Lose 2 pounds, gain 2 pounds, lose 2 pounds . . . .
 

I had lost 50 pounds to my goal weight in 2007 and had the inevitable pound creep till I had regained 30 of those 50 pounds. I have since lost 10 of those regained 30 pounds.
Now I am facing another knee replacement surgery and know that the less poundage I inflict on my knees the better. I am trying to lose at least 10 more pounds before surgery.
So - back to induction. Unfortunately, this time i lost my stand-by Diet Power program so i am having trouble keeping track.
I lose 2 pounds and regain 2 pounds day by day.
Discouraging.
I suspect I am eating too much protein.
Probably too many olives too.
Water not an issue.
Carbs limited to Atkins Indulge (if the advertising is valid) and foundation vegetables.
Also being an old woman, my body is in no hurry to abandon its fat cells.
Just a boo hoo and sitting on the pity pot.

Oh, honey, those Atkins bars will screw you up every time!! They're horrible! Most people gain with those.

I doubt you're eating too much protein. You need way more than the RDA says you do and if you're over 50 you definitely need more!

There's a good chance that the Atkins Indulge bars might be screwing you up. It's possible to be over-eating carbs on "foundation vegetables" if you're not measuring and counting, but I doubt that's your problem.

You could try to Google for a copy of your old program (I'm not familiar with it) or get a copy of Atkins, Protein Power, or Gary Taube's Why We Get Fat from Amazon or the library. They all have good basic plans in them. The plan at the back of Why We Get Fat is Dr. Westman's "Page 4" plan. Someone might pop in an give you a link to the "Diet Doctor" subscription website that will also have a copy of this.

But sometimes we all just see-saw up and down for a few days or a couple of weeks and then finally the scale moves again. Weight loss isn't linear.

I was a long-time DietPower user, but now I use "My PLAN" on this website (in yellow font on the green menu bar, below the Welcome box). It is a bit cumbersome until you add things you eat often to your favourites and add your own recipes, but it does what I need. It also broke me of my DP habit of weighing daily, so now I only weigh 1-2X per week or less. Atkins bars and dairy caused me to hold on to weight & cravings, so I ditched them.

If olives are an issue, you might try increasing your salt intake. Wide variations in salt intake from day to day might cause more variability in water retention from day to day. This isn't something I've seen hard science on, but I've seen people talking about this on bodybuilding boards, and it seems reasonable.

There are lots of us old girls here on the Forum. You're in good company.

Here's the link to Atkins Induction foods if you want to save the $$ of buying a book. https://forum.lowcarber.org/showthr...t=236482&page=1

Over 70 and female makes losing weight very hard, but we're here for you. I'm in maintenance and it's a constant battle not to gain. I've lost and regained the same 30 or 40 pounds over and over again since I first went on Atkins in 1972. For me, the trick is fear. I fear not being healthy and living on and on, riding a scooter in the supermarket.

You can do this.

Oh! I thought DietPower was an eating plan. :lol: Sorry, my mistake.

I haven't used MyPlan on this website, either. If you want something more portable that also has a phone app, lots of people use Joy, Chronometer or Carb Manager. I'd avoid My Fitness Pal--it's too CICO and low fat oriented and they make it hard to track net carbs. I think most of these programs are a bit cumbersome until you get through the first weeks of adding in regular foods you eating, recipes, etc., then it all becomes easier. I don't think that's just MyPlan.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have all the books - or I used to - but with all my moves, books are the first to go.

I have the sense that my weight loss attempts earlier this year, and it's abysmal failure, are simply due to grieving. I eat to ease grieving. Sometimes I realize I am grieving just by my food choices.

What am I grieving? Started with the death of my two brothers 4 months apart leaving me as the last remaining sibling. It is a kind of loneliness I had not experienced before - no one left who "remembers."

Then, last year, I decided to leave my home in Canada permanently - the home I had lived in for 30 years. All the memorabilia had to go.

This year my last remaining dog died in June- the last of my own breeding program. No point living in a large house on 5 acres, with a doggie door and lots of room for the dogs.

So I sold my home in July and moved to a seniors residence apartment in August. More memorabilia had to go and my books went to the library as the apartment was half the size of the house.

It has taken me this long to realize I was grieving for all these changes and using comfort foods to ease the pain.

I was able to download Diet Power - the computer program - to monitor my carb and protein intake as well as my weight fluctuations. As of today - one month after "getting real" again, I am down 8 pounds. That's 2 pounds more than when I started in February. It was realizing the stress of losing a beloved pet, selling my home, and downsizing that was sabotaging my weight loss journey, that I have been able to get back on the wagon.

Is it a struggle? You bet it is - especially when I found that my 4 knee replacements were not doing the job and I told my surgeon I was not having any more. So my life is confined to the use of a walker. The rehab center told me rehab was a waste of time with dislocated knee caps, so I am working on an exercise regimen appropriate to my limitations.

In spite of all this, I am grateful for my mobility - such as it is - and that I am not confined to a bed in a nursing home as both my mother and her sister were at my age. I am still independent and making my own decisions - including food.

Time to get off the pity pot and move on.

Grief is real. Glad u are progessing thru the grief......it really takes time to ease the pain.

I imagine when all my horses will be gone.....our heart and soul goes into each one. I still have my first foal that I bred. She is 27 now and going strong. And two daughters....

Enjoy the memories.

I just checked out a few of the Atkins Endulge bars. The Chocolate Caramel Mousse has 23 grams of carbs per pack, 9 grams of fiber and 12 grams of sugar alcohols.

I'm new to Atkins, but could there be something going on with those Endulge bars?

Sorry about your losses.

I'm my opinion I would say yes, there is a huge problem with those bars. Just think of the real food she could have instead of that.

Adkins is pushing a scam with deducting the alcohol and fiber. Makes me
wonder how long it took for them to invent a reason why they
were OK to eat while on a weight-loss plan.

Jessica F....Ditto what meme wrote. Endulge is the Atkins name for candy.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/atkins-fairy-tale-candy
They have Fairy Tale Cookies too...check the linked articles at the bottom of this one.

Suggest you count Total Carbs, not Net, and only eat real foods. Eggs, meat, cheese, etc. For many people the taste of sweet, even if a better sugar alcohol than the one the Atkins company uses, will perpetuate your addiction to carbs.

Dr. Westman's Keto Clinic Diet as it was in the Why We Get Fat book and on the DietDoctor site: https://www.dietdoctor.com/se/wp-co...starch_diet.pdf

On January 2nd, DietDoctor will have a completely re-vamped "Weight Loss for Good" program that replaces the Two Week Challenge. Three weeks of Education, plus another 7 for a total of Ten Weeks...including free Meal Plans. You have to have membership to get meal Plans now, so just that is a good bonus to help you decide if membership has value. A great Re-start for anyone who needs to get back onto a program.

Aw, man, that is a LOT to grieve. I am so sorry :(. For getting moving, does your residence have a pool? A pool can work wonders for mobility even with bad knees.

No pool
But the exercise room has a Nustep which I can use and of course there are exercises I can do lying on a bed.
I can still walk with the walker but if i walk too long - as in supermarkets - the pain in my knees spreads to the entire leg
I have tried the mobile carts but getting on and off is a major problem
You need good knees to stand up from a sitting position

Thanks for the suggestion and the empathy

There are chair exercises also...targeting different areas and a general cardio. https://www.sparkpeople.com/resourc...eated%20workout

Yes, I am familiar with these exercises from Spark People
My "chair" is my walker as most chairs are too low for me to get out of
The arms on the walker tend to get in the way of upper body arm exercises
Because of my dislocated kneecaps, I cannot do leg lifts or other leg exercises

Amazing how physical handicaps require creative forms of exercise

As I said, my rehab physical therapists have run out of ideas other than exercises I can do lying down. There are exercises I can do standing up if they do not require any knee bending which causes falls

Orthopedic surgeon has no suggestions

the people who make prosthetics for the handicapped have no idea on how to keep my kneecaps in line with a prosthetic

Focus on the exercises you CAN do. However few. Certainly taking your walker for a spin is a big plus. Perhaps a special armless chair would allow some extra exercises.

Without the arms on the walker, I cannot get up off the walker.

Until you have dislocated your kneecaps, you have no idea just how much you rely on your knees for just about everything

well, having injured my back, yes i do have a clue....somedays I was crawling on the floor, other days I couldnot get off the couch..... I did what I could to change my stars...

I hope at some point you can get into a pool. Some are amazingly accessible with ramps right into the water - you could use your walker. It sounds like an awful thing to deal with.

Thanks for the support

Because of my knees, I have trouble with inclines - they are dangerous

I would hesitate taking my 4 wheel walker into a pool - doubt the seat would last long from soaking and it might rust out. Walkers are expensive

At least if I slip in a pool, I would hit water and not ground
Climbing out would be an issue

Weighed myself this morning and found I had gained a pound despite eating low calorie (I can't help the calorie count - my computer does it automatically). Keeping a food log is a great way to re-examine issues with weight loss.

I think fluid retention is the issue. As I look back I can see what happened - I have been eating a Greek salad for the past 2 days consisting of the 3 colors of peppers and tomatoes - LECTINS!

No wonder I see a weight gain!

Much as I love the taste of the Greek salad (including feta and Greek dressing) I can see it is just not good for me. Sigh. What a wrench to have to throw out the rest of the tomatoes, peppers, cucumber (that I forgot to put in the salad).

Despite having read the wonderful (now defunct) thread on this forum about lectins, I deliberately bought them because I missed the salad. Yes, it's a low carb salad but I don't think it is worth it.

Low carb eating is truly a voyage of self-discovery.

Here's a thought to give your peace of mind a boost.

While you're in weight loss mode, only weigh yourself once a week.

Daily fluctuations of 1-3 lbs (which might stick around for a few days) are (as you noted) mostly due to fluid retention. Attributing those gains (or losses) to something you ate (or didn't eat) that day, or for a couple of days, is jumping to conclusions and will be very discouraging as you go along.

Once you get to a weight you choose to call maintenance, then weighing every day is a pretty good idea. This keeps your focus on how you got there and gives the Weight Creep a stick in the eye.

A food log is a good idea if you're counting something. I've used food logs successfully for many years while learning about how my body works--not to mention my brain. Keeping a log keeps my attention on my goals.

However, now that I know what to eat and what not to eat, I don't count anything. A log is not so important. And besides, measures like calories and "macros" and teaspoons and tablespoons are mostly estimates anyway. And I've come this far without knowing what "lectins" are.

The bottom line? Do it YOUR WAY. But try not to drive yourself crazy.

Best wishes.

Everyone is different.

I need to weigh daily. Others don't

Because of my constant GI symptoms - what goes in one end comes out immediately the other end - I am trying to find out what foods cause these symptoms and which don't. (MD says nothing is wrong) I have discovered foods that have bothered me and found they are all in the Lectin food group. So I look to see if a food is a lectin before | buy it.

I try some suggestions on this forum - coconut tortillas for example, instead of the usual corn or flour varieties - so I bought a packet and had 2 for dinner last night. This morning I entered the nutrients into my computer program and discovered that 3 tortillas contained 28 grams carb - or 8 grams more that I allow myself for the day. 8 above the Atkins carb limit in Induction.

So what works for one person, doesn't necessarily work for another.

Despite this, thank you for sharing.

I have tried weighing once a week - in the past - but found it extremely depressing

Also, I tended to fall off the wagon more easily with just a weekly weigh in

Daily weighing keeps me focused and on plan

My food journal is my computer program - without it I would cheat constantly

We are all different in what works for us

Thanks

I totally agree with your thoughts on this. Best wishes!

Gained 2 lbs overnight again. This time I put on my researchers hat to try to find what was causing the fluid retention. (The good thing about daily weighing is catching problems as they occur.)

So I went back to my food journal (on my computer) and looked up everything I ate yesterday in relation to its sodium content.

After looking up each food and calculating total sodium intake for the day - I can easily see why the 2 pound weight gain.

Now I know which foods I have been eating that are causing the fluid retention, which to avoid for the next week, and which to cut back on.

Thank heavens for a computer program that does all the math for me and allows me to look up yesterday's values as well as the values for the past week, past month or even past year. It is a boon for my self-discovery.

The overnight weight gain is not discouraging - it is an indication that I need to be more mindful.

I prefer facts when it comes to my weight control.

With IBS and limited cooking facilities...you could try Carnivore aka Zero Carb (thread in war zone) as a simple option to try. No more can I eat this or that? It's meat.Digestion success stories: https://meatrx.com/category/success-stories/digestion/
Think WearBear has been writing about her success.
Posts in ZeroCarb: https://forum.lowcarber.org/showthr...0&page=24&pp=15

Thanks, Jey, I will look these up