View Single Post
  #38   ^
Old Sat, Aug-14-04, 07:04
LCanita's Avatar
LCanita LCanita is offline
Thank You Dr. Atkins
Posts: 1,139
 
Plan: Atkinsmyway/Carb Cycling
Stats: 185/135/135 Female 5 feet 4 inches
BF:yes
Progress: 100%
Location: United States
Default

Hi Wench and interested others!

Thought I would reply here so others would see my answer.

Well, I don't know. I've been using the three day rule (which is just a rule I made up for myself ) which is that when I'm at the same weight for three days in a row on carb down, I start carb up. BUT, I've also noticed that I average a 3 pounds net loss every carb down. So, the other thing I could do is stay on Carb Down until I lose 3 pounds, and then go to carb up. I really don't know.

I do know that usually the first two days on carb down, like you Wench, I don't see much result (this time is different, as I've lost 1 pound each day in 3 days on carb down, 2 that I gained on carb up and 1 virgin pound as of this morning )but days 3-5 on Carb down the weight falls off. So, if it works the same for you as for me, the next couple of days should really see some weight loss. I sure hope so. However, I have some other friends trying this and it doesn't seem to be working quite as well for them, but they are lifting heavy weights, so I think maybe they are building muscle as fast as they are losing fat, and therefore the scale does not go down. But, I don't know... There are others who could speak better to that.

So, Wench, definitely keep this working. Be sure to keep your carbs very low, and AT LEAST stay on this for 5 full days. I've gone as long as 10 with good results, but think that 5-7 is about right on carb down. I don't think I got enough benefit out of the 10 days as I would have had I gone back to carb up more quickly. You can examine my results in my sig line to see what I'm talking about.

Also - notice that it doesn't seem to matter whether or not I gain weight on carb up, I still lose a net of about 3 pounds for the full cycle! Of course, remember that my carb ups are only about 60-70 carbs, so I believe I'm just retaining a little water which falls off quickly when I go back to carb down.

On my next cycle I'm planning on a 4 day carb up. Problem is, right now I'm losing so quickly that I need to be careful I'm not burning muscle. What an incredibly good problem to have!!!

Also, I posted this is another thread and to my journal, but in a different format. Check out these stats:

First 2 weeks on low carb - I lost 7 pounds
Next 17 weeks (mostly induction levels, but did tweak some trying to get things moving) - I lost 11.5 pounds - so slow and frustrating
Last 9 weeks carb cycling - I've lost 13.5 pounds - YES!! An excellent rate for someone my size, 1.5 pound average per week

Since I've shortened the carb up my rate has picked up even more, so I'm actually thinking I'll need to go back to longer carb ups soon to slow things down a little. Imagine that! We'll see if I continue to lose at this fast rate. As I get lighter I would think it would slow down naturally, but we'll see.

Woe, that was a lot of information. I sure hope it helps everyone.

Anita
Reply With Quote