Help Needed

thecrazy1

Hi all

You always hear people saying there's no excuse for being overweight (don't you just hate them) so what do you do when you think you are doing everything right and you don't lose weight. Well this is my third week i lost 10lbs in the first two weeks and now it seems i have put on about 0.5lbs can anyone look at my food diary and see if i am doing anything wrong.

All help appreciated

Your low-carb friend.

hummingbirdxss

Don't be discouraged !! But unless I'm missing something, I can't get to your food diary. Check your settings and I'll check again in a bit.

Sharonks

The first week or two of any diet, especially low carb, you will lose a lot of water. After that, your weight loss will slow down and it often seems to decrease in lurches. My weight loss is set at .4 lbs a week. This can mean I lose nothing, gain a little or suddenly lose a pound or even two. With women, cycle and water retention can affect weekly weigh ins. I can't see your diary but I wouldn't stress too much. Also, if you have started exercising you may be converting lbs of fat to lbs of toned muscle. If you have started an exercise program you should measure yourself. I have only lost about 2.5 lbs in the last 5 weeks but I lost about 7 inches.

sicchi

Hi there. I looked at your diary. Where are the vegetables and salad greens? On atkins, 12-15 g of your carbs should be in a form of greens or veges. Apart from the added fibre in atkins bars, there is no natural fibre to kick the metabolism along. Also, uping your water intake will help. In the book it says to aim for 200g cooked veg and 2 salads a day. Dr.atkins says it is essential in the process of weight loss and also for healthy bodily function. Check your salt levels too. They may be too low. Hope this helps!

hummingbirdxss

Ok, peeked at your food diary for the last few days and a few things jumped right out at me.

1st, in my opinion, drop the Atkins bars. They may be low carb but they are notorious for causing a stall.

Also your sodium intake looks on the very high side. I'm sodium sensitive (fingers swell up just looking at the salt shaker) and I do my best to stay as low as I can. Most of the sodium issues seem to be coming from the sausages you're eating and possible the prepackaged chicken breast. I know finding time to cook from scratch is rough, but the whole key to Low Carb is planning, planning and more planning. Buy a large pack of chicken, cook them all at one time and use for several meals in the upcomming days.

What ever you do, make sure you are drinking plenty of water (helps with the sodium) and geting plenty of fiber (helps flush fat and keep you regular :noway: )

Each of us has to tweek our diets to fit our needs and I'm not an expert by any stretch, but this is my second time on Atkins and now it's a true lifestyle for me. I hope I can shed some light and help you out !!!

mountainmare

I started just like you. I took off 8 pounds in about the first three weeks and have lost NOTHING for the last four weeks.
I was also feeling terrible. No energy in my workouts, cramping in my legs and feet.
I was eating more veggies than you , but like you I was eating way to low.
The Atkins book says that for induction you should get around 15 net carbs from veggies and sould also eat 4-6 ounces of meat as a serving--8oz if you are a large man. It also says that you should aim for around 1500 calories to avoid slowing down your metabolism (what MFP people call starvation mode).
I have been losing some inches, so if you have not taken measurements you may want to now.
Last week I made an effort to up my calories and carbs a bit (I was trying induction for 6 weeks). I feel much better and will continue to try to get a least a net of 1200 after exercise aiming for 1350-1400.
So try tweeking your diet with more veggies and a bit more calories, drop the low fat options because they often have more sugar or salt in them and change up your exercise adding some light weights.
Or course what do I know--I have lost NOTHING in four weeks, but I feel better and can exercise more now.

CandyAppleCockers

Start measuring. Lot of people loose some inches even when the scale doesn't budge. Many low carb grocery items like low carb tortillas aren't the best step for people when they first start, or baking mix etc. And many of the items like bars where the claim is you can just deduct the sugar alcohols don't work like that for everyone.

ZipperJJ

You're not eating enough calories. 1500/day is a low goal and if you eat that much you will lose weight (it's a deficit already). If you eat less than that you will be starving. Never, ever have another 900 calorie day.

Are you exercising at all? Probably not, you're probably a bit weak. Eat more, get some exercise. Add your exercise calories to your diary and you can eat even more calories.

The point of low carb is that you eliminate carbs to the point of being in ketosis. Your body burns fat for fuel instead of carbs. You need to provide it with that fuel. You can eat enough calories in the form of fat and protein to be utterly satiated. You add some low-glycemic veggies in there and you're feeling great.

Trying to eat low calorie while avoiding carbs is just a death trap. Same with trying to eat high calorie without eating low carb enough to get into ketosis. It doesn't work that way.

You may have lost a lot in the beginning by being low cal and low carb but trust me it was the low carb that made you lose, not the low cal.

EAT!

thecrazy1

Thanks for all your comments. It just show how support from other people is so important. I thought i was doing everything right but this helped me to understand a bit more. Just a quick question if i eat 19 grams of dietry fibre and 16 grams of total carbs is that good or not. I know i havee to subtract the dietry fibre from the total carbs but 19 from 16 is -3?

Thanks again for your support

PeggyWoodson

I believe you would count it as Zero carbs.

sicchi

Your diary looks much better, with healthy carbs and yes, the fibre is deducted. But i wouldn't deduct the fibre in the atkins bar, just the vegie/salad fibre counts. Those are treats and if we kept eating them we would always be - carbs cause the fibre is added to the bar. The atkins bar I like is 2 carb but 6 fibre. Equals -4 carbs everytime i have one. See what Im saying? Lol, I can eat bread if I eat 6 bars..... but seriously, take out the 'real' fiber and all should be ok

mountainmare

Be careful when subtracting fiber. For Atkins products you are given net carbs already so don't subtract the fiber twice. Also for some food on the data base the people who entered it will say net carb posted (like for the MIMs).

Dayna154

I have been doing low carb for 6 months now. I have had great success with it. I eat 1200 calories a day (goal).
I have had good weeks and bad weeks and some where nothing seemed to happen.
You have made some drastic changes in your eating and I hope exercise plan as well, your body will adjust and change according to its own quirks. Don’t compare yourself with others, find out what works for you. No two people lose the same.
In looking at your diary I will say to properly do a low carb diet you need to eat small meals every 2 hours, and I agree with a previous poster that your sodium could be high and that could be water weight.
Also low carb means LOW fiber as well so, it may not be fat that isn’t allowing the scale to move. Make sure you get LOTS of water to keep things moving so you can void properly. Like I said it’s a huge life change but just keep going, I hit mini plateaus on occasion and just keep going, the weight loss starts up again. I noticed inches WAY more than pounds coming off..
If you like send me a message and I can add you so you can see what has worked for me : )
Good luck

CallieM15

I have issues sometimes, and I go back to basics. Cut out the cream for a while, and cheese. Some people are a little more sensitive to it. Sometimes I find myself eating mroe then the 1oz suggested of cheese. (I think its 1oz... maybe 4?) Sometimes it just takes a few weeks for stubborn bodies to let go. Dont get discouraged.

I am VERY senstive to cream. It can stall me, untill i have a good 2-3 days without cream.

thecrazy1

well second week no weight loss. Think I need to rethink a few things. I am getting more salad and vegetables but perhaps the eggs and cheese are slowing me down a bit, maybe I will try Cutting back on that and see what happens.

Thanks everyone

cramernh

well second week no weight loss. Think I need to rethink a few things. I am getting more salad and vegetables but perhaps the eggs and cheese are slowing me down a bit, maybe I will try Cutting back on that and see what happens.

Thanks everyone

Keep in mind, any changes you do from a dietary intake standpoint, you have to be realistic and give your body time to adjust.

If you go at this thinking its an immediate weight loss, you are going to set yourself up for failure.

You definitely need to learn patience. You will have weeks where the weight loss is going great, but you will run into some weeks where you may see a maintenance. That is your body adjusting.

Be patient... dont allow yourself to be the reason you fail.

kim8184

I actually did really well the first few weeks on Atkins, then I just stalled. I figured out that I needed to add more complex carbs to my diet. So I added whole wheat low carb wraps, low carb whole grain bread and brown rice and noticed that my weight loss took off again. Also are you following any sort of workout program. Sorry if you've already answered this, but I find that if I work out, of course the scale starts to move again. My problem is I'm so out of shape that any workout I do puts me out for a couple of days due to pain. I am making sure I get plenty of water and I also add protein to my oatmeal in the a.m. and have a protein shake after my workout. Oh well, hopefully it won't be such a big pain and I mean that literally, lol.

debk3p2

Hi TC1: Hope your stall is short lived. I seem to lose weight in fits and starts as well. This may be a complete figment of my imagination but the last couple of weeks I've started taking a half hour walk after dinner (when I can) and I feel like it has helped with the stalls. I'd already been exercising every day - modestly exercising: walking, water aerobics, stuff like that. But walking after dinner seems to have really helped...I think.

Good luck!

Debbie

TXBelle1174

I havent looked at your diary but I know for me personally if I dont get enough protein (which is true for me lately), I will not see a loss each week. I stick pretty close to my calorie allowance for the day (1550). When I exercise heavily, I eat back enough cals to put me at 1200 calories - AT LEAST. Even if I am not super hungry, I try to get at least 1200 calories but I am usually very close to my allowance. I am only allowed 50 net carbs per day (Dr. orders due to medical issues) and the types of carbs do matter. When I eat more veggies and grains (flax meal - gotta love it), the weight comes off faster. When I eat carbs in the form of lots of fruit (it's still sugar) and Atkins bars and other stuff, the weight loss stalls out. I NEVER hit my protein goal, I think I would have to eat about 4 lbs of meat per day to do that but I do try to get up around 100g. I drink ALOT of water, even though I dont log it.
As far as the atkins bars - I LOVE some of them and I do eat them quite a bit but they are hard on my stomach and I end up feeling bloated after eating them. Even though they are "diet" food, they are still packed with a lot of processed junk. I know its hard to eat on the go - I do it a lot and its a pain in the butt sometimes. I eat a lot of yogurt (there are low carb varieties), almonds, blackberries are a favorite, cheese sticks or squares. I have had to learn to be patient because like others in this post, my losses come in waves. The scale wont move for two weeks then all of a sudden I will have a 4lb loss in one week. BE PATIENT and stick with it! The advice others have given you is wonderful - watch your sodium, take TOM into consideration, DONT eat too few calories, exercise, EXERCISE, and dont put too much stock in the scale (this is difficult for me), take your measurements, and STICK WITH IT!!! Good luck! You can do it.