O.K., I am officially stalled.
I have been on Atkins for Seven Months, starting in July 03 at 239 lbs. I was at 201 before Christmas (total loss 0f 38), took 2 weeks off during the holidays and went back to 207. After 2 weeks back on induction in January, I was down to 198 (total loss of 41 pounds) by the 17th of January. Problem is that I have been at 198 for over one month!
Even though I list my goal at 170, my ideal wt would be 180 but I wanted to have some room to manuever. So, I know that being within 18 pounds of my ideal weight the pounds aren't going to fall off like they used to. I would be happy with 1 or 2 pounds a month but this is driving me crazy!
I am staying between 25 and 35 carbs a day, staying in slight ketosis. Moderate exercise but not as much as I will be doing when the weather gets warmer. I have no problem staying on the WOE and it has become a natural part of life, but I really wanted to be down to my ideal weight at least by summer.
I would like to hear from those that have been on the Atkins diet for over 6 months and have had an official stall (no loss of weight or inches in 4 weeks) but had success in breaking the stall and continuing the weight loss.
Should I go back on induction? Should I have some cheat days? Should I go to low-fat for two weeks then back to induction?
I have never had this type of success before trying to lose weight and I am SO CLOSE and determined to finish this and then maintain for the rest of my life. I feel so much better, I am so much more confident, I look so much better... but I need to finish the job. Please help! MAD

Hi Madmike,
Sorry to hear that you are stuck. I looked in your journal but you don't list what you are eating so can't help there. I did see where you were out of town for a week eating in restaurants with sauces on stuff. As a rule, almost all sauces either have corn starch or flour in them so that could have messed you up some.

When I had a major slow down/stall in my weight loss I wrote down everything I put in my mouth for over a week, tracking calories (I know you aren't supposed to have to but it helped), fat, protein, and carbs. It helped me get portions back in line and stopped some of those just a bite of this or a handful of nuts. They add up! Charting my intake had me back to losing at least a lb a week again. Good luck - you can do it!

Marie

The most obvious things I would suggest are:

Check your food and make sure you're faithfully following the rung of OWL you are currently on

Remove all frankenfoods from your diet for a few weeks and see what happens

Up your water intake by say 50 ozs

Up your excercise.

Mike I am with you,


same problem here only we have lots further to go here, 35 pds to be exact.
Started last May, lost 34 with one day of minor cheating on christmas then right back to plan. Same foods as during the loss, increased excercise since the beginning, and nothing. One pd up one pd down thats the way its been since around christmas.
Having been a life long yoyo I could understand my body hanging on and having memory of some kind. But daughter is stuck as well and we even lost at about the same rate together...she is 14.
At her age I could drop the pds with no problem...so this all is very puzzling to me. And am still searching for answers.

Hi Mike,

I just had a look at your pictures. You're about the same shape as me and I'm having difficulty now too.

I have found the best stallbreaker to be Stillmans diet for aboput 5 days followed by a retuen to induction.

Stillmans is high protein, low fat and 0 carbs - yes zero.
You can eat lean meat, eggs, fish and that's about it. You MUST drink 8 x 10 oz glasses of water a day. You go into deep ketosis and the pounds drop off. After about 5 days the body's starvation mechanism might kick in and start to slow your metabolism down so that's when to stop. You'll almost cetainly get constipated as there is almost no fibre in the diet so be prepared to take a laxative if necessary.

If you do a search on Stillmans you'll find more info. 'Dr Stillman's Quick Weight Loss Diet' was a book which is now out of print but which pre dated Dr Atkins by the way.

Many people are stalled now due to this. Weight should start moving down naturally in late March to early April. Just follow the plan until then and try to relax.

Not that this is much help, but I spent what seemed most of the summer stalled. Time seemed to win out. I just stopped looking at the darn scale. Keep going about my business, was happy that I was the weight I was. Hey I was a lot bigger not that long ago.

Then toward the end of summer, some commented that it looked like I lost a lot of weight all of a sudden. So I step on the scale and I was very happy. I guess the body just does what it want to do. If this is more of a lifestyle, what does it really matter if your body wants to slow down and rest for a bit. Sooner or later you will get there.

Zuliekaa, Hi! I just saw your post and am wondering?? Where did you get this information?? I was thinking about this a few weeks ago and I too have been on a "stall" since the beginning of November. I lost 58 lbs. between April and November. It seems very likely to me that the human body can do this. I have been very "down" and feeling emotionally sad for the past month or so. I am on Effexor for depression and anxiety and it just seems that it is not working right now. Could this be why I am feeling this way and why I have not lost? I have not gained weight or inches and I may have even lost very minute inches but not very much to speak of.

The thing that made me think of this is that we have a pet turtle (painted) and he goes into this twilight hibernation state at the beginning of winter. So I started thinking, hmmmm, maybe our bodies just try to "hold on" to that extra fat to keep us sustained through the winter months for when we did not get as much food as in the warmer months.

Hi Mike,

I'm with you. I stalled for 9 months last year

Then I lost another 10 lbs or so and I'm back in another stall. I'm seriously thinking about throwing in the towel and not counting carbs anymore.

Hey guys...Mike and squid....one thing to consider before throwing in any towels. You've lost a lot of weight, the LCing is easier to maintain than other diets, and you don't want to go back to where you were.

Mike....I personally think your body does get "used to" the amount of carbs you're giving it so to stop a long stall, you've got to do something different.

That could take many forms...double your exercise for one week.

Eat some carbs in the morning for breakfast (LC bread with pb&j)

Hey, I don't know, but hate to see the frustration. I've been stalled a couple times, but not for your length yet....

gl guys...if you find the secret..let us know

Beth
I've had SAD for years and I've done a lot of research on it and it's variants. It's something that I've tried to accept and roll with during the winter because there is nothing I've tried that will get the weight off during the winter period and believe me I've tried everything!!!

Having severe SAD I generally gain 30 pounds every winter. The first 10 magically appears in September/October, the next 10 comes on gradually and holds until February when the scale then jumps the last 10 pounds. This is regardless of the amount of exercise or limits on calories and unrelated to any eating programs/diets. Of course if I give in to the carb cravings the weight gained will go up. Before lc I used to gain 50 every winter!!!! You can see why I try not to rage against the 30 now, lol!!!

Generally, I have no problem taking the weight off and a little more during the spring and summer and until the next cycle hits. This past spring/summer that didn't happen because the winter was so long and the summer was so cloudy and light deprived.

Funny thing. I too got on Effexor in Sept. My weight had increased its 10 pounds but when I started Effexor it came right back off. I took that as an encouraging sign but the 10 pounds came back in October. Well it felt good for a while. lol!!! While Effexor is making a big difference in my spirits this winter (I started it due to the past winter of no meds and feeling almost suicidal) it hasn't transformed my fat storing body. I'm hoping it will help when the sun is stronger though. Funny you mention the Effexor not helping right now. For me it's still helping (I'm at the maximum dose) but not as much as it was in the beginning. I guess my body chemistry at this time of year is just too strong for it But I am holding on. The promise of spring is much closer now!!!

I try to post the info about the winter syndrome every year to help people who are going crazy over not losing weight and not understanding why. Some might have SAD, some might not but most people aren't aware of how their bodies might be wired. In a weird way, it's comforting and gives them the strength to hold on in the face of their stubborn winter metabolisms.

In the book "Success to Low Carb dieting" the author speaks extensively about Stalls. She gives many reasons. But one she gives that I didn't know about was this.

It seems a lot of people will stall for long periods at a previous weight they held for years.

She gives one example (and I don't remember the exact numbers so I'll make them up but you'll get the point) where the person had a goal to reach 130lb from 200lbs.

The person stalled for long periods two times:

at 178

at 145

But both numbers actually meant something to her because in her past she held that weight for years.

It's funny how the body works. Actually it's miraculous.

according to my measurements at curves yesterday, i have lost 1/2 lb and 1/4 inch (how accurate could that be anyway) in the last four months. part of me is very discouraged, but on the other hand, it's the holidays, it's winter, and even though i say i watch it closely, i have to confess that i probably haven't counted everything as closely as i should have. i am not going back to induction, because i don't care if it takes a year to lose this last five lbs....but i am going to write everything down for the next week! i need to make myself aware of every bite that goes in. yeah, i was a little upset yesterday because i was hoping for more, yet i was inspired--this is good proof that i can live and eat and get through the holidays WITHOUT a weight gain...probably the first time in years! so, i guess my thought about stalls is that they just happen....and you have to be more stubborn than they are! we can do this!