I put on 5 pounds over the weekend that I suspect is not water weight. I went out of town and was at a carnival and ate the lowest carb thing I could find which was chili and beans (yeah I know, but my choices were corndogs, cotton candy and crap). They wouldn't let you bring outside food and drinks in. They didn't have hamburgers but they did have shrimp but it was so loaded in a sugar sauce it made me gag... Long story short I put on some weight and I know it was those pesky beans, but it aggravates me that it came on SO fast. So I am starting clean today and I literally can't believe I put on that much weight over the weekend. It really scares me that eating low carb is going to put me in this prison that if I eat something I am not supposed to I will blow up over night. Eating low calorie, it would kind of creep up on you over the weeks and months, but a WEEKEND? Sheesh.

Ugh... and after walking on the beach in my shorts and getting a bit of thigh rash, I have lowered my goal weight by 10 pounds lol...

Hi,
Much of that gain will be water weight as I'm sure that they use a ton of salt in their foods.
What I do when that happens to me is go back to what my induction was and also know that it'll take my body 3 days of perfect eating and water intake before its all gone.

I float between all the phases of my plan to manage my weight. Thats why I tell people to use them all while they are still seeking weight loss. I call it 'floating in the phases'.

Good thoughts, Judy. I think we can be pretty sure that 5 lbs in a weekend isn't solid fat. A few days of induction should take care of it.

I like the "floating in the phases" idea. I'm coming to the end of induction as I restore my commitment to LC. Remembering that LC is a lifestyle, not a life sentence (as I've counseled others) keeps me from focusing too much on weight loss and more on maintenance.

Keeping on top of that "extra five" is key, because it's easy for that weekend five to turn into a permanent five. Or ten. Or...well, what I've got now.

Best wishes.
Barb L

I hope that Amanda returns to tell us how she's doing now.
Floating between all the phases of my own plan has been key for me. But truth be told, I was in weight loss mode for almost 2 yrs, I had plenty of time to experiment with different levels of carb foods to figure out what worked best for me. I feel that doing that while I was losing the weight helped me learn to better manage my weight now.

BUT, now that I'm in my 60s, my body is changing and things don't happen like they used to happen. I feel for you, Barb! Its been very hard for me to get off the 2 lbs that I've gained recently.

I have faith that you will return to your happier weight.

What Judy describes doing is exactly what I do. I have chosen a weight that when I get to or go over I take quick action and get back to induction.

As far as your weekend....I agree that it's probably mostly water weight and if you got back to induction it likely came off quickly. Did it?

As far as the situation you were in at the carnival. Honestly, I would have stopped at a store on my way and filled my purse with foods that I could eat and if they questioned it I would have told them that I am diabetic and allergic to wheat. I always find a way to plan ahead just in case there are no options available.

And to answer your question about a sample goal weight meal, here is what I ate for dinner last night:

about 2 oz of pork loin w/ 1/4 cup of black-eyed peas
a large salad of tomato, celery, black olives, avocado, ham, sunflower seeds, olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Anyway, welcome to maintenance land.

Like Judy...I float between my maintenance level of eating and going back to induction when I feel like I'm experiencing a bit more carb creep than I'm comfortable with.

Progress not perfection.

Lisa

You might find this thread a helpful read:

Maintainers Food & Activity Logs
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=429011

Five pounds in a weekend is water. Trust the other posters here, there was a lot more salt than you are used to in what you ate, your body captured it, and buffered it with the appropriate amount of water. It'll fall off without much help.

The food thing though, if others put me in that situation I get very agitated, I'd have probably bought a half dozen corn dogs, and a diet coke, stripped off the wrapping corn meal and just eating the dogs. Kinda too much salt and nitrates, but its calorie profile is ok.

If I did it to myself.. I'd just quietly not have anything but the diet coke.

They might have had large pickles... if they're dills they won't have much/any sugar.

To the title question... yesterday I behaved pretty good.
breakfast: 150g sausage, 4 eggs fried with the remaining fat, added butter(20g) and two slices of american cheese.
dinner: 250g chicken hearts in panang curry & coconut milk; and a pile of blanched collard greens.
carbs nibbled through day: 125g of prunes, 80g carb, 10g fiber.

I've gotten a lot of recommendations from other athletic'ish folks to keep a 100g of carbs / day in my 3200 kcal/day diet. Makes sense for glycogen recovery cycles, though I'll be trying to keep them in tiny little scattered bits/mixed with fat for lighter days, or during and immediately after high outputs when the muscles are fully primed to receive.