Went to be weighed yesterday as I do every week with a group of friends. the nurse does it for us at the doctors and I stayed the same. I hardly ate anything yesterday except for some cabbage and cheese and drunk loads of water.I had to put up with them all saying Atkins is no good go to low fat ect ect ect!!!!
So felt sure I would of lost this morning only to have gained two I CAN'T BELIVE IT!!!!!!!
Phoned my sister and she said DON'T even think of going back to carbs and low fat as the 7lb I have lost will go straight back on and more.
I started a new job a few weeks ago as a housekeeper so lots of heavy lifting and I start an 8 in the morning . so the first thing I eat is about 12 o'clock. So this morning I ate at 7 some prawns and lettece with a spoonfull of mayo. The same at 1.30 . This evening I will have a lovely steak.
I want to belive it will work, but feel so depressed. It is not fair this is the first time I can say hand on heart I have never cheated.
My sister said To eat more, but I felt so proud of myself hardly eating anything. If I was stranded on a desert island and had no food surly I would not gain weight would I??
HELP
Fiona

You don't win any special prizes for not eating - in fact as you have found out, odds are you won't lose any weight either. Did you read the book? You are supposed to eat until you are satisfied.

I agree with you sister...eat more. When you don't eat enough, your body kicks into staration mode in which it only takes what it needs (in order to conserve what it has) think of it as rationing..using only a little in order to have some for later. Please read the Atkins book and eat.....it will work....

Part of doing Atkins is to make sure you eat. I know it doesn't make intuitive sense, but you have to keep your calories up, especially since you have a job that burns a lot of calories. My suggestion is to eat at least 1400-1500 calories a day (if not more!) and get most of them from fat. The ratios suggested here are 65-70% of all your calories should come from fat, 25-30% protein and 5-10% carbs. You might want to get a free account at www.fitday.com to help you track your food.

Weight also fluctuates a couple of pounds normally. If you have dieted before, your body might be building muscle which will make the scale go up at first, but it will go back down as you lose fat. DO NOT listen to those people who are trying to get you to switch to low fat.

BTW, love the puppy picture!

I know I have read the book, but it's years of being made to feel bad cos I eat to much. I just need to get my head round it. I also notice no ketosis today yet very low carb yesterday oh god who do you belive.

You can believe whoever you choose. However, I would tend to believe the people who have lost their extra weight. Read some of the success stories - it really does work.

You have got to get into a different mindset. I low fat dieted my way up to 304 pounds. It wasnt pretty.

With Atkins when we deprive ourselves and not eat we dont lose weight. You have to keep your calories up! The other negative about not eating is that you are more prone to cheat. You start to feel deprived and you are off the plan. Im very fond of saying Atkins is not rocket science and we make it harder than what it is.

Hey Fiona,
I understand, its a tough one to get used to this Atkins diet. Took me a long time to get going as well.
Did you get your thyroid checked? Are you taking any medication?
Have you been using fitday.com? I find I need to act like a detective to get the carb count right!
Now with what you are eating, have you gone to atkins.com to check the menu items? I would stick with whats on the induction menu.
When it comes to habits and I am the biggest example of what you do wrong so I know the bad ones-you have got to get food in you first thing in the morning. You could miss dinner every night of the week and it will do little damage, if you miss breakfast you might as well give up on improving your metabolism. This reqired a big change on my part, but got me going.I see you have got the prawn breakie in, good for you!
You have to get yourself into ketosis to get the atkins working. Going by the strict induction should help.
Good for you for making the changes, and I am sure you will get going!

I'm probably the 10th person to say this, but you definitely need to EAT MORE. Cabbage, cheese, and water is not the Atkins diet. Neither is a few prawns and a steak with little else. Eating enough of acceptable foods and making sure that you get your 20g of carbs from vegetables is the key to making this plan work. If you feel proud of yourself for starving you are headed down a dangerous path.

I know this seems counterintuitive. I spent the first week of induction worrying that I wasn't eating enough fat, because all the meat I had was lean poultry. Believe me, that's the first time in my entire life I've ever said (or thought!) "I don't think I've eaten enough fat today." Ha! But it works.

Please try it for another week, eating enough food at regular intervals. If you feel the same way after a week, maybe it's not the plan for you. But it's too early for you to dismiss it now, because based on what you wrote you haven't really been following Dr. Atkin's plan because you haven't been eating enough.

Dug my book out and am going to read again.
There has been so much about atkins these last few weeks it's hard to know what to belive. All I know is I do feel better. I just thought this is the first time I have found it easy not to eat. and if I dont't eat I will lose more Ok OK I know wrong!!!!! Also I have been consipated and that makes you feel bloated. Another quick question. I am drinking loads of water but not weeing very much, my body seems to be hanging on to it, is that because I have starved myself?
Fiona

Maybe its because you are working so hard you are sweating the water out!

Yes maybe I am sweating it out. I was a childminder for the last 15 years so not much more exercise then walking. But the last three weeks have been hard as a housekeeper in a hotel, lots of bed makeing and running up and down stairs.One think I have noticed is I'v lost fat from my back, you know those podgy bits under the bra strap.

I find not eating makes me gain/stall - Good plan to reread the book. I think I am going to as well.

One of the best things about this diet is all of the GREAT things you CAN eat! Enjoy yourself! Real dressing with your salad, bacon and eggs anytime, cream in your coffee, on and on! Don't starve yourself! Best of luck to you!