I don't think it's working.

[LLCS1206]

Re: I don't think it's working.

I feel like i just got my *** kicked haha. Ok so no wendys baconator I got it and I won't have fast food either. I don't know where you came up with all of that other stuff on the baconator but here in Michigan it only comes with katchup, mayo, bacon, cheese and meat. I would get it with no bun and no katchup. Also, how do you know in all of those ingredients that they are bad for you? Because when I went to the wendys nutrition website I found that the sandwhich no bun no katchup was 2 carbs which to me seemed fine how would I know that it isn't fine? Sorry for all of the questions but I am new and I want to do this correctly so that I can start my life low carb. Anyway you mentioned something about me having bacon for breakfast. Should I not be having it for breakfast? What do you reccomend that I eat in the morning?

I CANT SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSES.

[Georgiana]

Re: I don't think it's working.

Also, how do you know in all of those ingredients that they are bad for you? Because when I went to the wendys nutrition website I found that the sandwhich no bun no katchup was 2 carbs which to me seemed fine how would I know that it isn't fine?

Some things are low in carbs (e.g. 1 tbsp of soy flour or 2 large baby carrots have 2 net carbs), but it doesn't really matter as long as they or the ingredients in them are not "legal" for the Atkins phase you're in.

What you should not eat. Well, that's pretty much anything that is not on the Induction acceptable foods list. This includes added sugar, starches, whey/soy/wheat products (except protein isolates, but I wouldn't have those either), aspartame... that's about all I can think of now. Whenever you buy something, check the list of ingredients first; do not assume it's "legal" just because it is low in carbs. Have the acceptable foods list with you when you go shopping, so you can check if something is okay to have or not. If you are not sure about any of the ingredients, better not buy the product. Then you can ask here and maybe someone knows if the stuff is "legal", and then you can go buy it.

This is a list of sugars:

1. Corn syrup
2. Dextrin
3. Dextrose
4. Evaporated cane juice
5. Fructose
6. Fruit juice concentrate
7. Galactose
8. Glucose
9. Gur
10. High fructose corn syrup
11. Honey
12. Hydrolyzed starch
13. Jaggery
14. Lactose
15. Levulose
16. Malt
17. Malt syrup
18. Maltodextrin
19. Maltose
20. Maple syrup
21. Modified corn starch
22. Molasses
23. Muscovado
24. Panela
25. Panocha
26. Polydextrose
27. Rice syrup
28. Saccharides (mono-, di- or poly-)
29. Sucrose
30. Sugar (or any stuff containing the word sugar in it, like turbinado/turbinated sugar, brown sugar, beet sugar, grape sugar, sorghum sugar etc.)
31. Treacle

Anyway you mentioned something about me having bacon for breakfast. Should I not be having it for breakfast? What do you reccomend that I eat in the morning?

Nope, the problem is not that you are having it for breakfast, but that the bacon adds to your sodium intake (which is already very high from the Baconator), plus it could be cured with sugar. Try to find a SF bacon and then you can have that for breakfast as long as you watch your sodium intake. In any case, breakfast does not necessarily have to be "breakfast food". You could have anything from soup to leftovers from yesterday's dinner. I like having quiche for breakfast, because it makes 8 servings... so I have a slice of that before I go to classes or after I do my exercise, without having to cook breakfast daily. Sometimes I have 2 boiled eggs with veggies and some dip, or cream cheese softened in the microwave and mixed with sour cream and diced veggies (peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, zucchini), or omelets/scrambled eggs/poached eggs. I avoid cured meats because of hidden sugars and high sodium, but that's just a personal preference.

[ShannonK]

Re: I don't think it's working.

I also recommend posting more sample menus. These guys are great at picking it apart and helping to nail down the problem.

[mitzimarie]

Re: I don't think it's working.

I don't know where you came up with all of that other stuff on the baconator but here in Michigan it only comes with katchup, mayo, bacon, cheese and meat.

I didn't "come up with it"... it is on their website. http://www.wendys.com/food/Nutrition.jsp
As I said, I have never even seen a Baconator before, so I looked it up on the website. Don't shoot the messenger!

And I never said that you couldn't eat bacon... it's just not in your best interest to eat it daily.

What to eat for breakfast - anything off of the acceptable food list. Have you visited the Recipe forum on this board for suggestions?

[imagood1]

Re: I don't think it's working.

Does anyone know why or what could be causing this stall?

You aren't "stalled" -- going up and down during induction happens to a lot of people -- a stall is considered when you haven't lost any weight in several WEEKS not days. My suggestions to you:

1) drink more water -- you are drinking the minimum - more water will help flush more of the nasties out of your system and helps boost your metabolism.

2) watch your sodium intake -- sodium will hold water weight on your body.

3) when you eat out try a salad instead of the other stuff on the menu - take your own dressing so you know what is in it.

4) start exercising immediately - you will loose faster if you are working out.

Use FitDay - others have told how they use it (which is the same for me), unless you are tracking your food intake you really have no idea what or how much you are eating daily.

Only weigh once a week - you're setting yourself up getting on the scale everyday -- your weight will move hourly as well as daily -- the best thing to do (and Dr Atkins said this in his book) is weight at the END of induction

Good luck

[blondegypsy]

Re: I don't think it's working.

I guess I'm old school, I grab the keto sticks, if they turn purple each day (no matter what the stupid scales aren't saying!) I know its working. If they don't turn I eat some meat, try a few hrs later, usually has a reaction. If not, I messed up somewhere and I just eat meat and eggs for the next day or so and Im back!

I eat only green veggies. I stay away from white, yellow and orange ones. Go for grilled chicken salad! No chips on a taco salad! A great stand by... find an old cafe that serves breakfast all day. Order the eggs and bacon, skip the toast and biscuits of course! Or just a bacon cheese burger, no bun, eat the veggies! I did that when we went to eat and they had pizza, I wasn't tempted like I thought I would be.

180/180/130

[jpark7]

Re: I don't think it's working.

Your weight is not the only thing in play here, have you taken measurements? When I lose weight, The inches come off first and then the weight. Also, eating from any fast food place contains hidden carbs and bad food ingridients that will effect your weihgt loss progress. The first thing is to always thing positivley, when you think your weight is not coming off, It wont.

Stay strong !!!

[mitzimarie]

Re: I don't think it's working.

I guess I'm old school, I grab the keto sticks, if they turn purple each day (no matter what the stupid scales aren't saying!) I know its working.

It is possible to be in ketosis and not lose weight, and it is possible to lose weight, and not be in ketosis... so I'm not sure how that would help the original poster.

[blondegypsy]

Re: I don't think it's working.

I get excited when I see the purple on the sticks, it helps me to know I'm still on track. That's part of the magic of Atkins. Its science at its best!

If your FMH is activated and you are burning hundreds calories as you sleep, breath, you could be a bump on a log and still loose the fat. Of course exercise speeds the weight loss and adds the muscle tone. It is also the secret to why you won't be hungery on this diet. Your body's fat is taped into and your fat resurves are being used constantly.... so awsome!

I wanted everyone to know that if they worry "its not working" they have a way to check. If you see the purple, its working and the inches are coming off even if the scale isn't showing it. If you stop turning purple (it shows deeper at certain times of the day) completely...you goofed somewhere, just go back to the start of the diet for about 3 days till you hit it again and turn purple on the test strips. Then take off back where you were.

Man, Atkins learned his stuff and shared it with everyone! I'm soooo grateful!

pg. 18 "And the production of FMH is the whole purpose of this diet-and the reason it works when all others fail."
"Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution" hardcover by Robert C. Atkins M.D.

180/180/130

[mitzimarie]

Re: I don't think it's working.

I wanted everyone to know that if they worry "its not working" they have a way to check. If you see the purple, its working and the inches are coming off even if the scale isn't showing it.

Again, just because you are in ketosis, that is not a guarantee that you will lose weight.

pg. 18 "And the production of FMH is the whole purpose of this diet-and the reason it works when all others fail."
"Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution" hardcover by Robert C. Atkins M.D.

This board is based upon the rules in the 2002 edition of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. It is confusing to members when you quote outdated editions that we don't follow.

[Georgiana]

Re: I don't think it's working.

I guess I'm old school, I grab the keto sticks, if they turn purple each day (no matter what the stupid scales aren't saying!) I know its working. If they don't turn I eat some meat, try a few hrs later, usually has a reaction. If not, I messed up somewhere and I just eat meat and eggs for the next day or so and Im back!

I wanted everyone to know that if they worry "its not working" they have a way to check. If you see the purple, its working and the inches are coming off even if the scale isn't showing it. If you stop turning purple (it shows deeper at certain times of the day) completely...you goofed somewhere, just go back to the start of the diet for about 3 days till you hit it again and turn purple on the test strips. Then take off back where you were.

Secretion of glucagon (i.e. liberation of fat from fat cells) has little to do with the reading on the ketostix. To understand what ketostix tell you, you first need to understand how ketone bodies are formed and used.

When fatty acids undergo beta-oxidation they are broken down into two-carbon molecules called acetyl-CoA. If there isn't enough oxygen available to burn all the acetyl-CoA molecules, the acetyl-CoA molecules will be converted into three types of ketones: acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetone. Acetoacetic acid and beta-hydroxybutyric acid will be released into the bloodstream for energy supply and those cells that have mitochondria will take these ketones and convert them back into acetyl-CoA, which then is pumped back into the TCA cycle.

If there are any excess ketones left after all this happens, they will be expelled by your body and you can measure them in urine. However, the stix only detect acetoacetate and what you are measuring is not the number of molecules, but their concentration. For example, if you spill 10000 ketones into 1000 ml of pee, the concentration will be smaller than if you spill the same 10000 ketones into 500 ml of pee. This means that the color on the ketostix will be lighter or, if the molarity is below the one that can be detected by the stix, the color will not change at all. Similarly, the concentration of unused ketones will change depending on your activity level, on what you had for your last meal, on the time of the day when you are testing and on the type of fatty acids in your diet.

Being in lipolysis/ketosis (i.e. using fat as the primary source of energy) is not equivalent to spilling excess ketones into the urine. Folks who exercise heavily may never change the color of the ketostix simply because they are using the ketones for fuel, so there is no surplus left to pee. But this does not mean they "goofed somewhere", nor does it mean that they have to go back to Induction, as you suggested (I guess "Induction" is what you mean by "the start of the diet", although this is an Induction forum).

If your FMH is activated and you are burning hundreds calories as you sleep, breath, you could be a bump on a log and still loose the fat.

Yes, normal functions like sleeping and breathing do burn calories. But just because you are burning calories it does not mean you are having a net loss of body fat, which is what we care about when we want to lose weight. Imagine you have a bathtub and 10 L of water in it. If you remove the plug, the amount of water should decrease, right? Well, not necessarily. If you turn on the water and the rate at which it goes into the tub is higher than the rate at which water goes through the drain, the amount of water in the tub will in fact increase. If we would only burn energy, none of us would be fat in the first place. However, we take Calories in from the foods we eat, which means we are constantly pouring water into the tub. Atkins is not magic and the same old principle applies to it---if there is no caloric deficit, there will be no weight loss, regardless of whether you are in ketosis or not. For example, you will be in ketosis if you snack on butter and lard all day and you might even turn the ketostix dark pink. But being in ketosis only determines the primary metabolic pathway your body chooses to generate energy, not the net amount of body fat you lose.

[vector2]

Re: I don't think it's working.

Secretion of glucagon (i.e. liberation of fat from fat cells) has little to do with the reading on the ketostix. To understand what ketostix tell you, you first need to understand how ketone bodies are formed and used.................

Great post. Just one correction: Acetyl-CoA is used as substrate for making ketone bodies not because of a lack of oxygen, but because oxaloacetate is required for acetyl-coa to proceed normally through the TCA cycle. During periods of low carbohydrate intake, oxaloacetate is shunted away from the TCA cycle so its carbon skeleton can be used for gluconeogenesis; the liver then produces kb's as an alternative method for dealing with excess acetyl-coa.

[Georgiana]

Re: I don't think it's working.

Great post. Just one correction: Acetyl-CoA is used as substrate for making ketone bodies not because of a lack of oxygen, but because oxaloacetate is required for acetyl-coa to proceed normally through the TCA cycle. During periods of low carbohydrate intake, oxaloacetate is shunted away from the TCA cycle so its carbon skeleton can be used for gluconeogenesis; the liver then produces kb's as an alternative method for dealing with excess acetyl-coa.

Thanks for clarifying that, vector2.