Hey there! Just wanted to open this thread to discuss experiences with tips and tricks that have been used. Please, it would be appreciated if this stayed an informational/experience sharing thread, rather than one which is dedicated to lecturing those sharing experiences.

Some things that work on a stall:

-patience & staying with your plan to the letter as in the book, even when not losing. Be patient with your body. Various kinds of fasting, flushes and and trying other extreme things (not in the LC books) may only reinforce the body's determination NOT to lose anything.

- upping the carbs if that's what your chosen plan says to do. Choose from the lists of vegetables and fruits that are listed by your plan.

- not restricting calories to starvation level. That puts your metabolism into 'preservation' or "starvation" mode and the body will slow the metabolism to manage on fewer calories until the "famine" is over.

- not popping on and off your plan. If you eat by the plan for 3 days, then have lots of carbs, that isn't following a low carb plan. That will really mess up the metabolism and is actually yo-yo dieting.

- choose a healthy and reasonable goal weight and be prepared to modify it upward when getting closer. The scale should not rule one's losing.

- give the body time to adjust. Even when the major part of the fat is lost, the body amazingly seems to redistribute things and the shape may change if one is patient and stays with the plan.

- realize that the last 10-15-20 pounds may come off extremely slowly. And that is good, if frustrating. It gives us time to adjust and learn to make the low carb way of eating a real way of life.

We all wish that the Whoosh Fairy would take up permanent residence in our bathroom and do her magic for us every day. But maybe our body works by laws that we can't clearly understand. The frustration and the seeming stalls may be necessary parts of the journey to a healthy weight.

Maybe I don't understand what cheating is. I thought it was eating real sugar sweets or whatever makes a person stumble into binges.
Please explain

"Cheating" is the word used to mean 'eating things that aren't on your plan'.

Perhaps the important question is: just who is being cheated? Guess what? If you eat 'off plan,' YOU are being cheated of getting closer to your goal weight. And then it's necessary to deal with the consequences of eating 'carbage': weight gain, bloating, gas, discomfort, intestinal things (nuff said), maybe even headache & those CRAVINGS!!

LC plans use real food but lead us to choose protein, good fats, vegetables, salad and fruits. We used to eat sugars and starches before LC and were very used to thinking they were "good".

There's a lot of habit in what we think we want to eat. Our body may put thoughts of sugars and starches into our minds because it is much easier for the body to digest carbs than the LC food. But if we eat protein and/or fat, the craving generally goes away.

Hope that helps.

Well, I've been saying that I never cheated but I went on vacation last Feb. to Baja California and couldn't resist the refried beans. I ate one spoonful everyday. I had been on Atkins for 2 months. I still lost about a lb and didn't crave any other bad carbs.
I guess that is a cheat?

Bette