Hi there,
I have decided to go back on the induction phase after almost 2 months on the Atkins.

I lost a good amount of weight but I think I have gotten careless and now have stalled. I had figured out that my portions were too large at the beginning but once that was aside, the weight came off. However like I said I have stalled now and it's not from eating crappy food. In fact my problem stems from eating probably too much veggies even though all the ones I eat are the low carb ones allowed as part of the 3 cup listing.

Here's the scoop; in the induction phase they talk about 3 cups of "loosely packed" veggies. So I take some romaine lettuce and 1(ONE) plum tomatoes (I add chicken or tuna but that's the protein but I want to concentrate on the salad) and if I try to chop up the lettuce and the very small plum tomatoes.. I fill if not overfill the 2-3 cup measurement maximum!!

I have been very used to eating lots of healthy salads in the past... I don't put any dressing other than a some olive oil and red wine vinegar and some pepper. Now guys that amount of salad is NOTHING.. am I measuring right?? I mean when I lay that out on my plate, it's really very little - and that's it for the whole day... not one meal. Thus I know that after my original 2 week induction phase I quickly upped the veggies to a much larger salad and added maybe some red peppers and some onion and some cucumber. I am now wondering if I can be having too much thinking that I am more healthy by eating a fair amount of healthy salads.

So just what is 3 cups of loosely packed veggies?? Is it really that little?

Hi Claudius!

I have a feeling that it's not too much veggies. How about posting some average days' menus and we'll go from there?
The reason I'm asking is that unless you are eating a lot of low carb products and treats, your carb level may in fact be a bit too low and the reason for your stall. I could be wrong, but without knowing more about what you eat on a regular basis, it's hard to offer more suggestions than that.

I don't think you can eat enough veggies to stall you... I eat as many of the "acceptable" veggies as I want.... Lettuce of all kinds - fiber = almost nothing...

What type of foods do you eat besides the salads?? Your body could be holding onto weight.. because you are not eating enough... and it has gone into starvation mode.... post us some menu's and we will help you out

Wow Thanks for the responses. I did not want to bore anyone with posting what I normally eat but if you insist (hehe) here goes. I will give you exactly what I ate today for example.

Today was my day off from work so in a sense I had more time to mess around but generally it's the same for work days. For breakfast (usually 2 hours after I get up – first thing I have is a cup of decaf coffee at work and that’s it) I will have a small salad (some lettuce, celery) and 1 small chicken breast. Today I had that but other days I might have an omelets with 2.5 eggs (yokes in but the stuff that comes in a carton and is supposed to have less cholesterol). In the omelet (this will be for two portions) I put in maybe 1 small tomato, red peppers, green peppers, lots of mushrooms, onions and feta cheese. I use olive oil to gently cook and soften the veggies. The amount of those veggies is not that much cause if not it would not be an omelet but rather veggies with egg LOL.

Lunch is again maybe a cup or two of lettuce with celery stalks (I like to keep it at 2 full stalks) and maybe 2 slices of tomatoes, and for meat I will have again a chicken breast and some cheese like Friulano or even parmesan. Again not much maybe like 2 inch squared cube of it.

Dinner is (take a guess)... chicken (or pork loin) and a salad. In this one I tend to put more stuff like green olives ( the large ones that are stuffed -- maybe 5-7), some crushed walnuts in there, more feta cheese, onions... the meat of course and whatever veggies as long as they are the low carb list.

Then as I may do more work on my computer later on at night... ahh the snaking. I love nuts of any kind so I think I was overdoing it...like right now… eating nuts. Hum maybe I answered my own question. Anyhow that's it. I drink about 1 - 1.5 litres of water a day and take vitamins.

Exercise consists of walking. In fact if I make a point of going out almost every night and just walking around, do some errands,. see friends.. even thought NOT doing a cardio workout.. I feel like I am losing more weight LOL.

Anyhow that's it. All the meat I cook on my George Foreman's grill. I am starting to think if I am not adding enough fat. ALL my fat comes from added olive oil (in salads or what I cook) and nuts. What do you fine folks think of that?

I lost 12 lbs in 2 months… and my goal is to lose another 20. I am just over 6 feet tall and weighed 233lbs and now 221lbs.

Ahh that covers it.. Thanks

Claudius

I agree salads probably aren't causing a stall.

I can eat over 6 cups of salad, 1 cup cooked spinach, and 1 cup jicima with out getting anywhere near 20g net carbs.

What kind of dressing ar eyou using? Are you eating any kind of LC products such as shakes, bars, SF candy or so on? Are you having alot of cream or dairy? Do you eat alot of processed foods such as bacon, ham, sausage, hotdogs and so on? Do you use www.fitday.com ?

If you havn't already get a fitday acocunt and figure in a few days menus. Something may really jump out at you. If not, make it public and let others on the bored read it to see if they can see any problems.

I really don't think it's too much veggies. Congrats, BTW, for making an effort to include so many of them into your daily menu!
Nuts and too much dairy are stallers for a lot of people. Figuring out what's causing your weight loss to slow down or stop can often be by process of elimination; cut out one food that you think may be the culprit, like the nuts, for a few weeks and see what happens.
OTOH, your body just might be taking a very normal and natural break from weight loss to adjust to the new, smaller you and it's not what you're eating at all.

Claudius
I went a low carb diet through a weight loss clinic and one of the no-no's was nuts. They are a fat and do play a major role in stalling weight loss. Another factor to remember is the body does go into plateau modes and these can take up to 3 weeks before weight loss starts again. These plateaus allow the body time to adjust with the weight loss. I do suggest giving up the nuts for a week and see if the weight loss starts again
Rod

Congratulations on your success so far. I am wondering if you are getting enough fat. I am seeing a lot of low fat foods on your list. Also, are you drinking enough water. That is what makes my husband stall. Hope that helps!

PS - You may also want to check for carb content on your carton eggs. Mine had quite a few that I didn't realize were there.

If you are on induction you should be eating 1 to 2 cups of loosely packed salad or 1 cup of other veggies. Tomatoes are not ok for induction, or are nuts.
I would suggest to break a stall get the 1972 version of Dr. Atkins book and re-induction the old way!

RandiS, I'm sorry to correct you, but DANDR states 2 cups of salad veggies PLUS 1 cup of the "other" acceptable veggies (which do include tomatoes), or 3 cups of salad veggies.

Claudius, I think you are doing great. Veggies are likely not your problem. I don't think anyone ever got fat from eating too many veggies (unless you count corn and potatoes!)

I agree fat could be the problem, not to mention lack of calories. If you eat to little your body is going to hang on to what fat stores it has for the starvation period. (It still thinks we live in caves and have feast or famine)

Throw some more buttler and oil on those veggies. Have chicken with skin or the dark meat. Include other protiens as well.

The nuts look to be your only fat, calorie, and major ptrotien source. Cuttin gback on them could be a good idea, but start working on upping the fat content of the rest of your day.

Again thank you all for the help. Indeed I have been thinking that possibly I have not been getting enough fat or calories in general. Also the nuts need to be cut back. Anyhow I will go back to the induction as planned and will also drink more water as someone here mentioned that her husband always stalls on lack of water.

Now to increase more fat, I am going to post a question in regards to foods such as bacon, sausage and ham. All that has tons of fat but some do have sugar and I get the sausages that are hot Italian that say 0 carbs per link. It does have, according to the label, some dextrose and maybe starch but if the total carb is 0 for each link I take it that the amount is so low that it does not show. I hope it's not hidden and they are just not reporting it on the label. I guess I wanted to add more (any) bacon and sausages and possibly ham but worry about the nitrates as Dr. Atkins suggests and i have NOT been able to find any package of bacon that does not have nitrate. That’s why I avoid that stuff. In fact what's funny is that if everyone were to avoid all processed foods, it be pretty hard to find tons of fat and junk in our diets.

Would anyone here recommend sausages or bacon or ham as a way to add more fat? I love the idea of more olive oil and butter. In fact I have no idea why I have not added butter over some steamed spinach or anything like that or maybe sauté mushrooms in butter OMG that is good. Will do that for sure.

Thanks a bunch all and best wishes for the holidays!

Just a comment from one with a European edition of DANDR. Published 2003. It's slightly different from the American/Canadian edition. I've e-mailed Atkins support a while ago, asking about the differences, as they do NOT make sence to me,. We are supposed to follow a programme, right ? They have not found it important enough to answer me yet. But it's just 2 months since I wrote them !

You guys are talking about cups of salad and vegs, - in my book (page 125) it says:

"Salad vegetables - You can have 230-340 g (8-12 oz) pr. day: Alfalfa sprouts, bok choy, celery, chicory, chives, cucumber, daikon, fennel, lamb's lettuce, lettuce, mushrooms, parsley, peppers, raddichio, radishes, rocket, romaine lettuce, sorrel."

No mentioning of 2 cups and I've measeured, this is far more than 2 cups !
On page 126:

"Other vegetables - You can have 140-200 g (5-7 oz) pr day if salad does not exceed 230 g (8 oz) - these vegetables are slightly higher in carbohydrate content than the salad vegetables: artichoke hearts, aubergine, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, beet greens, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery root (celeriac) chard, courgettes, dandelion greens, french beans, kale, leeks, mangetout-peas, okra, onion, pumkin, rhubarb, sauercraut, spring greens, spring onions (green onions), spagetti squash, spinach, sumer squash, tomato, turnips and water chestnuts".

In addition to the above there is spices and herbs,- salad garnishes etc.

I have followed this since July....and belive me, it's really hard to eat to much of salad and vegetables. I feel I'm growing rabbits teeth and the green stuff is coming out of my ears !

I also noticed avocado (Hass - Calefornians with black skin) is not on the acceptable food list in my book. BUT it's mentioned as part of an Induction menue on page 133. "Breakfast: Three egg omelette with avocado, Mozzarella cheese and tomate, Decaf coffee with cream".

I've read my book several times from cover to cover. From what I've learned from the book and by own expericence: I don't think you're eating enough. If what you posted is your daily average menue, it's to low in fat and also i NET carbs. To high in protein ....... I've entered your daily menue in Fitday:

Total: 872 Fat:29 262 31% Sat:11 95 11% Poly:5 44 5% Mono:11 95 11%Carbs:22 64 8% Fiber:6 0 0%Protein:128 510 61%Alcohol:0 0 0%

Total calories: 872 - far to low (see * below)
Net carbs: 16 - 8 % - to low
Protein: 128 - 61 % - to high (see ** below)
Fat: 29 - 31 % - to low (see ** below)

All this without counting the nuts. Thing is walnuts is NOT allowed during induction. According to Atkins Center, they recommend only macadamia nuts or almonds and that's after the first two weeks of induction or for OWL. You might have nuts after the first two weeks, but have to try out if they stall you as stalling is very common eating nuts.

* This is not a count calorie WOE, but Atkins recommend 10-12 times your current body weight (in lbs) in calories pr day.

** Atkins recommend that your daily calories have the following breakdown: 70-75 % should come from fat, 25-30 % from protein and 5 % from carbs.

I think the main thing with this WOE is to find what's best for you, within the limits Atkins gives you. If you can have nuts without stalling, - by all means have them. But this is NOT a low calorie/low fat diet. If you don't eat enough you will not have the metabolic advantage and your body will go into starvation mode. I had the exact same menue as you, and stalled for 8 weeks. Until a good forum friend and one of the moderators kindly went through my Fitday, telling me what I possibly did wrong. (Thanks to Becky and Rosebud). I have a high metabolic resistance, it's my 3rd time on Atkins since 1980, I'm "older" and until a year ago I took medication for hypothyroid (underactive thyroid gland). I expect to lose slowly. If I can keep an average of losing 1 lb a week I'll be VERY happy ! It has taken me a long time to find how this WOE works for me. I have tried and failed - many times. I know now I cannot have macadamia nuts, - I'm trying almonds next ! Just started OWL after 4 months on Induction and I'm having a hard time eating enough.

I wish you all the best ! Please observe I can only comment from my own experiences, the information I have received from Atkins Support AND my European version of DANDR. Others may disagree and have other experiences ..... take a look at them all and find your own way ! And use this forum for all it's worth !

I might add that I have mixed experience with Atkins Support. Some times you'll meet a kind and knowledgeable person. Next time you'll meet a person who seem to have missed the key points of this WOE, rude and without any knowledge...(this is an ongoing discussion in several other forums on the net).. but that's a whole other thread !

Dang. That is a half pound of salad. I had about 6oz for lunch now (trying to use up salad so it doesn't go bad when we're out of town for the weekend) and that's twice what I normally eat. And here I thought I was a big veggie eater

8 oz is a cup, but in fluid oz. Having 2-3 cups of veggies a day means 16-24 oz measured I belive.

I do the basic handfull, that looks like a cup method. I figure with veggies eating too many can't be a bad thing

Maybe try adding more fatty meats? I like to take a nice t-bone steak, broil it in butter and italian spices and cover it with sauteed mushrooms. As a side, I'll take a cup or so of broccoli cooked in butter and herbs. And a huge glass or two of water. YUMMY! It usually brings me at least a half pound weight loss overnight, but that might just be me. Plus it keeps me stuffed all night!