Hey everyone, I am new to this maintenance thing. Well actually I consider myself in "pre-maintenance", as I still would ideally like to lose a bit more fat, I want to be a size 6 (currently a snug 8 ). Anyway, currently I am eating about 50 carbs on average, but I allow myself an upper limit of low 60s. The overwhelming majority of my extra carbs have been mostly in the form of good foods, melons, fruit, berries, things like that. Some of it is from low carb grain products (bread, cereals), and some of it is from LC candy (maltitol mainly, which I count as .75 carb/gram).

Slowly raising carbs doesn't seem to be adversely affecting my appetite fortunately, but I must admit the fat loss has really slowed down considerably. The losses have slowed even though my calories are the same, if not slightly lower than before. I guess I am either still packing on water from raising carbs, or I am really really close to my "CCLM". I'm hoping I am still losing fat and the scale isn't going down because of the water, however I do think that I've stopped losing fat because my clothes feel pretty much the same. However, I'm not surprised my CCLM should be so low, as I am pretty darn sure I have bad insulin resistance & don't exercise. I am lucky it's as high as it is.

Anyway, I was wondering about how many carbs the other maintainers eat. What is your CCLMs? Do you still count on maintenance, or do you just get into a groove where you don't need to count anymore? Personally I still journal everything on fitday, as I'm not comfortable enough yet to let go of that crutch. Fitday keeps me sane in a way, it lets me know I'm doing everything right... if I didn't journal I would get paranoid over my losses worrying I was doing something wrong.

Thanks

One more thing...
When I was on very low carb allowances (sometimes under 20 grams) I would often get dizzy spells, heart palpitations, etc., especially upon standing/rising fast. I attributed this to low blood pressure from lack of potassium due to the low carbs. Raising my carbs a bit totally eliminated these symptoms.

However, now I have another problem. With much greater frequency I experience what I think is slight blood sugar instability. It's no where near the gravity it was before LC (constantly ravenous, can't go any length of time w/o snacking), it's more like a slight feeling of mild hypoglycemia (you know, anxious, nervousness, irritable, jittery, etc) that happens sometimes several times daily. Can a carb level so low (50 grams) really cause instability in blood sugar, or is this probably just in my head? Most of my extra carbs come from fruit, and I was under the impression that most of the sugar in fruit is low glycemic, preferentially metabolized into glycogen.... I'm not eating anything stupid like sucrose or starches. I never eat more than 15 carbs in a sitting, usually my meals are about 10ish carbs (I eat several small meals a day).

What do you think, maybe I should lower my carbs? Any advice? Do you think my body is just adjusting to the higher carbs and it will balance out in the end?

Ok, quick response:

* Difference between ACE and CCLM. If you are still trying to find your CCLM (becuase you want to lose) you are probably still really in OWL. Your ACE may be a lot higher then your CCLM. My CCLM was about 50-60. My ACE is about 120 (but I usually hang around about 100).

*Re Blood Sugar. Probably partly in your head. It happens. But, there could very well be some reality to it. REmember GI is worked out as an average over a number of people in labartory conditoins, and the spread can be considerable (a good GI chart should have standard variation). Anyway, the point is that if the loading is higher (say you are taking 10g-20g in a shot) then a moderate-GI food may have a high GI food impact on you, becuase mileage varies. And fruit is a particular culprit, most fruit other then berries is MEDIUM Gi not that low, so fine for most people.
If it is probelmatic keep a food diary and record your blood sugar symptoms, see if you can correlate it to any particular GL food you are eating that may be spiking you.

my cclm is somewhere between 100-120 carbs (i am vegetarian though, so my fat content isn't very high). are you eating your carbs all at once? that could be contributing to your blood sugar instability...if you eat a moderate amount of high gi foods, it may spike your blood sugar. check to be sure that you are spacing out your carbs to the best of your ability.

Hi Woo,

I'm in the same boat as you. Trying to up carbs but maybe still hoping to lose a bit more.

I'm coming in around 50 a lot of days now, too. Like you, I've been adding in extra fruit, etc. I've been really careful with any grains because they're a problem food for me, and I suspect I have either a wheat or gluten allergy as my allergies return when I eat these foods.

It could be that if you are eating a lot of fruit, it's upsetting your blood sugar balance. I can see that - even if they are low glycemic. How much do you eat on an average day?

Do you already eat tons of veggies? What about adding in some higher carb veggies, instead of some of the fruit? You seem to do okay with grains, can you up your whole grains a little bit more. Some people seem to tolerate these quite well if they stay away from the "whites".

As to fat loss, I think that at this point in our journeys, we really have to look at exercise for this. Are you working out? I've made great strides since I started biking regularly.

Also my new focus will be adding some additional lean mass. Like you, I want to be a bit smaller, but I don't realy care about being lighter now. I see plenty of room for improvement as far as muscle tone goes, and I while I believe low carb does help preserve lean mass, I know I have lost some. And I want to replace that, plus hopefully add more (5-10 lbs?).

Though I'm happy with my weight, I feel my body fat is still too high and reducing it is going to make the most difference to my size and my health.

Look forward to hearing about your ongoing experiences. This is a whole new phase of things for me, and I admit I'm scared!!!

Hi, guys~

Could you help me here by clarifying whether or not, when you say you're eating about 50-60 carbs/day, you're talking about full total carbs or "net" carbs (after subtracting fiber)...

I'm not getting a clear enough picture of where I fit in here, compared with your totals.

Thanks so much!

Best, Sona

ItsTheWooo: Not that I know anything and since you are obviously a great Atkins success story, but you might want to consider two things:

1. When you weighed your most, you needed a lot of calories to move around. Now that you are slim, it is much easier to move around. I've read that your need for calories is reduced when you are lighter. So, it is very natural for weight loss to slow as you approach your goal. Imagine lugging around the weight you lost all day. The solution I think is to up your physical activity.

2. Remember all that water weight you probably lost the first week you went low carb? Well, when you start increasing your carbs to a more normal level, you will gain some of the water weight back. So, this can work against your perception of ongoing fat loss.

If I ever get to my goal, I plan on upping my intake of the veggies. Eating plants is very nutritious and contain mostly carbs. I think the people that eat the most veggies probably feel the best.

I can easily eat around 125 a day and not gain anything back, but I just don't feel all that good. I even find myself bloated when I hit that high (and this is avoiding trans fats, added sugars, white anything). Trying to find food to go that high is impossible, I'm still very happy with my OWL foods (although I may just push a little more of them).

60-75 is about where I am happy at. At that level, I'm stabile in my weight (140-143 daily peaks and valleys), and I can have a pretty regular "cheat day" if I'm out with friends. Fortunately, those cheat days are VERY irregular as I've found some of the best meat and cheese restaurants in the area during my initial phases, and when my friends eat out with me at those joints, THEY feel like they're cheating their low fat diets. Many of those same friends complain about their belly bloating (and I secretly chuckle about my flat abs).

I've been thinking lately about trying to gain some more muscle mass, but the idea of increasing my work outs doesn't sound all that wonderful -- imagine, two years later and I'm trying to GAIN weight. Who'da thunk?

VanWinkle: On days when I eat more veggie carbs than meat or cheese carbs I feel the worst. Bloating DEFINITELY. Laziness FOR SURE. On the days I balance my veggies to meats to cheeses to other foods, I feel my best. My body loves meat and cheese and tends to look the best and feel the best when I consume a good balance of them.

If I eat a lot of veggie carbs, I'm prone to acne!

Sona-- I expect they're talking "net" carbs, after subtracting fiber!

I usually only have about 40 grams per day. I don;'t really try to stay that low, but since I don't eat sugar, white flower, or fruit, it just ends up that way.

Hi guys

Just a reminder about our natural energy loss around mid-day. The Europeans and South Americans have it right when they have their "siestas" and long lunches. I get bagged around 2pm, but not the way I used to. I don't need to sleep now!!!

Maybe your energy spikes and wanes are around that time??

M

Hi, just posting this to say that since writing this post originally I've gotten into a good maintenence groove. My sugar is stable now that I've cut back dramatically on a lot of the culprits (bread, maltitol sweetened candy). I also stopped snacking as much which oddly I think is helping keep me balanced. I honestly don't know how many carbs I eat now, but I think it is less because I'm not nearly as hungry as I was before. At times I'm even forcing myself to eat just like in induction, hehe.

I am around 45 carbs per day

150-170 grams/day. Have to exercise really hard though!