Upping my fat, which naturally upped my calories, is not working for me . I look on other peoples Fitday and it seems I eat WAY more food than most people (gee, could that be the problem). I started a few weeks back eating between 1700-2000 calories per day (thinking maybe my fats were not high enough) and have not lost, but gained! (Although I have to comment on how many less sweets cravings Ive had since upping my fats) BUT I have not lost in soooo long its rather sad.

Im not giving up by any means. I just wonder if I should tweak it in a different direction. I wish I was using FITDAY when I started Atkins because I lost a pound a week and that was great. Now NADA! And thinking back, I ate alot more chicken breast back then ! The only other consideration is that I started weight lifting. Now I have gained some muscle, it is visible, but I cant imagine Ive gained 5 lbs of muscle in a month (I wish, but I doubt it!). What do I do? Obviously not go LOWFAT, just not going to add extra fats and may lower calories to around 1500 for a few weeks to see what happens? Should I up my carbs? I have really mostly stayed around 20-25 since I started Atkins, and honestly somedays I have a hard time hitting 20. Any thoughts or suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was muscle, with all the protein we get on Atkins.

I can only offer my own experience. I've averaged 1/4 lb loss a week for the last two months. I upped the carbs and lowered calories. In the last week I lost 1 pound. I mean to stay with this for a while. Upping the fat and eating up to my BMR has not been the answer for me. I've been on Atkins for 10 months. Each month seems to bring a new set of challenges and requires new tweaking.

Yes, I wish I had at least kept a informal journal of what I was eating since I have been LCing. That way I could compare when it was working to when it doesn't seem to be.

I did keep a written food log at home my first 3 months of LC-ing. I look at it now and WOW. I eat alot more now and that exsplains alot for me. I know we are all different, some need more fat some need less. When I look back to how I ate then it was very simple, boring looking at it now, BUT I was happy with it then. Hmm, kinda makes ya think.

Angel

I just posted about my 4 month stall. I had to cut my calories. I upped the fat to 70%+, and kept the calories to an average of 1500 a day. The extra fats kept me from cravings and hunger pains. I lost almost 6 pounds! I love Fitday, shows you really what you're eating. Congrats on the exercise! I know how hard it is for me some days to drag my butt to exercise!

I was losing a pound a week, but I was hoping that switching things around would make the weight come off faster (since I still have 50 lbs to lose). So I upped the fat (from 90g to well over a hundred) and calories (from 1300 to 1900) a few weeks ago and the result was an immediate 3.5 lb whoosh. However, I then crept back up a pound (without changing my diet from the upped fat and calories) and have been hovering at the same weight for the past week and a half. My Monday weigh-in brought me back to the weight I was last Monday - only the second time since I've started on Atkins that I lost no weight in a week (and that first time was the only week that I cheated). So I'm going to try dropping the fat and calories again while crossing my fingers that I didn't screw up too badly.

I agree 100% with what others are saying, and have been saying on other parts of this forum...CUT CALORIES!! I've been low carbing since Jan, and since the initial loss from induction, I have been maintaining the whole time! It's amazing how quickly calories can add up when you're not really counting, especially when including lots of oils, nuts, peanut butter, etc. That stuff really packs a caloric punch! Think about it...when you're cooking with olive oil, that's 120 calories for 1 TABLESPOON. Measure it out...that's not much! I know some members have had good loss by upping calories and fat, but like you said, something's gotta change. Try low cal, it's better than I remember it being on previous (starvation) diets, because now it's not taboo to eat FAT to keep your tummy full.
~Starkat

It's all portion size for me.

LC eating allows me to eat a TREMENDOUS amount of food and NOT gain, but I won't lose unless I cut back. I'm still in shock about how little it takes to hit the calorie limit for weight loss. I could write a dissertation about how Dr. A. missed the boat on food volume. He just never understood the seriously compulsive eater. But that's not an excuse.

I was sick and lost a few pounds and then had a come-to-Jesus moment about portion size recently, and have been losing again. There's no magic--calories still matter. It's just that LC solves the craving problem that I couldn't resist on a HC diet.

CS Carver- thats pretty much along the lines Ive been thinking. Im very compulsive when it comes to eating. And if you look at the people here who eat higher fat, in general, from what Ive seen, they dont eat a huge amount of food. The extra calories come from the using of olive oil, butter, and such.
So I wonder if in upping the fat, I should really have stuck with more reasonable portions (at least than what I did ). Hmmm, food for thought. It does make sense. I read somewhere in DANDR that as you go up in carbs you actually do go down in fat somewhat (not lowfat) but just somewhat less.

And also, I believe some of this was muscle gain, but not all! Okay....gotta go read DANDR .... for about the 4th time!

Any more suggestions/comments are welcome!!!!!

I eat my fats but I limit them more to keep my calories down, like instead of a Tbsp of butter or oil I will use a tsp etc.

I stick to around 1200 calories a day and I am not hungry and it works for me!

I feel exactly like this too. Half a cucumber and a pint of water can fix it if you feel hungry but nothing makes the cravings go away -- except lo-carb.

Zan

I'm glad I found this post... I was about to post about a similar problem.

After three weeks of no weight loss (or inches lost either), I upped my fat to at least 70% (sometimes higher). Unfortunately, that also upped my calories, and it hasn't been beneficial. The only time I've lost weight since then was when I cheated (believe it or not)... then I lost three pounds.

Now, I think I'm going to lower my calories to 1300-1500, and try to keep my carbs at 20-30, without worrying so much about my fat intake. That seemed to be the only thing that worked for me before the mini-stall. At that rate, I was losing a pound or two a week.

This WOE can be a challenge, but I intend to stick to it.