Hey all,

I'm new to both Atkins and this forum (nice to meet you!), so bear with me if all this has been covered to death elsewhere. I'm happy to follow links to other threads, I just don't have time at the moment to go a-searchin'...

Anyway, what's happened is that after losing about 8-9 lbs in 4 days of mostly water weight, I haven't lost any weight at all. My test strips are coming out purple so evidently my body is burning fat, so why isn't the scale going down? Is it possible for Induction not to work? (I've been on it for about a week and a half.)

2nd question -- my mouth tastes like crayons. It is foul and I can't stand it, but I can't find sugarfree breath mints anywhere. Any suggestions?

3rd -- Heartburn. I get heartburn daily, although it is not so bad on Atkins as it is off. Still though, I cannot live in that much pain. Is there something besides sugar-laden Tums/Rolaids that can help this? (the pills prevent my stomach from making enough acid to digest my food so I end up with gawdawful gas and indigestion, therefore I avoid the pills)

4th -- aspartame and coffee. Are these really as bad as all that? I don't want to give up my morning cup-o-joe if I don't have to, and I drink a diet soda perhaps every other day.

That's it, thanks so much to anyone who cares to share their experiences. May I also say, it is VERY encouraging to see so many people having success with this! Congratulations and holy cow, I'm way impressed (and hopeful for myself!)

Hi Nittany,

Well, I think losing 8 or 9 pounds in a week and a half means your Induction is working very well indeed - well done! You won't lose large amounts daily. What happens is that the body just needs a little while to recover from such a large loss. All you need to do is carry on with the plan, and soon some more weight will go.

Have you measured yourself? It is also very common for people to lose inches before pounds. This happens because many of us don't eat sufficient protein before low carbing, so once we do get enough, our muscles increase a little, and muscle weighs more than fat.

If ketosis is making your breath smell (as it often does) the only tried and true way to improve things is to dilute the odour by drinking lots and lots of water. When i'm heavily in ketosis I notice the first few glasses of water for the day taste a bit odd, so I add a squeeze of lemon juice.

My heartburn pretty much improved when I started LC so can't really help you there, On the odd occasion I do have a problem (usually from taking NSAIDs) I take ranitidine tablets.

Many people find they still lose well while drinking their coffee. But if you think there is a problem with your weight loss, why not drop it and see if it helps?

As for the aspartame, the same thing applies. Dr Atkins also advises against using it for as its safety has not been proven. personally I much prefer the taste of Splenda anyway.

HTH

Rosebud

I'm curious... since when is losing almost 10 pounds in 4 days not working? You cannot expect to lose weight everyday. After a dramatic initial loss, your body will probably need to recover before it drops some more for you. Don't worry about the scale. A loss of 1-2 pounds a week is the healthiest rate of loss.

Your mouth taste is most likely ketosis breath. Another sign it is in fact working. You can always use mouthwash. There are some brands of Splenda-sweetened mints as well, I'm not sure of the names.

I'm not sure about heartburn, though I think you'll find it diminishing with less carbs. My mom always suggests celery for upset insides. Something about the water and nutrients in it. I dunno.

Plenty of people don't give up coffee. If you don't notice it as a trigger, don't sweat it too much. Same with aspartame although that's a lot more likely to cause stalls and ignite cravings. There are some Splenda-sweetened sodas you can look for. I like Diet Rite myself.

Hope that helps. I bet you're doing well so far, so hang in there!

Ditto what everyone has said. I actually lost my first week of induction, nothing the second and lost again in the third-I did a three week induction. Please do start measuring yourself. I find that I lose weight OR inches, but not both at the same time. My weight loss has also been in fits and starts. I did not lose weight every week. Sometimes that would frustrate me a bit, but then I would get a 1-2 pound whoose of weight loss almost over night.

I never gave up coffee. I don't think I could stick with this if I did. I did switch to Splenda sweetner, though and have been happy with it. I would suggest getting rid of the aspartame and getting Splenda instead.

Hey everyone, thanks for replies and sorry about taking so long to respond.

I have taken an inventory of what I've been eating over the past couple weeks to see if I could pinpoint any correlations between food and the timing of when the weight loss stopped, and I am pretty sure I've found it. I think it is the low-carb Atkins bars. According to the Atkins site, they are good for induction, but I stopped losing pretty much the next day after I first got some. So even though they are incredibly handy given that I am running around on campus all day and squeezing in meal times is sometimes difficult, I'm sticking them in the freezer for future use.

I am relieved to think it might not be my coffee after all both aspartame and coffee made no difference during the 1st week, when I lost the original 8-9 lbs or so.

FWIW, Carb Solutions brand bars are thoroughly gross. They are like the nastiest Halloween candy left in a desk drawer and forgotten about until New-Year's desk-cleaning.

Yeah, anything with "safe" carbohydrates like glycerin, maltitol, lactitol, etc. can stall you. Some people process those fake sugars like real sugar. You might want to stay away from things that don't count some carbs. If you notice, the Atkins bars have something like 22g. Don't worry about the 10g that are fiber, those are deductible, but it's possible the other 10g (probably mostly glycerin) might cause your body to react as it would to "real" carbohydrates.

Save the eat and run bars for emergencies. On the go snacks are hard, but there are lots of good ideas on this site.

I've noticed that heartburn (which I was on medication for before lcing) has only come back when I drink too much straight wine. I mix it now - about half and half with club soda. You may have other issues - maybe an ulcer or an extreme upper reflux disorder. I would get it checked out by a doctor who understands the Atkins WOE.
Mischa