What could I be doing wrong?

[Sonya Parker]

I have been on Induction for 9 days total, and havent moved an inch off the scale or bosy fat percentage-wise. I use Fitday to count carbs/calories etc. -I used to use it even before Atkins. I find that I am eating twice as many calories than I did previous to Atkins and thats possibly why Im just maintaining and not losing.
Heres a typical daily menu (yesterday).

Please tell me what I could be doing wrong?

Bkfast
4 thin strips bacon (0 carbs)
2 eggs (0carbs)
I slice Ham (0carbs)
1 teaspoon butter
2 oz mozarella cheese
1 cup decaff coffee


Lunch
1.75 cup romaine lettuce (1 carb)
.25 cup green onions and red peppers
1 can tuna (waterpacked) (0 carbs)
3 TB regular mayo
salt/pepper
4 black olives

Dinner
5 oz grilled rib steak
1 cup caesar salad
(I usually have 1 cup of veggies like broccoli, spinach etc.each day + 2 cups of salad vegs....but yesterday I had dinner at a restaurant and this seemed a better alternative as a starter)
2 oz mozarella

Fitday reads as follows
Fat 120 g 65%
Carb 16 g 3% (also add 2 pieces of sugarfree gum = 2 carb gms for
a total of 18
Protein 132g 32%
Total cals 1685

[Moochiecat]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

I think you had the right idea when you thought you should maybe cut down on the cheese a bit. Take it down to 2 ounces a day and see what happens.

If after 2 weeks you haven't seen any change in your weight or inches, do as the book suggests and read Chapter 20 (page 259 in DANDR) about Metabolic Resistance.

Also, are you exercising? If you are exercising strenuously you may be building muscle, which is heavier than fat, and that could account for why the scale hasn't moved.

You're drinking the proper amounts of water?

Are you hungry between meals? If so snack on a protein/fat combo snack.

Stay away from the scale and the measuring tape till your two weeks are up, ok? Just do your thing, and check it all on day 15.
If things haven't changed at all, don't give up!! Read Chapter 20 and go from there. If you feel you are Metabolically Resistant, you can ask around in the Main Atkins forum for advice from others that are as well.
Try and be patient...I know that's not very comforting advice, but that's what you need to do.

[2big4mysize]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

we need a little more info like how many pounds do you need to lose


were you dieting before you started Atkins? well obviously you were if you were eating 1/2 of that 1685 cals so you don't have the glycogen reserves stored in your body to shed when you started for that rapid induction loss virging dieters get.

What are you doing for your mandatory exercise part of Atkins is this a new to you program? if so your muscles will be holding water for a while until they know that the new program is their normal expected load and not some emergency strain you are under.

How much water are you drinking? water is very very improtant to weight loss. In the FAQ as soon as the links get fixes you can read all about it. You need to be drinking at least 64 ounces plus 8 more fluid ounces for every 25 pounds you need to lose and more if you are activey sweating. Bren our former admin broke her stall in 2003 just by adding more water to her program.

Also did you just eat all that food to eazt it cause you could or were you actually feeding your hunger at the time you were eating? on Atkins even though they use the word unlimited Dr Atkins caustions us several times in his Book DR ATKINS NEW DIET REVOLUTION 2002 version that unlimited isn't a license to gorge on those foods. Feed only your hunger and stop even if you have food on the plate, room in your belly or carbs inyour budget. When your hunger returns feed it again. Many new to Atkins folk seeing the news shows about Atkins think they can stuff on the proteins and fats as long as they limit the carbs and then wonder why it doesn't work for them.

Hand in there. Betty our current admin went all of induction 14 days with no loss of weight nor inches, but a yr later was a goalie.

Happy low carbing.

[lola101]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

I don't think you are allowed to have sugar free gum!

[Sonya Parker]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

I drink a minimum of 2 litres each day - nothing new - have been doing this for last 2 years.
I exercise both cardio and muscle conditioning (4X week) - also been doing this for 2 years. I weigh 132 lbs (5ft 4in) and want to lose 10-12 lbs.

Ive maintained my weight and I look okay but I want to lose another little bit. I was on a high-protein, low fat diet and moderately low carb (60-70g)diet. Ive realised it didnt work because of the hunger pangs which led to sugar indulgences every now and then.

As far as I can tell, Im doing ATKINS to the letter. Today is Day 9 and no change at all.

[2big4mysize]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

with that small amount to lose you will be losing at a much slower scale number then somebody with a 100 pounds to go as each pound lost for you will be about 10th of your total weight needed to lose. When I started my weight loss that would have been 14 pounds for me.

Make friends with your tape measure as you are going to see inches of fat being shed as you morph your body. For every complicated biochem reasons the human body needs to maintain shape for the pressures on systems to stay constant. So as you shed fat molecules from your fat tissues your body will add water molecules. As water molecules are denser then fat you will see inches of you leaving even when the scales don't show any gravitational effect changes on your mass. When your body exceeds its individual tolerance for the biochem interferance the water causes your body will generate some water shedding chemicals and you will see a whoosh as we call it on the scales.

I'm curious as to your statments about your Atkins eating being twice your other caloric intake. What did your doctor say about that very very low caloric intake you were doing and what did your blood tests that you had before you started show? Usually very restricted diet plans likethat are done in a hospital setting under constant supervision. If you were defiecint in any vits or minerals you will need to build them up with supplements as Dr Atkins recommends in his chapters on that to asssit your body in metabolism.

Happy low carbing.

Happy low carbing.

[Sonya Parker]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

Thanks for the advice - Im not too hung up on the scale really. I want to see inches and my clothes looser. I do have a tape measure that I use once a week. This morning it seemed my chest and waist were the same, my hips gained an inch. Yes......gained an inch.

I didnt weigh myself or measure myself all week just to wait for this morning. And I was so discouraged to see no weight change (not a biggie) but the inch gain made me shudder.

Is it possibel in any way to gain weight on this diet? are there instances when it may be wiser to stop this diet than to continue as most would suggest?

[Elizellen]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

Is it possibel in any way to gain weight on this diet? are there instances when it may be wiser to stop this diet than to continue as most would suggest?

I think that if you are already at a weight appropriate to your height and build, AND have been on a restricted lowcalorie diet already you may well put on weight as your body will be trying to build up reserves as it thinks that although you are feeding it more food at present you will soon be back to the starvation diet of half the calories again.
How tall are you and what is your current weight?

[Sonya Parker]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

I am 5'4" and weigh 132 lbs currently. My weight is in the healthy range but my body fat % is 30%. That is the reason I started Atkins - to shed 10 lbs or so - tahts all.

IF what you are saying is true - that my body is gaining back the calories, then should i simply keep to the fat/carb/protein ratios of Atkins but cut back on portion sizes and therefore overall calories?

Im so frustrated......

[tickletussler]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

Hi Sonya, please try not to take what I'm about to say as being harsh, because that's not my intention Also the advice you have been given so far, from the mods and esp 2big are excellent.

I have lost 20lbs and I would like to lose another 20. Many would say that my weight is fine for my height, but I would like to lose more because I have been 20lbs lighter not too long ago and because I feel I can still get more muscle on my body. When I first did Induction, I lost 6lbs and I wondered why I heard so many others losing much more than that. But 6lbs was more than 5-10% loss (which is the average % for most Atkineers). The first 20lbs came off relatively easily. These next 20 are not - I would be lucky to see a pound budge every few weeks (if not longer, and if I don't slip up)

IMO Atkins was created mainly for the overweight, to assist with weightloss, as well as change to healthier eating habits. That is why weight seems to come off easily at the beginning for most. But for some of us with not many pounds left to lose ie 10-20lbs, it takes much longer time to lose.
You read about Betty not losing during Induction at all.

If you did lose even 0.5-1lb, I would've been surprised. To lose 0.5lb would've been 5%, but as 10 pounds to lose isn't much, and I would've expected you to take longer than the first 2 weeks to lose the first 5% because you have only 10lbs to lose at what may be considered a "healthy weight" that you are starting at.
When I started Atkins, my BMI was 27 (overweight) and now it has dropped to 23. For you, at 5'4" and 132lbs, your BMI is 22.66 (healthy range is 18.5 to 24.9). To lose 10lbs or more it would put your BMI to 20.94 or less.

DANDR specifies that when we are 5-10lbs of goal weight, we are to move to pre-maintenance and to move weightloss so it's barely perceptible. So if you are starting Atkins with only 10lbs to lose and begin with Induction, you don't want to go and lose so quickly at the beginning with much to begin with, even though you may really want to.

Do you know one of our Canadian Atkineers took 10 months just to lose 10lbs and she ended up pretty skinny & healthy.

It seems that what you have been doing so far seems pretty much on track - you are exercising, you are watching your carbs, you are watching your calories... what's missing is a little patience, don't you think?

YOU WILL LOSE, just keep doing Atkins properly, and you will be guaranteed a weightloss!

[Sonya Parker]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

OK - I thought I was doing things right the first week. I had no change whatsoever on the scale or tape measure. I took all your suggestions and cut out cheese, exercised regularly and bit my tongue on the impatience thing.

I weighed 1.5 lbs less this week than last, so I decided to do a body fat test. I had done one day before I started Induction . guess what? My body fat weight in lbs has remained EXACTLY the same - no change.

So now Im confused AND frustrated.

1. My ketostix show a moderate loss - check mark here
2. My diet is 65% fat, 30%protein and 5% carbs (on the dot) - check mark here - check
3. Im watching my cals - am eating between my BMR and AMR per fitday - check
4. Drinking 3 L of water each day - check
5. Get plenty of cardio and weights in (5X / week) - check
6. Am following the RULES of Induction to a T - no cheating - check
7. I dont even drink any other liquid than decaf coffee and PLAIN water -check
8. Get plenty of rest and taking all recommended supplements

Tomorrow will be exactly 2 weeks - It seems Im in ketosis but may be burning dietary fat and the lbs lost are water weight as a result of modifying the cheese etc in the 2nd week.

I am thinking of moving to OWL but am afraid upping my carb intake now is going to be counterproductive.



I am a healthy active individual with no past medical history so metabolic resistance seems unlikely. In the past, the only way i have lost weight is by reducing my calories dramatically. I dont want to starve on this diet but think that reducing calories to BMR may be the answer. (I feel quite satisfied eating to BMR anyways) Should I do this?

Need some real expert advice here. - Admins - any thoughts?

[Sonya Parker]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

I just want to reiterate on my last post - Im not in a rush to lose weight. The main reason for my last post was the concern that I am not getting rid of any FAT WEIGHT from my body inspite of losing lbs. (not even an ounce). If Im in ketosis, then what am I burning ?

Does this process take longer than I think?

[2big4mysize]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

Are you using a dunk tank to measure your body fat change? measuring is subjective to the accuracy of the measurer and did they use the exact same places and tightness of the tape. Even if you lost fluid weight it is fluid weight you will not be carrying around any more. How many inches did you lose for the entire 14 days? those inches show you the fat is gone.

you are very impatient I hate to tell you. you have made a drastic change in your eating in the last 14 days and your body because you were grossly under eating at less then 900 cals a day with all that exercise needs time to heal and adjust your metabolism to having more cals and burning them off. you could from your previous dieting methods have lowered your Metabolism as the human body is very very good at adapting to lower caloric intake. Dr Atkins talks about that in DANDR and says the cure for those metabolic imbalances is eating induction for a longer period of time.



Are you determining your BMR using the katch McArdle formula based on lean body mass BMR = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg) or the general formula for all folk of the same size? It can be very different depending on your physiology.

HAve your bowel habits changes too with eating Atkins? the slower motility many inductees experience allow more mass to be retained in the intestines wheich will add scale weight too.

Happy low carbing.

[Finelly]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

You only want to lose 10-12 pounds. Give yourself a break. You are beating yourself up, here, by constantly evaluating and re-evaluating, weighing, checking body fat, etc. This is a new way of eating, FOREVER, not a crash diet.......it's time to live, not obsess about it!!!!!!

[Sonya Parker]

Re: What could I be doing wrong?

Are you determining your BMR using the katch McArdle formula based on lean body mass BMR = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg) or the general formula for all folk of the same size? It can be very different depending on your physiology.

HAve your bowel habits changes too with eating Atkins? the slower motility many inductees experience allow more mass to be retained in the intestines wheich will add scale weight too.

2Big makes some valid points about the BMR. The one-fits-all type BMR calculation puts me at 1432 or so. McArdle formula puts me at 1298. Ah-hah..more appropriate perhaps ? 200 cals per day can be the difference between losing or not. I also base it on my activity that day. If Im working at my desk all day or on the road , I factor in a few additional cals on high activity days. I've figured the 1300 mark works best for me.