Stalled??? COUNT CALORIES!!!! SMALL/FREQUENT MEALS!!
 

I know many of you are aware of the info I'm about to share, but I have seen many people post about having trouble with stalls and wanted to share my personal experience.

I have lost 60lbs since Jan of this year and I've had my share of "stalls" and "slow loss"

I hit a BIG stall a couple months ago and even though I was doing cardio/weights 5-6x/week and staying at induction carbs, I was losing little/nothing(yeah I know muscle weighs more than fat but I can assure you I was stalling)

My gf does weight watchers(I know) but she did help me quite a bit with suggestions. I kept bitching about the scale not moving and she said "you eat way too many calories, I dont care how low your carbs are"

I hate having to count ANYTHING(carbs is enough) and I'm used to eating big portions so this kind of ticked me off, but I was frustrated so I thought I'd try it.

I started logging my cals into fitday and I was flabbergasted! I was probably consuming 3000-3500 calories every day! My BMR is 2300. Plus, I had a habit of making dinner my largest meal and not eating but 3 times a day max.

I've REALLY accelerated my loss by upping my meals to 4-5x/day with smaller portions and limiting my cals. Also I try to keep dinner at a more reasonable size and not eat after 8pm. I drink a ton of water during the day as well.

I've almost completely eliminated soft drinks(still have them if I go out to dinner) not because I think Nutrasweet or Splenda is bad neccessarily, but because there is no substitute for large volumes of water when losing weight.

I just wanted to share what works for me because I see alot of posts about stalling due to nutrasweet, or heavy cream, or atkinsbars etc. I know these things can be a stumbling block for various reasons, but I think the main problem is EXCESS CALORIES!!

People complaining about various things causing them to stall and "knocked out of ketosis" is not valid most times IMHO. Being in ketosis does NOT gurantee fat loss. IF you are staying at induction carbs and in ketosis but eating way over your BMR, you will get purple strips but you wont lose crap because you're just burning dietary fat!

so to recap my suggestions are:

1) Find your BMR(Basal Metabolic Rate) and keep your total calories at or just slightly above this number.

2) Keep your carbs within induction or ongoing weight loss(wherever you are)

3) Eat several small meals instead of 1 or 2 huge meals. Minimize the size of dinner and dont eat too late at night

4) WATER WATER WATER (need I say more)

Thank you, for a sane comment!!
Yes, atkinscenter itself told me exactly what you are saying. I did what you did, and I started losing too!!
If you check out the atkins advice on slow loss, there is advice that tells you that an extra 220 calories a day could make the difference between losing or not losing.
So what you are saying is what they are saying. It makes complete sense. All trainers will advise you to up your metabolism by eating smaller more frequent meals and to NOT eat a big dinner. Your body will store those excess calories from one big meal and you will not lose. It makes sense that one should get into good dietary practices along with learning to limit carbs. Good practices include small frequent meals, getting breakfast into you no matter what, drinking water and never eating a lot at one sitting.
And thank you for sharing!!!

How do you fidn your BMR? I've never heard of it before.

agreed
 

I lost 5.5 lbs on the fat fast, now I have gained 3 lbs back even though I am on strick Atkins Induction. I am sure that is also related to eating real food again. I just dred so much having to be responsible and count calories - being Metobolicly Resistant is just a fact of my body.:idea:

Your information was helpful - thank you!
best regards,

here is a BMR calc


http://www.room42.com/nutrition/basal.shtml

remember this just gives you a general idea of the minimum amount of calories your body had to burn daily to stay alive. The result you get is supposedly how many calories you would burn daily just for basic metabolism. Everyone is not the same so my suggestion is to view your BMR as guideline for caloric intake. If you stay at or slightly below your BMR, you should lose weight. Some people can go way above their BMR and lose weight if they are active, others cant.

hope this helps

oh and another suggestion for stallers is EXERCISE! Yes I know it sux but its a staple of my weight loss. Building muscle mass increases your BMR by increasing your body's metabolic needs. I lift weights but I know this isnt for everyone. The next best thing to jogging or lifting weights is an Elliptical machine or CrossTrainer. I would highly recommend that anyone in a stall that isnt exercising try this. Its the machine kinda like cross between a Nordic Track and a stair stepper. Work up to 30minutes at least 4x/week and I PROMISE this will help. Its great because its low impact, keeps your heart rate up, and provides some mild full body resistance training.

It does suck to have to be responsible and count calories, but there is NO WOE that will let you eat unlimited calories and still lose....even Atkins.

I think when a lot of people "stall" they don't realize how many calories are going in...myself included!!!!
My "dollop" of whipped cream became more like a BOWL of whipped cream, a "serving" of lc cheesecake became 1/4 of the batch...and I wondered where my weightloss was. I was eating lc food!!!

Kind of like my sister, who eats a whole box of fat-free cookies, because they're FAT FREE....and eats 2,000 calories in the process...

Another low-carber here in the office told me that I need watch the calories. I'm on week three, and have lost 4-5 lbs (need a new scale too)!
With my slow metabolism, the calculator told me that I will have to stay around 1200 calories/day to loose 1 lb every 21 days! Sigh - better than gaining every week!
Thanks for the link vortex!!

BTW, Vortex,thanks for the sound advice! It helps to hear from someone who has "been there" and come out of it without taking health-threatening measures. There is no magic cure, although Atkins is the easiest I've even been on..it still takes work and a certain amount of discipline to come out ahead.

Okay, I did the BMR thing and it said my basal is 1596 and active is 2075. I need to eat no less than 1200 cals for a 1 lb loss every 8.8 days. First off, that's cool-- I can totally live with that. Secondly I know we should use it as a guide and it's not exact, but being on Atkins should I up that a bit? Around 1200 seems so low. I'm averaging now between 1400-1500 per day. I usually end out the day more around 1250-1300 but then I think it's too low and pop an oz of macadamia nuts or something to get it up. But really that 1200-ish level is most comfortable for me normally anyway and I have to force a bit more food in to get it higher.

Do you all think I should try just staying at 1250-1300 where I'm most comfortable for a while and see if that helps me any? And that 1250-1300 usually does end up about 65% fat, 5% carb and 30% protein. What do you think? Not too low in the cal department? Thanks!!!!!

Oh, and I'm not a big exerciser. I do long walks occasionally but that's about it-- if that helps . . .

Exercise is paramount if you have a slow metabolism. It amps up all your body's systems to a more rapid state of homeostasis.

If you dont like aerobic exercise, just try to walk more often and longer.

As far as the BMR - in my case I am able to lose if I stay right at or just above my BMR. My BMR is around 2300, so if I stay at 2000-2500, I consistently lose, but I am also exercising reguarly.

Vortex72,
Thanks for being brave enough to post a common sense suggestion. I've thought for a while that (fat % aside) the advice to eat more than 12-1500 calories didn't make sense to someone trying to loose weight. Sure, there's a metabolic advantage to Atkins, but I don't think you should ruin it by eating enough to make up the difference! Most heavy people would be likely to eat more if given permission. I recently dropped my calories to this level and have started loosing again. I going to do my best to stay under 1800 cals/day and see what happens.

Not to be a spoilsport, but if we drop to 1200-1500 calories, we might as well be on Weight Watchers, no? I'd be hungry eating at that level...but I agree that may be what it takes to lose weight after the initial "easy" loss.

I would never go below 1500 cals unless you are very near your goal and weigh less than 150lbs.

Even though atkins gives you a metabolic advantage, you will eventually have to watch your calories to continue losing. I can eat around 2300 cals/day and still lose consistently. I think thats a very reasonable amount of food. However, if I stay "low carb" but eat 3000 a day, I may lose but it will be VERY slow.

At this point, I'd have to say that the main reason I stay on Atkins is to prevent muscle loss and control hunger. I couldnt hack 2000cals a day if I was getting a high percentage from carbs, I'd be hungry and probably start getting weak on the weights.

Thanks Vortex.

Actually I found out this precious information yesterday from another poster, and have been touring the posts mentioning lowering calories to resume weight loss. I have been eating 2000/2400 cals a day at 157lb and 167cm. It was way too much and I had NO idea. As a matter of fact, I was thinking about increasing my fat intake further and was wondering why I was gaining!!! I did the necessary calculation and found that I have to go down to 1800 per day to resume weight loss.

Thanks again.

Quest,
Big difference between Weight Watchers and Atkins is that you wouldn't be hungry all the time-even if eating the same number of calories.

WW in its current form doesn't dictate what food you eat, just the overall "points" (i.e. calories, basically 60-70 calories per point). So you could eat LC foods and still be on WW. Even in earlier forms (when they had exchanges) the carbs allowed on WW were very low. I remember being told not to have a banana or a pear more than once a week for my fruit exchange.

Mind you, I'm not disagreeing with the point of this thread. I guess I'm saying that after the initial loss Atkins isn't easier to lose on than other diet plans, though it may be better for overall health.

Just wanted to agree with the initial point that this thread makes. If you're truly stalled, and not stalled because you're just maintaining your weight with low carb chocolate and snacks and this and that then calories are probably the culprit. Too many people (including me for a long time) have the "all you can eat and still lose weight" concept in their heads. What is healthy about stuffing yourself with massive meals? Seriously, it may be emotionally gratifying in some way to eat large delicious meals all the time but it won't help you get a trim figure.

As for being hungry on low calories (I'm 5 10" and weight train+cardio regularly) and the question what's the point of low carb if you have to keep your calories low......
1) low carb high fat diets are the most muscle sparing which is important because you want to burn FAT, not muscle when you diet otherwise your shape won't change.
2) on 1200 calories a day of mostly fat I am not hungry. I may want to EAT, if I have come off a period (vacation or so) where I have been eating large meals my stomach may want the FULL feeling that it is used to, but I am not hungry. Eating 2000+ calories of low fat, higher protein leaves me hungry and wanting food all the time. I'll take less food thanks for the more comfortable feeling.

Thanks for starting this thread, calories seem to be the forgotten key to continuing fat loss in low carbers.

So are you all saying that the 10-12x your body weight doesn't really apply when your close to goal?? My BMR is 1438 cals per day and to loose I have to eat no less than 1200 cals/day according to the calculator. When you go by the 10-12 rule, I have been eating 1450-1700 cals a day. If the BMR calc. is correct, then it's no wonder why I can't seem to loose weight on this WOE.

Surely the BMR is how much our bodies need just to keep going, sitting in a chair - taking no account of exercise etc. I used a site recently that gave my BMR at 1500 but my actual MR at 2100, for a moderately active person (exercise at least x3 a week). At 133 pounds, 12x would be 1596, which I reckon I lose at.

jaykay-- you're right, I believe.

We should also remember that as we LOSE weight and get smaller we will need LESS calories and not more.

I think we at first get very excited on Atkins and start eating all those formerly forbidden foods. Once ketosis kicks in we usually notice some natural appetite suppressing going on. Hopefully at this points calories will decrease and you will find you are not as hungry and more satisfied on the Atkins plan.

However, as you lose weight, your body will need less calories (unless of course you are a very active athlete). I think we keep on eating the way we did even though our body needs have changed. Something we need to definitely pay more attention to!

Froufie

OK, I've got a couple of questions here.
1) I haven't been watching my calories, but I've been in pretty strict induction for just over a month now. I've only lost 3 or 4 pounds, but I've lost about 1 1/2 pants sizes. If I drop my caloric intake, should I begin to see more of a weight loss, as well as a waist loss (theoretically speaking, of course)?
2) If I do lower my total caloric intake, will exercise avert the possibility of going into starvation mode or at least lower the odds?

Check and see what they are first. If you start monitoring your calories and notice that they are very low already, I wouldn't reccomend lowering them more.
I don't know if exercise has anything with "going into starvation mode." I think starvation mode is just the term that people use for the process of your body adapting and learning how to expend less energy for the same things that previously required more. Maybe someone has some science facts.

When you lower your caloric intake, probably the best thing to lower the odds of slowing your matabolism is to schedule variations. I read an article on Trianer Dan's www.quadrafit.com website which went into this. I'll try to find it - of course this only works on a strics diet and not on something more liberal.

Ah, ok found the link.. which is to another site.
http://www.allyourstrength.com/nutrition_1102_pv.html

Thanks Meg! That makes sense. I'm going to keep track of how many calories I'm eating for a couple of days and see if I'm actually eating too much. If not, then I'm really going to be frustrated bc I really want to see some poundage comin' off!!!

Someone once asked me if I wanted to be smaller, or just see a lower number on the scale... If you're losing inches, chances are you're toning up and building lean mass, which is heavier but more compact than fat. Personally, I'd give it a bit longer, and you'll likely be treated to a "whoosh" (board lingo for a sudden start of weight loss)

Oh, how I would love a whoosh right about now. I'm just getting so disgusted. I go back to the Dr. this Wednesday and would really like for him to see some downward movement on the scale....

Measure, measure, measure. Did you take your measurements when you started? If not, do it, and not just your BWH. Measure your upper arms, neck, thighs and lower stomach and try to do it only once a week at most. Women lose inches at a faster rate than pounds. When you don't see pounds gone on the scale, you will very probably see them gone on that tape. And watch the salt...it can keep you bloated. And drink lots and lots of water.