Mitra
03-13-2006, 02:57 AM
"There is no magic one-size-fits-all maintenance carb number. In transition and maintenance, you can advance your intake of carbs only to the point at which you begin to lose metabolic control, as demonstrated by weight gain, fluid retention, the return of GE reflux symptoms, sleep apnea, inflammatory aches and pains, or changes in lab values. When you reach that point, wherever it is, even if it's at the first step of transition, stop there or your maintenance will unravel. And if that's how it shakes out, so be it. You'll still be able to eat a richly satisfying, healthy selection of foods."
from Staying Power
Do you know what the signs are that indicate when you're overdoing the carbs? Of course, after a major visit to the honey tree, they're likely to be fairly obvious! :eek: But what if you're just eating a few too many carbs on a daily basis? For some it will be weight gain, but that isn't always the first indicator. Staying Power mentions someone who, although he could control his weight at higer carb levels, had problems with his blood chemistry at anything much above intervention levels.
Fluid retention and just being generally more achy are warning signs for me that maybe I'm becoming a bit too liberal with the carbs! Not to mention feeling sleepy after meals, and feeling bloated, so that although my blood sugar is low enough to make me tired and cranky by the next meal time, I don't feel as if I'm hungry. When you think of it like that, that extra potato doesn't sound like much of a treat, does it? :rolleyes:
When I first reached maintenance I didn't want to go through all that controlled increase of a few carbs each week, so I just sort of relaxed things a bit. I ended up going back a year later first to lose the few extra pounds I'd regained, then to go through those stages that I'd skipped before. It really was worth the effort it took - and it was only about a month - to get a better understanding of how those small increases affect me, and how much is too much.
What are your "warning signs?" How did you arrive at your current carb limit?
Do you have any personal maintenance issues or goals that you're working on at the moment? How are you getting on with those?
from Staying Power
Do you know what the signs are that indicate when you're overdoing the carbs? Of course, after a major visit to the honey tree, they're likely to be fairly obvious! :eek: But what if you're just eating a few too many carbs on a daily basis? For some it will be weight gain, but that isn't always the first indicator. Staying Power mentions someone who, although he could control his weight at higer carb levels, had problems with his blood chemistry at anything much above intervention levels.
Fluid retention and just being generally more achy are warning signs for me that maybe I'm becoming a bit too liberal with the carbs! Not to mention feeling sleepy after meals, and feeling bloated, so that although my blood sugar is low enough to make me tired and cranky by the next meal time, I don't feel as if I'm hungry. When you think of it like that, that extra potato doesn't sound like much of a treat, does it? :rolleyes:
When I first reached maintenance I didn't want to go through all that controlled increase of a few carbs each week, so I just sort of relaxed things a bit. I ended up going back a year later first to lose the few extra pounds I'd regained, then to go through those stages that I'd skipped before. It really was worth the effort it took - and it was only about a month - to get a better understanding of how those small increases affect me, and how much is too much.
What are your "warning signs?" How did you arrive at your current carb limit?
Do you have any personal maintenance issues or goals that you're working on at the moment? How are you getting on with those?