Carb Rebound?

Staffdieter

Full Member
I seem to recall that you can suddenly appear to put on weight if you introduce carbs back into your diet quickly after following CD. I think my counsellor had a name for it, it was something like carb rebound!! Does anyone know what this is, and what you should do afterwards to loose the extra couple of pounds?
 
Um... Stop eating carbs? :D

LOL. Actually, it always makes me smile when people are surprised to gain weight when they've eaten carbs.

Like you, I don't know what the official term is - or even if there is one. But what I do know is that when you eat carbs, you fill up your glycogen stores - and as glycogen holds 3-4 times its own weight in water with it, the scales can bounce up considerably even if 'all you've done' is eat a roast dinner at your Mum's on Sunday.

I rather think though, that the number you see on the scales after eating that meal is your 'proper' weight. If you're on a low carb diet, your weight is always going to be anything from around 5 - 9 pounds lower than what it is eating a non-low carb diet. If you're on a low carb diet, that glycogen store is always going to be depleted. The moment you introduce carbs it's gonna fill straight back up (together with water). It's just the way it is.

That's why, at the end of doing SS, it's best to work your way back up the steps, reintroducing carbs and calories gradually - so that in effect, you don't notice the glycogen store refilling (because your calorie intake is still low in the early stages, say on 810 - you're still losing weight). I'm not sure that I've explained that all that well :D but that's my understanding of it.
 
I think if you go up the plans following the advice in the booklets, this should not be too extreme as the introduction of carbs is gradual and should be balanced out by slight losses still. A binge of carbs will put on a few pounds but if this is a blip, it will come off again fairly quickly.
 
Um... Stop eating carbs? :D

LOL. Actually, it always makes me smile when people are surprised to gain weight when they've eaten carbs.

Like you, I don't know what the official term is - or even if there is one. But what I do know is that when you eat carbs, you fill up your glycogen stores - and as glycogen holds 3-4 times its own weight in water with it, the scales can bounce up considerably even if 'all you've done' is eat a roast dinner at your Mum's on Sunday.

I rather think though, that the number you see on the scales after eating that meal is your 'proper' weight. If you're on a low carb diet, your weight is always going to be anything from around 5 - 9 pounds lower than what it is eating a non-low carb diet. If you're on a low carb diet, that glycogen store is always going to be depleted. The moment you introduce carbs it's gonna fill straight back up (together with water). It's just the way it is.

That's why, at the end of doing SS, it's best to work your way back up the steps, reintroducing carbs and calories gradually - so that in effect, you don't notice the glycogen store refilling (because your calorie intake is still low in the early stages, say on 810 - you're still losing weight). I'm not sure that I've explained that all that well :D but that's my understanding of it.

I'd say that is spot on Suzie!! :)
 
Um... Stop eating carbs? :D

LOL. Actually, it always makes me smile when people are surprised to gain weight when they've eaten carbs.

Like you, I don't know what the official term is - or even if there is one. But what I do know is that when you eat carbs, you fill up your glycogen stores - and as glycogen holds 3-4 times its own weight in water with it, the scales can bounce up considerably even if 'all you've done' is eat a roast dinner at your Mum's on Sunday.

I rather think though, that the number you see on the scales after eating that meal is your 'proper' weight. If you're on a low carb diet, your weight is always going to be anything from around 5 - 9 pounds lower than what it is eating a non-low carb diet. If you're on a low carb diet, that glycogen store is always going to be depleted. The moment you introduce carbs it's gonna fill straight back up (together with water). It's just the way it is.

That's why, at the end of doing SS, it's best to work your way back up the steps, reintroducing carbs and calories gradually - so that in effect, you don't notice the glycogen store refilling (because your calorie intake is still low in the early stages, say on 810 - you're still losing weight). I'm not sure that I've explained that all that well :D but that's my understanding of it.

Well put Suzie
 
Thanks Suzie, I think you are right about the 'real underlying weight'. Just for info, the carb 'blow out' was actually a chunck of seeded rye bread, and an extra CD bar, so we are not talking about massive amounts of extra carbs. Am going to do sole source for a couple of days to get back on track!
 
Thanks Suzie, I think you are right about the 'real underlying weight'. Just for info, the carb 'blow out' was actually a chunck of seeded rye bread, and an extra CD bar, so we are not talking about massive amounts of extra carbs. Am going to do sole source for a couple of days to get back on track!

No, it doesn't sound like you did too much damage. SS and plenty of water should do the trick nicely. :)
 
Am going to do sole source for a couple of days to get back on track!

No..no...no :eek: No need to do SS. You haven't put on fat, so no need to try and lose it. Your body is just trying to get back to normal levels. You should be going up the plans now and it'll adjust. Todays gain could be gone tomorrow, just by following the plans.

No SS needed, in fact it can cause more problems than it will ever try to solve at this stage.
 
Oh doh! I didn't look at your weight, Staffdieter. :) I guess SS and lots of water would've been the right advice if you were still at Step 1...

You're in the maintenance phase then?
 
Thanks again Suzie and KD, I am trying to work up the plans, however a lot of the menus aren't very appetizing to me. However thanks to your advice, I will proceed on this basis.
 
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