It seems contrary to what might be expected (reducing mass probably reduces need for vitamins), but I can't help but notice that it seems I am deficient in vitamins, even though I get almost enough from diet and supplement liberally with vitamins.

Before Atkins my nails were healthy and strong and rarely broke. I never got bruises. Now my nails split in half (lengthwise, as if the "layers" of the nail bed are weakly held together) and are brittle. I bruise very easily now.

Don't get me wrong, some aspects of my health have improved with atkins. Virtually any aspect of health relating to the endocrine system has been vastly improved by reducing glycemic load and reducing fat mass. However, in many other areas, my health has declined. Not all, but many. My joints hurt in my hip and knee especially - my joints didn't even hurt when I was morbidly obese, believe it or not. My nails are in worse shape than they were before. I've been told I don't look healthy by family members.

I just don't get it. I eat very healthfully. I don't do "fatkins", I do it the right way: multiple servings of veggies a day (and I make sure to eat healthy veggies, not nutrient void stuff like cucumber or iceberg lettuce), many types of dairy, moderate amounts of fruit, and I take vitamins. The only way I can reason this is that the weight loss caused it. I admit I don't eat many calories, but that is only because I must reduce food intake to lose fat. If the poor health is related to a sustained hypocaloric diet only, than you can say my poor health is caused by losing weight. Has this phenomena been documented before (poor health induced by hypocaloric diet/fat loss)? If anyone could toss info my way, I would appreciate it . TIA

How low do you have to keep your calories? Just curious.

Perhaps there is an adjustment period, it cetainly is a big change to lose the incredibly amount of weight you've lost -- besides which you now eat in an entirely different way. How long have you been maintaining?

I find 1100-1200 tends to produce a pound per week loss and sounds pretty much correct compared to what I think my metabolism should be doing (all things considered). That's a fairly safe rate of fat burning I think, so it's not like I'm starving myself.

I've always been an easy bruiser. I was always covered in bruises when I was doing Martial Arts. I looked like a poster child for spousal abuse or something.

I doubt your need for vitamins would change that drastically. You might want to list your symptoms to a doctor and see if he can connect them to anything. It doesn't ring any bells with me, but I only play a doctor on TV.

One thing, according to your stats, it looks like you're 7 pounds under your goal. Are you still trying to lose weight?

Also, I wonder if perhaps the speed of your weightloss perhaps stressed your body a bit? You lost all that weight in a year? Maybe you just have to give it some more time. But I'd definitely check with a doc about your list of possible symptoms.

Yes I am still trying to lose weight. My official goal was 135, but I found myself too heavy for my liking at that weight.
Right now my waist is 27 in and my hips 37.5, and I just got in the size 8s... so I'm clearly not tiny just yet.

I have one final goal. I have these size 27 diesel jeans, they are probably the equivalent of an american small 6 or a big size 4. Right now I can barely fit them over my hips, and certainly can't close them. I think I'll be really satisfied with my weight when those fit me nicely.

Woo, I wonder if you're getting enough protein. With that few calories, it might be hard. According to PPLP, you should be getting 80 to 100 grams of protein a day -- minimum.

Also, I take MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) daily for joint health. I tried glucosamin and condroitin, but they didn't help. I've noticed that MSM really does help. It's a sulfur supplement. Here's a link that describes it pretty well:

Why do we need MSM dietary sulfur supplements?

If you bruise easily, try taking more Vitamin C and Vitamin K.
I'm like NancyLC with the martial arts and bruising!

Arnica cream is also helpful for speeding the healing of specific bruises.

There are a couple of vitamins that the Induction level of Atkins IS deficient in. There is NO vitamin C in the initial level until you reintroduce green & red pepper or berries and melon. (Eskimo/Inuit who exist on a diet of meat and fat have apparently a means of creating a form of Vitamin C out of fresh meat.)

In addition, the diuretic nature of the low carb diet tends to wash out the water soluble vitamins: C & all the B vitamins. So you could be losing some of those and need to take in extra.

It is well known that easy bruising can indicate a need for Vitamin C. So take at least 1 gram per day for a week and see what happens. If the easy bruising (no pain, no memory of bumping the area) continues, then see your doctor.

Vitamin B is mostly found in dark green vegetables or those of deep yellow/orange colour and grains. Only the deep green ones are on the early levels of low carbing.

If you decided to supplement B vitamins, take a "B complex" so that you don't get out of balance with one of the B's.

Eh, I'd say that's a pretty darned fast rate of loss when you're not technically overweight. I'm about your height and weight, and that kind of loss would be very hard on me, because my body has a TOTAL of 25 lbs of fat. Considering that 15 lbs of that is essential bodyfat that's needed for me to stay alive, you can see that the loss of a pound isn't exactly peanuts. A pound a week may be perfectly safe for someone with 75 lbs of nonessential bodyfat, but it's lightning-quick for someone with 10 or 20. I don't know if you know what your bodyfat percentage is, but I'd recommend you look into testing to figure it out, and then reevaluate your desired speed of loss accordingly. Also remember that the faster you try to lose, the larger a percentage of the weight lost is muscle, and that's exactly what you *don't* want if your goal is to improve your appearance.

As for the bruising and whatnot, frankly, I think you're just not eating enough -- that's not caloric reduction, that's borderline starvation. Whatever you think of the "starvation mode" theory, it's generally accepted that consistently eating <1200 calories is not a good idea unless you're very petite, so you're walking the line. If you're not feeling and looking healthy overall, that's probably a sign that you've crossed it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I've seen some other posts of yours to the effect that you're having some fatigue issues too?

I sympathize with the feeling of still not being happy with your body even at goal weight, but I think you're just pushing a little too fast, and that you'll be happier and feel better if you slow down some. After all, how many lbs do you think you've got left to lose in order to fit into those jeans -- three? five? eight? What's it going to hurt if it takes a little longer to get it off, especially if the choice is between good health and getting into the goal jeans in a certain period of time? That approach may make a little more sense if you're trying to fit in a wedding dress, but I hope you're not getting married in your jeans .

I'm not an expert by any means, but did you mention in other posts that you don't exercise much or at all? (If I'm thinking of someone else, forgive me!)

I'm willing to bet if you worked in some moderate cardio and weight training, you'd be able to stay at your current weight (or even put on a few pounds) and still slim down and tone, enough so that you would be able to keep your calories at a decent level, AND wear those jeans!

I don't know if it's vitamin deficiency or not, but this is worth some thought!

BTW, I'm AWED by your success, and can only hope to copy it myself!

Wendy

Learn about the way vitamins work and you may need less of them. Vitamin C helps to absorb iron. If there is an iron deficiency then increase your vitamin C. Vitamin C improves the absorption of other nutrients such as calcium. Vitamin D is also important when it comes to calcium absorption, that is why it is put in milk.

Green and red peppers are on induction and should be consumed for your vitamin C. These peppers have 2-4xs the amount of vitamin C that oranges have.

Clearly, if you're bruising easily, something is significantly wrong. The first (and cheapest) place to check is increasing your vitamin C. I have to take AT LEAST 6 GRAMS a day to stop "easy bruising" and I currently take 12 grams, plus bioflavenoids (Quercitin) which are also connected to capillary health. (Caveat: Taper on and off any level of Vitamin C or else you can cause rebound scurvy.)

If the C doesn't work, the next stop is your doctor because the medical causes of "easy bruising" need attention.

I take silica to help with nails and I believe it helps with joint pain as well--it makes cell walls stronger. It's not something that you can get easily in any kind of diet.

I would also suspect that you are, no matter how much you did or are exercising, significantly more active now which may be the source of some of the trouble. I know I am, and I'm only 30# lighter than when I started.

I've always been an easy bruiser, multiple docs have said it's just my nature, nothing wrong with me. I probably have a dozen various bruises right now. My skin is very fair and veins so close to the surface you can easily see them in many places, like light blue stripes under my skin. They are not raised though.
I also take MSM, 6000mg day, have for about 6 years and have started so many other people on it too. We all swear we will never stop taking it! I haven't been sick once and my periods are down to 2 days (from 7-8) with no cramps (used to be bed-ridden for 3-4 days), my nails are strong and grow so fast I have to clip them weekly. It hasn't helped my bruising though!
Val

Most docs think 500 mg / day is enough. If you have an interest in not bruising, try upping however much you're taking, maybe 500 mg / day, till it stops.

I have enough risks in my life to take a chance on living with obviously poor clotting mechanisms.

Naw, I've always been an easy bruiser too. Bruising just shows up more on fair skinned people. There are some medical conditions that can cause it, but mega-dosing on vitamin C won't help. Scurvy causes it too, but I bet Woo gets plenty of vitamin C to not have scurvy.


http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/sym/bruising.htm

Hmm... looks like bruising and brittle nails can be caused by anemia.

Get thee to a doctor.

/agree Black57... sweet peppers rock!