Hi there,

Well I've been a bit of a lurker so this is my first post, so be gentle, I've been doing the Atkins diet for about 2 months, and I have to say it's been pretty bloody good have lost a few pounds, which is a good thing.
Anyway I've pretty much been just sticking with the induction diet. The only breaks I've had with it have been for the odd glass of wine or 5 and as it happens on the nights I have partacked I seem to loose a lot of weight when I get up the next day.
The problem I seem to have at the moment is I seem to have stopped loosing weight.
I have read about people stalling, why is this?
My normal diet seems to be breakfast, 4 slices of bacon, scrambled egg and a tomato, lunch would normally be a chicken kebab (but not the pita bread) and evening meal could be anything from a few cooked chops, or a few pieces of chicken, sometimes maybe a stir fry using beanshoots and some veg. For drinks I will have a few cups of tea, a few bottles of water
and some lemon squash.
Ok I know this is a long post for a short question, anyone got any pointers for me, on how I can break this stall.

Cheers

Mick

Hi there Mick

The losses we experience after having alcohol tend to be of the dehydration kind. Not always, but it is common. Often then weight comes back over the course of a few days, as you become rehydrated. I can attest to the fact that sometimes, when you were 'due' to lose the fat and you have some alcohol it does precipitate the event.

Stalling out is also common. The body likes to stay just the way it is and it spends a lot of energy trying to do this. It's interesting that we tend to gain the weight in this manner as well - however most of us aren't watching the scales that closely on the way up

Reading over your daily menu the first thing that comes to mind is that for 249 lbs it appears that you're not eating enough to sustain fat loss. Just as "more is not better" neither is "less" in this case. It sounds as though your metabolism needs a boost.

A few metabolism boosters include:

• Eating more frequent, smaller meals throughout the day. This will keep insulin and blood sugar stablized. The very act of eating and digesting keeps metabolism raised
• Exercising. This will also raise metabolism. Resistance exercise (weight lifting) will help preserve lean body mass, and even create more. Lean tissue is what burns body fat, even while you're sitting still.
• Drinking Green Tea. The polyphenols and catchins in green tea have been shown to have thermogenic properties that can raise metabolism by 4% over 24 hours. If you're adverse to the caffeine in the tea, green tea extract will do the same trick and it is virtually caffeine free (there are a few posts on this supplement in the Nutrition / Supplements forum)

Cheers,
Nat

Hi Mick,

I've only been LC'ing for three months, so I'm still learning, too.

One thing that may help you is to record everything you eat at Fitday. http://fitday.com That way you'll be able to see an overall picture, particularly the ratios between the fat/protein/carbs. They should be about 70%/25%/5%. You can also make Fitday public so that other LC'ers can take a look and give you some hints.

Also there are several threads about stalling in "Hot Links" here:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=28939

Hope this helps a little.

judy

Hi Mick

Nat and Judy have already given you some good advice. If you loose weight after drinking alcohol and it stays off, then it is indicative that you are not getting enough calories and probably could do with increasing the carbs a bit in your way of life.

I use Fitday a lot to keep track of my food intake. You should be eating at least 2,000 calories a day, probably nearer 2,500 depending upon your level of activity.

Your body needs time to adjust as you loose weight. You can only say that you have stalled if there is no change for at least 4 weeks. There are some members here who have to wait a lot longer than that for the scales to move. Weight loss is not linear and depends on other things like stress as well.

Keep the faith, eat sufficient, increase your carbs to around 30 g a day and see what happens. I'm surprised to find that I have lost more weight over the last 4 months since I have increased my carbs.

Every success.

Thanx for your prompt replies, i was hoping that i had discovered a new alcohol and kebab diet
I wil have to look at that fitday day site.
It's weird having to try eating more especially as i never really feel hungry, but i will give it a try.

Once again thanx for replying.

Mick