I've been on Atkins 6 weeks now and have probably never been more faithful to a diet in my life. Drinking tons of water, cutting back on my hormones, changed diet drinks to one that contains splenda, etc. I feel I'm doing everything right. But it's been 6 weeks now and I've only lost 5 pounds. What's up with that?
Any ideas - Please help!

Why don't you post a sample daily menu, then others can give some potential advice. Have you been lifting weights? Do you notice your clothes are looser?

I recently found out about a lot of hidden carbs in foods that I have been eating and it really took me by surprise!

Don't give up.

Almost a pound a week isn't so terrible! I agree that it will help to see a sample of your daily menu to help.

Slow weight loss is always annoying when the books seem to think that it will melt away easily. I'm afraid that for many of us progress is slow.

You said that you have reduced your hormones. Would that be HRT? If you have reduced your estrogen level then weight loss will be more difficult. A good balance of estogen is needed for your system to be balanced. My own weight loss almost stopped last Easter when my hormones went downwards. Once I had been on HRT for several months my weight loss began again and is now pretty regular. So have a look at that.

Might I suggest that you start a journal and then you can put in your foods and how you are each day. This will give us all more information to offer you advice and support.

Whatever else, keep the faith with this way of life.

djoy...

Yes, please start a journal...and poke around in some others and you'll find there are LOTS of people (myself included!!) that were 'turtles" on this board...

There's got to be a reason for it, and in your case, if it's not a hormone thing, then let's see your daily intake. My problem was not the legal foods or cheating, etc. It was the amount of my portions...I was taking in WAY too many calories.

Although we dont "count" calories, they should stay around 10-12x our body weight. Much more than that and there could be just plain old too much food going in your body that it can process and lose fat.

Let us know when you start that journal...and I'll pop in to say hi!

Hi

I've had the same problems. I felt I ws on strict induction and was not losing, quite discouraging.

I read about FitDay.com on this forum and used it to track my food intake, surprise surprise, I discovered that I was consuming close to 2000 calories and a whopping 80 grams of carbs per day! So try tracking, you may not be as strict as you think you are.

Also : After about 8 weeks of snail's pace loss (1 lb per week), I realised that I was down a dress size! Think about how long you have been trying to lose weight. If you lost a lb per week consistently during that time, how many times would you have reached your goal? 1 lb per week = 52 lbs per year. Not bad at all.

Finally : After a month or two of low carbing (even if you hop off the wagon a few times), your body adjusts and it becomes effortless. So don't look at it as working hard for little reward, look at it as laying a foundation for lots of reward with little effort.

..Max..

Good point...djoy...are you using fitday.com? It's a great tool, at least once in a while to make sure you know what's going into your body for real.

Also, this WOE really is effortless when you get to the long term stages...I don't even think about it anymore, and I never feeling like I'm "giving up" anything...

STAY tough...we'll figure out together how to jump-start you and get you movin! You'll be fine...

...Plus the fact that the more insulin you have floating around your bloodstream will affect how well you lose. The more you have the less likely you'll lose. Just ask any diabetic on sulfonylureas, which work by *increasing* the amount of circulating insulin. You can diet until you think you're dying of starvation and exercise until you drop and the weight won't budge. (I know this for a fact). So actually just be happy you are losing at all. I know it can be very frustrating, but what's your hurry? Don't think of eating this way as something just to be endured until you get the weight off. Think more of it as a lifelong journey and enjoy it. The point of a journey is not to 'arrive'--the point of a journey is the journey. Kick back and enjoy it!

How much of the splenda sweetened softdrinks do you drink? I know that when I started making koolaid with it and buying softdrinks sweetened with it I found that I was taking in an extra 10-20 carbs a day. Each 8oz. is about 1-2 carbs.

Good luck.

My thanks to everyone for their kind & encouraging words. I'm not giving up on this!! I think it just helped me to know I'm not alone in this standstill - sounds like it is fairly common.

I did go to fitday.com - intereting site, but I need to take some time to learn my way around it a bit.

Several of you mentioned journaling - I guess I need to find out about that too!

You guys are really great! Again, my thanks to you.