Well folks, I've figured it out. I had been losing about a pound a week, give or take. Some weeks nothing. For three weeks I'd been hovering around 180. Then I went five days of basic meat, cheese, cream, eggs, veggies and fats, and dropped three pounds in a week. That's tremendous for me!

I cut out:
Sugar-free candies
Low-carb ice cream
Low-carb bread and tortillas
All aspartame
All non-water beverages
Atkins muffins
Keto hot chocolate
Splenda

With all that stuff I was eating (probably at least two or three things off that list every day), no wonder I wasn't losing! It's not as much fun without my muffin and hot chocolate, but it sure works...with this new system I might hit my mini-goal by Christmas!

Good for you. Keep up the good work. Happy Holidays!

Keep it up Hilary! You CAN make it by Christmas!!

Hillary, I am sort of trying the same thing... really slow-to-no weight loss during november b/c I was eating almost all the things on your list!! I'm still having atkins shakes at breakfast and maybe a total of 2-bars/week... but in doing this, I dropped 3 lbs this past week! It's amazing what all that highly-processed crud can do...

Yup.

Since I've been back "on the wagon" I limit the treats, although I haven't been quite as strict as you. I limit my diet sodas to one every other day, cut the muffins, etc to no more than three a week, and upped my water intake by 20 oz.

By getting back to basics, I've managed to get rid of the8 or 9 lbs I put on. And it's only taken me three weeks!

Wow, good for you!!! That is great! You must really be feeling great! I hear you about it not being as much fun, but, wow, with results like that, it ought to be no problem!!!

I've been intently following a thread on another Atkins board where people who have stalled or weren't losing fast enough to suit themselves have gone back to the original 1972 Atkins Diet. It looks like the average loss in a week is between 3 and 5 lbs, and it looks like that thread has become the most popular topic on the entire forum. I'm still in Induction, so I basically eat the way they are eating anyway with the exception of having a bit closer to net 20g of carbs coming from veggies than they seem to...at least in the first week or two of the original diet.

I'm not sure I'm allowed to post a link to another board, so I've copied what they are following in their 1972 Atkins Challenge in case anyone is interested:

~~Atkins '72 challenge Monday December 15~~
Meat:
Steaks, corned beef, Lamb chops, hamburgers bacon, Any kind of meat in any quantity (except for meat with fillers like hot dogs, meatballs, packaged cold cuts).

Fowl: Duckling, turkey, chicken, anything with wings.

Desserts: Gelatin with artificial sweeteners.

Condiments: salt, pepper, mustard, horseradish, vinegar, vanilla, artificial sweetener, any spice without sugar in it.

Drinks: Water, mineral water, Vichy, club soda, beef or chicken broth, bouillon, sugar-free soda, coffee (under six cups caffeinated), tea.

Fish: All kinds of fish, canned salmon, seafood, EXCEPT oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, and pickled fish.

Eggs: unlimited, any style.

Salads: Two salads a day, each less then one cupful, loosely packed, made only of leafy greens, celery, or cukes and radishes. Dressings with vinegar, oil, salt, dry spices, herbs, grated cheese, or anchovies.

Butter and Mayo: Butter, mayo, lard, oil, shortening, margarine (this was before transfats information, so be careful).

Juice: Juice of one lime or lemon.

Cheese: Four ounces of any hard, aged cheese per day. NO cream cheese or cheese spreads.

Heavy Cream: Four teaspoons a day of heavy cream. NO milk.



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If it's not on the list, don't eat it. Don't count calories, fat grams or carbs. After the first week, add between 5 and 8 grams (gross) of carbs from additional veggies.

The "no cream cheese" thing from the 1972 diet is interesting. Wonder why no cream cheese?

I was going to try the KISS thing, but decided I couldn't give up dairy just yet. Fortunetely, it looks like I don't have too!

Hi Hilary!

I think the no cream cheese thing is because it's a 'soft' cheese? That means no string cheese either from what I've read over there.

Hilary I might give this a try. What's great is even though it seems like we can't expect to eat those things with impunity while still trying to loose, once we hit our final goals we should all be fine having the muffins or tortillas when ever we want.

I do that, but with no cheeses or dairy. After a while I go nuts though and need my dairy.

It's sad. I don't crave high carb sweets, in fact the site of most crusts make me ill (my son's buttered toast smelled dang good today though) No, what I crave are cheeses, cream cheeses, gormet cheese spreads, yogurt and so on.

Goat cheese in an omlette, mexican pepper jack on eggs with salsa, gorganzola sprinkled on salad, melted mozzarella on darn near anything, ricotta/cottage cheese/cream cheese mixed with so many things, it's all good.

I've learned heavy cream is absolutly forbidden from the house. Other LC dairy though I allow myself in moderation, until I start to get put of control on portion or bloat, then it's back to meats, fats and veggies.

I'm lucky at least there are so many creative things to do with veggies. I have some Jicima cinnimon applesauce (oatmeal) I'm getting ready to make, and some left over zucchini lasagne in the fridge (has dairy though). The zucchini lasagne and tofu faux mac and cheese are just so addicting they are another thing to save for special occasion comfort foods

no cream cheese or string cheese? but these are allowed on the Atkins Induction now a days right?

I loaned my book to my mom...

Cream cheese and string cheese are allowed yes, but limtied. For some people any dairy can cause reactions such as cravings, bloating, weight gain and so on.

This WOE is a learning process. Some people find they can't handle dairy, others find they can't have fruits, nuts, grains, or other foods without a reaction. Eliminating foods from your diet then slowly adding them back in is a great way tolearn about intolerences.

Hillary I found that the LC russell Stovers stalled me.I stopped them and also coffee and wine and lost 4 pounds.I am sure it was the chocolates cause i added back the wine and am still fine but i have not added back the coffee.

I think you've hit on the key differences between losing weight and not gaining weight. I think its pretty clear what induction is, but I think a lot of people have a tough time figuring out where where OWL fits between pre-maintenance (and maintenance). I think for a lot people, the "frankenfoods" (I know you didn't coin it, but its a great description) seem to be ok in OWL at first, but eventually cause stalls. I

In some ways, I wish that OWL had more concrete rules like induction. Even though induction can be challenging, it really is uncomplicated. Maybe you've got the basis here for a solid OWL plan that is challenging but uncomplicated.