I know, I know, it is normal to experience plateaus of a few days to a few weeks, even when following the induction or OWL to a "t."

So I guess I should not be frustrated...

But...I have been measuring and recording every single thing I drink and eat (except for water, which I consume freely and do not record as a calorie laden item).

According to the fitday calculations, I am keeping my carbs to l below 20 each day, and my average caloric intake has ranged from 800 cals per day on my good days to just under 1,000 on my "pig out" days.

I lost 11 lbs the first week, but now I am stuck on the scale...not budging. I have been walking a mile a day, and doing some indoor exercises (calisthenics) and according to the fitday thingee I should be burning over 2,000 calories per day even without factoring in the excercise.

What gives?


I know I am borderline hypothyroid, maybe that is part of it...?


Or maybe I am retaining water? (It's getting fairly close to TOM and I do seem a bit puffy in the hands and face...)

I feel as if I can not eat any fewer calories without feeling deprived, and I can't hardly cut down much further on the carbs either....

Do I need to just drink water and not eat anything at all in order to hope to lose more weight?

Grrr...I am so frustrated!

Love, Leora

P.S. edited to add, today I ate 809 calories, including 17 grams of carbs, and supposedly I burned 2,481 calories.

How come I can't lose weight?

I set the activity level to "seated, with some movement" because I do quite a bit of housework each day and live on the 3rd floor so am always going up and down stairs, hauling stuff up stairs, etc. so I figured I qualified for "some movement" although I am seated for maybe about half the waking day.

You're right that temporary stalls are completely normal (I just came out of a two week period of no loss in weight or inches) but my best guess is that you're too LOW on your calories. Your body will go into starvation mode if it doesn't get enough and then it will hang onto everything it can. You should not be limiting calories at this stage. I eat anywhere between 1500 and 2200 calories per day and I'm losing. Try adding in more fat and veggies and see if that helps.

Tricia

Eek...are you sure? I mean, I am so afraid to try...I am afraid if I add a few hundred calories, I will just gain the weight I have lost back....

Oh, I hate my body sometimes....

I wish I could still run, I would run 5 miles every day and that for sure would burn some calories and raise my metabolism! My body would not dare fight me so hard then!

I am going to make this body of mine lose weight if I have to kill myself to do it, I swear. (fuming and ranting here...)

Love, Leora

I was where you were Leora. I didn't eat enough calories, especially fat. Your body is almost starving (IT percieves it this way). You need more food. Try it for a few days, and see what goes. The worst is you may gain, but who knows. Also, if this is close to TOM, then forget it. This is the water holding phase!

Well...you'd definitely lose weight if you were dead, but somehow I think you really want to be around to enjoy that new slim you.

Leora...your calories are way too low to support even your basic metabolic needs and your body is putting on the brakes because it senses that you are starving and it doesn't want you to die. What I recommend for a minimum number of calories daily to prevent this from happening (starvation mode, that is, not death) is 10-12x your goal weight, assuming that your goal weight is a reasonable one and never go below 1,200 calories a day. A few days at lower calorie levels or a day here and there aren't something to worry about, but when it becomes an ongoing pattern, you really need to make a conscious effort to keep your calories up above starvation level.
How do you add more calories without increasing carbs too much? Fat! Add butter to your veggies, use real mayonnaise and full fat salad dressings. Cook your eggs and meat in butter or olive oil.
Once your body trusts that you're not starving, it will start letting go of the fat again, so be patient and break out the butter.

Thank you so much you guys for answering my whiney post. I was in such a bad mood yesterday, I don't even know why but I was like postal or something. But I feel better today, and am feeling more reasonable about things.

Today I will try to add a couple hundred calories, to reach a goal of 1,200 calories, and see if that doesn't help. If I do that for a few days and still no budge, I might try upping it to 1,500 for an experiment and see what happens, although of course I will still try to keep carbs under 20.

I really am being a bit too hard on my body, I know it just went through a pretty big weight loss of 11 lbs. in a week, so I need to give it a week or two to kind of normalize and think about losing again.

I guess I need to stop thinking of my body as the enemy.

I was just feeling so frustrated because I felt like I was trying so hard, and even leaving my body a tiny bit hungry rather than really eating quite as much as I wanted to. (I probably would have to eat a couple hundred calories more per day, to feel more satisfied and less like I am denying myself.)


Today I feel better and I will do the reasonable thing. Thanks for your kind and patient replies to me!

I honestly just don't have anyone else in the world to whine to about this diet and my body's reactions, so I sure do appreciate the luxury of being able to whine here! (I'll try to post some positive things too so it's not all whine though).

Love, Leora

Leora - I completely agree with the earlier posts.... Your body doesn't know diet it only knows the food supply isn't there and will hold on to each pound for preservation sake.

Eat... low carb and low calorie don't work.

Leora,
What you have to remember on LC is that it is the CARBS that are the enemy, NOT the calories. You just need to throw out everything you know about "old" dieting and watch the carbs. This is like the 4th time I've started LC and I've always been successful. This time I really want to keep it off. Like you it took me a while to "get" the fact that calories don't affect you the same way when you are on LC and I've found that adding more fat like suggested before with cooking everything in butter or eating fattier meats like pork, that the weight came off much faster and I didn't feel hungry. Good luck and wish me luck--my job is stressing the hell out of me right now and I SO want a big chocolate cake to make it all go away!!!
Heidi

Hi leora.....what everyone else has said about eating more calories is right. you should probably try to get at least 1400 a day. Do that, keep your carb intake at or below 20 grams a day, and drink alot of water, and you should start to see a difference quite quicky. good luck