Atkins/Low Carb - What am I doing wrong? Help!

LondonNYC · July 2016

I started Atkins/low-carb on July 4th. During the 2-week "induction" phase, I lost a total of 11lbs. Woohoo! But the second week was only about 2lbs, and I thought "well that's weird." Last week (the third week), I lost 0.2lbs total. I've been really careful about the number of carbs, but not necessarily the number of calories (I might be under eating, but I've tried to make sure they are at a healthy level).

Has anyone else hit a plateau this early? I'm sticking really closely to the diet, drinking a lot of water, and still nothing. Any help anyone can provide would be awesome!

TeaBea · July 2016

Most low carbers experience a big "whoosh" of water weight loss the first week (glycogen stores). From that point on, weight loss becomes normalized (just like CICO).

One week is not a plateau. I was "stuck" for 6 weeks once.....incorrect logging would be my guess. I was using measuring cups instead of a digital food scale. Give it time. You lose more some weeks, and less others. You are looking for trends....not exact numbers.

Here are some realistic numbers:

Pound per week goals
75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range

Jadinsedai · July 2016

I lost 10lb the first week and a bit with Atkins. I've been on it 3 months now and after that first week I've only lose another 16lb. It was a little disheartening at first so iI switched to focusing on measurements instead of weight.
One thing i really noticed on Atkins is while focusing on carbs and sugar its reeeeally easy to eat way to many calories. Mainly from cheese for more haha

momma712 · July 2016

Do you write down exactly what you eat? Measure it? Sometimes our eyeballing is off. Drinking enough water? Sleeping enough it could be allot of things

CorneliusPhoton · July 2016

Weight loss is not linear! You will have some up weeks and some down weeks. Water weight can go up and down by several pounds ever day. Be patient. Watch your sodium. An average of one pound per week of fat loss is a healthy rate of loss. Accurately track your calories.

SueInAz · July 2016

Cutting out carbs does cause a flush of water from system at first since you're using up almost all of your glycogen and water binds to that; when the one goes they both do. If you aren't losing weight you are probably eating more calories than you think you are. Keep in mind that you still need to count calories because you can't lose weight if you aren't in a calorie deficit regardless of which diet plan you follow. Tighten up your logging and pay attention to your calories, too. Use a food scale to verify portion sizes of all of your solid foods. You'll eventually get good at eyeballing but at first a food scale is important especially for the calorie dense foods you eat.

Unknown · July 2016

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Redhededkewty · July 2016

I am also a keto dieter. I read recently that the sweet spot for losing weight is when your 'pee stick' shows between moderate to large ketosis. To get there, you must stay in the 20-30g range probably closer to 20g of carbs a day. Calorie restriction is also important. Keto-macro nutrient calculators exist on the Internet. If you type in your goal weight it will tell you the calories you should be eating in order to achieve that weight. Further along in those calculators you can find out what your macronutrients (carbs/protein/fats) should be to maintain that weight. My plan is 1,200/cals a day, 10% carbs (30 g), 20% protein (60 g), 70%fat (93g) per day. Under this formula, I have been losing 2 pounds a week for the last 4 weeks.

Also, some keto diets cut out dairy except butter. I don't.

Queenmunchy · July 2016

11lbs in 3 weeks is a lot!

grinning_chick · July 2016

Induction is only supposed to be two weeks long if you follow the NDR book and not the online forums full of members who stay at 20 grams or less for months/years. The best advice I can give you is to stick to the book and climb the ladder as the Good Doctor laid out.

Weight loss on Atkins is not meant to be fast unless you are clinically morbidly obese. Or are doing it wrong. When I followed the book to the dotted i and crossed t, when it was all said and done I had lost some 34 odd lbs on it over the course of five months and with massive ramping up my physical exercise to thanks to the military. And that was with a 10 lbs water loss in the first two weeks, too.

SophieSmall95 · July 2016

Redhededkewty wrote: »

I am also a keto dieter. I read recently that the sweet spot for losing weight is when your 'pee stick' shows between moderate to large ketosis. To get there, you must stay in the 20-30g range probably closer to 20g of carbs a day. Calorie restriction is also important. Keto-macro nutrient calculators exist on the Internet. If you type in your goal weight it will tell you the calories you should be eating in order to achieve that weight. Further along in those calculators you can find out what your macronutrients (carbs/protein/fats) should be to maintain that weight. My plan is 1,200/cals a day, 10% carbs (30 g), 20% protein (60 g), 70%fat (93g) per day. Under this formula, I have been losing 2 pounds a week for the last 4 weeks.

Also, some keto diets cut out dairy except butter. I don't.

70% fat and only 20% protein?

If you don't mind me asking...what exactly are you eating? Because I'm struggling to think of anything that fits into those macronutrients.

psuLemon · July 2016

Queenmunchy wrote: »

11lbs in 3 weeks is a lot!

Not really for someone who just went low carb or even someone who just started dieting (especially if obese).

OP, you still need to ensure you are restricting calories, but also realize that, weight loss isn't linear and you should be looking at trends over 4 week period. I generally throw the first 2 weeks out when you make sweeping changes though. So monitor things for another 3 weeks before making any adjustments.

You also might like the below group.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

Gallowmere1984 · July 2016

SophieSmall95 wrote: »

Redhededkewty wrote: »

I am also a keto dieter. I read recently that the sweet spot for losing weight is when your 'pee stick' shows between moderate to large ketosis. To get there, you must stay in the 20-30g range probably closer to 20g of carbs a day. Calorie restriction is also important. Keto-macro nutrient calculators exist on the Internet. If you type in your goal weight it will tell you the calories you should be eating in order to achieve that weight. Further along in those calculators you can find out what your macronutrients (carbs/protein/fats) should be to maintain that weight. My plan is 1,200/cals a day, 10% carbs (30 g), 20% protein (60 g), 70%fat (93g) per day. Under this formula, I have been losing 2 pounds a week for the last 4 weeks.

Also, some keto diets cut out dairy except butter. I don't.

70% fat and only 20% protein?

If you don't mind me asking...what exactly are you eating? Because I'm struggling to think of anything that fits into those macronutrients.

It's actually pretty easy to do with something as simple as cooking 73/27 ground beef with butter.

Tara4boys · July 2016

Any LC diet will produce a bunch of initial water weight loss. Then your weight should be going down at 1-2# per week if you are following moderate calorie restriction. Please realize it may take you a few weeks to "get into the groove" of your new WOE (that's true for any new WOE - but especially for LC bc it is generally quite different than where you started).

Sophie - I also use 10% carb - 20% protein - 70% fat

Avocados, lots of olive oil on salad, almonds and nuts, cheese, whole eggs, grass fed butter on roasted veggies, coconut oil and milk, real cream in coffee, and my favorite... cheese

Atkins/Low Carb - What am I doing wrong? Help!

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