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Effort Vs. Results

by nunobianchi Mar 28th 2012

Hello everyone!

I'm beginning my 5th week of SCD, and i've lost 6Kg (13 pounds) and a total of 20cm (7,8 inches).

And I have you guys from the forum to thank for. You've all been very helpful and encouraging.

On the past week (from last tuesday to this tuesday) I actually GAINED 800g with absolutely no change in diet, no new ingredients, or any other new activites, and although some of my measures went down a centimeter or three, It wasn't nearly proportional to the previous weeks, and my criteria regarding the diet actually increased a lot. Everyday, invariably, I eat:

- Breakfast:

2 whole eggs, 1 egg white

1 cup of vegetables (broccoli or carrots, peas or lentils)

Chicken breast or similar (cuts of about 150g)

- Lunch:

Salad. A lot of salad.

Any protein at hand (about 250g)

1/2 cup of beans.

-Dinner:

150g of protein. Usually chicken

1cup of vegetables. Cauliflower, brocoli, carrots

- 3 cups of coffee a day (black strong brazilian coffee)

- 3 to 4 liters of water through the day (40min after meals)

I also eat a lot on cheat day... I went up 2,5kg on my second saturday, so now I tend to not binge as aggressively anymore. So no more coke or soft drinks. Ever... among other stuff.

I'm pretty sure the weight gain was not due to any muscle development, because I haven't done a single sit-up since I started SCD. I know it is not "waste" (I only weight myself when suitable for data comparison, so.. always with minimal to none fluid or waste retention.)

Today I started the cold showers (it's close to winter here in Brasil) and four Brasil Nuts in the morning. I also begin to add cinnamon in every coffee... just to see if it helps.

QUESTIONS:

1 - Does anyone know or have a hunch on why I have gained weight?

2 - Apart from the obvious motherly advice "you should exercise more often" do you have any suggestions on how I could prevent more weight gain or stalling?

3 - Isn't it too soon to be happening? I intensified my efforts and it seemed to have worked against me... on the 5th week? What? Did it happen to any of you?

I appreciate the attention and care from all of you.

Thank you in advance for the answers.

And sorry for the substandard grammar.

Nuno.

Great question!
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The Best Answer

United-States flag

Member posted the best answer

Nuno,

I have had a similar experience to yours (4 weeks of steady loss followed by 1lb. gain and no loss).

to your questions:

1 - This diet seems like it may be cyclical -- i.e. lose a bunch of water weight/bloat the first few weeks, and then your body gets used to it and goes back into conservation mode. Stick with it, make some tweaks, and hopefully the cycle will start itself again.

2 - Besides cold therapy (which you mention you are starting) and easing back on cheat day (which I definitely need to do as well) maybe you could add some spicy foods -- Tim mentions cayenne/jalapenos as one of his "body hacks" and it makes sense. I add cayenne pepper to my steamed spinach (makes it tastier anyway), jalapenos to my salads, and sriracha sauce on broccoli/cauliflower. Who knows, it just might help kick your metabolism up a bit.

3 - This seems to be exactly when people stall. I started my stall around week 6, just as I began to incorporate some of the workouts described in the book (kettlebell swings, cat vomits, myotatic crunches) so my hope is that I gained muscle, but I have no idea.

Some suggestions: Are you measuring cm/inches or body fat percentage? I know for me, on weeks when I lost little or nothing, I was always encouraged when I dropped inches or body fat percentage. The scale is a blunt instrument and does not tell the whole story of what is going on inside your body.

Not sure why you see the damage control as "anorexic behavior". If a few pushups and squats will keep the damage from binging down once a week, that seems totally reasonable to me. Granted if someone does 60 squats every single time they eat a piece of food, that would be compulsive behavior, but I don't see any issue with minimizing the damage we obviously (and happily!) do to ourselves while binging (and I love me some binging, which is what got me to this point in the first place).

Anyway, I will stop rambling on. I wish you the best of luck, I am jealous of your country's domination in all things soccer (football), and I will be right here with you as we both try to figure out this SCD journey.

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  • arctichacker commented Mar 31st 2012:

    Gru, you sound like you actually know what you're talking about >_>

All Answers

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Germany flag

Charley answered:

Hi, maybe try to have a post-cheat-fast-day, which isn't as hard as it sounds.

Another good thing I experienced is to go to the swimming pool and bath around for hours. Or going for a good walk in the woods. Or cycling to the icecream shop. Or plant the veggie-garden.

Just some "activity" that doesnt look like sport but is intense moving around for hours.

I'm too lazy to go running, but those other activities give me strong legs, too ;-)

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United-States flag

Getfitgirl answered:

You could have gained muscle mass believe it or nit. On cheat day you should use damage control so you don't gain weight from all the binge foods you eat.

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  • nunobianchi commented Mar 29th 2012:

    I have to disagree about taking "damage control" too seriously...

    Since I read about it in the book for the first time, it sounds like plain anorexic behavior. I'm not saying that it is more harmful to my body than eating compulsively, so after some thought, I chose to eat binge foods on my day off without portion exaggeration, and without guilt...

    I find more challenging to develop discipline than to face total abstinence or that kind of compensative guilt. And as long as I can deal with being challenge, I will... I promise that if someday I find that I have absolutely no other choice, I'll get obsessed and start doing exercises under the table while I'm eating something I love to taste, or taking laxatives... but becoming that person sounds worse than stalling

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