Induction done, not impressed

[paella2006]

Hi all. New to Atkins and have completed induction now.

I lost 6lb by day 4 then another 2lb by day 6. Continued with clean induction despite feeling terrible with headaches and backaches and being bored and fed up with the food. By day 10, I regained the 2lb... and was even more fed up with the food. I decided to keep going with induction and am now on day 17 and seemed to have stalled at the initial 6lb weight loss. Im so fed up with the food, feel hungry, dont have extra energy and am seriously contemplating going back to my low GI way of eating prior to this.

Any ideas why I have stalled? how do I motivate to carry on? what can I do with the food (i am uninspired by the recipe sites I have seen and often cant find all these american products or measures in UK)? I used to eat cereals, skimmed milk, fruit, about an egg a fortnight and very little fat. I cant cope with eating so many eggs (2 per day) and feel sick at the amount of fat Im eating. I dont have sugar or caffeine cravings and have had very little sweet stuff or decaff coffee at all.

Incidently, I have around 20lb to lose in total.

Thanks for your help

[IrishMom82]

Re: Induction done, not impressed

6 lbs. in two weeks is great! You might have stalled because you don't have that much to lose and it's time to move on to OWL. Maybe you should post what you've been eating in the Review Menu thread and maybe some of the veterans can point out what you might be lacking. Have you been following Atkins to the letter? Veggies? Water? Excercise? And so on.

Some people lose really fast others lose slowly. I'm sure some of the vets will be able to help you more. I would suggest moving onto OWL and see how you're feeling.

[brandywine1241]

Re: Induction done, not impressed

If you were happy with the way you were eating before, why did you decide to switch to Atkins? Irishmom82 gave you good advice is suggesting you move to OWL. You can add dairy on the second rung and berries and melons on the fourth. For you to be successful doing Atkins, you have to accept the idea that fat is good. Are you trying to do a low(er) fat version of Atkins? The Dr. specifically warned that that will not work.

[Grant]

Re: Induction done, not impressed

I'd recommend posting a couple days worth of menu's in the rate my menu section. It can be pretty easy to miss something and getting feeback is a good way to make sure you are on the right track.

[Elizellen]

Re: Induction done, not impressed

I agree with the others - post some recent menus and see if someone can make some useful suggestions.

Also I agree that there is no need for you to stay on the restricted choices of induciton any longer. Moving to OWL will allow you more variety.

You have already lost over a third of the weight you hope to lose so there is no reason whatever to stay on induction one moment longer!

[losetocruise]

Re: Induction done, not impressed

Hi all. New to Atkins and have completed induction now.

I lost 6lb by day 4 then another 2lb by day 6.
6 lbs is 30% of the total weight you want to lose. That is fantastic for induction. it probably doesn't seem so when you see others reporting 10-14 pound losses, but they aregenerally folks with a lot more to lose overall.

bored and fed up with the food.
I can't help you much here, the food choices are one of the things that keep me on Atkins.
By day 10, I regained the 2lb...
slight increases up and down are common due to fluid, etc. youjr day to day weight can beaffected by salt intake the previous day, tom, etc. I have also found that moving my scale from one side off the kitchen to the other can affect the reading!
feel hungry, dont have extra energy
If you are hungry to can feed the hunger. that is one of the beautys of this diet. A couple of spoonfulls of chicken salad ease hunger pains between meals. Or any no carb snack or a bit of cheese if it falls within your daily limit.

I cant cope with eating so many eggs (2 per day)
There is no requirement to eat eggs at all. They are not my favorite food and I use them mostly in recipes such as the Muffin in a Minute, which is excellent by the way if part of your boredom is from lack of bread.
and feel sick at the amount of fat Im eating.
If animal fat really bothers you, you can get the fats you needfrom cheeses, butter and oils used in cooking or salad oils. Dr. Atkins said that even vegetarians can do this diet, although with a higher level of difficulty and much less luxurious food choices.
I dont have sugar or caffeine cravings and have had very little sweet stuff or decaff coffee at all.

there's half your battle won already!
Good luck!

[MrsBrittney]

Re: Induction done, not impressed

I have to say IMO succeeding on Atkins is one part the diet itself, one part believing in it.

I found that, even though many years back I did it and lost 45 lbs (and now 6 years later, my constant candy diet has brought most of it back lol), I had trouble "believing in it" (ie the fat thing) until I read Gary Taubes book.

I agree. After Atkins the first time, I couldn't eat an egg. The thought made me want to vomit. Then people on here pointed out I could think "outside the box" and *lightbulb* DUH! Variety is the key to life! =)

I started using eggs in the quiches. I fell in LOVE with the cheeseburger quiche... so on and so forth, now I'm fine eating eggs, but I have to switch the style (fried, scrambled, omelet, hardboiled, deviled, in a quiche, etc) every few weeks or I get bored.

I also agree with Grant's suggestion - post your menu. I was sticking to Atkins quite well but noticed the weight loss wasn't what it was before and realized a) I wasnt exercising like I was before and b) My heavy cream was slowing me down

[Vegasestigirl]

Re: Induction done, not impressed

I feel your pain! My weightloss seems to be similar to yours exactly! I am on day 15 and actually cheated on dinner tonight a little bit because I let myself get too hungry. I am planning on moving on to OWL first thing in the morning-hopefully I am still in Ketosis! Let's stick with it and move on to OWL together! Strength in numbers right??? Good luck!

[sallyseachange]

Re: Induction done, not impressed

I think you're doing very well if you only have 20 lbs to lose.

No sense in being bored with the food choices. Make the move to OWL and you'll probably be happier.
Posting a menu wouldn't come amiss too. There might be something that just needs a little tweak.

[joee5]

Re: Induction done, not impressed

Maybe your not eating enough fat?? Could be building muscle from exercising, if you are,?? Stay positive, you still lost weight from where you previously were. So that is a win in my book anyday. God Bless, Joe