Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

[Sharon Williams]

Hi there. I have been on induction for 2 and a half weeks. I lost 2lb the first day, 2lb the second day, and thought - WOW - this is great. But since then, nothing, well, I did lose another 2lb but put it straight back on. I think I have been sticking to the correct rules, my main concern is that I am using sugar free sweets which contain polyols and have 0.1 gm net carbs in each sweet. I have read conflicting things about these polyols, but fear I cannot manage without the sweets as I have quit smoking and needs something in my mouth to suck. I bought some Ketostix today and have used them twice, once before eating and once after eating and on both occassions it has stayed at the very first colour, so I guess I am not even in ketosis. I am using a fair bit of olive oil, not too much though, and have also read somewhere that you need to be having "huge" quantities of fats to get into ketosis.

So, please.....could someone who has been through similar please help me to get on track. Oh,one last thing - I am 9 stone, 5'2", so I realise I have not got a great deal of weight to lose and that may be why it's slow - but believe me I have plenty of unwanted body fat around my tummy which I really want this diet to burn off for me.

Thank you thank you thank you

Sharon
xxxx

[not2late]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

Hi there. I have been on induction for 2 and a half weeks. I lost 2lb the first day, 2lb the second day, and thought - WOW - this is great. But since then, nothing, well, I did lose another 2lb but put it straight back on. I think I have been sticking to the correct rules, my main concern is that I am using sugar free sweets which contain polyols and have 0.1 gm net carbs in each sweet. I have read conflicting things about these polyols, but fear I cannot manage without the sweets as I have quit smoking and needs something in my mouth to suck. I bought some Ketostix today and have used them twice, once before eating and once after eating and on both occassions it has stayed at the very first colour, so I guess I am not even in ketosis. I am using a fair bit of olive oil, not too much though, and have also read somewhere that you need to be having "huge" quantities of fats to get into ketosis.

So, please.....could someone who has been through similar please help me to get on track. Oh,one last thing - I am 9 stone, 5'2", so I realise I have not got a great deal of weight to lose and that may be why it's slow - but believe me I have plenty of unwanted body fat around my tummy which I really want this diet to burn off for me.

Thank you thank you thank you

Sharon
xxxx

hi and welcome.

Congrats on the 4 pound loss.

Sugar alcohols (polyols) are notorious for stalling/slowing weight loss in some folks. My advice is for you to drop them from your diet and see what happens to your weight loss. The other thing is that sweeteners are limited to 3 servings daily during the Atkins diet (all phases of the Atkins diet). So you might be exceeding that amount with the sweets you are eating.

About the fat....Yes, Atkins is a high fat diet. About 65% of your daily calories should be from fat. This isn't as hard to do as people make it out. Truly, you might only need to add a tablespoon or two of butter or olive oil to each meal and you'll most likely reach that 65% easily. You might want to read the stickie post in the OWL forum about the fat percentages. While that post is directed towards the folks in the OWL phase, it has information folks on Induction will find useful about the percentages.

You might also want to post your typical menu in the "Review My Menu" forum of this board. The moderators there will be able to give you advice on your menu.

Finally, I have to ask....are you exercising? Are you drinking a minimum of 64 ounces (2 liters) of water daily? Are you avoiding caffeine and aspartame?

[Enchantedraisin]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

You can't eat anything that isn't on the Acceptable Induction food list:

http://atkins.com/Archive/2001/12/15-464579.html

That even means you can't have those sugar free sweets.

They are exactly the same with me. They keep me from getting into ketosis... so I have to completely wipe everything that tastes even sweet at all (splenda, diet soda, etc) for a couple days and then I can usually get into ketosis.

If I am ALREADY in ketosis and I eat one of those treats.. it kicks me out of ketosis.

Those candies are the devil.

I'm sorry that you're quitting smoking but you really can't eat those things if you want to lose weight. You could try making an Induction legal treat... such as with 100% pumpkin puree and mixing spices and splenda with it.. pretty good. Or making homemade whipped cream with splenda.... but really Induction is about trying to go without these sweet things even if they are legal. After a while you won't want them so badly.

[Sharon Williams]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

Hi, thanks to both of you for your replies - even though you are telling me what I don't want to hear about my sweeties - lol. I will have to drop them I know. Have cut down drastically on them today, and been using sugar free gum - but I don't know if i am allowed that either. I am drinking about 2.5 - 3 litres of water a day, and am going to look at the sticky about fats - so thanks for your advice.

Sharon xxx

[Elizellen]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

Have cut down drastically on them today, and been using sugar free gum - but I don't know if i am allowed that either. I am drinking about 2.5 - 3 litres of water a day, and am going to look at the sticky about fats - so thanks for your advice.

Sharon xxx

Hello Sharon Welcome to from another Brit
Afraid you are only allowed a total of 3 servings of sweeteners of any kind a day so if you are having more than a couple of even the gums you might be overdoing them still!!
As has been said, if you can drop the sweet stuff for a few weeks you really wont want them further along tha way. I find that a few strawberries with some unsweetened Greek yogurt (I am on OWL so they are legal for me now) taste really quite sweet to me and satisfy any sweets longings.
Looks as if you are doing well on the water though - well done

[burtonator]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

Yes.. Drop the sugar alcohols. They're evil. They'll stall you.. They stalled me big time. I wish I knew this now as I'd be 20 lbs lighter!

Live and learn

[Finelly]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

If you don't have much to lose, then 4 lbs may be exactly right for 2 weeks. You should expect to lose between 5 and 10% of the total amount you need to lose during the first two weeks, then slow down. So if you needed to lose 20 lbs, 4 lbs would be fantastic.

After you give up the artificial sweets, my advice is to take your measurements and measure every 2 weeks instead of or in addition to weighing. You can get a free account at www.mybodycomp.com and record your measurements there - it keeps track of all the info you need, including body fat levels, inches lost, etc. It's fabulous!

[island reina]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

4 pounds is still good so far

[Sharon Williams]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

Hi again, thanks again to everyone for all your supportive comments. I am dropping the sweets as of today, so will see how I get on. I don't even particularly like sweets, but it was helping me to suck something to deal with the nicotine cravings. I was on nicotine lozenges for ages, then a couple of months ago I stopped them and ever since then I had been sucking sugar free polos and then the sugar free sweets like you would not believe. It's hard to believe that they can do so much harm - they are supposed to be 0.1 carb. But, listening to everyone else, it certainly does look as if they are the reason for me not losing any more weight.

Thanks again. Sharon xx

[Little Miss Fatty]

Help im new and lost

Please help! Ok so im slightly confused, im muslim so we dont eat pork, but every other meat we can eat, im 11 stones 7lbs (14lbs to 1 stone) will the atkins diet still work for me? I want to get down to 8 stones.

Also it says i can have scrambled eggs for breakfast, is that with oil?? If thats the deal than im all for it. And can i put spices like mint, herbs, lemon etc to make my food taste better?

So sorry for sounding dumb, but im desperate to loose weight as i feel like i look like humpty dumpty!

[Kittie]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

Please help! Ok so im slightly confused, im muslim so we dont eat pork, but every other meat we can eat, im 11 stones 7lbs (14lbs to 1 stone) will the atkins diet still work for me? I want to get down to 8 stones.

Also it says i can have scrambled eggs for breakfast, is that with oil?? If thats the deal than im all for it. And can i put spices like mint, herbs, lemon etc to make my food taste better?

So sorry for sounding dumb, but im desperate to loose weight as i feel like i look like humpty dumpty!

Hello Little Miss, and welcome to the forums!

Don't worry, Atkins will work just fine for you without Pork. I'm sure there are people who don't like it or choose not to eat it that do fine. It's just another alternative!

With the eggs, you can use olive oil ... or pretty much any oil that doesn't have carbs. Spices are a yes! They are unlimited, so you don't have to worry about those.

Remember too, if you have further concerns, you can start your own topic here, people are here to help!

[Little Miss Fatty]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

Oh thankyou, i will begin atkins tomorow, and by reading everyones sucess stories, im more ethusiastic than ever to begin, im sure this enthusiasm will ware off as soon as i start the diet.

Im looking for a buddy is anyone interested??

[Finelly]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

I'm Jewish, so we don't eat pork, either. (Muslims and Jews are cousins!) Not a problem for me at all. We also don't eat shellfish.

It's quite easy to do Atkins, even if you don't eat a lot of meat, or have to avoid one kind of meat. Just make sure your fat and protein are high!!!!!

[Elizellen]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

Spices are a yes! They are unlimited, so you don't have to worry about those.

From the acceptable foods list:

Spices

All spices to taste, but make sure none contain added sugar.

But some spices are fairly carby if used in quantity so make sure you count the carbs for what you use

[Little Miss Fatty]

Re: Please help - I am new to this and I can't seem to lose weight

Hi its day one, i had two soft boiled eggs for breakfast, and for dinner i had stake, and half a tomatoe. I am really confused as to what i can and cant eat. With loads and loads of water in between. Please can some one advise me what to eat for breakfast tomorow, with my eggs, (No pork please)