What Gives?

[kingsfan09]

Hello, I am new to this forum, but a LONG time Atkins follower and advocate. In recent years I have bounced between carb-cycling and a general low/healthy carb diet, which has been worked well for maintainance. Recently, I spent two months out of the country and let some "extra" weight creep back on, so I decided to go back to induction to get a jump start on shedding the extra pounds. The problem is that I'm now at day 17 and haven't lost a pound.

On around day 5, I visited this site and realized that I was not supposed to be eating nuts or cottage cheese, so I immediately dropped them from my diet. I also reduced the amount of artificial sweetners to >4 servings. I exercise daily (squash, weight training, boot camp class, or mountain biking) and my keto-strips have been in the moderate to large range for the past week. (I didn't have strips during the first week, but am confident that I was in ketosis based on frequent urination and breath.)

My immediate thoughts are:

* Over eating? I eat several small meals a day, but haven't been tracking calories...just eating if I'm hungry. Should I start tracking calories?

* Too much fat? I didn't think that you could really eat too much fat while on Atkins, but if you eat more fat than your body is using will it be stored as fat? Should I try cutting back on the fat?

* Other forbidden food? Other than fresh meats, eggs, green veggies and cheese, I have occasionally eaten SOME processed lunch meat and salami (both >1g carbs ps), cream cheese, EAS carb-control shakes, diet Mtn. Dew. and sunflower seeds. But, even with the occasional cheats, I have maintained ketosis. (In fact, I have yet to have keto-strip even in the small range.) Can these foods still be causing problems even while in ketosis?

Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong would be VERY appreciated!!

Thanks,
Dave

[msanjelpie]

Re: What Gives?

Dropping the EAS carb-control shakes should get you moving in the right direction...

[chauber]

Re: What Gives?

I would also work on dropping the diet mountain dew. EVERY diet soda makes me stall. I had to completely eliminate them.

There is a method to this program...If you read the condensed version of the book (provided by someone on this site) you may see where the problem is. I know that it has been said many times, but please take the chance to read the whole book. There is so much information in it that it is difficult to pass on in this chat board.

Here are some tidbits of info that Carole usually posts to newbies:

"Make sure you drink a minimum of 64 ounces of pure water (nothing added), exercise starting today and taking a multi-vitamin. If you haven't already, read the 2002 Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (DANDR) so you know what the plan is all about.

Eat the foods on the acceptable food list (What foods can be eaten on Induction?)(What foods can be eaten on Induction?)http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-low-carb-dieting-faqs/6781-what-foods-can-eaten-induction.html and find delicious recipes here: just make sure you use Induction Recipes to begin with.

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/menus.html (Linda’s)
(Never ending induction recipes)(Never ending induction recipes)(Never ending induction recipes)(Never ending induction recipes)(Never ending induction recipes)http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-diet-14-day-induction/58513-never-ending-induction-recipes.html (Induction recipes)
(Induction Recipe Basics--More recipes added)(Induction Recipe Basics--More recipes added)(Induction Recipe Basics--More recipes added)(Induction Recipe Basics--More recipes added)(Induction Recipe Basics--More recipes added)http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-diet-14-day-induction/6807-induction-recipe-basics-more-recipes-added.html (Induction Recipe Basics)"


Thanks Carole!

[pagliaccia]

Re: What Gives?

And the sunflower seeds are only allowed on OWL Rung 3. Can you post what you ate yesterday?

[soon2bslim]

Re: What Gives?

Are you losing inches? Do you see changes in the way your clothes fit? If so, don't worry too much about the numbers on the scale - they'll probably whoosh down real soon in one shot! Here's hoping that we'll all see great big whooshes of those numbers!

(Also are u retaining water from salty foods? Luncheon meats, cheeses, shakes are usually very high in Sodium, maybe your body isn't handling the Sodium that well)

[liv]

Re: What Gives?

If you want to be on induction, you should follow the rules of induction. There is no negotiation with them Sorry if that sounds harsh but I think that is the bottom line here. Hope you can figure it out. Way to be active. I am sure those ponds will come off.

[kingsfan09]

Re: What Gives?

Thanks for all the great replies!!!

I don't want to sound like I'm not listening, but I can't stress enough how RARE and SMALL the quantities of the "cheat" foods were...I almost didn't even list them. Not to mention that I've maintained ketosis all along. During past extended induction periods I always knew if I ate too much of a forbidden food because I would no longer be in ketosis.

Let me ask a couple of more specific questions:

Is it likely to experience stalled weight loss due to forbidden foods, WHILE maintaining ketosis?

Is it possible to consume too many calories, or too much fat if eating only when hungry?



Here's yesterday's meals:

Breakfast - 4 scrambled eggs w/ habanero sauce, cauliflower hash browns
Snack - 1 mozzarella stick 2 slices tri-tip
lunch - 8 oz canned chicken w/ mayo
snack - 1 mozzarella stick 3 slices tri-tip
workout - 1 hour weight training
sanck - 3 oz stewed chicken leftovers
dinner - taco salad (ground beef, lettuce, cilantro, 1 oz cheddar chz, ranch dressing)

[pagliaccia]

Re: What Gives?

Well, your menu looks pretty darn good. One thing, though: how much of that cauliflower hashbrown are you having? You should only have about 1 cup of cauliflower (or any "Other Vegetable" list veggie) and 2 cups of "Salad Vegetables." Did you have 2 cups of lettuce? Also, what's in that stewed chicken?

Also, are you only trying to lose 10 pounds? Keep in mind that during Induction, most people lose an average of 5-10% of their total goal loss. That would be 0.5-1 pound for you. You will see considerably slower progress than someone like me who's got LOAAADS to lose.

[kingsfan09]

Re: What Gives?

Liv,

Sorry, I didn't see your response before I posted my last response. The only forbidden foods I've eaten in the 13 days since I dropped the nuts and cottage cheese is 2 EAS carb control shakes (each after a heavy workout) and maybe 1 ounce of sunflowerseeds...everything else I listed are allowed foods. And again, I've maintained ketosis all along.

I wasn't expecting to see a huge weight loss, but I thought I would have seen some by now. I know the diet works because I've done it more than once.

I think the problem might be that I've been doing a low-glycemic/low-fat (non-ketogenic) diet for quite a while now. Perhaps trading the moderate amount of good carbs that I was consuming for the additional fat and calories wasn't enough to start the weight loss.

I'm going to try so slightly reduce the amount of fat I've been eating, while maintaining ketosis to see if it helps get me going.

The good thing is that I'm still as motivated as I was on day 1, and am loving the appitite control that comes with eliminating the carbs!

[chauber]

Re: What Gives?

Have you ever heard of Post Induction Stall Syndrome (PISS)? For me, I find that while on induction I lose 2-4 pounds the first 2 days and maybe 1-2 pounds the rest of Induction, then nothing for a week or two. PISS is your body's way of trying to regulate or adjust to the new eating habits that you have learned. Normally people see that if they stick to the plan the way Dr. A designed it, weight loss picks back up within a week or two.

About the fat reduction...have you tried entering your menu into fitday.com? If not, do so, and check your percentages of fat, protein, and carbs. You should average around 65 percent fat, 30 percent protein, and 5 percent carbs.

By eating or drinking something that is off plan (forbidden ingredients) I have found that my weight loss can stall for a few days. I haven't tested to see if I am still in ketosis...but I still don't lose weight.

Have you taken measurements? Measuring your inches lost can be a big mood booster when the scale hesitates to show pounds lost.

That...and if you only have 9 pounds left to lose it may take...and very well should...some time to lose it. Try finishing Induction and moving to OWL...more veggies may help pump the weight loss up.

Good luck!

[kingsfan09]

Re: What Gives?

Pagliaccia,

I had 1 hash brown patty, so it probably wasn't more than 3/4 cup of cauliflower at most.

The stewed chicken was Belizean style and has a main seasoning called red recado....I skipped the rice & beans that usually go with it. (mmmmm, they're the main reason I have weight to lose!). Some recipes call for coconut milk, but without it its still low-carb, and TASTY too!

Great job on the weight loss! You're down nearly 50 lbs in only 6 months, WOW!!!

[pagliaccia]

Re: What Gives?

Haha, you're too sweet!

I looked up red recado and, first off, it sounds amazing! Second, do you know if it has white wine vinegar or orange juice in it? The recipe I saw called for that, and neither are "legal" for Induction.

Even if there is some small amount of an illegal ingredient in it, I think it probably just comes down to the fact that you don't have much to lose... I would move to OWL Rung 1 pretty soon if I were you. Are you near your TOM (time of month)?...um, assuming you're a girl, which I don't know! I know that totally screws with my losses, personally...

[atkinsgal08]

Re: What Gives?

>>I know the diet works because I've done it more than once.>>

There's the rub!

Atkins isn't a diet.

So each time you "diet" ... you're messing with your metabolism.

You'll never get the same results you got "before" ... since this isn't "before".

Atkins is an eating plan for life ... if that's not what you're doing, then maybe you want to rethink what is it you are doing?

J.

[IrishIrish]

Re: What Gives?

Including the sports drinks may be pushing you towards your CCL, so while you may be registering ketosis (I have no confidence in the stix as they registered no ketosis during most of my weight loss!) you may be "maintaining" your weight.

I'm only an old woman, but, I do 60 minutes of cardio (alternating between treadmill, bike and elliptical every other workout) during my workout and another 40 minutes of circuit training five days a week. It may just be a guy/gal thing, but I haven't dropped to the floor yet. I keep my CCL between 75 and 90 most days.

Put a couple of days of your menus into Fitday.com just to see how you fare. Sometimes, a reality check is all we need. And remember, the less weight you have to lose, the slower it may seem.

[kingsfan09]

Re: What Gives?

Atkinsgal08,

Please don't slam me for refering to Atkins as a "diet"....the word diet in the friggin title of his book! By diet, I simply was refering to the "induction phase".

I first tried Atkins nearly 10 years ago, and have NEVER gotten fully off of it. I have slowly added limited quantities of high quality healthy carbs back into my diet to the point that I'm sure I'm rarely in ketosis. Sure, I've had an occasional piece of birthday cake or other sweet treat, but I mostly avoid it just to prevent carb cravings for the next day or two. If I've ever had weight creep back on, I'd adjust my carb intake accordingly, or even go back to the induction phase to help jump start some weight loss. This, by the way, is exactly how Dr.A recommends doing his "diet".

The only problem I'm having is that the scale isn't reflecting the change in my diet this time (oops, there I go calling it a diet again!).

I think the reason I'm not seeeing it on the scales is BECAUSE I've already made the lifestyle change, and thus, eating ultra low-carb diet IS NOT "messing with my metabolism".