Any Women Use Indigo-3G?

Someone recommended I use Indigo-3G because I tend to have a sensitivity to carbs. I don’t eat much carbs at all, but when I eat a carb that is not from vegetables I can gain 1-3 pounds. I know it’s water weight, but it would be nice to be able to handle carbs more effectively. What are your opinions on Indigo-3G?

Hi mommymadness, yes, I use it! And just like you I used to avoid carbs too, for years actually.

But it was this lack of starchy carbs combined with lots of exercise that made me ravenous. This became hugely problematic because instead of eating what my body was needing (carbs) I turned to foods high in fat and far exceeded my caloric needs. I was also constipated, crabby, low energy, and mean – frequent dips in blood sugar will do that!

When Biotest introduced Indigo, it gave me the reassurance I needed to gradually change my diet from a high fat, low carb one to a lower fat, moderate to higher carb one. Indigo helped me get/stay lean during this process and I still use it to make sure that the carbs I eat help me build muscle.

I know this might sound too good to be true, but it actually did and does work for me. My body responds the way it should to meals containing carbs… which is to say that I’m satiated and energized from them; a normal healthy response.

As for water retention, you have to realize that being on a low carb diet will make your muscles depleted of water – this doesn’t mean you’re any leaner, it just means that you’re lacking muscle glycogen. And muscle glycogen is necessary for strength, power, stamina, etc.

But you’re not alone in this fear of water retention + increased number on the scale with increased carbs. Read number 9 in this article because it covers this exact thing: 10 Mistakes Women Make With Diets

The problem with watching the scale really closely is that it doesn’t just measure fat weight. It measures everything. So if you drink a glass of water you’ll obviously weigh more. If you haven’t pooped in a day, you’ll weigh more. If you just got out of the shower and didn’t dry your hair, you’ll weigh more.

So does weighing more mean that you’ve gotten fatter? No. It’s a poor way to assess your body because it’ll make you think you’re making progress every time you’re dehydrated.

So if transitioning to a diet that contains more carbs freaks you out, then what you could do is just put away the scale for a while and focus your efforts elsewhere. Find another way to measure your progress. I’m not sure what your exact diet is, so I can’t give you specific advice, but I can tell you what worked for me.

I started by only increasing carbs in two meals a day simply because I was afraid of carbs (crazy how food can really mess with us psychologically). And within those meals I decreased fat to compensate for the calories. Then from there, I added carbs to every meal while lowering calories from higher fat foods.

And now I use high-fat foods as more of a condiment (a sprinkling of cheese or a couple tablespoons of chopped nuts) rather than a major component of every meal. And I eat starchy carbs at every single meal – oats, rice, rice cakes, corn tortillas, low fat pop corn, and baked potatoes are all staples.

One thing you might consider doing is tracking your calories and macros on myfitnesspal if you’re super concerned about this transition toward a higher carb diet. Keeping your caloric intake in check may be what you need (psychologically) to show you that you’re not gaining any body fat.

When you use Indigo, you’ll eventually get to the point where you don’t need to use it every day. Though I still take it on occasion if I feel like having a crap load of carbs while eating out with my husband.