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

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!

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.

I limited the high-carb veggies like sweet potatoes and corn, and opted for leafy greens, courgette, 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!

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.