Gaining weight on Atkins - Help
 

I have been on Atkins for two weeks and I have gained 5 pounds. I am following the induction to the letter. I went to Fitday and plugged in a typical menu. The totals were 65% fat, 30% proten and 5% carbs. The total # of carbs that I have is usually 18 or 19. I am drinking about 64-70 ounces of water a day. I am very upset. All I read about it people losing weight. Maybe I am just not meant to lose weight. I weigh 170 pounds, 44 years old, 5 foot 3 inches tall. Sorry I am being poor me. I just thought that this was the answer for me.

Can anyone help?
Thank you
Tami

Tamika...

it would help with making suggestions if you posted some daily menus and also gave your dieting history. If you are going from a diet that has been deficient in protein for a long time, it's not unusual to gain a bit of weight at the beginning as your body uses all the protein you eat to rebuild muslce and make much needed repairs. In other words, your body is healing itself before it will let go of any weight.
If you can provide some daily menus, I'm sure the folks around here can make suggestions for improvement if any is needed. You might be doing everything right and just need to be patient with your body while it goes through the healing process.
HTH!

You might want to try posting your menu here and see if we can help you find any problems. Some foods cause stalls with some people. I hate to see anyone this frustrated!

Paleoanth

Here is the menu
Breakfast
2 eggs
butter
decaf coffee w/splenda and 1/2 and 1/2

Lunch
tuna 5 oz
2 cups salad
3 tbs blue cheese
1 egg
ranch dressing

Dinner
6 oz hamburger fried
3/4 cup mushrooms
butter

2 sm coffees decaf with splenda and 1/2 and 1/2

Counting all carbs I have 18 carbs

I did lose weight the first week 2 1/2 pounds and now I have gained that back plus 5 pounds

Thanks for your help
Tami

Tamika,

I know how you feel, I did induction for 2 weeks (although I admit the first time I had wine each night so I screwed it up) and then another diet for 2 weeks and did not lose anything :mad: It used to be I would lose weight very quickly if I needed to and on any diet I went on. However I am now a few years older than you and think that the sad truth is that hormones have a lot to do with this weight gain/harder to lose issue that we women have to deal with. I refuse to believe that its impossible to lose weight or stay slim as we age, there are lots of women who are still attractive despite age. I think we just have to put more effort into it than when we were younger. Have you tried to include some cardio in your exercise routine, keeping your heart rate up for at 20-30 min a day will raise your metabolisim even when you are not exercising.
:wave:

Hi Tami
 

Another idea is that you might have a calorie problem. While many people on low carb don't need to count calories, some can benefit from doing so for a short while when first learning a new way of eating. Sorry I don't know how to put a link here but do a search on the word calorie and search for the word in topics only. A thread that will come at or near the top of the list today is "calorie count necessary" - - there is some great information in this thread.

If you're following Induction then 1/2 & 1/2 is definitely out. Cheese, cream, & butter are the only dairy permitted. Are you actually measuring serving sizes such as your Ranch dressing? You could be taking in more carbs than you think. Do you exercise at all? Are you keeping a food journal with everything you eat and drink daily? I write down everything, the amount of it, the carbs for that item. It helps me know exactly what I'm taking in. Serving sizes are important just like on other diets. If 1tbsp of Ranch has 1 or 2 g of carb (depending on brand) and you're using 2-4 tbsp of dressing, your carb count will be off. You may be eating more carbs than you realize. Don't be discouraged, you haven't stuck with it very long so give it a real chance by following Induction exactly to the letter. Good luck.
God Bless,
Amy-Lynne

Thank you for all your help

I did got to FitDay website and plug in all my food information with the exact amount of servings sizes and it gave me 18 carbs and 1423 calories for the menu that I had posted above. Sometimes I may overcount a carb but never undercount.

I guess that I misunderstood about the 1/2 and 1/2. Are you supposed to use heavy cream in your coffee then?

I have started walking a couple of days ago. I will not abandon the diet yet. I just am worried that I have gained 5 pounds. I thought that my pants were getting a little looser.

I had been using Atkins snack bars and stopped on Saturday and since then have gained more weight. I thought that the snack bars were the problem.

Thank you again for your help

Queston...
 

...what did your typical daily diet look like before you started low carbing?

OK-

I did some reading on these forums using Search: Weight AND Gain in topics only. These are some things to take into consideration:

You are not the only one that had this happen, fortunately or unfortunately! Several people seem to have gained weight on induction but stuck with it and the weight did come off! You are not alone in this. You are meant to lose weight and it will happen!

Salt intake is something to consider. Salt and salty foods will make you retain water and cause weight gain. Many foods have extra added salt. Are you bloated at all? To tell-take your finger and push on the top of your shin bone. Release your finger and if a pit or dip stays there, you are carrying extra fluids. The only way to get rid of that is get rid of salt and drink more water. I have one leg that stays bloated-stupid thyroid!

If you previously drank caffinated coffee or lots of chocolate- according to Schwartzbien (spelling?) ANY time you get rid of stimulants, you will gain weight until your body adjusts. This could just be your body getting used to your stimulate free life.

Make sure you weigh yourself at the same time every time you weigh. Weight can fluctuate wildly from day to day and from one part of the day to the next.

Have you measured yourself? I take measurements and trust those more than my weight. Scales are unreliable anyway. I notice that even if I don't lose inches in my waist, my wrist will be smaller. Go figure.

Finally, if you have been yo yo dieting or have a messed up metobolism from eating according to the old food pyramid, then you must let your body heal before you will really get the weight loss you want. As you continue to eat the lc way, you will be healthier, your metabolism will raise and your body will heal. The weight really will come off.

Paleoanth

I have always drank caffenated coffee so I just started to do the decaf coffee. I have tried to diet off and on, mostly slimfast and diet dinners in the past. Before I went on Atkins I tried the 10 day cleansing to start an herbal diet. I finished the cleansing but I seemed to bloat up with it so I stopped. My brother started Atkins with somewone at work so he got me started on it.
Between Thanksgiving and New Years I was very bad and ate everything in site. I hope that you are right about my body healing. I am aslo going out to get a better scale. I am not sure how accuate it is but it cannot be that far off.

Thank you for your help. Is there any idea of what too many calories is? Like I said previously the menu I posted had 1423 calories in it. It is hard to keep the calories down too low as you are told to have lots of fats with the diet.

I will keep with the diet. I just wish that I was not the percentage in the book that don't lose. I was so excited to read all the success stories of people.

Thank you
Tami

Tamika...

You've done some pretty harsh things to your body (Slim-fast, clensing, binging, etc...). You are going to need to give your body some time before it trusts that you aren't up to something else and is willing to relax and start letting go of those pounds. 1,400 calories a day is about the minimum I'd recommend you eat. You might actually lose better between 1,600 and 1,800 a day. What I usually recommend is at least 10-12 times your goal weight (that's a minimum, not a maximum). Sounds strange, but if your body isn't getting enough of what it needs, it will hang on to everything coming in.

Well, the way I'm going I don't have any advice, but I *do* sympathize with you. I'm two weeks into induction, which I'm following to the letter and I have lost a grand total of ZERO pounds. I haven't gained anything yet, but not losing anything is pretty much just as discouraging.

Maybe you lost a lot of water weight during the herbal cleanse and have now put that weight back on now that you're eating again??

I am definitely doing some research on why I seem to be one of the very few who don't lose easily on induction -- if I find anything I'll let you know!

Good luck!!

Replace the 1/2 & 1/2 with heavy cream. Some people also have a high "metabolic resistance", which you may have. For those with this problem, Dr. Atkins suggests the following supplements to help you overcome this problem: L-carnitine 500mg-3 times daily before meals- this helps ensure fat turns to fuel, and Co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10) 100mg daily- it helps mobilize fat and is good for heart health. Both of these can be easily found at a health food store, GNC, or often pharmacies in the vitamin section. Calcium supplements are also good in general, and recent studies show a calcium rich diet can aid in weight loss. Hope this helps you get past the problems you're having.
God Bless,
Amy-Lynne

Dr. Atkins writes that a small percentage of people will not lose on induction. He has a lot of information for these people in Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution and suggests ways of diagnosing various reasons -- yeast, low thyroid, etc. I would think that much of this probably applies to people who gain weight on Atkins. I don't want to summarize it all here because I will probably get something wrong. You might want to take a look at the book.

I am sorry you are having this problem.