Not sure what is happening but I seemed to have hit a plateau. I started the diet in January and have gone from 330+ (not sure, the scale didn't go high enough) and now I'm at 280 and have been for a couple weeks. My daily diet is usually 4 oz cheese for breakfast, a couple of cans of tuna mixed with real mayo, mustard and relish for lunch and for dinner I'll have a couple steaks for a pound of hamburger fried up. Sometimes I'll switch up dinner and lunch and other times I'll substitute a salad for lunch. This is basically what I've been eating everyday since January. What can I do to get things kick started again, or are the plateaus a common thing you just have to wait out?

Also, throughout this diet I've been light headed alot and was wondering if anyone had any help with that.

It doesn't sound like you are eating enough calories. You should add up your caloric intake. You should be eating around 1600 cals and abotu 65-70% fat. Anyway, do you exercise? You are doing great since Jan....60 lbs!!!!! that's great!! maybe you body just needs a bit to get use to the smaller you!!!!

Hi,

you know, a couple of weeks or even 6 weeks break is normal. Your body will lose more whan it's ready for it. Do you eat any fresh vegetables (mandatory)? How about drinking water?
Sure you can try to tweak but honestly - this is working and you just need to keep on fighting. And be patient. I know how it sounds....
Take care

Alina

Hi Thanakar. I would watch the amount of sodium. It can mask weight loss by retaining water. You might want to cut back some on the amount of protein and see what happens. You've already lost 50 lbs. and your body may need less to continue losing.

Hi
Your body gets used to the same old same old, whether its calories or carbs or exercise, if we do it over and over again, we dont see much change unless we up and change our exercise, it will stop being effective after several months.
What I have found to be a gold key with the program is following the atkins menu- not just percentages and caloric formulas but exactly what he tells you to eat. Which is usually 6 ounces of protein at a time. I dont think there are calorie recommendations, but I could only lose eating 10 times my goal weight-I'd fluctuate calories up and down with that limit. Eating more in the morning is always helpful. But for me a tough one. Check out www.atkins.com menu section and see if you can accomodate some of the items and eat what they tell you to when they tell you to. i found that the worst weight loss plan is when you eat a large meal-your body can only do so much work, and one large meal will send all those extra calories to storage no matter how many you ate total during the day or whether or not you are in ketosis. Also do a search for the slow weight loss plateau FAQ on the atkins site, and see what tips are there.
Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies and it seems that I reluctantly must give up the Diet Coke. I'm quite addicted to the stuff even before I started the Atkins diet the first time (I'm a yo-yo, lost 60 gained 80, lost 60 again, gained another 80 back, now I'm back down). I usually drink anywhere from 6 to 12 cans of the stuff a day, so thats anywhere from 180 to 360 mg's of extra sodium a day! As to the exercise, I've not done any of that since I started but I did join a gym today so now I need to start going so my money doesn't go to waste! As to the fresh vegetables, I may see green during one meal a week, and that's when I substitute my normal routine for a salad. Once again thanks for all the replies and now I just need to do the necessary adjustments and things should start getting back on track.

I agree with a lot of what the others have said. You might not be getting enough calories and you probably aren't eating enough veggies. I know that it doesn't make sense, but sometimes you have to eat more to lose the weight.

Hi Thanakar!

I am in a similar situation to you after losing 50 lbs my weight loss has also hit some sort of wall. I thought it went down yesterday but back up again today to the same point I was at before.

To counteract this I am trying to exercise more to see if that helps, give it an extra boost. They say that is one way to help it!

Good luck to you I know we both can make it past this wall to our goal!

If you really like your cola, try switching from Diet Coke to Diet Rite. I really like the Diet Rite cola, and it's caffeine free, sodium free and made with Splenda instead of aspartame.

Also, it sounds like you do need to get some more veggies in - at least three cups a day (Atkins induction levels). Try some alfalfa sprouts with your meat or wrap some cheese around a pickle. Cream cheese or no-sugar-added peanut butter on some celery is great!