Gaining weight? is this normal? help please :(

[saraalaswad]

Hello all,

I have been on the Atkins for 63 days now, and i am happy with it, i dont really miss carbs and i have been loosing weight. But recently its got a little weird, i have started to gain weight. It wasn't till about 7 days ago that i started exercising, i know i should have incorporated light exercise from the begining but i really didnt have energy. Now i am a lot more energetic and felt i should bring in some light exercise, so i have been walking as well as doing 10-15 min sessions on a exercise bike. Since this i have gained around 4lbs which scared me.
Since the start of my diet on feb 20th 2008 - now ( 22nd April 200 i have lost a total of 10.7kg which is 23.5lbs. It is a reasonable amount, but still with so much to loose i though i might have lost a little more. Particularly with bringing in exercise this week i thought i'd really see the scales move, but instead i have gained which is a little disheartening.

I have no intention of giving up, i've come too far to do something so silly, but i thought perhaps anyone with the same experience or advice on this might help me push forward.

Also any suggestions for exercise would be great, i really wanted to reach 200lbs by end of june, but im worried that wont be achievable.
oh i am 244.7lbs now from 268.2lbs.

any help would be great

oh also i am drinking lots of water and decaff green tea, yet i have problems going to the toilet, so ihave to take every 3 days senakot ( which helps with tht) any ideas y this is happening?

[bythree]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

Post your menus and we can see if something has changed in your diet. My weight goes up and down all week but by the end of the week I'm down. I have been losing it slowly then I'll drop several in 1 week. It's been crazy, but the way I look at it I have a lot of time to adjust as the weight goes down. If i dropped it over night I wouldn't be ready to make a life change. Kathie

[saraalaswad]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

Hi Kathie..

Thanks for your reply, i understand that fluctuation is expected, but it was odd to see such a big weight gain with the introduction of exercise..
anyways here is a couple of my menus thanks :

menu 1

2 pepperami sticks ( 0.9 carbs per stick, no sugar well trace)
1 cup decaff coffee with 2 teaspoon of splenda
6 baby prawns with pepper
1 and a half chicken breast stuffed with 2 slices of mozerella with a little grated parmesean and spices/herbs which are allowed
1 baby leek with handfull cabbage and green beans about 4 sticks
2 decaff green tea
1.5 litre water
induction friendly cheese cake, about a tablespoon.

menu 2

1 decaff coffee with 2 teaspoon splenda
3 thin slices of halloumi cheese cooked with olive oil and a little mint
7 prawns peppered and cooked
cod filet with half a carrot and cup of mixed peppers
mayonaise dip,garlic butter dip, and soy suace and giner dip ( all home made so no added ingredients which arent allowed)
3 decaff green tea
1.5 litre water

menu 3

3 rashers bacon and 2 fried eggs
1 sausage
half a cup of decaff coffee with 1 teaspoon splenda
steak with thin sliced cabbage about 3/4 cup with 1/4 cup of thinely shredded carroit and onion very little mainly for flavour mixed with mayo to make coleslaw
3 mushroom cooked in butter and a little cream
2 decaff green tea
half peperami
1.5 litre water

menu 4

slices of roast lamb with greek salad ( lettuce,cucumber,tomato,red onion and cabbage with 5 olives and 5 small cubes of feta) the salad came up to cup and a half.
atkins friednly cheese cake 1 tablespoon
3 green tea
1.5 litre water

this is some of things i eat.. i keep a journal of what i eat so i know wht goes wrong, but nothing is diff from what i have been doing all along.. hope you can help me shed some light on this
thanks again

sara

[cheers2you]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

Perhaps its water retention. I know I will have a big fush and lose 2-3 pounds over night, but over the course of the next few days it goes up a pound -then back down-then back up...till it finally settles on a happy place. lol I watch my scale way too much. Im going to end up wearing out the battery.
Then again you did add in exercise and muscle weighs more than fat.

When do you eat your last meal of the day? I was watching the show "you are what you eat" and it was talking about how our bodies are not built to really process food at night. I love that show, its truely entertaining. I just dont like how they only push the vegetarian life style. There could be a lot factors- I would just keep doing what you are doing. You definately have made some progress. Congrats!

[saraalaswad]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

Hey cheers2you, perhaps it is only water retention or building up of muscle.. i dunno i was just a little upset, because i have a lot to loose and i am sticking to the rules, and i thought the addition of some exercise would help kick start the weightloss evenmore..

thanks thou for ur advice

Perhaps its water retention. I know I will have a big fush and lose 2-3 pounds over night, but over the course of the next few days it goes up a pound -then back down-then back up...till it finally settles on a happy place. lol I watch my scale way too much. Im going to end up wearing out the battery.
Then again you did add in exercise and muscle weighs more than fat.

When do you eat your last meal of the day? I was watching the show "you are what you eat" and it was talking about how our bodies are not built to really process food at night. I love that show, its truely entertaining. I just dont like how they only push the vegetarian life style. There could be a lot factors- I would just keep doing what you are doing. You definately have made some progress. Congrats!

[saraalaswad]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

still upset not loosing dont understand whats going on.. its allsince the exercise

[IrishIrish]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

Measurements are so much more reliable than weight, especially with a long term goal and with Atkins, as a way of life. Muscle weighs more than fat and if you haven't incorporated exercise until now, it may be that you are seeing the impact of muscle. The good news is that it will even out and the muscle you are building will help you displace the fat and give you a leaner body.

The only time I weigh myself anymore is with scheduled visits to my physician or nurse practicioner.

[Elizellen]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

Have you measured inches? Your body might be 'rearranging' itself without losing actual pounds.
Several members have experienced losing dress sizes in spite of losing no weight at all!

[saraalaswad]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

Hi irishirish and elizellen,

Thanks for your responses. I have not measured myself since the exercise, so i will today. i hope that i have lost inches atleast. And i know what you both means about building up muscle.. But i will start lossing again, wont i? Also what did you both think of my menu's are they ok?

thank you so much

[jsj0305]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

I can completely relate to this!

I restarted on April 4th and I have been exercising for an hour a day, 6 times a week. Everyother time I did atkins I lost about 10 pounds during induction, 5 the next 2 weeks and then 10 a month from there on out until I somehow managed to mess it up and gain it all back. LOL. This time...(and I am only 2 days away from being a month back on) and I have only lost about 7 pounds. However, I know I am losing the fat. I see the slight difference, I see the measurement changes. My body fat percentage is down so much more...so I know the scale will move when it's good and ready.

This isnt a race to the finish line. I'm sure there are so many people who have done atkins JUST to get the scale to go down, but dont incorporate exercise and they are just as unhealthy..just smaller. We are striving to be healthy, not just thin...and thats what we have to remember. Everytime we work out we are one day closer to being a healthy, lean person and we have to remember that.

Keep up the great work, keep exercising, and drink as much water as you can stand! LOL

[hrgillespie]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

I just wanted to encourage you to keep on keeping on .......... your food choices sound good but I don't know what a few of the things you mentioned are ........ have you looked at your sodium intake? Or your total carbs and calories ........ you can trip up sometimes even on legal foods ....... too much of a good thing Have you looked into logging your foods onto Fitday? You can figure this out ........ no giving up! You are doing great so far!

Heidi

[Elizellen]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

But i will start lossing again, wont i? Also what did you both think of my menu's are they ok?

I am sure you WILL start losing again
Your food choices seem fine, though as has been mentioned you might be having a lot of salt which some people find causes water retention.
Also though you are not eating much of it, carrots are not reintroduced till the next to last rung of OWL, so maybe drop those for the moment.

[losetocruise]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

not sure why you aren't losing. I am excercising too wth jazzercise and I notice if I way myself before and aftr class my weight goes up a little during class. Not sure why but I think it s fluid in muscles.

I would drop the senokot though. If you take laxatives regularly, you will become dependent on them and unable to go othrwise. Use either psyllium husks or flaxmeal and lots of water instead. The muffin ina minute is a grood way to get the flax meal and keeps youreally regular.

[clogger]

Re: Gaining weight? is this normal? help please

Some people find success after moving on to OWL. You may want to consider it. The first rung is just extra veggies from the list of acceptable Induction veggies. That way you'll get more fiber which will help things along . I agree with losetocruise that you should use a natural bulking agent like Dr. Atkins recommends - psyllium husks, flax, or bran(?).

Good luck!