It's not uncommon around the forum to see members writing and asking questions about how to break through on a stall. The first thing that needs to be determined is whether or not there is a genuine stall happening. Dr Atkins in the latest edition of DANDR says:
Quote:
If a pause in weight loss is a genuine plateau, I require that it meet the following criteria:
- You have experienced no weight loss or loss of inches for at least four weeks.
-You have not started a new medication, such as hormone therapy, altered your exercise regimen or made any other significant lifestyle change.
-You can take a close look at your eating habits and honestly say that you've adheared to the same healthy, controlled carbohydrate eating plan that has brought you success up to now.
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For the majority of us, I suspect that the last criteria is the one that we'll have difficulty saying a resounding YES to. The best way (IMHO) of establishing this is to post daily menus in our journals. You may believe that you are following your LC plan to a "T" but an objective observer may be able to spot something that is the source of your difficulties.
Here are some of the questions you could be asking yourself:
l. Am I eating at least 10-12X my weight in calories?
2. Am I checking and recording all of the carbs I'm eating and eating at least 20g/day?
3. Is there any one (or even several) foods that I'm addicted to or in the habit of eating, even though they are LC Foods?
4. Am I using A/S (artificial sweeteners)?
5. Am I using caffeine? (If not in coffee, in soda pop?)
6. Am I eating the same foods day in day out?
7. Am I eating regularly - at least three meals a day or more and starting the day with a hearty breakfast?
8. Am I drinking adequate quantities of water?
9. Am I using LC versions of High Carb foods?
10. Am I eating foods on the list of "Foods Known to Cause Stalls?" (see:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=27149 )
Hopefully your answers to these questions will help you define whether you are experiencing a stall or whether your body is simply taking a completely normal pause in weight loss.
Marlaine