JJisFit4AA's Journal, 24 January 2012

Yay for you! Does carbs make a person retain water? 

It makes me soak up water like a sponge, I'm not sure if others react this way. I'd be interested to hear. I'll loose 4 lbs in 5 days if I keep my carbs low. It will be all water weight.  

I'm in induction and staying around 10 to 20 net carbs a day and I'm at a stall. What's your "goal net carbs" going to be if you work out lets say an hour a day?  

I have to run to a meeting but we can discuss this further when I return. What kind of workouts are you doing? If I'm doing full body weight training, I keep my net carbs at around 60 - 90 grams per day. I'm not trying to loose weight fast though.  

If I were only doing cardio, I would definitely keep my carbs on the lower side.  

You really don't want to drop below 20-25 NET carbs per day. Your body does need them to function, that is where your energy comes from. Just make sure that you are getting the 12-15 out of your core veggies and healthy protein. If you feel it is coming off to fast, start on OWL 2 so you are getting still more carbohydrates, but from the veggie sources, it will just show on the scale and in your clothes a little slower.  

Thanks FaeDustDreamer, that's excellent advice! 

This is a snippet from an article on Livestrong about carbs and water retention. Very interesting. <<Carbs and Water Retention Unfortunately, there is a relationship between a high-carb diet and water retention. In "Good Calories, Bad Calories," author Gary Taubes writes that carbohydrates cause your kidneys to hoard salt instead of excrete it. Once your body's salt content rises, your water content must also rise to keep the ratio of salt to bodily fluid steady. When you cut carbs, your body can let go of both the salt and the water it was retaining. This is why low-carb diets often produce a quick initial weight loss --- the dieter isn't losing any body fat, but he is losing several pounds of retained salt and water.>> Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/309135-can-a-high-carb-diet-cause-you-to-retain-water/#ixzz1kPuQdqEL 

Well there it is in a nut shell! That's what I was looking for. Thanks JJ! 

Yes the initial weight loss is water, I've always been told about the first 10 lbs. However, when u keep the carbs very low your body starts burning fat instead of carbs for energy. Low carb dieters(most) can tell they are burning fat by using keto sticks, the darker the mroe fat youre burning. For a few the keto sticks dont work as well as they do for hte majority ( read that in atkins book). 

btw im sure the water weight loss varies from person to person...lol All i know is the first 9 lbs I lost was quick n easy in first week... then it started slowing down a bit to about 4 lbs the last 2 wks. Im good with that tho :) 

Thanks Darla, that makes sense. It surprising we can carry so much extra water due to carbs! 9 - 10 lbs is a lot!