A great start and now I'm stuck
 

I began Atkins eating plan on 1/9/03.

The first week I lost 5 pounds
The second week I lost 7 pounds
The third week I lost 6 pounds
The fourth week I lost 1/2 pound :(

I have lost nothing since my weigh in on 2/3/03. Neither have I gained anything.

I am in moderate ketosis.

I have lost several inches over the past month which is good.

I am still eating <20 grams of carbohydrates a day.

I am so frustrated. I don't think I'm eating enough. I actually have to force myself to eat because I'm not hungry. I also don't think I am eating enough fat. How does one eat enough fat?

Suggestions?

KDJ

First, congrats! You have lost a lot and that is great. Second, the fact that you are still losing inches means you are not stuck. That is also great. I lose either inches or pounds-usually not both at the same time. The scale not moving is frustrating, but the tape measure moving is darn good in my opinion. I love to shrink!

Being a vegetarian, I also have to watch my fat intake. Many of the foods I eat are low in fat, so I have to be careful about that. What I do is add butter, mayonaise and olive oil to my food. I also add real cream to my coffee in the morning. MMMMMM. I love cheese and even though I limit myself to 4 oz or less a day, it is a good source of both animal protein and fat. I also have salad with just about everything I eat, so the full fat dressings are a good addition.

You might also want to think about full fat unflavored yogurt. Apparently, the active cultures eat most of the carbs (there are a couple of threads on this), so no matter what the package says, it has 4 g of carbs per cup.

Good luck and you are doing just fine!

Paleoanth

Congrats on your loss of weight. I two lost for a couple of weeks in the beginning and then nothing. I two lost inches but no pounds for three weeks and was only doing 20 carbs p/day. Upon advice from the forum members I added carbs by five(I had convinced myself because their was no loss I had to stay at 20C) and guess what there was a change in the scale 2lbs the first week and 3 the next. I am now up to 30carbs, blew it last weekend by going to the Big City and miss behaving. But not dwelling on it and kept at 30 this week. I have lost 15lbs since 01/02/03. Boy there has been times in those weeks where giving up would have been easier than waiting for the scale to move. One member said your best to get rid of your scale and use your tape, it truly is your friend. Its not easy but the results will happen.

Loribell

I would rather see the inches go away than the pounds because I truly don't care how much I weigh, I care about what size I am.

I just was beginning to think that I was doing something wrong because my husband just keeps losing so fast. Yes, I KNOW men lose faster and that is just the way it is, I don't have to like it though ;)

I just needed some reassurance. Thanks y'all for providing it for me.

I weighed in this morning and I dropped 1 pound last week. That is at least a loss, right?

Okay, I am starting a new week and it's going to be great, I just know it.

Thanks :)

KDJ

You are also going to find that you will have whooshes in weight loss. You might be the same for days, weeks... then whoosh.... 8 lbs. loss "overnight."

We call her the whoosh fairy, and here's hoping she visits you soon. ;)

Keep up the great work!!

Hiya KD!!

Congrats on the loss so far!! Great job!! :D

I was not losing for about 2 months and was sticking right to the plan. I found that upping my fat intake and upping my fiber started the ball rolling again!!

I was sticking to lots of salad. Then I switched it up and started eating brussle sprouts or spinach or broccoli and loading the butter on it. Woolah, it worked!!

I keep saying you need to stick to the plan BUT you also have to fine tune it for your bodies needs.

Make some chicken salad or tuna and use the mayo. A GREAT source of fat!! Today I learned the avacado will do the same trick. I think I may buy one or two!! :)

Keep on keeping on, that scale will start moving and those inches will always follow suit!! :D

Okay, I love avocado. I don't want to stop with a half one though. I'm going to work on increasing my fat consumption (it's still difficult to get my brain around that after so many years of lowfat).

I will await the arrival of the "whoosh fairy" with great anticipation too :D

Wow, you're doing great! That's a lot of weight to lose in a month! I heard that your body needs time to adjust to the weight loss, but once it gets used to it, it will start going down again. Don't sweat it, sure and steady!

Thanks for the encouragement, Yaseruzo~!

So this is a common occurence? A large loss the first few weeks then a stall? That makes me feel better, to know that.

I'm right there with you!! gggrrrrrr This is the 6th day in a row that the scale has not moved AT ALL!! I always want to cry as soon as I get off. I am working so hard-not cheating AT ALL, cooking and/or preparing 3 meals/day (which is a lot of time in the kitchen for me), I just joined Curves so now I'm exercising. I am fighting the feeling, "what's the point in all this hard work if it's not going to pay off". I'm really getting down. :(


BTW, I lost 15.5 pounds in around 3 weeks, and now nada. It's going to be a bad day. It's Saturday, supposed to rain, and I will have a hard time not tearing the house apart to look for food no-nos. :tears:

YES!! This is a very common occurance. Think about it...you just dropped nearly 20 pounds in a matter of weeks. This is quite a shock to your body and it's putting on the breaks until it can be reassured that everything is okay. That can take a few weeks, but if you're patient and keep giving your body the protein, fats and calories that it needs to know that a famine hasn't struck, you will be rewarded with more pounds gone. WE may want that fat gone, but our body doesn't know that. It's thinking "Whoa! Why are my fat stores being used up so quickly??"
While we all love the quick losses, it's neither realistic or healthy to expect or try to force it to continue at that pace. As hard and frustrating it is be patient, slower is better. :)
Average weight loss during induction is about 10% of what you need to lose and then about 5% of what you still need to lose each month after that. I'd say you're doing great with already losing 20% of your goal. :thup:

did you...
 

did you gain all that weight in 10 or 15# increments? Mine sure snuck up on me - a pound here, another few sliding in my mouth to settle around my middle, the next week some riding in on a glazed donut... and then we expect them all to exit immediately because we alter the fuel source! HMMMM! :D I am working to celebrating my losses as they come and keep reminding myself that each day I am feeling soooo much better and regaining my life! I agree with adding in some additional fats - making a graph so you remember that this is a long journey not an instantaneous process - and enjoying the ride! I had been stalled and suddenly found that the bit of salsa/mayo was a great dip for chicken , as a salad dressing, a veggie dip etc. I also added the L-carnitine and the COQ-10 to my vitamin stash and had my first long awaited whoosh - dropping 3 # overnight.

Hang with the program - try an new recipe , take a nice walk -
and be at Peace knowing that you will make it.

Jan

hi there! i haven't posted for a while, as i was on a break from the diet during pregnancy, but i can tell you one thing i learned from the past: you will hit platues (that is an incorrect spelling, but i'm tired!) more than once. a true stall is no loss in weight or size. i had three in 8 months of the diet, one lasting almost a month. however, i lost almost 40 pounds over the same 8 month time period, so it evened out!

make sure you are not cheating, you can fool your mind, but not the body!
drink drink drink H2O
read about food allergies/intolerances
read about foods that are common in making people stall
have faith - you'll be a "loser" again! hahaha

mb