I have made a decision this morning to leave induction and start on the OWL. I started Atkins about a month and a half ago and decided to fore-go the induction and lost 7 pounds in two weeks. I kept my carbs around 30 a day and a few days they were closer to 40 and I was still loosing. Then my mom passed away and I just ate what was given to me with no attention paid to carbs. Two weeks after that, her best friend, who was like a second mother to me, passed away unexpectedly too. My husband came home on emergency leave for two weeks and that was great, but it was harder seeing him go the second time and it will be six months before I see him again, 12 total. My oldest son is being treated for mild autism and is also starting kindergarten. I also have a 3 year old at home with me. Needless to say I am so incredibly STRESSED right now. I started a week ago on strict induction minus a couple of endulge bars the first few days. My carbs have been at 20 or less and I haven't lost any weight at all. I bought some ketostix and 90% of the time they read negative. I have started obsessing over the darn things and may just throw them in the trash. I think my body is trying to tell me something. I think I have enough emotional stress right now that I don't need the physical stress of Ketosis. I think today I will up my carbs to 30 or so a day and eat more OWL type foods. Maybe some low carb bread occasionally and berries. I am also going to eat most veggies that I want not including potatoes of course. I just think I need to give my body a rest and not worry so much about weightloss. I even lost more weight at these levels of carbs than on induction levels before so maybe I will start to loose again. The problem is I feel like such a failure. I have never stuck to any diet longer than a day or so and this is the first one I could actually do and stay with. Even though I will still be technically on the Atkins diet, I feel like a failure at induction. I keep telling myself if I give it a week or so and want to go back to induction, I always can. I just cant seem to do it right now. Is it possible for stress to keep a person from going into ketosis? I really feel like that is my problem right now but I don't know if it is possible or just my excuse.

do not think of yourself as a failure. my goodness with everything going on it's no wonder you havent had a breakdown. hey! dont torture yourself. what is wrong with going to OWL anyway? absolutely nothing. you know up front that when going to OWL you will lose a little slower - big deal - as long as you continue to lose. it is not a race. i dont think stress will keep you from going into ketosis but it is possible. more than likely with so much stress and pain you probably have just taken a little more carbs than you thought. no biggie. just keep on low carbing but dont try to be so strict especially right now with all the extra stresses in your life.

remember not everybody stays on induction for longer than two weeks. you have done it for longer than two weeks. so cut yourself some slack. you are doing the plan correctly!!!! and you have not failed!!!!

Don't worry about it! Good grief, girl, most people would be a mess with what you are going through. Is your husband deployed? When my husband was deployed in 1995, we had the biggest snow Indiana has ever seen, and me with an 18 month old. I think deployment is stressful enough without any additional problems along with it.

I'm sorry about your mom and her friend. that has got to be really difficult. Just do the best you can and forgive yourself a little. We don't need to be hard on ourselves with life being as hard as it is at times.

Good luck!
Karen

yeah, I agree, you're going thru a lot and I consider you a success for sticking with it and thinking about your it. You might consider even moving up to a maintenance level WOE.

You are NOT a failure! With everything you have going on in your life, it's a miracle you have been able to stick to any kind of eating plan! Don't forget that there are other low carb plans that start off with 30 carbs a day and some "free foods" like lettuce etc... Protein Power is the one I'm thinking of. Can't tell you what other free foods there are, cos I don't own the book, just borrowed it once. But perhaps that plan might work better for you (so you don't feel like a failure, I mean). Good luck to you and hang in there!

Thank you all so much your encouragement means a lot to me. Sorry about the pity party, I guess it all just hit me today. I was feeling like my diet was just one more thing going wrong. I had a terrible binge. My stomach aches and I feel like poop so I hope I have learned my lesson! I still plan on going on the 30 carb a day plan like I mentioned before, but I am NOT going to let myself feel guilty about it. You guys remind me that I just have to keep trying and not quit because things are not going my way. Thank you all again for listening and understanding.

First, I am very sorry for your loss. Losing a loved one is very painful, but two? You must be so stressed out now .

Second, I do not at all think you are a failure. You just haven't realized the need to change your outlook towards food, a common mistake many who struggle with weight make. You can't fail at that which you are unaware!

I think you should talk with a psychologist who has experience with compulsive/emotional over eaters, or someone else who can help you. A common mistake dieters make is believing once they physically lose the weight they will just be fine and normal like everyone else. Not true, losing weight is the equivilant of a drug addict going through detox. The biggest thing those of us with a weight problem must over come is learning how to undo a lifetime of behavioral conditioning, and developing/adapting to new coping mechanisms. If we fail to recognize this need to make a mental shift, just like the drug addict constantly in an out of rehab we will constantly jump up and down the scale.
Though I recognize the physically intoxicating and addictive effects of refined carbohydrate, I think it is naive to exclusively blame the foodstuff for our obesity. All of us became overweight because food became a proxy through which we dealt with the world. We are the alcoholics, and the rest of the world are those who can drink without problems. It is our mind that created the problem, not the food. We eat when happy, eat when sad, eat when bored, eat when excited, etc. We must break this addict mind set. Like you, when I feel out of control, I begin to feel depressed and my INSTANT unconcious reaction is to go stuff my face. That is traditionally how if relaxed. However, I've learned to catch myself, and I always resist temptation because know emotinal eating will send me back down the spiral of food addiction and morbid obesity.

The high and internal gratification which comes from resisting temptation to binge has in a way replaced the need food used to satisfy. I think most of us over eat for two reasons, food has a soothing effect (like a drug), and when we feel out of control due to our environment or circumstance, binge eating gives us (a false) sense of control. I think analyzing your behavior and consciously working to stop negative trends can replace the lost control you feel during depression (in this case, triggered by the passing of family members), and therefore suppresses the pangs to over eat. Replace your bad compulsion (binging) with a constructive one (introspective analyzing and exerting postive self-control) .

98% of people fail to keep the weight off, because very few people address the psychological aspect of obesity and overweight. It is important to remember for all of us on this LC diet, unless your mind set is changed no matter how thin we get down to we will always regain the weight back. End of story. We must stop looking at food like an alcoholic looks at booze, as a source of comfort to soothe Every Nasty Little Thing That Will Ever Happen in your life. We must learn alternative, constructive ways of dealing with life. If we don't, as soon as we run into problems we will run a risk of gaining again (as our alcoholic would fall off the wagon).

Good luck, and I hope everything works out soon.

Brisa:
I'd like to echo what others have said. You're facing a lot of challenges all at once, so don't be too hard on yourself. My advice is for you to forget about counting carbs for a while and just try to avoid the obvious carb traps until you feel like you can focus. But don't put it off forever, because you might be surprised how easy it is to stick with once you get a chance to make a nice clean start.

Dear Bri:
I am so sorry you lost your mother and your second mother, so close in time. Why does life sometimes hand us everything at once? You sound like you are handling everything well tho, but if you need more support please keep posting. Be kind to yourself also. Take everything slow....induction seems too stressful now. I was just listening to a show about health yesterday and the host said she read in the NY Times that eating alot when you are very stressed is more benefitical healthwise in the long run than not eating. Honest! Don't overeat and don't obsess about food of course, but don't focus on it as you need to focus on being good to yourself and treating yourself very well now. Pampering yourself wouldnt' be a bad idea about now.....but induction ......ehh gads doesn't soudn like the time to do it! Just my 2cents..

Marg