i've just been looking at some of the journals and was surprised to see most people weigh their portions of meat & cheese, i was under the impression you could eat as much meat and fat as you like. do you have to eat more protein than fat? and what is the ratio of fat, protein fibre etc i should be eating. I haven't got round to making my own dishes yet as i'm still trying to work out what i can and can't eat with ready made foods. I'm going to start a journal this week, but for an example of what i eat, yesterday for breakfast , a chicken leg with 10 button mushrooms, i went out for lunch, beef, turkey and generous helpings of brocoli and cauliflower cheese and one ladle of gravy, dinner, 3 eggs large chunk cheese (i dont weigh anything)and 2 slices of pork, and 7pints of water during day. last week i bought 10 tinsof 418grms princes pink salmon(buy one get one free)i was having a whole tin for dinner with lettuce 2or 3 spring onions 1 stick cellery 8 slices cucumber 1 cherry tomato, would that be too much?? although i've cut them out now i was also eating a 100g of low carb nuts or pork rind every night as a treat.i started diet 5wks ago lost 6lb first 2wks but have now gained a pound, i need to get this right as i'm desperate to lose a stone especially now summer is here and can't get into my clothes. I'm 5ft 6" and 11st 1oz. Is a cup of 8oz a half pint?
sorry its so long but feel a bit down about not losing the weight.
luv
sandy

As far as I can see there is nothing wrong with what you are eating. And you are drinking sufficient water. I often eat a whole tin of salmon with lettuce as my dinner.

The nuts could be a problem but you are aware of that and have already cut them out.

Have you tried using fitday.com? It is a very easy way to get percentages and exact calories you are consuming. You need to consume 10-12 times your body weight in calories.

Which of Dr Atkins books have you read?

The only other thought that occurs to me is exercise. AM Cardio is grrrrreat for speeding up metabolism. A visit to the Exercise Forum might prove useful. Body For Life is also becoming very popular among members.

Take care.

Hi Sandy

I hope that you have followed up Fiona's suggestion and plugged in what you are eating into Fitday.com. It is a really useful guide and if you look under activities you will see how many calories you need each day for your lifestyle. If you eat more than that you will not tend to loose weight - or that is what I have found. However, you need to eat at least as much as the basal metabolism otherwise your body will think famine is around the corner and conserve energy.

Your food intake sounds reasonable. A whole tin of salmon or tuna is quite normal with a salad.

Exercise can be key to losing weight as Plum has recently found after a long stall. Whilst it is not necessary to weight everything, you need to be aware of the calories for higher fat products so that you have a sensible portion.

In general I stick to between 25 and 30% kcals from protein, around 5% from carbs and the rest from fat.

Hope you see those scales move soon. In the meantime take your measurements. These often reduce even when the scales stay the same.

Every success.