Hi, I have joined the group for some help and information if possible.

I decided to try a very low carb diet in an attempt to lose weight around 6 weeks ago. Everything started out ok - I lost 3 pounds in the first week and 2 more the second week but since then nothing. I started at 227 pounds which was 28 pounds overweight (before I had a belly and man boobs,) but now 6 weeks later I have stayed at 220 pounds give or take a pound fluctuation here and there.

The thing is - I eat hardly anything! Mon - Thurs I eat one meal a day and that is a green salad with a tin (120grams) of tuna and that's it! On a Friday I have a light lunch and then the salad and tuna again. On a Saturday I have one meal in the evening, a curry and a small amount of bread. On Sunday I have a roast lunch i.e. beef, potatoes, veg etc. and no other meal.

I've been doing this for 6 weeks and my weight hasn't dropped for the last 4 weeks at all. To further my frustration I play (English) football 4 times a week which is vigorous exercise.

So my problem would seem to be that I have a drink every evening - I drink gin with slimline tonic, I'll have about 5 large ones every night. So that must be where my body is getting its calories from but there are no carbs in gin and tonic. But from what I read I should still lose weight on a low carb diet - which is in fact almost a zero carb diet for 5 days a week. I got some of those Ketostix and they register just above zero (trace on the chart.) So I am at my wits end, I decided I'd had enough today and drove to the shop to get something nice to eat but then turned round and came back home to give it one last try.

Can anyone suggest any changes that may help me?

Hello, and welcome! I can see a few areas in what you posted that might be holding you back.

First, have you thought about adhering to one plan to get started? I started with Atkins but as you can see there are several low carb plans you could follow to learn the ropes.

Second, on your LC days it seems you are hardly eating any food at all. Why is that?

On your non-LC days...Why do you have non-LC days? If you stay LC all the time (no bread, potatoes, etc.) your cravings for non-LC foods are diminished. You can also achieve and stay in ketosis, which for many is an appetite suppressant but more importantly, it accelerates your weight loss.

Alcohol - I had to give up alcohol to lose weight. That doesn't mean I won't ever have a drink again in my life, only that it held me back SEVERELY from reaching any of my goals. There may not be carbs in your drink but besides contributing empty calories, drinking alcohol interferes with how your body metabolizes everything you've eaten that night as well. It may also be making you more prone to off-plan snacking, or maybe that was just me.

You've lost seven pounds of the 28 you wanted to lose; put another way that's 25% of your goal, which is pretty great for six weeks! But I think you could be doing better - and more importantly, I think you could be more satisfied with how you're eating - if you make a few changes.

Just my opinion and your mileage may vary. I wish you luck on your journey!

If you starve yourself your body will respond by lowering your metabolism. It just isn't helpful at all.

The booze isn't helping either. It will knock you out of ketosis. Do you really need to have a drink every day? How about doing it one night a week instead?

Also, keep track of your size. Get a tape measure. Maybe you're shrinking but the scale isn't showing it.

Just something I've noticed during my years here is that guys in particular go to crazy extremes. All or nothing. They don't just exercise, they practically kill themselves with it. They don't diet, they starve themselves. They don't go low carb, they go zero carb. Then eventually the craziness subsides and they flop over to doing nothing.

It is a good thing to find sustainability when you want to achieve something. Be prepared to experiment and change and don't just throw in the towel when something doesn't work as quickly as you'd like it to.

Hi, thanks for your replies - yes I appreciate that my diet may seem quite strict but I find it sustainable and easy to stick to (compared to a low calorie one,) so therefore it's good for me apart from it isn't working!

So alcohol even with no carbs will stop ketosis then? That's interesting.

Apart from the good advice you've received in previous posts, I think you are not being a purist on a low carb health fat diet. Alcohol has sugars. No booze on this woe, especially not daily. Alcohol is sugar in the bloodstream ... with or without mix.

Secondly, you can (and should) eat on this woe. Especially a man at your current weight. You will lose a lot faster if you eat pure low-carb healthy fat.

I suggest you read one of the Atkin's book slowly and carefully from front to back and keep it by your bedside or a copy at work or in your car. So that all of your grocery shopping choices, and meal planning, is dictated by the instructive information about low-carb healthy fat way of eating.
You can also read to your hearts content in the research section on this website. Pop into a few journals to see how people eat.

And give up the booze, my brother. It's a total killer in your system for weight loss. That's my opinion. Good luck to you.

You can cut back on calories all you want, and what is typically accomplished is that your metabolism slows down to protect its energy stores. You need to eat! As others have stated, I'd start with a plan, there are many available on this site, and start ditching what many know won't work. Your weekly roast with potatoes? Curry and bread? You're not low carb. You're just starving yourself. I'd ditch the alcohol as well for 30 days and go on a true low carb eating plan to see what happens. The initial weight you lost was typically water and then your metabolism adjusted by slowing down and stopping further weight loss. Your diet is not strict, it's just not grounded in any successful approach. Good luck with this, and let us know how you make out.

GreekRibs, gin has zero sugar in it that's why I drink it.

GRB5111 - yes curry with bread once a week a Sunday roast with carbs - those are my only carb intakes in a whole week. So is that still too much?

Jason - read one of the books or follow one of the low carb plans recommended on this site. If you're insulin resistant, carbs like bread and potatoes will cause problems. Try the recommendations on this thread for 30 days, no deviations, and see if you respond positively. Make sure that one of the key recommendations is to follow a low carb plan. Here's a good source:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/

All the best!

Thanks - I will take a look. If it's the gin that's causing the probs I might have to find another diet

Fair enough. Can you drink it straight with no mix?Trust me, flavored vodka/water and Dutch beer are my favorite drinks. But I save them for once, maybe twice, per year. Hoping you find something that helps you reach goal

If you like gin so much that you can't stop drinking it every day then maybe you should consider your dependency on it. Also, your moobs are likely a product of your drinking: https://www.practo.com/healthfeed/d...reast-3665/post

Five servings of alcohol every day is too much. If you can't cut back to one a day or one a week, you've got a problem.

It also looks like you're eating a low fat diet. That doesn't work with low carb - you need good fats, which come with the food you eat: fatty meats, salmon, eggs, bacon, homemade salad dressings with olive oil (they're easy to make), and so on.

Yes, I too think 10+ units of alcohol every night would pretty much stop fat loss for me for sure. Especially combined with very low food intake and regular vigorous exercise. (I'm assuming "5 big drinks" is more than one precisely-measured shot per each drink)

The body has to process alcohol even before burning fat. One of the low carb writers, I forget who, calls carbs and alcohol the "metabolic bullies" who just take over and dominate whenever they get in groups. ha.

Also, you need a functioning liver to do low carb, and if you have fatty liver disease from the alcohol, that would not help.

So yah, you asked, and in your shoes I would eat more and have way less alcohol. Maybe the Drinking Man's diet. and if not ready to take a break from the drinking, find a way to enjoy less of it with some days off. I used to drink over the limits of moderation too, so I know what that would take.

Your choice. I vote no confidence on keeping that level of drinking and also fixing your metabolic challenges, no matter what your next plan is.

I always love it when someone comes here asking for advice on how to continue doing everything the same way yet have different results.

It isn't the booze that is at fault, it is the diet!

I wanna eat cake and lose weight too!!! but reality says I can't if I want to lose weight.

Jason, 5 drinks a day is VERY excessive, I'd be surprised if you could lose weight having 1 per day, especially since you're relatively close, percentage wise to your ideal weight.