. I try to leave out pasta and bread because they really bug my tummy. I feel beat eating meat, veggies, and fruit. But I don’t have the wonderful side effect that most people seem to have- which is dropping weight or inches.:/
I’m going to check out kresser and also the skinny gut diet. I cannot handle any fiber supplements either- they make me so miserably uncomfortable.
Can you try the low carb diet but eat more? I found that the low energy improves by increasing the food volume. Or just adding say one apple a day in with exercise.
100g carbs is my magic number where I can lose weight and feel good. Anything less is low energy and below 50g is hideous.