End of induction, getting discouraged

[MikeInJapan]

Hi

Well, it's day 14, and while I have lost 4kg, almost all of that was in the first few days.

I'm glad to have lost what I have, but it's the extreme slowdown of the loss which has me discouraged. Here's my graph:



I have not touched a single piece of bread, single strand of spaghetti, not had any milk, nuts, fruit or anything non-induction. I figured then that I MUST be in ketosis. My daily carb count has almost always been under 20, slightly over 1 or 2 days. I've been drinking a lot of water. I've been walking 30 mins in the morning and 30 at night, almost every day (only missed 3 out of 28 sessions).

I've been a bit erratic on a few things, e.g.:

- I didn't start drinking much water until a few days into induction, and a few days since then I haven't drunk so much

- I only started taking vitamins in the last few days

- Some days I haven't eaten enough.

My daily calorie and carb totals are as follows (I dont have records for the first
couple of days):

1977 - 21
1974 - 12
1375 - 27
998 - 17
1,126 - 18
1,383 - 22
1,212 - 17
(incomplete records)
(incomplete records)
1,409 - 11

I guess, looking at that, my caloric intake has dropped a lot, and maybe that's a factor, especially considering I'm pretty big (5' 10.5" and 283lb, muscular under the fat). Some of that is because my appetite has reduced, and partly because there seems to be fairly few choices in what I can eat. Maybe I could try to increase my protein serving each meal. I'd like to eat more salad, but I don't want it to raise my carbs.

Any suggestions/encouragement appreciated.

I can't link to my FitDay, because while I bought the desktop version, I'm not shelling out 60 dollars just so I can synchronize.

Thanks
Mike

[my31168]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Mike, Believe it or not 9 pounds is a lot of weight to lose in 14 days! The average a person is supposed to lose is 1 pound per week. You should be VERY proud of yourself.

That's great that you are logging your info on FitDay. The amount of carbs you have posted: is that net carbs or total carbs? If it's total, you are eating a lot less because you haven't subtracted the fiber. Maybe that's why your weight loss isn't as high as you would like it to be...you might not be eating enough carbs. If you don't eat much food your body will start Holding on to food because it thinks it's not going to get any.

Drink, drink, drink, drink lots of water. I didn't think it would make a difference and it does.

Don't be discouraged...you are doing GREAT!!!

[mizski]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Hi Mike! Without looking at your menus, I wonder if you are not eating enough. You mention that you lost well during your first few days and that was when your calories were higher; then you dropped very low...much too low for a man of your starting weight. I'm heftier than you but pre-Atkins when I would drop my calories very low I would lose very little. Doesn't make sense really but that's what happened.

I'm also wondering if you are getting enough fats which are so important for effective weight loss with Atkins. Maybe you could review your FitDay entries and see about making some future menu changes.

I also have the PC version of FitDay. I love it and find it has more options than the online version (like being able to have a net carbs column in your food log). It is too bad that the sync feature is so expensive...I wasn't going to pay for that either. Instead, I have FitDay on my portable Seagate FreeAgent drive so I can use it with various computers wherever I am.

p.s. Why are there so few food choices you can eat? The Induction food list has a lot of choices.

[MikeInJapan]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Mike, Believe it or not 9 pounds is a lot of weight to lose in 14 days! The average a person is supposed to lose is 1 pound per week. You should be VERY proud of yourself.

Thanks. The reason I'm getting discouraged is because it was so fast at first (I guess that was mostly water), but now I seem to be having a lot of days with no drop at all.

That's great that you are logging your info on FitDay. The amount of carbs you have posted: is that net carbs or total carbs? If it's total, you are eating a lot less because you haven't subtracted the fiber. Maybe that's why your weight loss isn't as high as you would like it to be...you might not be eating enough carbs. If you don't eat much food your body will start Holding on to food because it thinks it's not going to get any.

Hmmm I guess it's total, it's the number from FitDay, I usually just keep adding veg until I hit about 20. I'm not really sure how to calculate the fibre, to subtract it.

Drink, drink, drink, drink lots of water. I didn't think it would make a difference and it does. Don't be discouraged...you are doing GREAT!!!

Ok, I shall renew my water enthusiasm And thanks for the encouragement, I guess it may just take longer than I thought.

[MikeInJapan]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Hi Mike! Without looking at your menus, I wonder if you are not eating enough. You mention that you lost well during your first few days and that was when your calories were higher; then you dropped very low...much too low for a man of your starting weight. I'm heftier than you but pre-Atkins when I would drop my calories very low I would lose very little. Doesn't make sense really but that's what happened.

Alright, I'll make sure I pump it up to about 1900-2000 again, and see what happens.

The thing is, in the book it says eat until you are satiated, but don't stuff yourself. Well, to get the 1900-2000 down now, I will have to be stuffing myself a little.

I'm also wondering if you are getting enough fats which are so important for effective weight loss with Atkins. Maybe you could review your FitDay entries and see about making some future menu changes.

Why is it so important to get so much fat? Maybe I better read a bit more of the book.

Why are there so few food choices you can eat? The Induction food list has a lot of choices.

Yeah, again, maybe I need to read more. It seems like before, I could eat so many different things, and in fact, high-carb foods were my most eaten (I really really love my breads, pasta, rice, chocolate etc, plus I drank at least a litre of milk a day as iced coffee).

Now it seems I'm stuck with some form of meat, some salad and some cheese. But again, I'll have to go back and read some more.

Oh, also that since I started the program, I have seen a number of things saying research on red meat shows eating more than about 400g a week raises cancer risk by about 20%, so I have really been trying to cut back on steak.

Thanks for the reply.

[mizski]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Hmmm I guess it's total, it's the number from FitDay, I usually just keep adding veg until I hit about 20. I'm not really sure how to calculate the fibre, to subtract it.

We count the net carbs so you are really low in the carb department too. For an easy way to see your net carbs, go into FitDay and...

While in your food log, click on:

• View
• Choose Food Log Columns
• Click on the box beside Carb - Fiber to put a checkmark in it

Voila! Net carbs in your food log.

Also, please do some reading in DANDR 2002; the stickies in the Induction FAQ also help. There are a lot of really delicious foods we can have besides plain ole meat & salad. And remember your fats!

[MikeInJapan]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

We count the net carbs so you are really low in the carb department too. For an easy way to see your net carbs, go into FitDay and...

While in your food log, click on:

• View
• Choose Food Log Columns
• Click on the box beside Carb - Fiber to put a checkmark in it

Voila! Net carbs in your food log.

Oooooh nice to know!

Also, please do some reading in DANDR 2002; the stickies in the Induction FAQ also help. There are a lot of really delicious foods we can have besides plain ole meat & salad. And remember your fats!

Will do. Thanks a lot. One more question though, should I continue induction, move on to OWL? (lol, I'm sure the book, which I'm going to read some more of today, will tell me).

[Driven]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Hey man even if you 'only' lose 2lbs a week for a year, that's 104lbs!.. You're off to a great start!

[my31168]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

We count the net carbs so you are really low in the carb department too. For an easy way to see your net carbs, go into FitDay and...

While in your food log, click on:

• View
• Choose Food Log Columns
• Click on the box beside Carb - Fiber to put a checkmark in it

Voila! Net carbs in your food log.

Also, please do some reading in DANDR 2002; the stickies in the Induction FAQ also help. There are a lot of really delicious foods we can have besides plain ole meat & salad. And remember your fats!

MIZSKI, I can't seem to find the view button. I don't have FitPC though.

Maybe that is only something FitPC does? Do you know?

I usually scroll down to the bottom of my graphs and subtract the number of fiber from carbs.

Thanks for your help in advance. Michelle

[my31168]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Mike, are you going to go on extended Induction or move up to OWL?

[MikeInJapan]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

I really don't know, but I guess I better decide today.

I'm about to go for a walk, but when I get back I'm gonna read the end of the induction chapter and see what it says.

Any suggestions from anyone here?

[MikeInJapan]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Hey man even if you 'only' lose 2lbs a week for a year, that's 104lbs!.. You're off to a great start!

You're right, but after the first few weeks you wouldn't be losing water, so I wonder what they actual loss would be.

I take your point though, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

[my31168]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

I went on extended induction and only lost a few more pounds. I started OWL yesterday. Before you decide, read all the stickies out there about OWL and the book. I conducted research on this site for about a week before I decided. I wanted to know all the facts before I started/decided what was best for me.

Here is the link:

Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) - Atkins Diet

Let me know if you need anything else. Michelle

[liv]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Can you tell us in detail what you have been eating - sort of a typical menu.
Do you exercise?

I would not worry about that calorie drop - you hit ketosis and it is natural to drop low - it will pick up again.

I would just assume that this is your path - some start slow and pick up after a bit. It just works that way.

[MikeInJapan]

Re: End of induction, getting discouraged

Do you exercise?

Yeah, I walk about an hour a day. I'm thinking of starting a little weights too.

Can you tell us in detail what you have been eating - sort of a typical menu.

Sure.

Here's a fairly typical day:



And here's my FitDay overview:



The 16th and 17th arent accurate, as I didnt log all my food on those days.


Cheers