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Dead in the water

I have been on Atkins for four months. I lost 16 lbs the first 6 weeks and have lost absolutely zilch since then! I am still on the induction phase. The only thing variation is that I do eat some macadamia nuts and have an occasional snack bar. My daily carb count rarely exceeds 12 - 14, yet I do not go into ketosis. I'm really discouraged, yet I feel good, but I have a really special occasion August 1 (my 50th wedding celebration) and I want to be in a size 10 by then! Should I stay on Atkins or what? Any suggestions would really be appreciated.

Hi meganana! :wave:

I would suggest that you post your meal plans here so that others can point out possible culprits for the standstill. There are many things that can cause a person to stall or plateau.

Induction tells us to keep carbs under 20g, but less is not always better. Many have seen results by increasing calorie intake with fat, while keeping carbs around 20g. More fat...more loss...imagine that!

Tracking counts is easy if you use fitday.com. It's worth the browse around. Many try to keep fat at 70%, protein at 25% and carbs at 5% and find that it works.

Browse around the forum, especially the turtles club and there is a wealth of information from people who are slow-losers and have overcome stalls.

Best of luck!

KC :roll:

I think the nuts may be a staller for you. Also if the snack bars you are eating are the LC bars they may have hidden carbs that are much more than the 3 or 4 that they claim to be (up to 20 in some cases!!!) Try putting the values into the Hidden Carb Inspector that I have put a link to here. It will tell you how many carbs the bar really has. The manufacturers are not required to add sugar alcohols into the carb counts because not everyone is sensitive to them (others are VERY sensitive).

Also- 12-14 carbs isn't enough. Dr. Atkins says 20 for a reason. You body does need some fuel to function properly. Many of us (myself included) lose better with MORE carbs, believe it or not.

Don't be discouraged. This plan worked for you in the beginning and there is no reason that it won't work for you now if you tweak it to work with your body's sensitivities.

One more thing...don't be too concerned about going into ketosis. Not all plans require ketosis and some even discourage it. Many people don't excrete enough ketones to be measured especially if they drink lots of water.

You may just be in an extremely long stall and your body will let go when it is ready.

Good luck!!!

Not to rain on the parade, but...

I have to toss my two pfennigs into the hat here.

I honestly don't think that being in a size 10 by August is a realistic goal.

I found out for myself that setting a "time limit" to weight loss was a Very Bad Idea. Sure, we all want it to happen Soon If Not Right Now, but.... you know what happens, right? It doesn't go away as fast as we'd like. That's when we start to feel discouraged, and we forget what good things we *have* accomplished, and we give up. Or at least think about it.

You've gotten some good advice here, Nana. I'd add to it this little tidbit: Think about how much better you feel, not about how much more you want to lose. Focus on the positive aspects of what this WOL has done for you, not on how far you still have to go. Yes, it would be lovely to be in that size 10 for your golden anniversary. (Congratulations, by the by, on that milestone! My parents celebrated theirs last June--I was wearing a 16 then and am in a 12 now. :) ) However, while that *would* be nice, it would also be a crying shame (probably literally) for you to not enjoy being "queen for a day" simply because you're not in that magic size. Queen is a one-size-fits-all title, Nana--and you deserve it no matter *where* you are in this journey! :D

Thanks for the support

Thanks so much for all the support and great info! I checked all the websites mentioned and found them to be very helpful. However, I could not find the forum page on fitday.com. The hidden carb page revealed that I was eating more actual carbs than I thought.
Would it be possible to know what some of you eat in the course of a day?
Thanks again

Daily food intake stuff

Cruise through the "Journals", Nana, and you'll find entries including what we eat daily. I'll use mine as an example; you may need to go "back" a few days, though, because I've been just too busy the past couple of days to post my intake. Also be aware that we're on different plans; some of us are on Atkins, some on Protein Power LifePlan, some on SugarBusters!, and so on. Take that into account when you're reading. Also, know that we're all at different stages in the LC journey. Someone on induction (the beginning phase of Atkins, called "Intervention" in PPLP) will have significantly different entries from someone who's been "doing" Atkins for a longer time--and someone on PPLP will have very different entries than someone on Atkins, simply because the plans are different in their approach to LCing.

HTH....