HI! I have been on Atkins for 7 months and my story has been a rollercoster but a kiddie one! I began at 127 lbs. and want to get to 112 lbs. I am at 120/119 lbs.(not sure, crappy scale). I have rarely broken the diet, I am the best in my family (we all went on it except my 3 year old son). My hubby has lost 32 lbs. and he's looking GOOD!

I know my weight loss will be slower because I only want to loose 15 lbs. but I am an almost and need some quick advice. I have not been turning the sticks purple or even pink for months. I feel like I have stopped loosing and gained two lbs. a few months back since I was 118 lbs.
Please tell me if the following things are killing my efforts:
1. I eat 3-4 sticks of sugarless trident gum a day.
2. I have a paper-plate-full of whipped cream (mix white & chocolate flavors) as dessert at night. The spray(?) bottle says no carbs or <1 carb.
3. I have 3 sodas, now diet RC -before diet coke, per day.
4. I will have 2 cups worth of watermelon pieces now and then.

And besides this all I eat is red meat, chicken, lettuce, avocados, salad dressing (full fat), hot dogs, ceasar salads, cheese (no carb or low carb) and pork skins.

Any opinions on the 4 above items would be appreciated. I want to loose at least 5 lbs. by August 30....going on a caribean cruise!
PLEASE, some opinions from the experts would help me. I do walk 3 miles 3 times a week and my carb count varies from 15-30 carbs./day.

all whipped-creamed out,
VV

VV,

Glad to hear this is a "family" WOE. Well from what you've mentioned, all I can see is your intake of artificial sweeteners. Aspertame is one and it's been known to stall people. You might switch to something that uses "splenda" instead.

Keep the gum and lose the plate full of whipped cream. Gum comes in sticks/pieces.. whipped cream doesnt. When a label says "<1g" on it.. it's probably 0.9g. I always round up to 1g to be safe. Then measuring 2tbsp of whipped cream.. yeah right. lose the whipped cream.

About the soda. Dr Pepper/7up makes "diet rite" with splenda. No caffine and No sodium. U might try this for a cola substitute. It's cheap (.99 per 2ltr) and tastes ok. I'm curious about your water intake though. Are you drinking 10x 8oz glasses or more per day? The more the better when it comes to water (up to a gallon).

You don't have far to go on your lbs. Im sure if you try these suggestions and toss in a little exercise, you'll be good to go for your cruise.

Good luck

Pork rinds did me in, when I looked at the difference between what I consider a serving and what the bag thought.

If you're not at or less than 10x your weight, or maybe 12x, you're not going to lose. Atkins lets me hold steady with more "fudge" room, but I know I have to come to terms with total intake, in addition to carb counting.

Hi! The only thing that raises an eyebrow with me is the watermelon. Two cups of watermelon balls has 22g of carbs and less than 2 g fiber.

The whipped cream *could* be doing it, partially because of labelling laws. If there's 0.99 g of carbs, they can still say 0. And that's only for one serving, which is probably two tablespoons.

If you buy your own whipping cream, you can control the carb content better. You can sweeten it with a little splenda. You'll probably save some money, too.

I don't have much advice beyond that, because you're already in the healthy weight range for your height. There's no easy way to get yourself to the low end of that range, except to really crack the whip on yourself, so to speak. You could try a really hard core induction - no whipped cream, no processed meats, and try to keep everything very plain. But it wouldn't be fun and wouldn't necessarily work.

Best of luck and enjoy your cruise!

Hey Thanks to All Of You! I know what you mean Kristine about saving some money on the whipped cream cans! wow, the darned things run between $2 - $3 a pop! I will try to make my own or just limit myself to a couple tablespoons.

I should add that I am very proud to be "coffee-free" for 4 days now (the headaches were HORRIBLE and I fell asleep at work a few....THOUSAND times... :lol AND I am in a crusade to stop in-taking aspartame. I quit diet coke and have found diet RC which is made with Splenda. The only problem with it is the caffeine but I will look for diet rite --thanks for the tip Coolcat!

I now reasize that the portion of watermelon is too big, will cut back to maybe 2 squares. How about strawberries, how bad are they? I miss fruits.
Anyway, thanks SO MUCH for the help. I will follow the advice.
Good luck to y'all too!