gaining weight on low carb

Another copy of a post I have commented to at forums.about.com about low carb

From Brooke63:

Hi there – I’ve been following fairly strict low carb routine for about 2 weeks, and I’ve gained 3 pounds.  I didn’t have this issue when I low carbed about 6 months ago.  The weigh came off like normal.  I’ve been exercising about 3 times a week also.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Brooke

My advice:

Hi Brooke63,

Well, if you have been following a fairly strict low carb routine for two weeks yet still gained weight, ‘nette’s comments are obviously very valid and some of the reasons she gives are to be taken notice of quite seriously.

However, I’m not a great advocate of measuring the change that a low carb diet does to our bodies just by looking at weight alone. Particularly, as like you, a reasonable amount of exercise is also included in the fitness scheme,

One thing that you really must do is take your body measurements which would typically be, starting from the top: your neck, your chest or bust, your waist and your thighs. Mark those down on a sheet of paper and then a week later do the same. That’s simply because while you might be losing fat, any increase in exercise will also mean that you’re building up muscle which of course, is slightly heavier than fat. So yes, you may have gained 3 lbs but without having your physical measurements to reference against, you don’t know if that’s really a net gain or a net loss in fat.

Quite simply, you might be putting on more muscle weight than you are losing in fat weight. So take those measurements and let us know how you get on in about a week’s time.

Hope that helps,

Mark