Body break around 4th week of Induction?
 

Hello all,

I apologize for the repetition if you have already read one of my posts...

But I celebrate my 4 week anniversary on Atkins induction next Tuesday. So far I have lost 15 lbs!

anyway...

My loss was running about 4.5 lbs per week but this last week I've lost ONE pound. I've read a lot of things about the body recuperating after a loss.. I'm kind of wondering if this could be why I've slowed.

There is also the issue that I had locarb tortillas twice last week. Totally forgetting grain is a no-no on induction. I *do* eat 3 advantage bars per week (spaced out) and an atkins shake most mornings with bacon/sausage/what have you. I measure my veggies and you'd better believe I get all 3 cups. lol

I eat 3 square meals and one snack. I also usally have 1-2 diet rite's per day and count them in my daily carb totals.

I do 30-40 mins cardio (biking/walking) in the mornings 3-5 days a week, plus strength training on those days.

I'm really trying to not become totally discouraged... but this last week has not been as "successful" as the previous weeks and I'm the type of person who takes this kind of thing hard. I hate doing well and then suddenly I'm not. Even though my habits haven't changed. Except for the tortillas. lol

I am still in ketosis... no bother there. I have been TOM all week (got one of those sudden detox buddies some of you have posted about) and part of last week... although I was still losing last week and now I'm not.

I do my measurements on Sunday evenings (because that's when I did my very first ones 4 weeks ago), and I guess I'll look for progress there.

But I kind of need some encouragement/support here. I don't want to fall off this bandwagon. I am really enjoying the less moody me... and I want to continue losing weight. Any possible explanation of why I didn't lose anything this week would be helpful...

ugh.

Meagan

Dear tekunoroji,

This is not a diet. it's a way of eating for life. You can't afford to get hung up on the loss for one week. Weeks will come when you even seem to gain - what are you going to do then?

I don't know why you are worried about locarb tortillas last week. Induction is supposed to be for two weeks and this was your week three?

A lot of the weight you lose at the beginning is just water. Also you are (and good for you) doing excercise - you could be putting on muscle.

I notice you've been in TOM. This seems to make women retain water (nad hence weight) so you shouldn't worry too much.

Everything will be fine in the long run.

Good luck,

Robert

P.S. I've been low carbing for nearly 2 years - there are many other health benefits apart from the weight loss.

I agree with all the things Robert said. Plus I wanted to add that because this is a way of eating and not a diet - you will definately not lose weight each day or even week. There may be some times you may go a month or more without losing. Does this mean you've failed? Or course not! It is perfectly normal.

If you are feeling better, less moody then keep with it, the weight loss will come, maybe not in the time frame you have laid out in your mind, but it will come. Meanwhile, enjoy the better feeling you!

Induction can last as long as you are not bored and feeling well. It's all over the Atkins site and in the books, too. I haven't moved onto OWL because I would rather keep eating the way I am and lose the weight more rapidly. There is an article on atkins.com about whether you're ready to move off of induction yet. I read it, and I'm not. My goal is 175, and when I hit it I'll go on OWL for another 5-10 lbs, then maintenance. I will indulge on something every so often... but my life is never going to return to the carb binge. I've made a life change. This is no "diet" to me.

I'm not getting hung up to badly at this point. I just know there are a lot of knowledgeable, supportive folks in this forum and I wanted some input. I realize it's a WOL, not a crash diet. Believe me, I am not that type of person to go for that type of thing as it is. I actually LIKE the way I am eating. I have never eaten so good. It feels liberating not to care about snacking on chemical-filled candies and chips all day.

I was just high on my early successes and was wondering why I might have slowed this week. I've taken into account that my measurements might reflect a lot, and even the atkins products I've munched on. I just wanted to know what *you* guys think might be the culprit.

I've taken the muscle gain into account as well. I guess it just seemed wierd that all of a sudden no weight was going anywhere. I've been working out for four weeks... why hasn't this done something to my weight before? And I thought the water weight was usually only in the first week or so (which I can account for since I lost 4lbs overnight in the first week! lol).

anyway, thanks for your input and support! :D

- Meagan

Hi Meagan,

I'm very impatient to lose my weight, too, so I understand how you feel. Many people seem to experience a slow down in weeks 3 and 4. I certainly did. In fact, mine started at the end of Induction.

I lost 14.5 lbs during the first 11 or so days, then I gained back two! So my official loss during Induction was 12.5 lbs. I was a pretty happy camper thinking I'd lose at that rate continually. HA!

Week 3, I GAINED .5 lb, but then the next week (4) dropped 4.5! Subsequent weeks were -.5, -2, -3, and this week I've been yoyoing up and down.

I'm slowly learning patience. You have to stay focused on the big picture. Day by day, the ups and downs really frustrated me, but when I take stock, I realize I've lost 22.5 lbs in 7 weeks! My fitday weight graph looks like an EKG, but the general trend is downward.

Don't let the day to day fluctuations, and the multi-day plauteaus get to you because they are inevitable! Just hang in there and you will soon gain confidence as you see this WOE truly does work. And don't forget, even though some people have been stalled for weeks, they continue to lose inches.

After all, what's the alternative? Even a slow loss on Atkins is better than the steady gains many of us experienced with our old ways of eating.

You can do this!! :thup:

Good for you! In fact, realizing that is the hardest part!
I only stopped by to confirm what Kaillean said - she is absolutely right and I hope this helped you. After all - we need support from real people, right?
Please, check out my link about weight roller coaster here below - this is how it goes, this is how it's supposed to go and we can do NOTHING about it.
Visit my journal (page 13) and see how inches loss can "compensate" for weight loss.
Nobody will actually SEE how much I weight, what they will see and what matters to me is that I AM SMALLER.
Best of luck! :wave:
Alina

I'm just REALLY hoping that my measurements will have something to show in comparison to the ones I did 2 weeks ago. I guess I just wasn't prepared for this. When you are losing 4.5 lbs per week for 3 weeks, you don't think it's going to just stop! lol

I even half-expected to wake up this morning and see it go down. Nope. Still 190. Won't budge.

I've been racking my brain to see if there was anything that I've done differently, even though I really believe it's just a "break" after the weight loss. After all I just lost about 50% of the excess weight in 3 weeks. I could totally see my body needing to recuperate. :D

The workout room here at my apartment complex has been closed. I've only worked out every other day instead of daily this week. That might be it. Or the tortillas. Or even the bars/shakes, though they didn't give me trouble before.

I made a plan, sort of. If I don't see any measurement changes today... and no weight has dropped in 3 days, I am cutting the bars/shakes just to see if that could be it.

I realize a pound in a week is not a stall. But I've heard so many people having trouble with those damn bars! lol

Anyway, thanks for all of your support. This is what I needed. I'm going to hang in there!

Wish me luck on the measurements!

- Meagan

Really...it's perfectly normal for your body to take pauses in weight loss especially when you've been losing that rapidly. There is no way that a body can keep losing weight at that pace for long. Experts consider healthy weight loss to be between 1 and 2 pounds per week. There will be weeks, maybe a couple in a row, where you may lose nothing at all or even appear to gain a few pounds (water retention) even if you have changed nothing about the way you eat. The only thing you can do is stick with it and be patient. Trying to force your body to lose weight faster than it's ready to will only get you frustrated and make you feel cruddy in the process.
Personally, I'm all in favor of getting rid of the scale and focusing instead on how you look and feel. That's what really matters in the long run, not a number.

thanks for your advice, Lisa.

I guess my main concern is that I barely lost any inches and I really don't look like I lost any more weight. I don't think it was just the scale deceiving me. There were a number of things that could be causing this. My first instinct tells me my bod is recuperating. My second tells me it was the tortillas. My third says it was the fact that I worked out about 40% less than I did in the previous weeks. And hell it could even be a sudden sugar alcohol sensitivity or my TOM.

I guess I'm frustrated because I don't *know* what caused me to slow down so much this week. I have been giving myself scoldings for complaining when there are people who lost ZIP this week, or during induction, PERIOD. :) On the other hand I have given myself pep talks, reminding me that this happens and I shouldn't be upset since I've lost fifty percent of the weight I wanted to lose already!

Ugh... I'll just shut up now. :daze:

Meagan

Actually, Meagan, considering that you started out wanting to lose 30 pounds, your progress so far is phenomenal. Generally, the less you have to lose, the slower it will come off.
Average weight loss on induction is about 10% of what you need to lose and about 5% of what you need to lose each month after that, so you are far ahead of average at this point already.
My vote for what's going on would be that your body is taking a very natural break to make sure that there isn't something wrong before it starts letting go of those fat stores again. Hold tight for another week or two and don't change anything. Tinkering at this point could just confuse your body more or serve to convince it that "something" is wrong and slow things down even more.
Most importantly, try not to stress about it. Stress can be a staller in an of itself.
Patience and persistence....the name of the game in weight loss. :)

If you are still losing weight AT ALL, you should definitely not be discouraged! Come on! You're doing fantastically!!!

I know, I feel like I am being silly sometimes. But..gosh... no budge in the last 6 days. That's just odd to me, I guess. Even though I know it's not. I soooo feel like throwing a fit. lol :rolleyes:

But I did lose SOME inches so I need to just shutup.

Perhaps this will teach me the one virtue I totally lack: patience!

thanks again, everyone!

Meagan

Well, I THINK my body has just figured out we're not starving! I was sticking around 190, so when I was 189 yesterday morning I didn't get excited. But today the scale says 188! I'm trying not to be a slave and I totally half expect it to go back up tomorrow or something else wierd...

but... well...

YAY!!!! :D

I haven't gotten down to 188 yet. So this is a new low. Even if only for a day. lol