I started out at 204 and have lost 20 lbs in 6 or 7 weeks Yea.
I had just been in a two week stall but finally dropped two more lbs day before yesterday. I am now exercising 5-6 days a week by walking 2 miles as fast as I can. At 46 it isn't what it used to be!
I was hoping to continue to be able to lose 3 lbs a week like I was in the beginning of induction. I have pretty much stayed in IP only adding in Nuts for hte most part. I wondered if adding in the nuts was what caused me to stall? Any ideas on that?
Here is a basic day menue for me:
2 eggs and two pieces of turkey bacon, cooked in butter, a slice or two of tomato(and recently I dropped the tomato and have been eating 1/2 slice of wheat toast with butter)and a decaf coffee with sweetnlow and cream. Lunch a can of tuna a heaping spoon of mayo and 1/2 of a small zuccini slied for dipping. May add 1/2of a stalkof chopped celery into the tuna. Snack of diet jello with a T of cream drizzled over top. Dinner large hamburger with cheese on a bed of lettuce and spinach and a few slices of tomato and with mayo or mustard. Later snack sometimes the egg/creamcheese & sweetener and cinnamon thingy or 1/2 of an avacado before bed. Usually have several hands full of nuts too during the day. Peanuts, walnuts or almonds.
It does sound like a whole lot of food when I write it down...Please advise. I am anxious to lose in a healthy manner.
Thanks,
Diana

Diana,

At 3 lbs. a week, you probably aren't losing 3 lbs. of fat. Bound to be a lot of water in there. If you lose 1-2 a week, it is more likely to be pure fat, so be happy with a slower rate! You'll find they are the permanent pounds! I think you are doing great.

Also thank for the encouragement. I tend to get in a hurry...want to put it all behind me HA! WAYYYYYYYY behind. Took time to gain, though much easier but it will take time to lose.
So is the amount of food reasonable?

Looks like it's about right, but go to Fitday.com to make sure. A few handfuls of nuts could really add up in the calorie department. I rely on nuts because they help fill me up, but I have to watch out because they are addictive - would be easy to eat too many without realizing it.

THey say a rule of thumb is a calorie intake that is between 10 and 12 x your weight (meaning, if I weigh 133, then somewhere between 1300 and 1500 calories is right for me if I am trying to lose weight). THe Atkins magic is that I can sustain myself on that amount of calories without being hungry. Some people stall because they are eating too much - no big mystery! But it sounds as though you are not actually stalling at all.

On the www.atkinscenter.com site, they recommend not using aspartame because it causes stall in some people. Are you having that in Jello?

Are you keeping track of eating in www.fitday.com? Vitamins?

Also, I would keep the tomato and drop the toast on most days - tomato has more nice stuff in it (phytonutrients ) Keeping strict count of your intake may help you trouble shoot. It's easy to lose track if you're not actually writing stuff down (EVERY BITE!). You're doing great, though. Hang in there and keep on keepin' on.

Jinx

Maybe the nuts are causing you to stall. Is it possible for you to go a week without snacking in the nuts. That way, you can see how it affects your weight. BTW, how much cream are you taking in with your coffee?

I agree -- drop the sweetener and the toast before the tomato. Also measure your nuts to make sure exactly how much you're eating.

I limit myself to 1 or 2 oz a day and have had no problem with them.

Your weight loss will definitely slow. That's normal. I was much more quickly at first than I am now. But I'm still consistently losing an average of 1.5-2 lbs per week. Keep in mind, the operative word is AVERAGE. To me, this has translated into weeks that look like this: +.5, -1, -3, 0, +1, -2.5 etc.

Keep the faith!!

K.

It's not quite realistic to expect to keep losing at the same rate that you did while on induction and it wouldn't really be healthy for your body to continue to lose at that rate, either.
It's perfectly normal for your body to take brief pauses while you are losing weight, sometimes for a few weeks. This is not a stall, even if it is frustrating. A stall is defined as no loss of pounds or inches for at least 4-6 weeks. If you are losing inches, but not losing pounds you are not stalled. Conversely, if you are losing pounds but not losing inches you're not stalled there either.
This is why it's important to take measurements periodically or use a tight piece of clothing as a measuring stick. People often find that even though they are not currently losing pounds, the inches continue to disappear and that their clothes are getting looser. Many members have also noted that they either lose pounds or inches, but rarely both at the same time.
If you continue to experience slow weight loss, you might want to drop that 1/2 slice of wheat bread and cut back on the nuts a bit. Grains are the last thing that you add back in while you are progressing in the ongoing weight loss phase, not one of the first. 1/2 slice of wheat bread would also have a much higher glycemic index and more carbs than a few slices of tomato, so it wasn't quite an even trade.
Depending on how many nuts you are eating, they could be adding more carbs than you think. Have you checked out www.fitday.com ? It's a great tool to help you track your carbs and overall calories for the day so that you can quickly see if that dreaded "carb creep" is sneaking up on you.

I did go through fitday after this thread and am amazed at the little things that add up. A terrific way to look at your day in a glance and see where you can curb the carbs etc,thanks for the direction. Very helpful.