Where does Atkins talk about this phenom. I have been 20 grams carbs and 1600 to 1800 cals for the last 4.5 months and have been V pleased. Went from 335 to 260. Problem is that now I'm crawling and was wondering if it has to do with the cals consumed or a multiple of the 8 month window that was discussed in a previous thread. Intrested to see what people think.

PS My meals are quite boring but they have been filling and I dont require much variety.

AM Two Egg omlet fried with one ounce of pepperoni
Lunch 4-5 oz turkey
3 oz of romaine
3 tablespoons mayo
Dinner 6 oz brocolli
6 oz chicken breast (or shrimp)
1 tbs olive oil
1 oz of ramano cheese
Snack 1-2 oz of provolone
Water 4 liters per day
Vits Centrum and two Potassium
Meds None

Thanks

How active are you? With your size and if you are extreamly active it is possible you need more calories. 1600-1800 doesn't seem like starvation to me though.

Part of the crawling is the fact you are near goal. The closer you are to yoru goal the slower the weight will come off. That is how it is for everyone. You should also reexamine your goal now tha tyou have lost this much weight. It could be your lean mass has changed. Instead of focusing on the scale, get your body fat tested and shoot for a healthy fat percentage. You may find your goal needs to be raised or lowered from where you origionaly set it almost 5 months ago.

You might also try adding in more carbs through the addition of veggies and fruits. Some people, especially very active people, find they actually lose a little better with a slightly higher carb amount and more variety. This is a very individual thing though, so it oculd just be something to experiment with.

You're menus look very good. It could be though that if you have been eating them for the entire time it's time for variety. Kind of give your body a little shake up by having a variety of claories and nutrients going in. If you are happy with what you are eating though, stick with it. What you probably need most is just a little more time and patiance. Maybe start strength training and focus on toning and going to a certain look instead of a certain weight.

Not v active. In the office mostly and once a week in the OR. Tried doing the HIITS thing but with an erratic word schedule I find it hard to maintain. It also kicks the $&it out of me. Oh yes and occasional Weights. Pec Lats quads and benchpress. Need to add in some cruches or sit ups too.
Just worried about adding carbs. Been doing so well hate to change anything.

Hey Fracture...have you taken any measurements? Sometimes stalls really end up being changes in "shape", trading muscle for fat. That would not be a bad thing.

Me personally, when I slow down, I try very hard to up the exercise to "kick start" my body back into it. Your mileage may vary....

....HOLD THE PHONE...just looked at your stats and message a little better.

75lbs in 4.5months??? What does a "slow down" mean to you? I'm losing 6-8lbs/mo and I believe I'm just above average....I can't believe you've maintained that kind of loss throughout that time....way cool!!!

I HOPE you slow down a bit or, if my calculations are correct, in 15mo you'll disappear!!!

Another thing, as you lose weight, you require fewer calories. So what you might have been losing on before can eventually become too many calories. The only two cures for that are:

Eat fewer calories
Burn more calories

Kind of boring advice, but it sure works.

BTW: What do you consider slow weight loss?

Might want to increase your water intake
4 litres really isn't alot
Remember that drinking lots of water flushes out that fat

You are eating excellent foods! The only suggestion I have is to up your excersize a bit, and lower your calories by 100 and see if that helps. (the calories need a tweaking when you lose a bunch of weight).

I don't have anything to add to the above comments, they're pretty much what I would say anyway, but I did want to post in here to say that I think you're doing a fantastic job and congratulations on your successes so far! You are doing awesome!!!!

Nicole

Thanks all. I know that I get a little psychotic with the scale sometimes. I was just going on the the # cals should be about 10X weight and I have been below that for some time.
I just have to stick to it.
Thanks again.
Tom

If cutting your calories doesn't work, you might try upping them. I don't think at your size that you are even getting enough to support your basal metabolic functions; that DOES induce starvation mode.

Well heres the thing I dont understand. Atkins says to find your CCL level by upping carbs by five per week till you no longer lose and then backing down by five. If I understand correctly. Here's the question. If I'm still on twenty/day and have not lost in three to four weeks, isnt that my CCL?

I personally stick around 20-30 carbs per day.. I know that i need to up my carb level pretty soon.. I wouldn't say that your CCL is 20.. i'd say that your body is just adjusting to all the weight you've already lost.. you've lost a significant amount of weight already.. and stalls are very common.. and to be expected..

Whenever i feel i've hit a plateau.. i up my fat intake.. sometimes just shaking things up alittle can cause you to start to lose again..

I would recommend upping your fat.. or upping your carbs to see what happens.. this is a Way of Life.. so you can experiment w/ what works for you..

Good Job so far.. and good luck on finding the right mix..

No. Unless you've experimented with raising your carbs then you haven't found your CCLL. The idea is to add until you stop losing, or begin gaining. You've never added to see what happens above 20. It IS possible to have a CCLL of 20 - or even lower - but you have to experiment to find out for sure. Our bodies do go through periods where no weight is lost....that's very normal...and as Rachelle said...to be expected. But there are many people who have gotten to a stand still and when they begin following owl and moving up the carb ladder they find that the loss begins again. If it has been 4 weeks with no loss of inches (have you been measuring?) or weight...then it might help to read the chapter on plateau's. Dr. A. gives some very good advice there about what the problem could be.