Hi Doreen, almond butter has carbs...butter does not so if you're looking to carve carbs here and there every little bit counts. What we tend to forget is as we shrink we really need less and less food. I find myself only eating twice a day these days, brunch around 11am dinner around 6pm with a small snack of almonds or cheese somewhere around 3pm with coffee. Sherri's on the same schedule....Sometimes depending on the brunch I won't eat again till dinner and skip the snack. I really do make it a point NOT to eat if I'm not hungry. Your 3 pounds up, then down, then up sounds to me like water fluctuations not fat fluctuations.....girl stuff maybe? I think your sitting at a plateau. As far as
weight loss and plateaus the rules really are very simple and they never change;
If you're gaining weight you're eating more sugar than you're burning. If you're not losing weight but not gaining weight you're burning what you're taking in...no more no less. If you're losing weight then you're burning all your sugar PLUS additional stored sugar (FAT) for fuel.
You have three choices if you wish to continue losing weight.
Door#1- Reduce sugar until the scale starts to drop.
Door#2- Leave your carb intake the same and increase activity until the scale starts to drop.
Door#3- Reduce sugar AND increase activity. The scale will drop faster
It's as simple as that, make some moves...pick a door and your plateau will break. Of course portion sizes should always be followed.