Sigh, hard to be motivated if you only lose 1-2 lbs a week. Any Atkins tips, advice, please?

1-2 pounds a week is GOOD. My first month on Atkins I only lost about a pound a week--I felt like crap the first week adjusting, but now, 5 weeks into it--I feel great. I think my biggest loss so far has been 3lbs in one week--and that only happened once. A slower loss is a healthier one, and you're more likely to keep the weight off too.

1 pound is good, 2 pounds is great

Keep in mind if you're changing plans, you may also slow down while your body re-adjusts, don't make too many changes in a single week if you want to measure your results.

I find eating too little is a much bigger staller for me than eating too much, counter-inuitive, but it's what works for me. If I'm hungry still, I'll have extra protein and fat rather than extra carbs, it keeps my blood sugar even.

I've learned so much since opening up my diary, I highly recommend it Sometimes an outside view helps you see clearer.

I'm losing a pound a day -- but I'm doing the 1972 version of Atkins Induction. It's a lot stricter -- just meat and eggs and cheese really with a few cups of lettuce -- but by day 2 or 3 hunger/cravings completely turn off and the weight just melts off you.

I'm going to try to sustain it two weeks, then turn to carb cycling.

Well I'm up a pound today. But that's okay. I'm eating right on plan and trusting it will work the way it has done before.

Tonight I'm making sausage and peppers.

Next week I'm having crustless quiche for breakfasts, wedge of iceberg lettuce with full fat blue cheese dressing and crumbled bacon for lunches, beef in mushroom cream sauce for dinners.

What's everyone else planning food-wise?

I'm losing a pound a day -- but I'm doing the 1972 version of Atkins Induction. It's a lot stricter -- just meat and eggs and cheese really with a few cups of lettuce -- but by day 2 or 3 hunger/cravings completely turn off and the weight just melts off you.

I'm going to try to sustain it two weeks, then turn to carb cycling.

Explain the carb cycling, please. If you mean carb loading and then fasting from carbs you are setting yourself up for a big disappointment.

Why - it seems to work for a lot of people...

I started atkins a little over 3 weeks ago and i've already lost 12 pounds. Probably a lot of water weight but i definitely feel better and will continue induction for another 30lbs or so. I've also weighed myself more than once a day a few times and noticed anywhere between a 3 and 5 lb weight fluctuation so it could depend on when you're weighing yourself. Also, as others have said, if you're working out, take your measurements. Muscle definitely weighs more than fat but I would definitely try to stick it out for a period of time.

My husband and I have been doing the Atkins diet since the first of the year. We have been pretty successfull. I have lost over 20lbs and my husband of 30lbs so far.

You mentioned feeling hungry and worried about giving in. The first week/couple of weeks you do feel like you are starved. It's ok. EAT! Don't go way overboard, but eat when you are hungry. After you get through the Atkins "flu" your hunger becomes less and less. I actually have to remind myself to eat sometimes because my hunger levels are that low at this point.

Once you get in the grove it's easy to lose several lbs a week. My first week I only lost 2lbs, but the second week I lost about 7 lbs. It has slowed a little since then and I have been losing about 2-4 lbs a week (depending).

I would absolutely not recommend carb reloading. Some people have success with it, but I have tried it in the past and it made me feel bloated and miserable for several days. I also had to suffer through the atkins "flu" again which was no fun. For me it was just a gateway to failing. Pretty much after I tried it once, I failed within the next week. Got the taste of carbs and that's all she wrote (for me at least).

I'm losing a pound a day -- but I'm doing the 1972 version of Atkins Induction. It's a lot stricter -- just meat and eggs and cheese really with a few cups of lettuce -- but by day 2 or 3 hunger/cravings completely turn off and the weight just melts off you.

I'm going to try to sustain it two weeks, then turn to carb cycling.

Explain the carb cycling, please. If you mean carb loading and then fasting from carbs you are setting yourself up for a big disappointment.

Why - it seems to work for a lot of people...

Atkins requires that you stick with your plan. If you keep going off and on the plan you are setting yourself up for great disappointment. When you carb load after being on Atkins for a while (depleting your glycogen stores) and then carb load your body goes into glycogen storage mode and you start to gain water weight and you will start to have cravings again. Why would you want to fight that beast again? The greatest benefit of Atkins is doing away with the cravings for crap foods. Just my 2 cents.

I have found that calories must stay around 1200 & carbs below 20 & no processed food like Atkins shakes & bars. This has worked better for me than all the other times I've tried to do Atkins. Two days into it my bloated tummy went down & I'm losing a pound per day this first week.