Hi, all. I just wanted to share that for some reason today I feel discouraged for the first time since starting this WOL in early January. My weight is back up 4 lb from my all time low a couple of weeks ago and feel sad, like I've been trying so hard and for what?

I've been working out 3x a week at the gym as usual and have been walking or bicycling for 1/2 hour to 1 1/2 hours 5-6 days a week, as usual. I've been drinking all my water and finally got around to learning Fitday. Yes, some of my clothes are a bit looser. My carbs usually run in the mid-thirties, with a few days higher or lower. I'm at about 11-12 times my weight in calories each day.

Today is the first time I've felt truly impatient about this process or envious of my sister, who had only 20 lbs to lose and is already at goal, having started Atkins in November. I hate to sound like a whiner, but I feel all discouraged.

Any advice? You folks are always so helpful and encouraging, it's good to be able to turn to you for help.

Thanks.

you dont say whether youa re on induction or OWL, but whichever it is please know that you will stall and that your weight will fluctuate. Just dont get discouraged. You will get to your goal weight. You can do this!

Have you been measuring? I know I sound like a broken record-but I went up 2 or 3 pounds and still lost a half inch in my thigh. The weight went off in a couple of weeks and took some extra with it.

The weight is probably muscle tissue and water retained to help repair the muscle. If so, it is temporary and will go away!

You are probably just trading off fat for muscle, and perhaps temporarily holding on to some water weight. It happens to all of us. The first time it happened to me I spent an entire weekend depressed and fighting off psychological cravings. Silly me! I got over it and soon the weight resumed coming off.

Don't weigh yourself too often. It makes you crazy. Just stick to the plan, be sure you're not eating too much, keep up your exercise, and everything will flow right along. I think the weight we lose comes off in bursts rather than just melting away every day. So you will have plateaus at times. Just enjoy the diet and have fun.

Good Luck!

Hi Lucky1

This is perfectly normal...don't give it another thought. If you are doing the plan properly, drinking your water and getting in some good activity, you cannot be gaining fat.

Holding onto water for whatever reason is something else, but it will run its course and go away.

Your sister is your sister...not you!! We all go through that too...my brother lost 40 pounds while I was still battling 10...well, guys lose faster, he didn't have as much to lose, he has no stress...

Anyhow, just keep an eye on your portions...make sure you keep your food plan balanced...fitday will help with that. And don't give up! The frustration will give way to a good whoosh in no time...

I've been looking at your fitday stats and I do have some comments on how you could make a change.
But first of all your loss looks good when you see to the %. Really!
I saw that your carbs come from various Atkins products and that you use Splenda. Maybe you should cut those for a while, have you been using them all the way or just recently? More veggies could do the trick, I saw very little of them in your menue...we really need them and we need them fresh!
I also agree with the others, you might be gaining muscles!
Don't know if you're on any medications? Also, I gained 3 pounds the week before my TOM both times since starting Atkins.
Check out my fitday if you want.
Good luck!

Alina

Well, you all have done it again. You all said just the right things and helped cheer me up. Yep, I get way too carried away with the numbers on the scale, and comparing my loss to others' losses is pretty counterproductive. Thanks for being so encouraging when I was feeling like a loser (not the right kind).

Thanks also to Alina for the pointers from my fitday. I'm going with less Splenda today. I guess I thought sugar alcohols were likely to stall me, but I didn't know that was also true of Splenda.

I think I don't really have any idea of what to expect in terms of the pace of my weight loss. Of course it depends on a lot of things, but I guess I got carried away reading about all these people who had lost a LOT in a relatively short time, and of course I was hoping that would be me, too.

However, for today I'm happy with how I feel and I'm so glad you're all here for me. Thank you.