Hi Rita, thank you so much for your nice compliment, I really appreciate it! You should start a journal too, it really keeps one on track. I don’t write in mine as much as I like these days, been very busy in my life, but I try when I ever get a break to come read the messages.
First of all....4 pounds is a wonderful loss, you should be happy! Its better than gaining, right???? Everyone will lose at a different rates, don't compare your loss to someone else's loss.... and yes it will be frustrating as hell at certain times during your journey, because that darn scale aint moving the way you want it to. If you follow this WOE to a "T" and exercise for LIFE you will get the benefits, just have patience with yourself. I know it’s a little overwhelming at first when starting as there are so many things to learn about this new WOE, what you should have, what you shouldn’t have, how come this person can eat that and I can’t, etc, etc......But in time, you will find your own balance to suit your own body. Just don’t let yourself get frustrated, because that will only get you down, and when your down, you’ll give up. So hang in there girl! You can do. Just give it time.
When I first started on Atkins, I lost 11 pounds in 2 weeks, but you have to remember, people with more weight to lose will lose faster, and most of that was just water anyways, the major fat loss came later......During induction I kept it very simple, ate no process foods, no low carb products such as shakes, bars, etc. I went out and bought a huge turkey and beef roast and carved it up into individual containers and basically lived on that for the two weeks of induction, as well as my daily toss salads and olive oil. I was no happy camper let me tell you during those two weeks, but I came through just like millions of other people.
I really can’t say what foods I ate when I lost the most. I’ve been doing this since last March 2001, its been over a year now. I had a little backslide last September and I gained 20 pounds back, but since November I’ve been on a steady roll. I had maybe one period that lasted only 3 weeks just around the time I was 200 pounds, that I didn’t lose anything, so I can’t really call it a stall.......I pretty well lose 1-2 pounds a week on average, I eat approximately 30-40 gm of carbs a day on the OWL phase. I also exercise on a daily basis too. I know things will slow down once I get closer to goal, but that’s expected, and Im not going to worry about, since I’m in this for life.
If you go back to my journal, closer to the beginning, I had recorded my daily menus, that will give some idea what I eat.
The biggest tip I can give you, is don’t view this as a fast/fad diet, view it as a life change, it took me the second time around to realize this. At first I just wanted to shed the pounds fast, get the weight off and go back eating normally (bonk on the head)
............now I view it as a permanent change in eating for life. And another biggy, don’t let yourself get bored, some people like to stay on induction till they get to goal, but this is another reason I fell off it too the last time. I was bored of the same old foods everyday. Now I experiment with all the wonderful recipes out there, I plan and prepare ahead everyday on what Im going to eat and I always have some kind of protein meat in the fridge for emergencies as well.
Your best bet is to start a journal, and write down everything you put in your mouth, including your carb count, how you felt that day and don’t let yourself go crazy with that scale of yours, put it away and weight yourself once a week.....if your going to weigh everyday, do it only once in the morning after your pee......if you don’t lose that day, remember the fluctuations of water, this is normal. ....and make sure you take your measurements too. Even though the scale doesn’t show it, it will on the tape measurer.
You’ve come to a wonderful Low Carb place for support, there are a lot of wonderful folks here. Keep us posted and good luck on your journey!
Christine