After two high calorie low carb days this weekend, both 2,000+ calories, my scales are finally moving DOWN again!
Thatโs not necessarily because I ate high calorie, itโs simply because Iโm finally over being sick โ which really had me retaining water. But I wanted to make the point that calories donโt affect my weight loss, and are not something I have to count or watch when eating LCHF.
In my last post on Mysterious Weight Gain on a Low Carb Diet, we explored several reasons your weight loss might stall โ or why your scales might fluctuate.
Itโs usually not much of a mystery. ๐
I woke up with a loss of 1.2 pounds this morning after feeling GOOD yesterday, the first full day in almost two weeks of being sick with some weird viral thing. That puts my current weight at 153.2 pounds, and I feel confident the scales will move again tomorrow. Which is GREAT because Iโm heading out on my next trip super early Wednesday morningโฆ and really want to fit in the clothes Iโm packing. ๐ lolโฆ
Here are my low carb food diaries over the weekend. They are all simple meals with very little cooking, so hopefully this will give you some easy ideas for when youโre in a rush or just donโt feel like spending all day in the kitchen!
I drank 48 ounces of water both days, by the way.
See: How Much Water You Should Drink
Saturdayโs Low Carb Meals
I had my usual low carb breakfast of cottage cheese, pecans & berries ๐ ๐ with coffee and water. They are frozen strawberries this time of year, so if I dice them up after theyโre fully thawed they really โjuice upโ nicely. ๐ Other times I like to dice them while frozen, for a โcrispโ texture.
I had a Peanut Butter Granola Atkins Bar for a snack later in the morning. For lunch I had 4 eggs scrambled with colby jack cheese โ which I sliced off the block. Itโs ideal to use block cheese as it has less carbs and less ingredients. Processed and pre-sliced / shredded cheeses contain ingredients to keep them from clumping.
For dinner I had my Applebeeโs leftovers which was a combination of salmon, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms & artichoke. That was delicious. ๐
I didnโt feel well on Saturday night (still sick) so I was in bed early โ with tuna & mayo and pecans. At that point I was really wishing it was something else (lol), but forced myself to just grab something easy and low carbโฆ and eat it.
Sometimes sticking to your low carb diet takes SERIOUS dedication. ๐
Hereโs my complete MyFitnessPal Food Diary for Saturday:
The day totaled at 2068 calories, 20 net carbs, 111 grams of protein, and 74% fat. Those are great numbers. See: Macronutrients & Tracking to learn more about what & how I track (and how I get Net Carbs in my MyFitnessPal diaries).
I managed a brisk 1.5 mile walk with Slim that night. I figured I would either sweat it out, or pass out โ haha. We made it home. ๐ I was hoping the exercise would help me sleep better. It worked!
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Sundayโs Low Carb Meals
I woke up to a nice rain here in Tennessee on Sunday morning, and made sausage and eggs for breakfast. I cooked half a tube of sausage, and had a few pieces leftover for later.
For lunch I had a Hardeeโs Low Carb Thickburger. I ordered it: โno onion, no tomato, no ketchupโ โ so it just had lettuce, beef, cheese, mayo, mustard & pickle.
For dinner I had my โlow carb cerealโ because it was quick & easy. ๐ And itโs such a nice combination of healthy low carb foodsโฆ
I felt exceptionally hungry all day long, which was probably a good sign after not having much of an appetite while I was sick all last week.
I had my last Atkins bar in the evening, and also snacked on the leftover sausage and a slice of colby jack cheese off the block.
Hereโs my complete MyFitnessPal Food Diary for Sunday:
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It can be hard to stick to your goals, and stay on your low carb diet, when youโre not feeling well โ or when the scales are not moving (or in my case: moving in the wrong direction! lol).
Iโm proud of myself for sticking it out, and waking up to a loss on the scales this morning. ๐ The only alternative would be a gain, and I do NOT want that. ๐
How are things going for you this week?
Iโm off to pack for my trip, and figure out what to have for lunch. I donโt want to stock up on groceries since Iโll only be here today and tomorrow, so Iโll be keeping it simple for sure. ๐ *cheers*
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
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OH Lynn! So glad you are finally feeling better!! YEAH!
Thank you, Lynn. ๐ What a rough couple of weeks that was! Iโm SO glad to be better, and back to my usual routineโฆ and just in time to be able to go on my trip! I was really concerned last week that I would not be up for traveling. ๐ Iโm excited about my trip, and packing as we speak! *cheers*
Thanks for all the tips and encouragement. Iโve grown to really like the pecan-cottage cheese-strawberries โcerealโ but all the frozen strawberries I have seen have a lot of sugar. What brand do you buy?
Hi Kim,
I look at all the labels to find one that only has ONE ingredient: berries. ๐ The package I have been buying is just a store brand.
Lynn I love this group. I realize you aim for 70% fats on here. My question is do you aim for that 70% each meal or 70% for your total at dayโs end. I have been trying for that as my totals for the end of the day but started to wonder if it should be the target at every meal. And thanks to you I have lost 60 lbs to dateKeep up the great work you truly are a blessing to me.
Congratulations Deanne ๐ Thatโs awesome!!
I donโt really worry about the macros โper mealโ so much, but rather how it pans out throughout the day. Thatโs why I log as I go, so I can keep an eye on my numbers and adjust if I need to. By late afternoon itโs easy enough to tell if you need to add more healthy fats to your dinner, for example.
Lynn,
I have been working on doing low-carb for a few weeks now, I donโt feel like Iโm losing much weight that when I read your blogs and things that youโve eaten, I donโt see a lot of sweeteners in there like Splenda, stevia, or truvia?? Do you ever eat those sweeteners??
I need your help!! Lol Iโm struggling
Hi Karey,
How much weight have you lost? And how are you tracking?
Itโs common to experience a brief hold or even slight fluctuations during week 2 or 3 though โ after the initial weight loss. So that may be what youโre experiencing. If so, just keep doing what was working and that phase will pass. ๐ Also read this: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/9912/mysterious-weight-gain/ It gives you some thing to analyze to lose weight faster.
I do use an artificial sweetener in my coffee but thatโs about it, except for the rare occasion that I have a piece of sugar free candy or something. I do drink a lot of coffee though! ๐
Iโm so glad I stumbled upon your website!
I was immediately inspired to try a couple of your ideas.
My versions ended up looking like this:
2 T of whipped cream cheese topped with 2 tsp Natural Strawberry Preserves
YUM! What a delicious after dinner sweet treat!
And instead of topping half a cup of cottage cheese with my usual sunflower kernels, I tried topping it instead with 1/2 oz of chopped pecans. I had never tried pecans before, and was pleasantly surprised!!!
Thank you for sharing your low carb lifestyle with us. I believe I am going to give it a try ๐
Hi Lynn, I just found your blog yesterday and am so inspired by you! Thanks for all the pictures and meal ideas. Iโve already meal planned for my entire week! I was wondering how you are able to show net carbs in my fitness pal. I only see carbs in my daily nutrition and am not seeing where it shows net carbs. I wish there was a way to change the settings to carb counting rather than calorie counting. ๐
Also, I bought the heavy whipping cream and Torani syrup for my coffee. I usually make one large cup using my keurig. How much of the cream and syrup do you use?
Thanks for all your help! ๐
Hi Lindsey,
Youโll have to play around with the coffee and get a combination that suits you. It really depends on the size of your cup I guess, so just test and see. Just be sure to track what you use.
Heavy Whipping Cream is .4 carbs per TBSP so itโs 7 carbs per cup (or 1 carb per 2 TBSPs). They all SAY โzeroโ but thatโs because itโs less than 1 carb per serving. They are ALL 1 carb for 2 tablespoons. ๐
Hereโs how I have MyFitnessPal set up to show Net Carbs: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/4448/myfitnesspal-hack/ It only works online, not on the mobile app.
This is a really helpful read too, to keep things easy & simple with your tracking: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/7006/macronutrients/