Cautionary Tale and Reality Check Time
 

I’ve been on Atkins since 7/8 and have been doing well. In 2002, I was averaging around 1550 calories and 27 carbs per day and about 10 lbs loss per month. Well, things changed somewhat for me over the holidays. I started experimenting with low carb foods that I hadn’t tried before: protein powders, almond flour, hot cereals, baking chocolate, low carb cookies, etc. I was still strictly speaking not cheating, because I was not eating sugar, white flour, or starchy veggies. However, my daily calorie average shot up to 2050, my carbs went to 42 per day, my proportion of fat/protein/carbs went out of whack and I went out of ketosis. I weigh myself once a month and yesterday was my weigh-in day. According to the scale, I’ve gained at least 7 lbs since I last weighed myself in December. The good news is that I am not totally freaking out, as I would have in the past. Rather I know what happened and how to correct it. I am resolved to go back on induction for a week or two and then really cut back my carbs to no more than 30 per day. This was quite a wake-up call for me, and showed me that I can’t afford to fool around. I need to get back on track. I wanted to ‘confess’ this to you all as a way to strengthen my resolve and also to let others know that as great as Atkins is, we still have to be vigilant. We have to be careful not to let our guard down and the carbs creep up.

Hi Maylisa, :)

you will be surprise at how fast you get back in ketoses.

Pene

Me too..
 

Hello MayLisa,
I have done the Atkins WOE off and on for years.. having lost 105 pounds at one time.. sadly never considered it a way of life and all the progress made was lost when I determined I was doing well and tried to return to a somewhat "normal" way of eating.
I am have been back on track for a week now.. and still not in ketosis.. according to the strips.. my weight has not droped since last week either.. does not feel right for me. I am usually able to go on induction and be in ketosis in a matter of a day or so.. this time.. not so easy for me.. I have been technically good too.. but finding that my body stalls and does not go into ketosis if I have any sort of sugar alcohols like the ones in the atkins snacks.
I have to get back on track too.. I am feeling a little discouraged considering I have so far to go and I have a goal to lose most of my weight by mid summer. Wish me luck! :daze:

Hi Amani,
Got this from another site Hope it helps you.

How long will it take me to reach ketosis?

It is dependent upon a few factors. Since you start the production ketones after the liver has been depleted of stored glycogen, the amount of stored glycogen is the primary factor. How much glycogen your liver has stored depends on your very recent calorie intake and activity. If you have already been on a low calorie plan you may have a small amount stored. Depleting the amount of glycogen you do have is dependent upon how fast you body uses up that storage. Therefore you can hasten the depletion of you glycogen storage by being more active. The other factor in developing ketosis is the how much free fatty acids are available to burn.

Thanks Penelope..
 

I wish I understood more about the physiology that takes place when you are going LC. I think if I understood more of the process and factors that effect weight loss.. I would do more to increase my success.

I appreciate the info on glycogen stores. I wish there was a simple way we could check out our own systems ya know? kinda like checking your own oil. LOL.

Thanks again

I know exactly what that's like because it is - to a large extent - part of my vocation.

It's quite easy to get lulled into thinking that everything is OK because it's all low carb. Well, it is low-carb but it's not necassarily OK. LC goodies can have the same addictive pull as sugar.

Good for you for discovering it before you got too deep into it! :D It is always there for the occasional treat.

Karen

Congratulations on your success thus far!! You have done a great job!

I am sure you will jump right back on with no problem and reach your goal.

Thanks for sharing your ups and your downs.

Take care, :wave:


M-

Good lesson for us.
 

Maylisa, thank you for sharing that with us, it's a really good lesson for Newbies like me, to be able to learn from your experience. Good Luck, I'm sure you'll be back in tow in no time, you've faced the problem head on.

Cheers Kathy

I too made a resolve not to get sucked into all those "low carb goodies" this time. This time I want to loose weight and not be hungry instead of finding ways to eat goodies the low carb way and craving all the time. The last time I did this WOL I printed tons of goody recipes and ate a lot of "sweets" made from cream cheese and sugar free pudding etc. I havent one time looked in the dessert section of this forum and intend not to untill I have met my goal. Then maybe I'll check it out. Oh ya, the last time I ended up going back to full fledge "pigging out and it lasted a long time" Vonnie