The Low Carb Alcohol Stall Revisited
When we last left our hero (that’s me), he was at the end of a one month experiment trying to determine to what extent his drinking habit had sabotaged his effort to lose weight after returning to a very low carb regimen. After abstaining from his routine two or three martinis per evening for four weeks, he’d lost about another five pounds from his two-month-long standstill for a total of about 15 since the beginning of 2008. But what would he do now that the experiment was over and seemed successful? Let’s tune in…
“Dry gin martini, please, shaken, and three olives.”
It was supposed to be a small martini nightly, and just one. That lasted a week. Then it was two small ones. The problem with small martinis is that since they’re so small, you often want just one more. I kept track of food intake and calorie counts for two weeks following the end of the experiment, and noted that where my daily calories on abstinence averaged just under 2000, in the weeks afterward they averaged about 2700 (the 700 calorie increase is invariably from the alcohol). On seven of those fourteen days my net carbs ranged between 25 and 35 grams instead of 20 or less.
In the four weeks following the experiment, I’ve watched my weight chart graph line sawtooth back up to the point that I’ve regained the five pounds lost during abstinence. Instead of being at a 25 pound loss as I was on this day of the diet in 2003, I am barely down 10 and struggling to hang on to that. In 2003, I had already been into Phase 2 of Atkins for some time, and this time around I am still basically in induction. I’ve had no fruit since the beginning of the year, nor cereal, nor low-carb milk, and only a few spoonfuls of low-carb yogurt. Except for three or four slices of low carb bread and several low carb tortillas, I’ve had no baked goods for four months. I’ve cut out the processed deli meats like salami, opting instead for prosciutto. Breakfasts typically consist of eggs, either in commercially-made omelet form or fresh with either sausage or bacon. Vegetables that are served with a meat course are always low carb, and only a small serving. I had been overdoing it for a couple weeks on sugar-free chocolates and nuts, but I cut those back this week. I’ve been making smaller and smaller lunches, sometimes having just a couple ounces of hard cheese. For a friend’s birthday party last weekend, we made spinach-artichoke dip, and I brought pork rinds for myself to enjoy with it. Still the pounds inched back.
Not much of a morale-booster of a post, is it? Of course, we all make our own conscious decisions about what’s important to us. I still feel good that I’m eating low carb for the health aspects of the diet, but I want to lose another 20 pounds or more. To do it, it should be clear to me by now that I need to put the bottles away for a while, and not just for a few weeks. So which wins out, my need for “relaxation” or my wish to be thinner?
See you in the next chapter.
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I have a few ideas regarding the connection between your caloric intake and what your body does with it. I note that you’ve been consuming sugar free chocolates and nuts. Have you been doing this with meals or between meals? Do you do it every day or less often? Do you ever get hungry between meals?
Part of your problem may be related to the quality of the supportive nutrition you consume. I’m not necessarily talking supplements here. I’m referring to all the non-caloric nutrients in your food. If you’re not obtaining enough of all essential nutrients in your food, your body may be burning less energy to conserve resources it needs for body building, detoxification, tissue maintenance, and immune system function. As was pointed out previously, the body is obliged to expend supportive nutrients and excrete them whenever it processes refined carbs, pure fats, or alcohol. Dietitians like to call these discretionary calories. For someone with a slow-burning metabolism, there may be very little wiggle room for discretionary calories, especially during periods of weight loss.
You might take a look at Diana Schwarzbein’s approach at http://www.schwarzbeinprinciple.com/pgs/home.html. She’s good at helping people rev up their metabolisms.
I also suggest you access this AJCN article (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/23/7/948.pdf) and take a look at this blog: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/02/25/the-science-of-fat-loss-why-a-calorie-isnt-always-a-calorie/
Dave Brown
I shouldn’t have put the below in parenthesis. Maybe you can fix it.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/23/7/948.pdf
it sounds like you are not eating enough of the “right” things. I notice that if I don’t eat sufficient “real” food my weight loss stalls. Low-carb products don’t count as real food in my opinion. Go into the Atkins New Diet Revolution book and explore the fat-fast option to kick-start things back into higher gear. Also consider some vitamins and supplements. My weight-loss stall broke when I started taking zinc and chromium everyday, for example. This way of eating isn’t supposed to promote misery. And if cutting the alcohol is miserable (and I know it would be for me) there has to be a way around it for you, as there is for me. Unless you are really, really metabolically resistant.