Sorry for this post in advance. However, I have to write this because I am down.

I have failed at trying to lose weight so many times in my life, and this time, finally, I have decided NOT to fail, to do it right, etc. And everything was going fine, until about three weeks ago, when suddenly, my body decided to stop losing weight and regain some weight I had already lost.

I tried to be easy on myself, just be patient, and my weight has been fluctuating for weeks now. I now weigh about 6 pounds more than I did 3 weeks ago. Shouldn't I weigh LESS than I did 3 weeks ago?

I have done all the things that people say to do to get out of stalls including taking tons of very expensive amino acid supplements. I drink so much water I have to pee every half hour. TOM is weeks away. I don't eat any articificial stuff, no caffeine, no sweeteners, no processed anything. I exercise as much as I can (walking up hills mostly), I recently stopped eating dairy, I count all my carbs, I NEVER eat at restaurants, I even tried eating more carbs and going back down and nothing happened except I gained more weight back.

I think the only explanation is that my body doesn't want me to succeed at this. I am doomed to be FAT forever. Why is this happening? I am so frustrated and depressed about this. I can't give up, but why am I punishing myself for no results? I'm not even feeling all that great anymore. My hair is falling out massively. I am constantly depressed about my weight and how I look. My skin is terrible. My mind is distracted and my concentration is failing. I am always exhausted. I could sleep for 36 hours without waking, and I often fall asleep at my desk in the afternoons. I am ravenously hungry all the time. Even after I eat a big protein and fat meal, I want to eat more. When I eat, I eat so quickly that I almost choke, that's how hungry I feel.

I eat tuna fish for breakfast, eggs for lunch, and fish or pork for dinner, with green vegetables throughout, and flaxseed oil and a bunch of supplements. I'm doing the liver cleansing with milk thistle which is supposed to speed up weight loss. I'm taking L-carnitine which is supposed to burn fat. I'm taking chromium piccolinate which is supposed to help insulin resistance. I take everything else they say to take, Vitamins, minerals, herbs, L-glutamine.

As far as I can tell, I am not doing anything wrong. My body has given up, even though I haven't. And even if this is temporary, it's having really detrimental effects on my psyche. And I was so happy three weeks ago. Do stalls make people manic depressive, because I can see that happening.

I'm not asking for advice, although if anyone wants to offer any, I'd gladly accept. I just had to write this down and express my frustration. Thanks for listening.

Kypraia, who is normally relatively upbeat.

My goodness, girl! I just finished browsing your journal and you've come a long way! You've lost weight and you've lost inches.

And you've been under a lot of stress! It's no wonder you're feeling what you're feeling!

Now, I'm certainly no expert, but I think you have a lot to celebrate. So what if the scales isn't your friend right now. You can't trust it--it tells horrible lies!!

Losing weight is merely one of the many benefits of this WOL. You are gradually becoming healthier and less insulin-resistant. Dr. Schwarzbein says that as you heal your body, sometimes you actually gain weight, and that you will start losing again eventually.

Don't give up the ship! Don't thow the baby out with the bathwater! Don't try to rush things. Nothing good comes easy. (My kids tell me I've got a million of these saying!!)

Rosebud posted this site and I thought it might help you too.

http://www.jalilahsahar.com/whooshes.html

Hang in there! You may not see how, but you can do this. You have been an inspiration to so many already. Just stick with the program. It will happen.

There, I've said my piece. Lecture is over for the time-being!

Pokey One (mother hen)

Hi kypraia:

That's a nice name, by the way.

I don't think I can answer all your questions, but here goes...

I went to your journal to see what you were eating, but didn't find much to help me out (I just skimmed quickly). You mentioned in your journal that you thought you were eating too much. While I was reading your post, I couldn't help thinking that you were eating too little!! For your weight, you must eat between 1980 and 2376 calories per day (10 -12X your weight). That's a lot of food.

IMHO, I think it's time for you to log onto fitday.com so that you can record what you are eating. If you are hungry, I'd also suspect you aren't eating enough fat, you've cut out so many of the high fat foods. That's not good.

My other question is "what are your measurements"? You've taken them before so I wanted to find out what those results are. Since you've been working out, it's possible that you've been losing fat all along even though you've gained weight. IMHO, scales should be thrown out except for those who can emotionally handle the numbers. Most people just can't.

If you'd like post your typical meal so we can analyze it.

Here's a link to the hair loss issue... http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=13389

BTW, you'll be one hot "chick" in that string bikini at your goal weight. Keep the faith!

Wanda

Thank you for the quick replies Pokey One and Wanda,

I visited those links...thanks. Very illuminating.

Here's an example of what I eat:

Breakfast:
huge glass of water
1 can tuna in water
2 slices cheddar cheese melted into the tuna
supplements

Lunch:
2-4 eggs cooked in butter
green pepper/cucumber
supplements
water

Snack:
water
can of tuna fish

Dinner:
BIG salmon steak with a little lemon juice
lots of grilled zucchini and eggplant
water
supplements

After dinner:
water, tea
a few blueberries

That's pretty much how I've been eating lately. I've messed around with it a bit, so I can't say I've eaten this every day for weeks, but that's pretty much it.

I really appreciate people supporting me. I think I can get through this. I read the entire "Self-Sabotage" thread that TeriDoodle started, and I can identify with a lot of it.

Kypraia

Hi Kypraia,

I'm sorry. I wish I was there so I could give you a hug. I glanced at your journal and you have had a really tough year and a half -- losing your sister, starting a high pressure graduate school program, and moving. Anyone of those things is a big stressor and you have them altogether. I know that you have remained remarkably upbeat through-out everything, but it can't have been easy. Stress can lead to tiredness, hair loss, and all sorts of other unpleasant symptoms.

This suggestion has nothing to do with weight loss, just with taking care of yourself. Perhaps you need to let up on yourself a little and take some time off to do something you really want to do. Perhaps you just need to nurture yourself a little. I know you don't have any extra time in your day, but you say you aren't focusing on your studies anyway. I don't know what you like -- a warm bath? a visit to a museum? a long phone conversation with an old friend? You probably shouldn't do anything food related, but you should do something nice for yourself.

You are still young. I know you will get to your goal weight soon, but your body might be telling you now that you are putting yourself under too much stress and that it needs a little time to just recuperate before it can resume weight loss.

I would guess that Brown has a good counseling center. You might want to make an appointment to talk to someone there. When I was in graduate school (U.C. Berkeley) I saw a counselor several times to discuss stress and it was always very helpful.

See your doctor .

I am not sure but Hair falling out ,

sleeping , depression makes you think of thyroid problems

Pene

Kypraia:

It sounds to me like you may be suffering from a yeast infection (candida). I also had problems similar to yours, and as soon as I started taking supplements to control the yeast problem, I started to significantly lose weight again.

The supplements I'm currently using for candida are caprylic acid and oil of oregano. I have been taking one for about 4-7 days and then I take the other for 4-7 days. The reason I alternate is because the fungus becomes resistant to supplements fairly quickly, so by alternating it is easier to fight the fungus. Their are also tons of sites on the internet dedicated to fighting this nasty infection. There are some side effects that I had that you may want to be aware of: you may go through a detox period for up to a week where you feel light headed, weak, and may even break out in a rash. I personally broke out in rashes for about a week until my body was finally over the detox period. Also, while in detox you want to be strictly following a low-carb diet. The good news is that once your body starts to control those pest, you start to feel like a new person. I personally started feeling the way I felt when I was a kid. It's hard to explain the exact feeling but I would characterize it as a lack of stress.

I really understand your fustration. In fact, yours is the first post I have ever replied to and the reason I just registered to this site. Although, I have been browsing this site since November.

After learning so much about the poisoning of our bodies through carbohydrate consumption, I feel that I am finally on my way to becoming a healthier person. In any case, I recommend that you continue on your diet and if things aren't going well, then try experimenting with anything you can think of.

Good luck and I hope this post helps you.
sam_g5

everybody had such long posts to you, i didn't really read them thru. I may be repeating what somebody else has suggested. Have you had your thyroid checked? Sounds like you have some of the symptoms of hypothyroidism (underactive). Just a thought.

Hang in there--we're all rooting for you!!



N.