I am 5 1/2 weeks into Atkins and seem to be stalled. I did induction strictly in the first two weeks and lost weight at a nice pace. After two weeks I started adding foods, but did not increase my total carbs over 20. In the third week I gained (which seemed due to the time of the month), then I slowly lost what I had gained, but then stopped. My weight now is almost exactly the same as it was three and a half weeks ago.

I eat green vegatables every day, no shakes or bars, drink lots of water, moderate exercise. The only "fake foods" are some low carb tortillas, and I have been eating an Atkins muffin for breakfast. Other than that I hardly ever have artificial sweeteners. I have had nuts once or twice, and fresh cheese a few times, but otherwise I'm still eating only induction foods. I have been doing Fitday and I tend to eat around 15 grams of (net) carb a day.

Since the weight loss stopped, I have given up caffeine. Also starting today I'm taking flaxseed oil & my multivitamin is about to run out, so I thought maybe getting some better supplements might help.

I have been reading this board for advice and have become a bit overwhelmed by all the information here. Should I be eating more carb? less? fewer calories? more? more fat? less dairy?

I am wondering if anyone would be willing to look at my Fitday food log and tell me what I'm doing wrong?Here's the address:

http://fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJour...l?Owner=ovenall

Also, a couple of specific questions:

1. If I cut back on diary, what should I eat for fat? I don't like eggs or mayonnaise. What else can I eat to keep my fat intake up?

2. Can anyone recommend a specific multivitamin and essential oil capsule? There are so many brands, it's difficult to know which are good.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I know it's wrong to compare myself to others, but a coworker and I went on Atkins at the same time, and he's been losing steadily all along, even though he's much less strict than I am. It's so not fair! He's been really nice about it, but it's still frustrating.

Hi SarahO -

You sound as crazy as me... lol!

Relax - take a deep breath.

Checked out Fitday and it looks like you are doing ok.

Have you measured yourself - i've haven't had a loss in about a week also, since before my TOM and I understand your angst but... if you are like me you don't feel bloated, your clothes are all loose???

Does any of this sound familiar at all?

Have you been working out at all - that really moves things along.

Either way - I would wait another week and then if no movement you can try not having nuts for a few days and check, remove the lc tortillas/muffins and such to see what plays a role for you.

OK, so maybe I'm obsessing just a little bit

I have noticed smaller measurements and looser clothes, but not nearly as much in the past couple of weeks. The change in the "pant-o-meter" has slowed along with the weight loss.

I do get moderate exercise -- can't afford a gym membership so I climb up and down the emergency stairs at the office -- but the problem is, I have TMJ so I have to be careful not to overdo exercise. It sounds weird that stair climbing would make my jaw hurt but it does!

I think I'll go ahead and stop the low carb muffins and tortillas now. Because when I eat one, I start thinking "is this stalling me??" and it ends up tasting like sawdust.

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement and for reminding me not to get too worked up about it. I will try

--Sarah

Good for you.

Funny though... I had to re-read my own message to you this morning because I felt the same way today! ha ha

Hey Lisa, I guess we can encourage each other! Don't stress, you're doing great! At least we're not gaining! hee

I would still like to know what to eat for fat besides diary, if anyone has ideas to share.

Also, everyone talks about their appetite being suppressed, but I haven't felt that way at all. When mealtime rolls around, I feel hungry hungry! I have noticed that smaller meals satisfy me, but still, it's not like I don't notice when it's mealtime. My stomach is growling for breakfast right now!

Hey SarahO -
I still am very hungry between meals too but I think thats ok since I eat lc appropriate and I get full. For me I think it's more of a pavlovian response.

Fat ideas:

-Salad dressings on salads or with veggies to dip in
-celery with cream cheese and salt
-veggies with melted butter
-homemade with mayo egg salad, tuna salad - shrimp salad
-blend some crushed ice, water, vanilla extract, splenda and heavy cream for a shake
-Make a cream sauce for your chicken or fish using heavy cream, garlic, parmesan cheese and cream cheese
-Pepperoni chips with 1 melted mozzerella string cheese on it

Just a couple of my favorites.

Wow!! They are all mostly dairy (I guess I was thinking not cheese).

Anyway... can't wait to read others advice.

These are all great ideas, I'm going to try them, especially your pepperoni and mozzarella snack. That sounds yummy!

But, most of your suggestions have diary in them. I'm just wondering what I can eat to keep my fat ratio up if I cut back on diary to try and break this stall. Right now I eat a lot of cheese, butter and cream & I'm wondering if that's giving me problems.

My favorite snack right now is cheese on cucumber slices. At first it was just a substitute for crackers but I'm finding that I really like the taste. I think I will go look in the recipe section for a good dressing/dipping sauce recipe. I looked in the supermarket for blue cheese or ranch dressing, but they all had sugar in them

What I do to increase fats and stay away from dairy is to switch to olive oil & vinegar for salad dressings.... and I am actually starting to PREFER it! (This is a die-hard blue cheese / 1000 Island girl talking!) I also use as much olive oil as I like.... it's really, really good for you...so I slather it on!

I also love avocados.....so I have those for a snack or added to salads or topped on my grilled chicken with a little sour cream and salsa.... Yum!!! They are also very good for you... eat up!!

Hi Teri, I already use olive oil on my salads but thanks for the tip about avocado! I had forgotten all about them & I bet that's a good way to get more fat. Maybe I'll have avocado instead of cheese on my salad today.

When I started Atkins I had this bottle of "bread dipping oil" which was simply olive oil with some herbs floating in it. I use that for salad dressing with a little vinegar, salt and pepper. It tastes really good! When I use it up I'm going to make my own infusion, I bet it will be much cheaper.

Oh yea... olives too!

Ladies - help!! I am also not losing like i would like to so i have decided to add more fat to my diet. i got a great idea and went to the grocery store to buy an avocado for the first time in my life. I took it home and was so excited to put in on my salad.

How in the world do you cut into these things? How in the world do you slice it? Help!! It doesn't look anything like the avocado i get on my salads in a restaurant. what am i doing wrong?

i know this might seem like a silly question to some but i have never been so confused by a piece of food in my whole life.

I don't know if there is a "right" way but this is how I cut them:

1. cut lengthwise, all the way around (you can't cut straight through cause of the pit)

2. pull the two halves apart. Put plastic wrap on the half you aren't planning to use *fast* because air turns it brown.

3. peel off the skin. If the avocado is reasonably ripe the skin should come off in 2-3 pieces. Also throw away the pit if it's in this half.

4. set the avocado flat side down and cut into wedges.

5. eat!!

Sarah,

Atkins has an Essential Oil supplement which is very comprehensive.....it's what I take..