3lb gain on refeed week - scared now!

Zebs07

Dance the positive spin..
Hi

I finished refeed yesterday and have gained 3lb. I weighed yesterday morning (Day 7) and had put on 2lb but managed to stay positive about it and convinced myself it was just fluid retention etc. However, this morning, the scales were up another pound (I retried 5 times) and to be honest, Im disheartened and panicking.

I dont understand it - I was soooo careful and followed everything to the letter, apart from one occasion (Thursday) where I had two shakes instead of one (I had flu all week and that day, was too weak to be able to make myself something to eat at lunchtime) - but if anything, I would have thought that would have affected me the other way.

Could it be cos Im disabled (dodgy pelvis) with severe mobility probs and cant move around much? This is why I had to do LP in the first place, cos my weight was just creeping up and up and Im unable to exercise to help kickstart normal diets past when your metabolism adjusts cos body thinks you are going into starvation mode? If Im honest, this is my scariest fear cos I thought after managing to start losing with LP that I was finally getting somewhere and now the fact Ive put on 3lb during a week of eating, lets face it, very little calories ... is all a bit to much for me to handle!!

I know everybody says when this happens that they didnt do anything wrong - but I really dont think I did so would appreciate any advice. As Doirin said, "knowledge is power" and if I know what I did wrong, at least that would help. However, at the moment, Im just scared my weight will just continue to increase.

Luckily I know exactly what I have eaten cos I started setting up Food Focus to help me for when refeed finished and ended up entering everything I had this week to help get in the habit of using it. OMG am I glad I did it now cos at least I can check back on everything I had.

(Note: also bear in mind that I didnt manage to finish many of these meals but I tried to eat proportionately from the salad/veg and meat parts)

DAY 1
Breakfast:Shake
Lunch : Shake
Dinner : Mixed Salad (cherry tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber), 170g Chicken Hthy Liv skinned breast

DAY 2

Breakfast : Shake
Lunch : 114g Chicken Hthy Liv skinned breast, Mixed Salad
Dinner : 114 white fish, Mixed Salad

DAY 3

Breakfast : Shake
Lunch: 155g Chicken Hthy Liv skinned breast, Mixed Salad, 180g new potatoes
Dinner : 99g Chicken Hthy Liv skinned breast, Mixed Salad

DAY 4
Breakfast : Shake
Lunch: Shake
Dinner : 127g baked potato, 120g salmon fillet, Mixed veg (carrot, brocolli, mangetout, baby corn); Pear
Snack: WW lemon yogurt

DAY 5
Breakfast : Shake
Lunch: 99g
Chicken Hthy Liv skinned breast, Mixed Salad, 127g baked potato; WW pink grapefruit yogurt
Snack: small pear
Dinner: Wholemeal pitta, mixed salad, boiled egg, low fat ham, teaspoon Hellmans extra light mayo; WW orange & nectarine yogurt

DAY 6

Breakfast : Shake
Lunch: 2x wholemeal Hovis original granary bread, teaspoon Hellman's extra light mayo, low fat ham, mixed salad; plum
Dinner : quorn bolognaise 102cal (four portions made from 350g quorn, tinned tomatoes and two knor stock cubes), 57g wholemeal spaghetti; Apple
Snack: WW lemon yogurt, Small mandarin

DAY 7
Breakfast : Shake
Lunch: Wholemeal pitta, teaspoon Hellman's extra light mayo, low fat ham, mixed salad
Dinner : portion of quorn bolognaise 102cal, 57g wholemeal spaghetti
; WW lemon & lime yogurt
Snack:
Small mandarin, half small pear

If anyone has got this far down my post, then thank you so much for your patience in reading all of this!!!. If you have any ideas where I went wrong, please advise?

Aaaaaarrrrggghhhhhhh
Vanessa
 
Well your food looks great from where I'm reading? Have you kept your fluid intake up- it could still be retention from your system adjusting to food again, and salad is something like 90% water? Also, maybe your 'digestive' system is a little slower now that food has been re-introduced?
I wouldn't panic for another week or two. Give yourself time to re-adjust. If your weight is still rising, print off your ff food list and go to your GP and ask him to do a full blood work on you. It could be hormonal, or maybe a thyroid issue. But it'd be good to get it sorted now rather than letting all your hard work slip away?
I hope it settles for you soon?
 
Well your food looks great from where I'm reading? Have you kept your fluid intake up- it could still be retention from your system adjusting to food again, and salad is something like 90% water? Also, maybe your 'digestive' system is a little slower now that food has been re-introduced?
I wouldn't panic for another week or two. Give yourself time to re-adjust. If your weight is still rising, print off your ff food list and go to your GP and ask him to do a full blood work on you. It could be hormonal, or maybe a thyroid issue. But it'd be good to get it sorted now rather than letting all your hard work slip away?
I hope it settles for you soon?

Thanks Irish
Yeah - IVe kept my fluids up. Maybe not as much as before but at least 3 litre a day - plus maybe three cups a tea. Ok Ill try not to keep panicking lol ('try' being the operative word!) but aaarrrrggghhhh. What Im also worried about is that Ill now be scared to up my calorie intake to where it probly should be - I know myself that Im going to be scared to eat more than about 700cal - even tho' I also know thats probably not helpful, cos then my body'll start seizing and holding. Deep breaths Vanessa - stay calm!
What Ive done for the moment, is decided to stay on 1 shake/2 meal option but am planning to have the shake for dinner (to keep the carbs intake for during the day). So today Ive had porridge for breakfast and salmon, veg and a few small new potatoes for lunch - with choccy shake for tonight.
Thanks again
Vx
 
Well from what i have read your food looks ok.
I cant think of anything other than water. Are you drinking enough still? 2litres a day?
Maybe give your body a little longer to adjust to eating again and then if you find you are still gaining whilst eating healthily then maybe go to see the doc to see if there is an underlying problem somewhere.

There is a site (im not sure what it is, i will try find out for you) that tells you how many calories your body would need to maintain your weight.

Hopefully Jan and Mary will be along soon as they are the knowledge queens and hopefully they'll be abe to offer some more advice and hopefully link you to that site! :) xxx
 
Hi Vanessa,
hope those deep breaths are working.
Don't despair it will be ok in the long run.
Want to query if you are having maintenance products or TFR products, the reason I ask is you say you are having a chocolate shake tonight and there isn't a chocolate shake on the maintenance programme, only chocolate whip dessert thing.
Don't know if this makes a difference but my chemist said you can't use the TFR products whilst on maintenance, don't know of this caused yu any problems but perhaps worth checking out.
Wishing you all the best.
Doirin
 
Hi Summer
Yeah - have been keeping up the fluids - about 3 litres a day plus a few cuppas. However I'll be guzzling down even more water today - believe you me lol!
Re the site - Im not sure if you mean Food Focus - I already registered with that and it said that if I wanted to lose 2lb a week (which I was hoping/dreaming off), I should be eating 996 cals. Was obviously well within that during refeed week but was planning of eating that from today onwards! But I know Ill be too scared too.
I hope you are right about Mary and Jan popping along sometime soon lol ....

Dear Noirin
I only finished refeed week yesterday so was using shakes for that. I was planning on continuing to use leftover shakes for the moment (in maintenance), my pharmacist told me a couple of weeks ago that there was no difference really in the shakes or maintenance products - so just to do that.

Its so difficult tho' isnt it - conflicting advice all the time. And I dont mean conflicting advice sourced from the 'unreliable' internet - I mean conflicting advice from different pharmacists and Lipotrim personnel.


Thanks to both of you for your encouraging replies.
Cheers muchly.
Vanessa x
 
Your food looks fine to me Vanessa. I think it's only white fish in the first week not oily fish like salmon but that shouldn't have made that much difference and I know you're not the only one who's had it in the first week.

I know it's hard but try not to panic. Give it another couple of weeks and then if it's still the same I would take the 'going to the doctor's' advice. Not eating more than 700cals a day would be counter-productive. You know that yourself really don't you!

I'll try to find the link to the site Tanya mentioned.

Please try to stay focussed and try not too eat too little - that could be one of the problems. xx
 
hi i'm not much good on this, but from what i remember reading some on refeed put on a few pound in week 1 refeed but lost it then week 2, stick with it you have done so well so far, congrats on your loss :)
 
Here 'tis .... BMR Calculator

Please note! Don't make the mistake I made when you go there. There are 2 calculatons you need to do to find your 'daily calorie needs' don't panic when you see the first number (like I did!!) that has to be multiplied up depending on your activity. Incidentally I am totally sedentary ... my job title is even 'sitter' so the amount you're moving around shouldn't make that much difference to what you're doing at the moment.

Good Luck xx
 
Hi Nicolas
Thanks for that - that sounds great and Ill be praying that one happens for me and it'll fall off in second week.
Cheers muchly

Hi Jan
Im picking myself up now - positive mental attitude and all that. But I will if it contnues, go to doc and try and figure it out with him. The BMR tool was amazing - so have bookmarked that one. It set my mind at rest big time cos it says i should have 2009 cals to maintain. I definitely feel safer about upping my intake now.

Ive also had a talk with hubby and confessed to being scared that I was scared to up my calories given the 3lb gain. He has agreed to check up on my Food Focus diary and make sure I am eating enough and bollock me accordingly (just need to teach him how to use the compooooter first lol). I am going to go for 1000 cal daily for the moment, see how that goes and then hopefully keep upping it till I reach 1200. If I get there without more gain - then Ill stick for as long as I can, so will hopefully maybe get a bit of a loss going.



Thanks everybody for all your support. I cant tell you how much it has helped me today (and indeed over the last few days too). I would be cracking up by now otherwise but am now feeling relatively calm and about to crack open a WW yogurt to celebrate lol .....

Thanks again (I truly mean that)
Vanessa
 
Its probably just your body slowy adjusting back to foods again

Keep to that eating plan and am sure in a week or two it will of stabalised and possibly even dropped a little
 
Hi Vanessa

Sorry to hear of your gain, but like what has been said above, try not to panic, I am sure your menu was perfect with the exception of the oily fish that Jan has pointed out to you, but that wouldnt have caused the gain. I am sure I ate oily fish in my first week too.

Give it this week now and hopefully the gain will have disappeared as your body gets used to food again. The glycogen levels should be filled up now, so that shouldnt show any gain for next week.

All the best and keep your chin up hun. The first couple of months can be quite daunting as we get accustomed to healthy eating again.
 
Im not sure if you mean Food Focus - I already registered with that and it said that if I wanted to lose 2lb a week (which I was hoping/dreaming off), I should be eating 996 cals.
I meant to warn you about that part of Foodfocus- It's been that long since I used it I forgot it can recommend going under 1200cals a day if you say you want to lose 2lbs a week. I DON'T recommend you do this. It's better to lose slower & healthily than put yourself at risk by dropping your cals below what your body NEEDS to function? Find an online BMR calculator- that'll tell you what YOU need to exist- never go below that amount. If you want to lose weight quicker- up your exercise so you're burning what you've already stored- not what your body needs to function. HTH?
 
Hi Sweetie

I too gained in my first week of refeed and was devastated to say the least! But, it evened itself out in week 2 where I lost the gain and a bit more.

To be honest; if you are like me and have a slight problem with carbs, it isnt surprising. Dont be alarmed; so long as you keep eating healthily, there is no way you can start to put back on again, unless you find you have some sort of medical problem.

I have an underactive thyroid so I have to just watch, as I know a few others do.

Dont be scared because that is what will make you start to reach for the biscuit tin.

To help; maybe measure yourself, because sometimes I feel that is a better indicator, especially when our glycogen stores are starting to fill again and can show a gain, but it certainly isnt fat...it couldnt be as you are just not eating enough for that to happen.

You have done incredibly well and now need to learn to adjust to your new life and enjoy food and not be too scared of it.

We are all here and no doubt had all the same fears, doubts, worries, etc.....

Hope you are having a better day today as I know I am rather late in replying to your post.
 
I meant to warn you about that part of Foodfocus- It's been that long since I used it I forgot it can recommend going under 1200cals a day if you say you want to lose 2lbs a week. I DON'T recommend you do this. It's better to lose slower & healthily than put yourself at risk by dropping your cals below what your body NEEDS to function? Find an online BMR calculator- that'll tell you what YOU need to exist- never go below that amount. If you want to lose weight quicker- up your exercise so you're burning what you've already stored- not what your body needs to function. HTH?

Hi Irish

You are absolutely right of course. I thinkI was kidding myself - when I sat here last night explaining this all to my hubby and asking him to check my daily intake didnt go below 1000 - I even said to him that WW etc wouldnt recommend going below 1200 p/day.

Now its face up time for me - I shall gradually increase my intake up - its quite hard tho isnt it - for lots of reasons, not least the fact that you struggle to actually eat enough lol .... Never thought Id say the day. Im not complaining tho; - Im sure my stomach will stretch soon and then ill be complaining about that lol ...

Thanks again
Vx
 
Hi Adam, Mary and Scots (and everyone els)

Thanks so much for your encouraging posts. I do feel more positive today - and am glad to say Ive lost a pound.

Fingers crossed it will, as you say, balance out this week (with maybe even a little more ... now who's getting greedy? lol).

I realise its not healthy to weigh every day cos of fluctuations but dont think Im able to stop doing that yet. However, I have started a new spreadsheet with a column for daily loss and a column for weekly loss and shall really really really try not to panic every time there is a slight gain but instead wait for the weekly total.

OMG do I sound like a geek or what? OBSESSED!!!!

My new Open Uni course starts this week and I havent even finished a quarter of my reading list yet ... if I put into studying even a quarter of the time Ive spent recently online looking up recipes, reading blogs, entering stuff in Food Focus and generally procrastinating from what I should be doing, Id already have passed with a distinction .... lol.

Again ... thanks everyone for the support. Onwards and upwards eh - no, rewind and delete - onwards and downwards hopefully lol.

Vx
 
Sorry to hear about your weight gain but as others have asked and I have read, you have been keeping your fluids up so it shouldn't be water retention. However, for some people you are expected to have a little gain. I also read that you used mayonnaise. I know that you are allowed low fat spreads, but mayo is quite daunting. No matter if it's low fat or not, I don't think it is very safe for you to be having it on refeed, until you refeed for two weeks rather than one.

And as Jan said, the oily fish must be avoided as it has added fat. Make sure it says brine, water is even better. Try refeed again for another week but this time try to avoid having 2 shakes again on another day. I think because you did this, it made you lose slightly more weight and then eating 2 meals and having 1 shake may have caused a weight gain. And with the whole moving around thing, I didn't do any exercising on refeed and I didn't gain any weight.

Btw, well done on your weight loss on LT :)
 
Have you seen this Vanessa?

Okay it's from the Cambridge forum and about still trying to lose but the sentiment's the same xx

Measuring success by the scales
Fact: Stick to the plan and you definitely lose weight
Fact: You can control what you put in your mouth
Fact: You cannot control what the scales say.

So what do you celebrate? The scales showing a loss, or the fact that you kept to the diet all week?

What if you stick to the diet, but the scales don’t reflect your effort? Will you be disappointed, even though you have done everything correctly and couldn’t possibly do any better? Knowing that you will have lost weight…but it didn’t mean anything because the scales are giving the wrong result?

What if you ‘cheat’ and the scales show a big loss…does that mean you’ve succeeded and need a pat on the back?

Or even if you’ve been 100% and the scales are showing a loss? Does it mean more to you? Does that mean you’ve done even better than 100%?

I think the scales are a wonderful tool. I weigh daily, and love seeing them give the same reading day in and out, but that’s not what I really celebrate.

I celebrate being in control of what I put in my mouth, because that’s what I have done. I don’t celebrate what the scales say.

So if you’ve stayed the same one week, or just lost that one pound….if you’ve kept to the diet 100%, then be proud, because that’s what it’s all about. Stick to the diet and the weight is coming off….whether or not the scales agree. And you’re worth the same amount of applause than those who have lost more.

1lbs, 1 stone, it doesn’t matter. You can’t do better than 100% after all ;)

So do me a favour, and next time you go to your CDC for a weigh in, if you’ve been 100%, go in rejoicing.

Tell him/her you are going to be one of their success stories, because you were in control this week and will be next. If the scales reflect this, that’s just the icing on the cake. You’ve lost weight anyway. You don’t need a mechanical instrument to tell you whether you are in control or not ;)
 
Hi Yasmine
Thanks for that - I think you may have a point about the days I had two shakes. I hadnt thought about that.
Cheers

Hi Jan
OMG that is soooooo right. Im thinking about printing that off and putting it on my bathroom wall - next to the dreaded scales of course lol.
Thanks so much - just what I needed!
Vx
 
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