I Went Low-Carb For 3 Weeks, and These 3 Mistakes Led to Weight Gain

Updated on 10/8/2018 at 11:50 AM

Over the Summer, when my bloating issues got out of control, both a naturopath and an osteopath suggested I give up sugar, fruit, and flour for one week: no white sugar, no natural sugars like maple syrup, agave, honey or stevia, no artificial sweeteners, no fresh or dried fruit, and no flour. Sugar cravings hit me hard, but by then end of the seven days, my bloating was completely gone.

I decided to keep going and took it a step further, going low-carb and limiting all grains and high-carb veggies like potatoes and corn. Honestly, I wanted to see what all the hype was about going low-carb, and to see if it'd help with my sugar cravings, since those were pretty high still, even though I ditched fruit, sugar, and flour.

Although my belly was less puffy and leaner, I was shocked when I stepped on the scale. I had gained weight by the end of those 21 days. And after some investigating, I know the reason why and will share what I discovered.

Too Many Nuts and Seeds

Whenever a sugar craving hit, I would head to my pantry and grab a handful of crunchiness. I had mason jars filled with raw almonds, both raw and salted cashews, peanuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, shelled pistachios, and macadamias. I didn't measure a single serving, and just mindlessly and ravenously grabbed handful after handful. I even poured sunflower seeds and hemp seeds straight into my mouth!

By the end of the first week, those mason jars were empty. I promptly went to Trader Joe's to refill my stash, and I ate all those, too. I also ate spoonful after delicious spoonful of peanut butter, almond butter, and Sunbutter.

"Healthy fats are good for me," I thought. But when I got out some measuring cups and started keeping track of all those handfuls and spoonfuls, I was shocked at the calorie amount I was consuming. I was eating at least one cup of nuts daily — one cup of raw almonds is 828 calories and 31 grams of carbs! No wonder I had gained a few pounds!

Too Much Avocado

Aside from nuts and seeds, avocados were another healthy fat I started eating more of. I'd have half with my lunchtime salad, snack on the other half in the afternoon, then have another half with dinner. That's 322 calories and 21 grams of carbs — I had no idea avocado contained so many carbs! So much for eating low-carb.

Veggies Have Carbs, Too

I limited the high-carb veggies like sweet potatoes and corn, and opted for leafy greens, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, and cucumbers. But when I plugged my food into My Fitness Pal, I had no idea these veggies had carbs, too.

One cup of broccoli has six grams of carbs. Three cups of kale has 20.4 grams of carbs. One cup of baby carrots has 12 grams of carbs. One cup of cauliflower rice is four grams of carbs. While I wasn't eating bread or pasta, those veggie carbs added up!

Low-Carb Tips

Learn from my mistakes! Keep track of your consumption of nuts and seeds, healthy fats like avocado, and veggies that you think are low-carb. All those carbs and calories add up and will cause weight gain. For one week, measure your foods to ensure you're hitting your calorie and macro goals.