I hope this doesn't offend anyone... I am just confused.

Everything I have read has said that the Atkins WOE produces rapid weight loss. Yet, in reading here, I see that most of you are losing 1 to 2 lbs a week IF you are lucky? Some are losing far less than that.

I am totally confused about this. When I read "rapid weight loss" is that referring to the initial rapid weight loss of induction and ketosis? Or are they really meaning that you will lose more per week than on a diet with carbs?

I'm just wondering.

Let's see? 2 pounds a week x 52 weeks is 104 pounds...pretty fast.

I am losing slow, but I like it that way. I have taken the fast way and gained it all back and then some. I have learned from that to be patient.

My body also likes to try to stick to a weight it was used to, I just broke a stall.

1-2 pounds per week IS rapid weight loss!

Everyone's body is so different and the same technique for one will need to be varied for another. After induction where you lose a lot of water weight I would be very surprised to find someone who consistently loses more than 2 pounds per week.

Think of it this way: if you started GAINING 1-2 pounds per week wouldn't you think of that as being very rapid weight gain?

Think of it this way: if you started GAINING 1-2 pounds per week wouldn't you think of that as being very rapid weight gain......

Wow, I'd never really thought of it that way!!! That would be a lot of weight!

I don't really know how Atkins got the rapid-weight-loss reputation — it probably does come from the big initial losses in Induction. Some of us, especially as goal gets closer and closer, have to fight for every 1/2 pound and we're lucky to drop 2-3 pounds a MONTH.

But it's way better than the alternative.

I agree with you and I am too am disappointed. I think it's wonderful for those of you losing weight so rapidly. But come on, you have to admit for those of us...3 weeks and barely 2 lbs down and I'm at the beginning phase and absolutely NO cheating going on here! I'm sticking with it, but in all honesty I'm a little sad!

luvmy2girl: u said "everything you've read" but you can't have read DANDR if you're asking the question about rapid weight loss. DANDR is what you should read before contemplating going on the Atkins diet. It will answer all your questions and explain things you never even thought about. It's very informative and people frequently use it for referral even after reading it a couple of times.

What is the source that you're reading from that talks about rapid weight loss?

I used to think it was all about rapid weight loss too...then I read DANDR. Now I think of it as consistent (sometimes slow) weight loss without hunger, and the weight loss is body fat not lean body mass.

Without hunger? Losing body fat? I'll take it!

Lucy

Angeljandy--have you posted your menus somewhere on the forum for feedback? You really shouldbe able to lose more than that in 3 weeks--though everyone's different

The only rapid weight loss is when you first start, at which point you deplete your liver of glycogen (starch in storage) and as its used the water it ties up gets lost too. If you've been dieting or fasting, you might not even lose that much at this stage. After that, its a matter of what and how much you eat, and how much you are burning. Eat that fat, because it satisfies and you wind up eating less. Exercise, because that increases your metabolism.

More than 1-2lb a week, would be dangerous anyway. And take the time to get used to eating this way, because unless you can do this then you'll just gain it all back anyway.

I have read it, but it has been awhile. I was still under the impression that most people lost very quickly. If you read magazines or even things online that compare Atkins to other "diets" such as weight watchers, for example....they always say that Atkins is a way to lose weight quickly and you lose slower on the other "diets".

I agree with the statement that you lose fast the first week or 2, but the advantage of this WOE is that it is something that you can stick with. With most other plans, you are always hungry, crabby, etc. Atkins allows me to not be hungry. It is a big plus. Some of us lose even slower than 1-2 pounds a week. I would love to be at that rate...but it doesn't always happen. The other major plus with Atkins is that your body is smaller at a higher weight (does that make sense?). I know most of us are saying that we are wearing smaller sizes at certain weights than we did on the way up! You need to look at this WOE in a whole. Keeping your muscle mass and losing fat (even at a slower rate) is much more important to me than losing a large number of pounds and seeing that I am nothing but a glob. If you lose your muscle mass, you lose the ability to burn more calories just existing! Even though I continue to watch the scale, my bigger emphasis is my clothes and the shape of my body!

But what do you mean by quickly? 5 lbs a week? 10?

No not 5 or 10 lbs.

I just didn't think that most people were having trouble getting to 1 or 2 lbs lost a week. I mean, fighting for 2 to 4 lbs a month seems slow to me.

When the first Atkin's book was released, and I suppose for every book after that, media coverage has concentrated on some things and ignored others. So, for example, the success stories with people losing scads of weight easily got all sorts of attention as did the very low level of carbs during induction. I remember when the first DANDR was released and all anyone could talk about was unlimited fats and protein--all that bacon--all those eggs.

I thought that too. I remember reading that I could lose 10% of the weght I needed to lose in the first two weeks and then 5% each month and somehow thinking that meant I would lose like crazy. BUt even with 100 pounds to lose, that would mean that a terrific induction would be ten pounds and the next month I might hope for 4.5 pounds (5% of 90 pounds). By the time I had twenty pounds to lose--a good month would be 1 pound. The reality of slow weight loss was right in front of me, but I ignored that part, preferring to fantasize about losing many years worth of fat in a few short months.

I don't think I have ever read something meant for popular consumption in the media that actually talked about eating a healthy controlled carb diet as a WOL. It is always portrayed as a quick fix weight loss "diet".

I think that is one of the reasons so many of us tell people to READ THE BOOK. It is easy to understand why many people see Atkins as a quick fix crash diet if all they are reading is the attacks by the low fat folks or the popular media.

Even when we read the books, I guess we read selectively too--just like the mass media writers-- and then we hope for magic.