First, I understand I cannot exceed 20 CARBS a day. It's POSSIBLE I've gone JUST a LITTLE OVER, not knowing EXACTLY how many carbs are in everything I eat. Is THAT a SERIOUS problem that can PREVENT weight loss?
On a typical day, I'll have:

Breakfast: 2-3 eggs (>1 carb) sometimes with cheese and mushrooms for an omelette (cheese=about 1, I hear MUSHROOMS are GOOD for induction but it doesn't say their carb count) and TURKEY BACON(ZERO CARBS)

lunch: SALAD with 3 cups of lettuce (2 carbs)and 3/4 cup of baby spinach(1 carb), alfalfa sprouts (1 carb)Mushrooms, (3/4- 1 cup)cheddar (1 carb) and Mozzarella cheeses(1 carb), and some sort of turkey or chicken meat with 2 or less carbs and a hard boiled egg ( I figure a total of 4 eggs a day is about 3 carbs)

dinner: shrimp (ZERO carbs), SCALLOPS (2 carbs) and BROCOLLI (3 carbs)

I also SNACK on Morningstart Breakfast Bars(2 effective carbs). The Atkins website says they are acceptable for INDUCTION

I drink 8 or more 8 oz. glasses of water each day AND i'm staying away from the ALCOHOL!

But on DAY THREE, I STILL have this fat,disgusting bulging belly and have not lost an ounce. I KNOW I have JUST STARTED....But I just think it's TOO GOOD to be TRUE that the LARD will GO AWAY in 11 more days.

I'd like to lose about 15 pounds. Someone said something about weight loss being MORE difficult if you have LESS to lose. Is THAT TRUE?

Also, I take DEPO PROVERA (birth control by injection) I've heard that sometimes slows weight loss. But does anybody know if I NEED to go OFF the stuff in order to lose the weight?

What I find REALLY AMAZING about LC is that NOBODY who's TRIED it will say it doesn't work.Almost EVERYBODY REPORTS FAILURE (even if it's their own fault) with diets and weight-loss plans. So if NOBODY says that ATKINS LOW CARB is a "gimmick", then it MUST NOT BE.....

I just want to know if I'm doing SOMETHING wrong....since I've TRIED and FAILED EVERYTHING to LOSE THIS LARD!

I welcome ALL SUGGESTIONS and THANK EVERYBODY in advance
Jennifer

Atkins Way of Eating is not a gimmick. It is based on studies in the early 1900's and even back in the 1800's. It's more like how our ancestors ate, before mass produced processed foods took over so much of our grocery stores. And before labour-saving devices took over our lives.

You should reasonably expect to lose about 10% of the distance from current to goal weight. In your case, your stats show you want to lose 23 pounds and you have already - in 3 days - lost more than that. So you are likely to lose another couple of pounds during the 2 weeks of Induction if you stick exactly to the plan.

Please be prepared that you will NOT continue to lose quickly after the first 2 weeks. In fact, it is not unusual to lose nothing during the 3rd & even the 4th week. That's when you read the book over and over to understand why low carbing works and how to continue with the diet. Don't stay on Induction because it is very unlikely to make you lose faster.

The last 20 pounds come off very slowly as the body adjusts. Keep eating regularly because this will reassure the body that it has a steady supply of fuel. Keep doing some exercise, even just walking, to keep the muscles active.

And YES, you have already begun to lose fat.

Yes, I read the NEANDERTHIN book. And it talks about how, since the Industrial Revoluation, it's become too easy, convenient, and habitual for people to eat carbs. How, BEFORE modern technology and urbanization, people did NOT get as sick nor be as likely to be obese. And so many people now have no clue how, although you need SOME carbs in your diet, it's NO COINCIDENCE that NOW there are more OBESE people than there have ever been in history, due to a serious "overload" of carbs.

I know I'm only on DAY THREE. BUt I just want to make certain I'm following this TO THE LETTER. It will be WELL WORTH it when I LOSE the WEIGHT.

Thank you

Hello........you can go to www.fitday.com and open an account. You enter in your foods eaten for the day and it will give you the calorie, carb and other nutritional counts. You can also stay on the induction phase of Atkins for longer than 2 weeks if you don't mind the lack of food choices. Have you read Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution? It became my "bible" during the first couple weeks!
Happy low carbing! Missy

BUt I just want to make certain I'm following this TO THE LETTER. It will be WELL WORTH it when I LOSE the WEIGHT.

If you really are interested in following induction to the letter, Dr. A limits salad greens to 3 cups a day, 2 cups if you have broccoli as you noted for your evening meal. Many folks also note that cheese may slow weight loss, as well as the bars that you are having. Even though some foods are "ALLOWED", it seems to be better to eat natural foods as much as possible. Reactions to these foods are very individual, but if you want to give your body every possible advantage you might want to reconsider their use.
Drink that water and take supplements - I can really tell a difference I do.

Good luck and welcome to the fold!

Karen

Stick to it, it will work. I have been doing this since around the second week in February and so far I have lost 19 lbs. but it has taken me about 2 months to loose it so be patient. It works but you have to be willing to stick with it for the rest of your life, it's not just a diet it is a way of life, you have to be willing to give up the high carb foods forever and learn to eat healthy natural foods. I would also suggest that you go to this website http://www.mybodycomp.com/members/login.asp and open an account. It's free and you can measure yourself every couple of weeks and enter your measurements then compare them with your previous measurements. It's a great motivational tool because even when the pounds don't seem to be coming off you can go to your account, measure yourself and see that the inches are infact coming off. Good luck and stick with it, it will work.

Hi Jennifer,

It sounds like you're really on the right track!!

How long did it take you to put on those 15lbs of lard? Don't expect them to go away in a "poof" when you worked so hard putting them on (and yes...I worked hard to put mine on too).

Fitday is a good idea, sometimes there are hidden carbs.

The "bars"...I've got a question on them. Look at the "nutrition label" not the "net carbs" and post what you see in the carbohydrate section. I'm curious because a lot of those bars with low "net carbs" contain tons of sugar alcohol that stall many people (including me).

One other thing...are you exercising?

For me it works like this: Your body uses up carbs 1st because they're easiest to process, then fat, then muscle.

If you exercise, you get through the carbs quickly and since your body needs energy, it has no place to go but to the fat.

If you want to see a profound difference, just look at the before, in progess, and "success" photos of a lot of the people here.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=151662

The link is to one persons journal who has made an amazing change. You'll see the fat really does drop off.

GL low carbing...stick with it...it WILL happen if you're true to it.

STick to induction for results - it says total of 3 CUPS only of salad (2 if you are having a1 cup of veggies) - it sounds like you are going over that. the bars are only as an emergency meal replacement (stated very clearly in Atkins book DANDR).

Hey there JSin Maine!
You and I have about the same amount to lose. If you're anything like me you will lose slowly - mostly because you don't have that much to lose. It's a little disheartning to hear of these people who lose 20 lbs. in the first month, but if we did that we'd be almost non-existent within 3 months. But trust me - I would not go back to my high carb life style for anything. Although I"ve only lost 10 lbs. in 5 months I feel sooo much better. Just think of how great you'll look in a year! Give it time, you'll be glad! Have fun!
-Bugg

So, is it true that when you have LESS to lose, it TAKES LONGER? Because, although weighing 150 at 5'8" may not make me look like a fat pig, I think I'd look and feel a lot better if I weighed about 135. And TODAY is DAY 6. My CLOTHES are NO LOOSER. I've GIVEN UP looking at the scale, afraid that IF I DO, I'll see 150 AGAIN, and it will be so discouraging that I'll just GIVE UP, go stuff myself with CARBS, or CHOCOLATE, or ALCOHOL or CAFFEINE or SOMETHING ELSE I'm "forcing myself" to stay away from.

But, I just wanted to find out if it is true that the less percentage of body fat you have, the SLOWER the process is. SUre, I'll wait if I have to. As long as I can lose the weight and keep it off.

Thank you for your insight!

One thing you should do is round your carbs, say if something is 1.3 or so, round up to 1.5. carbs. It wil give you leeway later in the day if you are innacurate. Another thing is to not try to hit 20 carbs. I rarely hit the 20 carb mark. I usually eat around 14 or 15 carbs per day. That way if you are still of by a carb or two or three, you haven't ruined the day.