Okay. I have been doing induction for nearly 3 weeks. In the first few days I lost about 8 lbs of water. Since then... nothing.

I thought perhaps it was the Atkins bars I was eating, so I got rid of them. I haven't had one since Saturday. It's made no difference.

I've been diligently following the induction rules, to no effect, except that my keto sticks are really light purple. I have not had any energy burst, cravings have not gone away, I feel run down and tired and irritable. The only noticeably different thing is that my sleeping patterns have stabilized which may or may not be related. I battle insomnia periodically, it comes and goes.

I am beginning to feel like I should have known something like this could not work for me, it's too good to be true, I should know by now that my lot in life is to be fat and there's nothing I can do about it.

Is it possible that Atkins just simply doesn't work for some people? Is there anything I can do to make this work? I am ready to give up. I feel so disappointed, I had such high hopes.

Thanks for whatever input anyone has.

nittany --
Hang in there and I think you'll see things kick back into gear. Since you just dropped the sugar alcohols on Saturday, you might see a nice drop in another day or two. I know in my case I got so used to seeign the scale drop every day for the first few weeks that a "stall" of 5 or 6 days would make me depressed, but a pound or two eventually seems to come off.

Make sure you're getting plenty of water; even if you think you're drinking enough, drink more. Also, are you getting a good dose of nutritional supplements? Finally, don't forget that exercise is part of the plan.

I know it's hard to be patient after that initial weight loss. It's so easy to daydream about losing 5 lbs a week to make your goal, but it's a lot more realistic to expect one or two lbs. a week.

Good luck.

If anyone on this thread is a fatty that would be me!! Have you used fitday.com yet? This is my second time on Atkins. The first was interrupted because of crazy life events. Since it's my second time I'm noticing quite slow weight loss on induction so I know what you mean. I've noticed reading other threads that I may not be eating enough fat. Living in this low fat world I stopped using it for cooking and I'm really trying to relearn how to use it. Like this morning, I didn't use PAM for my eggs, I used real butter. Supposedly, everyone says that this will work. But fitday is really helping me see what percentage I'm eating. I'm trying to get 70% fat with 20 carbs.

my original reply was lame and not like myself so I am deleting it and replacing it with this one:

No I am not familiar with fitday.com, I will definitely check it out. Perhaps it can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong. Thanks for the tip.

Have you tried adding exercise into your routine.. i have this awesome tape called power 90, it helps you tone your muscles and build endurance, which i need with a 40 lb 2 year old. anyway, you can prolly find it on e bay pretty cheap. i love it. my son even does it with me.

Hello nittany!
I do NOT think that "your lot in life is to be fat and there's nothing you can do about it". And if all those 8lbs you lost were only water, then you would have regained them by now, surely.

Yes, fitday.com is excellent! I'm plugged in to it day and night (work from home), add my own food and supplements into it etc. A real great companion in this battle. Can't believe its free. Also, read everything you can about sugar alcohols and hidden carbs and be sure to check and count so that you don't get any extra of those in by mistake. It's easily done. Skip processed food, make everything yourself from scratch. That way you're in total control of what you put into your body. Great articles here:
http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips.html

Also, although you're not "stalling" in the true LC meaning of the word, still a search on "stall" and "stalling" might dig up some useful ideas and tips of basic things you could do/look out for. If nothing else, it gives you the comforting feeling of not being alone with the frustration.

Just hang in there! Rome wasn't built in a day. This is a WOL/WOE, not a quick fix. Oh, and don't forget to read the success stories too. Very encouraging when everything feels lousy.

Oh, one more thing. It might be a good idea to start your own journal here. That way it's easier for some of the LC "experts" (I'm certainly not one of them... ) to help you, seeing what your diet looks like over time.

/gilibel

I'm a student at a massively huge big-10 school, I walk around on campus all day with my backpack full of books. I probably walk anywhere from 1/2 - 1 mile per day or more, depending what day of the week it is and how hard it might be raining (in which case I ride the bus from class to class).

Hi Nittany!!

For over two almost three weeks my weight did not change. Then wham bam - down over 5 lbs!!!

If your sticks are still changing color you are doing great!! Just hang in their!!

Posting your menu in fitday or a jounel helps!! The expert low carber can see what mistakes you may be making. Some of my past mistake was TOO MUCH CREAM!!! The cream was very low in carbs but I was having about a cup a day and that is over 800 calories!!!! So I was staying in ketones but not losing. I limited my cream and a few days later 3 lbs gone!!! Other common mistakes - too much salt, cheese and fake candy stuff.

Stick With It - It is a Great Way Of Life!!!

Nittany,
Practically my entire family is on Atkins and we have all faced this slowness in weight loss. You start Atkins and the first 2 weeks you lose like there's no tomorrow and then you stay at that weight for what seems to be forever. But take a look at it from another angle. Healthy weight loss is 1 - 2 lbs per week. On Atkins it's not uncommon to lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks. So if you lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks and now have been at the same weight for the next 3 weeks (totalling 5 weeks) then you average it out to be 2 lbs per week. 2lbs per week is great! To go even further - if your only supposed to lose 1 - 2 lbs per week it would be appropriate to think that you wouldn't lose anymore weight until another 8 weeks have past. Now we all hope that doesn't happen to us, but it wouls mean that after that 10 week period, you have averaged 1 lb per week. Give your body a chance to catch up with your weight loss. It will continue. Good luck

Nittany,
Congrats on that 8lbs of weight loss!
I agree with all the excellent comments above - listen to Letsgo, it is NOT your lot in life to be fat!! I once thought that and I am sooooo glad I didn't stay with that thinking (lost 33lbs so far ). Gilibel gave great advice too (read her post twice ) as did all those who have replied. You made a great move when you came here for a little support...you have thousands of friends here you never knew you had!. And look at my signature line below....

Im a student also and since school has started its been hard to find time to workout. Ive started to make it a priority though, I actually get up early and workout, which is a HUGE accomplishment for me (i hate mornings). Anyways the last three weeks the scale hasnt budged, but I finally got past that one pound today! Ive just been working out really hard and drink TONS of water. THis diet is not a miracle diet, so if you are looking for a quick fix, you will never find one. I think your weight loss looks great so far. Ive lost an average of 2.5 lbs a week, and Im thrilled with it. You should really post what you are eating, because there are alot of people on this board who are well educated about lc nutrition and Im sure they can help.

Nittany - I totally get that feeling that this is too good to be true and couldn't work for you. But seriously, stick with it and make sure you aren't getting hidden carbs somewhere. Because I never believed any diet could work for me either, but this one is! It's like a miracle. Do this: give it a full month. You can do that. I'm willing to bet you will feel better and start losing. If I can, you can, believe me. I don't exercise, I smoke and it's still working.