Frustration!!! What am I doing wrong?

[Sylvynne]

I have done lo carbohydrate in the past, and always lost weight easily (and put it back on just as easily)

I started Induction last tuesday. I weighed 252 on the morning of that day. I snuck a peak on my weight on friday morning, and it was 245 - hooray!

Today I did my one-week weigh in....251.8?!? What happened??

I eat basically the same thing every day. Bear in mind, I only eat when I'm hungry, so sometimes I have some gaps of hours when I don't eat:

B: 1 cup broccoli/cauliflower/ or asparagus (measured raw)
2 large eggs
2 oz sharp cheddar cheese

L: 6-7 oz chicken or beef, marinated in garlic-infused olive oil and baked
1 cup spinach sauteed in olive oil and 1 clove garlic (measured raw)
or 1 cup broccoli/cauliflower/ asparagus/ or zucchini - steamed (measured raw)

Snack: 2 hardboiled eggs with salt and pepper

S: Have not been hungry. One night had 2 1/4lb ground beef patties grilled on the George Foreman.


I feel GREAT. No lags in energy, no cravings. Never had the "Atkins Flu". I did try to eat salad in the middle of the day on day one instead of other veggies, and was ravingly hungry again 2 hours after I ate it, so I reverted to whole veggies.

I know weight loss in non-linear, but I also know that usually my patients who go lo carb lose the larget proportional amount of weight their first week. ARGH!

-Input is appreciated.

[Georgiana]

Re: Frustration!!! What am I doing wrong?

Hi Sylvynne,

I would still suggest you to go by the book and eat 2 cups of salad veggies and 1 cup of higher carb veggies. Spinach is a salad veggie, so you can cook 2 cups (measured raw) and have them with some meat. And then have 1 cup of veggies from the 'others' list.

However, I don't think this is the cause of your 'problem'... How much sodium do you have in the menu? Maybe you are retaining water. Did you start exercising? This might cause your muscles to retain some water, especially if you are doing weights. How much water are you drinking? You should be drinking 64 oz, plus 8 oz for each 25 lbs you have above your ideal weight.

Some other things you might want to consider... Make sure you eat enough. I'm not sure how much oil and stuff you use, but not eating enough calories will get your body into 'starvation mode'. What is your fat-carbs-protein ratio?

All right, I'm out of other ideas... In any case, you cannot gain 7 lbs of fat in 4 days unless you eat 24,500 calories above what you burn... which would mean smthg like +6000 extra calories per day. You'd have to be on a mission to accomplish this. My brother is a prof basketball player, but even he can't eat that much!

[Sylvynne]

Re: Frustration!!! What am I doing wrong?

I suppose I should add in that I drink 8 oz of water every hour I am awake, up until 2 hours before bed - this works out to about 128oz of water during my day (this goes with current medical guidelines of 0.5 oz per lb of body weight). I do not drink anything else. Prior to my start date, I was drinking 1 pot (12 cups!) of coffee with cream and splenda over my day, but I cut that out.

I wish I could blame this on TOM - but I haven't had one in over a year. Bummer!

On a side note - just realized that my Dr Atkin's Diet Revolution book was published in 1997. Were there significant revisions in the newer edition that I should be concerned about? In looking at the Atkin's webpage on induction, it seems that I'm pretty close. I probably could stand a little more fat - but my lack of a gallbladder makes me hesitant to jump too far in that direction.

[Georgiana]

Re: Frustration!!! What am I doing wrong?

Hmm, I don't have the 1997 edition... maybe other member has the book and will give you a better answer on that.

Reading the induction stickies on the board might help you figure out if there's anything you are doing wrong. I believe however that it's only a water retention issue.

Here are some links:

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-low-carb-dieting-faqs/6781-what-foods-can-eaten-induction.html

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-low-carb-dieting-faqs/6782-what-rules-induction.html

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-diet-14-day-induction/5918-net-carbs-added-sugar-labels-fast-food-links.html

[Lyssie]

Re: Frustration!!! What am I doing wrong?

Hrm, well, I know that I can have problems losing if I don't have enough fat in my diet. For induction, you should be at 65%fat, 30%protein, 5%carbs. I honestly don't think you're anywhere close to that. Also, to second Georgiana, not eating enough will cause problems. Dr. Atkins said not to go more than 6 waking hours without eating, and to try to have at least 3 meals per day.

I'm assuming you're in ketosis from your lack of appetite, but maybe not? Are you taking your vitamins?