Grrrr #$%(^*&~_!!!!
I am up another pound this morning!!! Sheesh.
I'm beginning to think that I can only lose weight if I keep my caloric intake at 1000cal or below. There has been little to no other change in my eating this week foodwise ... only real change is calorie intake. Carbs are still at or below 20g.

My first week and a half, when I lost my weight, my calories were below 1000. Since I worked very hard to get my calories up to 10 -12x my goal weight (which is more food than I'm used to eating) two things have happened.
1. I've put on 3 pounds this week.

2. I'm hungry alot when I wasn't hungry at all before.

Grrrrrrrr!

Here's what has happened over the last 8 days. Calories are given as intake from the day before and weights are first thing in the morning.
Sat. 8-16 --- 988 cal ---156lbs
Sun. 8-17 --- 1001 cal ---156lbs
Mon. 8-18 --- 1233 cal --- 156lbs
Tues 8-19 --- 1377 cal ---158lbs
Wed 8-20 --- 999 cal ---157lbs
Thur 8-21 --- 1139 cal ---158lbs
Fri. 8-22 --- 1394 cal ---158lbs
Sat. 8-23 --- 1405 cal ---159lbs

You can't always go with what the scale shows day to day. For example if you eat more calories and therefore probably more volume/wight of food one day and weigh yourself the next morning before having a BM, you'll probably weigh more due to more bowel content volume and weight. You really can only correlate calorie consumption and weight over a more lengthly period of time. Keep up with fitday for a month, then look at your average calorie intake report over that time period and have a look at what your weight has done. Also don't forget to measure your body !!

1) it's not linear. you don't lose .5 lbs /day everyday, but rather (for me) a few pounds every few days.

2) your body is adjusting to the changes in your diet right now. it may not want to release anything right now

3) are you drinking 10-12 glasses of water /day?

4) any sodas?

5) are you eating lots of veggies and being sparse with cheeses and creams? eating things to make you retain water?

It is my opinion that if people would stick to the program AS WRITTEN without straying for 1 month (2 weeks of induction or more, as you like), they would see significant success. Anything less is not giving your body a fair shot at adjusting.

Loss is definitely not linear! Nor was it on the way up


manucpa, made an excellent point - more food in, more food to weigh. Also, if you've been eating very low calories and you start to increase it's natural to notice a blip in the scale. The scale shouldn't be your only gauge of your progress. Have you taken measurements so you'll know when you are shrinking?

It may be tempting to eat 1000 calories and see that number go down, but eating that way is not sustainable. A loss achieved by eating below your basal metabolism is not sustainable. Pretty soon you have to eat less and less to keep losing, until it stops. Living on <1000 calories a day is not living nor is it healthy. This is how many of us ended up fatter and fatter after dieting on low fat / low calories. Eventually you need to eat to live and when you do you start to gain weight because your body has a) slowed down and b) stoped burning fat - fat burning will not happen when you have stressed your system to the point that it thinks it's in the midsts of a famine.

Losing slowly by eating adequate calories ensures you do not lower your metabolism too much and it allows you the time necessary to learn how to eat like this for the rest of your life - afterall that is the ultimate goal, right? Permanent fat loss, not quick fat loss.

A suggestion would be to take your weight daily but average it out over the week and use that number. Weight fluctuates hourly, daily, and weekly - the number of things that effect weight are many, water, food, hormones, climate, exercise, medicines, minerals and salts. You'd go crazy trying to figure it out (trust me!)

Keep the fuel coming in, keep the water intake up, follow your plan to the letter, and don't let stress take a hold - stress puts fat burning on hold too!

-Nat

Thanks for your responses.
I drink between 125 and 170 oz of water/day.
I take a lot of supplements (always have for years)
I am not eating any more, probably less cheese and cream, than the first two weeks.
One thing I did differently this week is I had Atkins protein shake 2 mornings when I have to run off to early meetings (instead of boiled eggs).
Dont' drink any sodas ... not a soda person.
I am as active in exercising as I have been for months.
I am still at induction levels in regard to foods and carbs. Other than 2 mornings with the shakes and some S/F Jello last night am still eating induction foods and haven't added any new foods.
The only thing that I changed this week is I upped my calories ... more meat and oils.
I've also gained 1/2 inch on my waist since last Sunday.

I kept a very strict food journal before I started my fitday journal and last Sunday finally had time to begin the fitday. Pre-fitday journal my calories were running 700-950 per day. At that level I was never hungry ... actually repulsed by food and only ate because it was time to eat. This last week my stomach is growling within an hour after I eat even if I break my meals up into smaller portions more often through out the day.

First week I lost 5 pounds, second week 4 pounds. I didn't expect to continue to lose at that rate, I even expected to stand still a little. But gaining weight has me a little worried especially since I am still at induction levels.
Again thanks for your responses. I appreciate you taking the time to help.

Take the average of the weights from each of the days you have recorded. Your average is 157.25lbs-this is still a loss. Like someone said, your weightloss won't be linear. Your weight fluctuates day to day. It can go up or down depending on many things like the amount of salt in your body or if it's close to TOM. As un realistic as it sounds, you really should try to only weigh yourself once a week. It gets VERY frustrating when you see the numbers jumping around like that.

Thanks!
I know I should only weigh once a week. I have designated Sunday mornings as my "Official" weigh-in day. That's tomorrow and I really didn't want to have to add to my stats.

I do want to say on a POSITIVE NOTE:
Days 1 through 3 were very difficult. BUT Starting on day 4 I haven't felt this good in ages! I don't have that 2-5pm let down period where it was all I could do to keep functioning. I also have been sleeping better - through out the whole night without waking every 30 minutes. I have more energy and am more alert and have absolutely no carb cravings. I really don't wish to return to my previous WOE. If I need to tweek things a little or just keep doing what I'm doing and wait it out then I'm willing to do that.

I find it frustrating, too, to see the scale stop or even go UP, when I've stayed on-plan to the LETTER for weeks. In my case, I'm finding that my weight seems to increase more and sooner in my cycle than it did before lc.

I really did have a major stalling/gaining stage for MONTHS between quitting smoking and quitting a physically active job to stay home with my son. Aside from making a conscious effort to exercise (which you seem to be doing already) I tweaked the ratio of fat to protein and carbs, and it's working. For the first time in 6 MONTHS, the scale is moving DOWN again....I eat more fat calories, slightly less protein than before, and went back to induction level on carbs. I also cut out my sugarfree chocolate for now. I still use the shakes and bars a few times a week.

It's frustrating, but you'll eventually hit on a plan that'll get you going if you stick with it!

also, I couldn't really tell, but if you're in that 3-4 th week time frame, the body really does seem to pause there. there are TONS of posts from people to whom that has happened. I was one of them. I thought to myself.. uh oh, that's it for my weight loss... but I stuck to it, and it continued. Also, at the beginning like you I could hardly eat, and had to force myself to have over 1200 ca/day. now that's no problem
I agree with what Natrushka said about calories and your metabolism and doing it in a slow but sustainable way.

Hi,

Read over it all. Noticed the one thing you changed was to include a Atkins protein shake. I have no idea why, but some people, like myself cannot tolerate many/all of the low carb shakes and products. I had great success my first time on Atkins 3 years ago. Well, back then, was hardly any products out, so I didn't use anything that wasn't found in the fresh foods dept of the grocery. Only thing I ventured into the middle isles for were spices, mayo, dressing, nuts and sweetner. Okay, so I restarted and stopped Atkins many times over last year. Each time I also tried shakes, atkins muffins, protein bars....so on. I not only would set up craving for carbs, but would gain and stand still when I weighed. Oh let's not forget those delite chocy bars, lordy ..those made me wanna eat anything in my sight from the second I finished my first one.
So that's just my experience. This time around, if I don't have to actually prepare it from my own raw, acceptable ingredients, I don't eat it. And its working again like it did 3 years ago.

Some of the bars and shakes have SOY in them. Soy can affect your thyroid, decreasing it's output. If your thyroid slows down, weight loss will slow down too. It is just another possibility to consider. For those with healthy thyroids it is not much of a problem, but for those who already have slow thyroids or borderline ones, it can be bad news. You might check the Thyroid board on here if you think it might apply to you.

The reason you are hungrier now is because before your body was starving. When in starvation mode your body kind of turns off the urge to eat, it believes no food is around. When you start giving your body a healthy dose of calories, though, it becomes insatiable. Your body now thinks it is a time of prosperity so it gets greedy with calories, trying to reclaim all the weight it lost. This is the number #1 reason people regain weight after doing something like a 500 cal liquid fast.

I too used to eat only 900 cals a day and then upped it when i stopped losing, i went through the same thing you are now. Just control the urges, they will pass eventually. Keep eating 1300-1400 cals a day, and make sure to get a lot of fat, protein, and stay under 20 carbs.

Thank you all for your input. I truly appreciate it. Everyone on the forum has been very kind and full of information.