After two high calorie low carb days this weekend, both 2,000+ calories, my scales are finally moving DOWN again!
That’s not necessarily because I ate high calorie, it’s simply because I’m finally over being sick – which really had me retaining water. But I wanted to make the point that calories don’t 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 – or why your scales might fluctuate.
It’s usually not much of a mystery. 😉
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 I’m heading out on my next trip super early Wednesday morning… and really want to fit in the clothes I’m packing. 😛 lol…
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 you’re in a rush or just don’t 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
Saturday’s Low Carb Meals
I had my usual low carb breakfast of cottage cheese, pecans & berries 🍓 💙 with coffee and water. They are frozen strawberries this time of year, so if I dice them up after they’re fully thawed they really “juice up” nicely. 🙂 Other times I like to dice them while frozen, for a “crisp” 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 – which I sliced off the block. It’s 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 Applebee’s leftovers which was a combination of salmon, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms & artichoke. That was delicious. 🙂
I didn’t feel well on Saturday night (still sick) so I was in bed early – 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 carb… and eat it.
Sometimes sticking to your low carb diet takes SERIOUS dedication. 😛
Here’s 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 – haha. We made it home. 🙂 I was hoping the exercise would help me sleep better. It worked!
Sunday’s 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 Hardee’s Low Carb Thickburger. I ordered it: “no onion, no tomato, no ketchup” – so it just had lettuce, beef, cheese, mayo, mustard & pickle.
For dinner I had my “low carb cereal” because it was quick & easy. 🙂 And it’s such a nice combination of healthy low carb foods…
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.
Here’s my complete MyFitnessPal Food Diary for Sunday:
It can be hard to stick to your goals, and stay on your low carb diet, when you’re not feeling well – or when the scales are not moving (or in my case: moving in the wrong direction! lol).
I’m proud of myself for sticking it out, and waking up to a loss on the scales this morning. 🙂 The only alternative would be a gain, and I do NOT want that. 😛
How are things going for you this week?
I’m off to pack for my trip, and figure out what to have for lunch. I don’t want to stock up on groceries since I’ll only be here today and tomorrow, so I’ll be keeping it simple for sure. 😉 *cheers*
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
OH Lynn! So glad you are finally feeling better!! YEAH!
Thank you, Lynn. π What a rough couple of weeks that was! I’m SO glad to be better, and back to my usual routine… 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. π I’m excited about my trip, and packing as we speak! *cheers*
Thanks for all the tips and encouragement. I’ve grown to really like the pecan-cottage cheese-strawberries “cereal” 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. π 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 day’s 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 π That’s awesome!!
I don’t really worry about the macros “per meal” so much, but rather how it pans out throughout the day. That’s why I log as I go, so I can keep an eye on my numbers and adjust if I need to. By late afternoon it’s 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 don’t feel like I’m losing much weight that when I read your blogs and things that you’ve eaten, I don’t see a lot of sweeteners in there like Splenda, stevia, or truvia?? Do you ever eat those sweeteners??
I need your help!! Lol I’m struggling
Hi Karey,
How much weight have you lost? And how are you tracking?
It’s common to experience a brief hold or even slight fluctuations during week 2 or 3 though – after the initial weight loss. So that may be what you’re experiencing. If so, just keep doing what was working and that phase will pass. π 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 that’s 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! π
I’m 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 π
Hi Lynn, I just found your blog yesterday and am so inspired by you! Thanks for all the pictures and meal ideas. I’ve 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. π
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! π
Hi Lindsey,
You’ll 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 it’s 7 carbs per cup (or 1 carb per 2 TBSPs). They all SAY “zero” but that’s because it’s less than 1 carb per serving. They are ALL 1 carb for 2 tablespoons. π
Here’s 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/