Seven days -- 9.5 pounds lost

Congrats!!!! I have been on a low carb diet but cannot give up my 2 cups of coffee a day. Who the heck would with 2 tablespoons of whipping cream lol. I have been watching my calories for years and this is the 1st time I have actually seen the scale move down. Great job!!!!

Thanks. I agree. Coffee wasn't a problem for me, but diet coke was. I also learned recently to watch when you drink diet drinks. You body isn't sophisticated enough to distinguish between real sugars and artificial ones. When it senses sweetness, your insulin spikes. If you have it when you are eating, there shouldn't be a problem. However, if you have a diet drink without food, your appetite will increase. I can post the research on this as well, if anyone wants it.

Re-started Atkin's for real. Strict induction (>20 carbs/day), reduced caffeine, no alcohol, moderate exercise.

Have had plenty of energy, haven't been hungry except before meals and am down 9.5 pounds.

I know this works. Why do I pretend otherwise? ... Well beside pasta? Still there will be time for that later, when I get closer to my goal.

So you had a >3500 calorie deficit each day?

90% of that is water and glycogen. Don't get discouraged when the weight loss slows down.

Of course not, Calories is the wrong metric. On a low-carb diet, the low refers to the the carbs taken in, not consumed. Body fat is essentially stored carbs. When you eat more carbs than you can process, your body saves them for the future. Low-carb diets encourage your body to use these reserves.

And they are more successful, both on a weight-loss and health basis.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/790178

Think of it also this way, carbs are rather simple molecules, whether they be synthetic or "natural." They are easy to process, which is why they are a good energy source, since they can be rapidly reduced by stomach enzymes to a small enough size to pass through the stomach lining. That's what gives us the sugar rush right away, whether it be a candy bar, potato chip or an apple. Proteins and fats are far more complex molecules. They can take hours to digest, and you don't get the same sugar high and insulin spike, so you don't get as hungry.

In terms of water loss, since I usually drink between 16-20 cups of water a day, I doubt it. Would you care to share a source from a peer-reviewed journal, or at least a direct citation thereof? I have been down this course before (I gained weight due to the loss of a number of close family members in the past few years -- cooking was comfort), and it is hard for the weight to return.

And what's with all the thread crashing, this was supposed to be a success story, not a debate? I don't crash low-cal threads to hear people whine about eating nothing but low-fat (i.e. higher sugar) yogurt and not losing weight. What is it with your lives that you need to try to crush my initial success?

For those congratulations, I thank you. Continuing to get back down to my target weight. I appreciate it.