...or as I had originally intended to name it, the "please line up here to feel sorry for me" thread.

My tale starts off in storybook fashion. The weigh in after week one was amazing! 9.5lbs! That's the best I've ever done on a diet plan that I followed strictly, and believe me when I say, I've tried and succeeded at more than my fair share of plans(only to fail miserably during maintenance).

After week two, I'd lost an additional 2.5lbs for a total of 12lbs. Now that total was the "expected" loss for someone with an average metabolism and more than 50lbs to lose according to Atkins, but I was a bit disappointed. That was my worst second week ever on a diet plan .

My third weigh in showed an additional 2lbs lost. Not too bad, and I figured this diet is working differently than all the other plans because it is different and convince myself that 1-2lbs lost will be great because I'm eating well, I'm never hungry, and I'm feeling good. Slow is the way. This way I'm ready for maintenance because I'm living it all the way down, right?

Today I weighed, and it was EXACTLY the same as it was last week.

My wife tried to cheer me up with the "have you measured yourself" approach, but while I know I have lost inches (I measured last week), I'm pretty sure I haven't put on two pounds of muscle over the past 3 weeks by walking 4o minutes a days four days a week.

I use fitday to keep up with everything I put in my mouth, including the amount of oil I use in the frying pan to cook things. My calorie average over the past month is less than 2,600 per day, and I'm burning at least 1,000 calories a week exercising.

I spent my first 3 weeks on induction, and this past week the only change toward OWL I've made was adding peanuts. Boiled peanuts to be exact, and I only added 1 cup (measured in the shell) on two different days. These were measured strictly, and each cup only contained around 6.5 digestible carbs. Each of the two days I did this, I still remained at 20 carbs or less, so I have no doubt that this change had nothing to do with my weigh in.

I do drink diet drinks, but I have since the beginning without a problem. In fact, I probably drink fewer now than I did during the first week.

I'm not eating any Atkins' bars or cookies or shakes. Heck, I won't even chew sugar free gum that I know should be ok.

I continue to drink 80-100 ounces of water a day.

Oh well, I hope it's a minor stall, and I not ready to give up by any means, but I just needed to whine a bit... well ok, I needed to whine alot...lol.

Ok, you've had your whine, and you probably know that it's too early to panic.

A few suggestions then:

Cut out the peanuts, they are not really nuts, they are legumes and are not supposed to be added yet.

Drink more water, try to cut out diet soda completely. I used to only drink 75 oz. a day and it seemed like a lot. I've worked up to 150 oz. a day. (though I seem to drink less while on vacation, go figure)

Try weight lifting. When you do build muscle (and if you were previously not eating enough protein, you could have built a little just from eating adequate protein), you get smaller but the scale can stay the same.

There is no guarantee even if you do everything right that you will lose 2 pounds every week. You've lost quite a bit 16% and your body may need a chance to catch up with that loss.

Good luck!

Beth

I too seemed to lose quickly week one, slower the next, and then maybe 1 more pound for the next 4 weeks total! I stuck with it anyway and I was satisfied because I was losing inches.....very encouraging for me. I am now starting week 7 and the pounds are flying off so fast this week it's not funny. 4 pounds in 2 days!
So the thing is, I have lost 19 pounds in less than 6 1/2 weeks. 12 the first 2 weeks then very slowly until this past week.

I think it sometimes takes a little time to see it on the scale but the measurements are the important thing anyway. Stick with it and be patient. This diet really does work!

Make sure you are in ketosis and stay in ketosis. That is the key. I added exercise to my lifestyle in week 3 (just walking 30 min 3+ times a week) and that may be the reason the inches were reducing but the scale was not. If you didn't exercise at all before now, it could be muscle weight. That is the only explanation I have for my strange loss pattern.

In any case, please don't get discouraged, the weight will come off! I just know it! Everyone gets their stalls and plateaus, go figure ours would start in week 3!


Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the support.

I'm feeling too good on Atkins to even consider giving up due to a minor setback. In fact, I realize that this isn't really a set back at all. It's just a disappointment based on the fact that I usually don't stagnate for the first time until the 3rd or 4th month, but then again, this is a completely different diet plan.

I'm working my way back up the water ladder with 135 ounces as a goal, and I'm trying to cut down even more on the diet drinks. Good point about the peanuts, I wasn't paying close enough attention...lol.

I am still in ketosis. In fact this past weekend, I had my best stick results ever. I'm usually in the moderate range, but I was in the heavy range all weekend.

Thanks again gang!

No time to fret. It's not a stall or a plateau or a problem.

Our weight loss is not a continual downward trail. Instead, there are losses, no losses, small gains, big gains and eventually more losses. If you graphed your weight loss it would look like a stock market chart. And THAT"S COMPLETELY NORMAL.

I tracked mine for over a year, and it looks like a silohette of the rocky mountains as they fade into the foothills. BUT OVERALL I"M DOWN and much better off than I was before I discovered LC.

Hang in there. Keep smiling. Keep at it. You are doing great!!!!

BTW you sound like you have a really good handle on this by how you are describing your eating and water habits.