Started to gain... Atkins bars or something else?
 

Hey All!

I've been on induction since about mid-december now, and was been doing great. While I don't compulsively count carbs, I'm pretty confidenet I never exceed 25g (am usually below the 20g limit). For the first 3 weeks, I lost about 3-6lbs every week, consistantly. I was at about 191. It was about this time that I had a little set-back... I bought about 6 of the Atkins protien bars to take to college with me in the morning when I didn't have time to cook a decent breakfast. I thought I would try one for a late night snack... and I had this crazy craving for something sweet. I ended up eating all 6 bars in 2 nights. After that, I went from 191-195. I decided not to buy anymore of the bars in bulk, and just buy ONE at a time on my break if I needed a bite to eat. Well... ever since, my wieght has been going up steadily. I'm at 198 now, and I'm SURE I haven't been going over 20g of carbs for the last 3 days. The bars quote a net of "2g" per. I can't recognize anything I have changed in my diet (other than eating a little more salad & cream dressings, other than oil/vinigar"). Could the bars really be causing this much of an impact on me?! Has anyone else had problems with them? I'm really getting depressed about it... They're so convenient for me because I have early college lectures (that often span the day without a break), and I presumed them to be very Atkins-friendly because they carried the name.

As a side-note, does anyone have any suggestions for easy snacks I can pack along to nibble on during the day at college?

Thanks in advance,

--Drew

Check the recipe thread - there is a whole section on snacks.

I would cut out the bars. You may also want to post some of your menus so we can see what exactly you are eating.

It is quite normal to see your weight loss level out after the first few weeks but I'm not sure what is causing you to gain.

I think it could be the bars. If I were you I would use them sparingly. I bought a couple once and ate both the same day. For a week after that I was starving all the time and as I recall the scale went up a little. I occasionally have a carbwise bar, but I'm not the poster child of weightloss because I gained 6 pounds over the holidays and even with induction its not coming off that fast. I overdid the lowcarb chocolate. As for snacks, try peanuts(if you are past induction) or maybe pepperoni slices, cheese cubes, veggies cut up or some pork rinds.

I can't seem to be able to eat the bars either without seeing a stall. I find that very frustating. :)

time to start eating real foods and stay away from those fad foods.

I agree with everyone else, use the bars as an absolute last resort (before cheating or starving). I seem to be able to get away eating them once in a while... but I drink a ton of water with them, and eat them slowly... Stopping often before I've finished a whole won.

Also, even if you stop the bars, you should realize that your weight loss will slow down. Don't let it discourage you.

--nw

This may not be a popular opinion, but you might try the shakes when in a pinch. No sugar alcohols, all you subtract is fiber. Most are 2 net carbs and don't seem to stall people as much as the bars do. They are very filling too.

Bars
 

I went on a week's holiday recently. i was not sure what lc food would be convenient to where i was going so I bought an Atkins bar for each day to use in emergency, and also some LC sweets (well, I was on holiday after all).

Anyway, I found that eating lc was no problem, and i was very very good. i walked every day, and didn't cheat once. But, I couldn't help eating the bars anyway. When I got home I was 5 pounds heavier. I dropped the bars and sweets and lost it again within 3 days. I can usually tell when i'm retaining fluid, this was not fluid. I'm off the atkins bars for good.

in terms of lc snacks... i usually go for a small tin of tuna, some cheese cubes, some macadamia nuts, olives, some celery sticks with peanut butter or cream cheese in a little plastic container. There are also a few receipes on the net for making your own protein bars using Whey protein isolate and splenda. I am not sure that these would cause the same problems as the atkins bars because of no sugar alcohols.

The bars I stay away from, but the shakes I've drank two mornings this week (first week on Atkins) and I still lost over 5 pounds. The bars have like total 20+ carbs (not counting Net) but the shakes are like 6 total carbs. I found drinking the shake slowly on my commute to work helped, and I continued drinking tons of water once I got to work.

The bars, even though I have like 6 in my drawer at work, I'm avoiding. I'll give them away before I eat them.

Hope this helps,

Sam

Andru- I can definitely relate. This week I lost 3 pounds by wednesday. Then, that day and every day after I've had a low carb bar- no more weight lost that week. At least I didn't gain though. This week I'm going to try not having a bar. If I start losing, I'll assume it's the bars and cut them out. I figure I can eat them when I get to my goal weight.

Dru

I have the same dilemma; those darned old lectures just go on and on don't they? I usually pack some beef jerky, pork rinds and string cheese to take with me. I make my own homemade beef jerky b/c a lot of the premade stuff is kinda carby but you CAN find some that isn't too bad or you can pick up a food dehydrator pretty cheap and make your own!
You can also get one of those 'cold packs' (the little thing you freeze) to put in a bag and pack along some meat roll-ups!! LCing in a pinch brings out the creativity in a person :) Let your creative side loose!!

Hope all goes well with you!!

Wow, what a flurry of responses!

Thanks a ton for your support guys, I really appreciate the advice :D. I guess I'll have to cut out the bars for good... especially since I'm starting to crave them (and sweets) now. I'm glad to hear it's not just me.

Ciao,
-Drew

I've come to the conclusion:

BARS ARE EVIL

That's okay, now I'll save myself $10 a week by not buying them. They have stalled me terribly, and they give me cravings.

bye bye bars forever,

(okay, well, maybe see you whenI'm on maintenance)
;)

Drew,

Bars stall me too!

Try getting hamburger in for one of your meals to get the loss going again. Hamburger seems to have some kind of magic on this WOE. In fact, when I was watching George Stella on "Low Carb Revolution" he said that hamburger helped him lose quickly too. He said it had to do with the Protein/Fat Ratio.

Pretty soon you'll be back on the way to being the loser you once were ;)

Have a great day, All!

Danakins

I haven't read all of the replies so I might be repeating someone else. However, in college I know it is hard sometimes to get the chance to eat. And I was never the type to want to carry around bags of snacks...personal choice. So I think a really good snack idea (if you are inthe Bar frame of mind) is to go to the recipe forum and find the recipe for a mock danish, triple the ingredients, cook it in a casserole dish, cut into bars and freeze. You will have a bar on the run. Now I am not sure how they will hold up all day but is defintely something to do for a quick breakfast!