is this normal????
i notice that when i eat less than the recommended, about 1000-1500 calories and 10 carbs/day, that i am NOT in ketosis but i still lose much more weight than when i eat what i am supposed to. on the other hand when i eat 2000 calories and 20 carbs, even though i am in ketosis, i dont really lose at all. should i stick to eating less or should i just eat more and lose much much slower????

You are likely losing more weight (muscle) by restricting calories than you are by burning fat. You need to decide what you are going to do, either low cal or low carbs, and stick to it as bouncing back and forth is not good for your body-it needs to know what to expect. My experience as a lifetime weight watchers member is that low carb is easier to stick to long term- more satisfaction in foods, which means less overall temptation to binge. It takes a while to get your body burning the carbs and induction will jump start you, but more than anything, just stick with what ever you decide to do- low carb or low cal. Don't try a lowfat version of Atkins, it does not work, it voids the whole premise of burning fats instead of storing them.

Ditch the scale! It is evil and will lie to you. Inches lost are really the best things to judge how well you are doing, weight-loss wise.

As for low-carb versus low-cal... if you keep following Atkins (or any other LC plan) to the letter, there is an almost 100% guarantee that you willl not seriously alter your metabolism. On low-cal 'plans', there is really no such guarantee because your percentages of fats, proteins, etc. can change so drastically from day to day. Also, consuming fewer-than nomal calories from more than a week or two WILL put you into starvation mode. You could also start burning muscle instead of fat. The muscle actually weighs more, so you could actually be becoming 'flabbier' as the pounds drop off. You are also more likely to have unstable blood-sugar if you eat this way.

It really is up to you, though... if you decide to go low-cal, please do not do the 'eat what I want as long as I stay low-cal' thing. That WILL make you absolutely miserable. I'd suggest joining WW or hiring a nutritionist if you want to go this route, because you really do have to be more careful with your metabolism. The Atkins advantage is that we do not have to deal so much with that aspect of WL. I think you CAN lose faster with low-cal, but there are so many other aspects of that sort of diet you have to take into careful consideration; IMHO, it hardly seems worth it.

Don't even THINK of dropping below 1500 calories a day, though, no matter what you do! At your current weight, this constitutes a starvation diet. Even the 'low-cal' pushers feel that most relatively healthy-weighted adult women should NEVER drop below about 1200 calories daily. Of course, many low-cal dieters aren't even keeping track of how many calories they are actually burning, and this sets them up for all kinds of trouble. Tis sad.

Also, how do you know you are not in ketosis? you don't really bounce in and out of ketois from day to day.
The sticks are not 100% reliable.

And I agree with the others. You should maintain a certain level of calories and carbs to stop your body getting confused.

And DON'T weigh yourself everyday - your body weigh fluctuautes by up to 5 pounds from day to day.

I had the same experience. I don't exactly understand why lowering my carbs and calories stopped the weight loss though and the ketostix were purpler.

If your stix are more purple it doesn't necessarily mean you are in deeper ketosis. It can mean you just ate a lot of fat.

Likewise, it can look as if you're in light ketosis or not in ketosis at all even though carb intake was very low. This is because your body is using up all the ketones for fuel and you are not spilling them into your urine.

When you are spilling a lot, that often just means you ate a lot of fat.

I am usually in the small to moderate ketosis mode. After exercise, however, it often looks as if I'm out of ketosis, but only because I burned up all the ketones for fuel.

Don't get hung up on the shade. You're either in ketosis or you aren't. The colours don't correspond directly with rate of loss. A lot of people don't even bother with the stix at all.

K.

ok....thanks for all the responses. i just wanted to add that i am not TRYING to eat low calories, somedays i just cant eat much. its definately not on purpose, i just dont feel AT ALL hungry.
i also am not really going by the sticks. i can tell i am in ketosis bc of the amount of trips i take to the bathroom (and the URGENCY of them), and also the breath. anyway on the days when i dont eat much, i dont notice those symptoms at all but inevitably the scale changes.


thanks again and i will definately try to eat more and stick to the "rules"

This is my observation on this issue. I too noticed that when I was in ketosis (and I don't mean the stix turning purple..having the symptoms) that I did not always lose weight. I had to watch the calories as well as the carbs to get the most of this WOE. In my case, 1500 calories and 25 carbs a day was the level that I would lose the best at.

So for some of us, we must watch Both.....and adding exercise can speed things up as well. Especially if you have less than 20 lbs to goal.

thanks yvonne....so i am not crazy! i mean, supposedly if i did this woe "by the book" i would have to eat like 3000 calories a day???? not only do i think i would explode but i cant imagine that i would lose weight!!i think i will aim for around 2000 and see how it goes.

On the ketostix issue, the stick will be more purple if you are not drinking enough water. Lighter stix, when you know you are following the Atkins rules, only means you are drinking enough water and the color is diluted on the stix.
Donna