What typically makes your body retain water while on Atkins? Also, how much water can someone of my size expect to retain if I've eaten/dranken something that is known to retain water?

Ovulation often causes people to temporarily hold on to 2-5 lbs of water.

Carbs & salt also cause water retention. I am very carb/salt sensitive so an extra 30g of carbs or twice the RDA of sodium causes me to gain 1-3 lbs overnight.

But it is just water & bodies like to be hydrated, so I don't worry about it anymore, mainly because I weigh daily and have figured out that 2-5 lb gains of water are "normal" for me. In the olden days, scale rises used to cause me to give up and binge, but now I am older & wiser, and getting rid of this fear of what is really water weight, not fat, has finally allowed me to maintain for 18 mos.

Hormones, too much sodium, exercising hard, being ill, eating too many carbs....even not drinking enough can make me retain at times.

For me:
-if I don't drink my cup of coffee in the morning (decaf)
-not getting enough sleep
-eating fish filets of any sort
-ketchup
-feta cheese
-too many variations in diet day to day

that's basically it...i generally find it easiest

What they said. Also, how much water your body retains is a personal variable. If your really worried about it- this is what i do, at least- drink traditional medicinal weightless tea when i feel bloated. It works but can be a bit strong. Diuretic teas are generally strong and many will tell you to stay away from them. A great natural diuretic is water with a lot of lemon juice in it (like 1/2 a lemon) and also the "cran water" from the fat flush plan (yeah, it's not atkins, but it works for water weight.)

For me... the teeny tiniest bit of gluten. I avoid that like the plague and drink a moderate amount of liquids (water, tea). I haven't felt "puffy" like I've felt (in the fingers, in the joints, or before PMS in the "girls") since figuring out I was gluten intolerant.

Drinking more water gets the retained water out.