Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

[Nutri_Nut]

After three weeks, I have lost only 3 pounds - which occurred during the first week and were, no doubt, water weight loss.

Weeks two and three have seen NO weight loss and no inches lost. All my measurements remain the same, and the scale isn't budging.

Realistically, how long do I give this before trying something else or just giving up on losing weight altogether?

I know this WOE is not "all about" the scale and is about being healthy. But weighing 161 lbs. at 5'4" isn't exactly healthy either.

[TNDeb]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

I would suggest writing down exactly what you have eaten the last three weeks or start now if you don't remember and let one of the pros on this board look it over. Sometimes you don't realize how those little carbs add up. If I have a cup of coffee with breakfast in the morning (the way I like it dressed up) then I have burnt five carbs just in that one cup of coffee. I am 100 lbs. more than you and am currently doing week 4. I have only lost 10 lbs (week 3 weigh in total). I have lost a lot more in previous attempts with this diet than I have this time. Of course, I am a lot older and the older you get the slower it comes off. Another thing that could affect your results is being on another type of diet before switching to Atkins. It's kind of like your body is saying, "Ok, what is she trying to get me to do now." The one word of advise that I can give from past experience is hang in there. If you follow the diet as written, you will lose. One last thought,Candida (yeast) could be a problem. Check out the forum on that topic.

[Brook]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

I agree. Fire your menus at us with not only what you ate, but how much. Include exercise, supplements, medications (if any), water intake, and any other fluid intake.

Honestly, 2 weeks with no loss is nothing in the big picture. I know it's frustrating, but here's my truth. My goal weight was 149. It took me a full year to go from 165 to 149. The lower you get the more stubborn the weight is to go and you're going to have to be patient. Diet jumping is only going to slow down your metabolism, and that's something to really consider too. As Deb said, the older we get, the slower our metabolisms get anyway.

Hit us with all the info and we'll see if we can spot something!

Hang in there!
~Brook

[AllieCat0817]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

Hey Nutri--
Not trying to be funny or sarcastic or mean.. but I think perhaps you went off plan one time in the past three weeks? I thought there was a thread about it, I can't recall. That might be why- your bod might be confused.

I say whatever you do, do not give up. Be persistent at it, day in and day out. Hang in there.

[not2late]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

Some folks are known to have a mini-stall between weeks 3-6 of the diet. In the Atkins video, Dr. Atkins attributed the mini-stall to your body rebalancing it's natural water balance.

So keep on keeping on. And be sure you are keeping track of your menues and are exercising.

[AllieCat0817]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

Oh yeah, PISS- Post Induction Stall Syndrome. VERY common. I call it the 'initiation' to test your resolve.

[Momtofour]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

I have had pauses in my weight loss. Weeks 3-5, and somewhere around weeks 9-11. I have lost almost 50 pounds on those other weeks. Not to bad. Just stick to the plan and you will see results.

[Nutri_Nut]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

I am in ketosis. Today is the first day I've measured, and I had moderate ketones. I thought being in ketosis means you are burning fat. And if I'm burning fat, shouldn't I see results? Or can being in ketosis mean something else?

I have not been writing down everything I eat, but I did post somewhere else a general idea of what I eat. I am going to add nuts (pecans) and try to exercise more. The first time around, I didn't have to exercise to lose weight.

[Brook]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

Being in ketosis simply means you're burning fat for energy. It doesn't mean you're burning body fat -you may well be burning dietary fat.

You can gain weight and be in ketosis just like you can lose weight and not be in ketosis. Eating too much is eating too much, whether you're in ketosis or not.

Until you've got it all under control and are real comfortable with what you're doing, I'd *strongly* suggest you write down everything you put in your mouth and how much of it too. Food/drink/everything.

A general idea of things isn't going to help us help you and it's not going to help you establish patterns that are biting you in the butt. Until you start losing, I wouldn't add ANYTHING.

The first time around, I didn't have to exercise to lose weight.

Fair enough, but now there's a second time around, right? So that means that the combination of things you've been doing or did do doesn't work now.

You can lose weight without adding in exercise - people do it all the time. Of course, they generally don't look really great nekkid.

Here's an eye opening statistic for you - it certainly opened my eyes!

Weight loss is an endeavor with a 95% failure rate in a period of 5 years. Of the 5% that succeed, 85% of those 5% who are able to keep the weight off for a year or more EXERCISE.

So....write down what you eat - everything and how much.
Exercise.
Don't add anything in until you've got the first two under control.

Bill Phillips said something that really struck a cord with me 3 1/2 years ago when I started. "The only thing worse than failing is to succeed and not know how you did it."

Hang in there
~Brook

[Nutri_Nut]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

Oh. I was told on another Atkins board a couple of years ago that if you are in ketosis you cannot gain weight. Hmmm. So those ketosticks I just bought are really worthless. If being in ketosis doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to lose weight, I don't really need to know if I'm in ketosis, do I?

Ok, I'll write down what I eat. I'd love to exercise, but I can't walk in 90+ degree temperatures.

[Elizellen]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

I wouldn't bother with them for the moment, Nutrinut

I have never registered on them for the 2 plus years I have been shrinking.

Maybe post your daily menu on the 'Review my Menuu' forum (read the sticky on how to post to give us the best chance of helping you - exact amounts of everything.) Or if you use a site like www.fitday.com post a link to your account.

It won't hurt and it might help you.

[Brook]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

Someone gave you *very* inaccurate information.

I've always said that the ketostix are great for a psychological bump, but that's about it. They will tell you if you have excess keytones in your urine - generally indicating that you are in ketosis. But you can be in ketosis and not have excess keytones in your urine too - the fat is converted to keytones and then used for energy needs. If you use them all up, there'll be no extras in your urine, right? See what I mean? All they do is tell you that you've got extras in your urine, but they don't tell you if you're burning dietary fat or body fat. If you listen to your body, it'll tell you if you're in ketosis or not. Some people really want/need the boost seeing the stix change color gives them. I believe they can be a great tool for that and for determining what's up with your body as you go through the OWL phases to learn what your CCLL is. That's about it.

As for the exercise, you don't have to go outside to do that! I'd suggest picking yourself up a copy of Walk Away The Pounds for those days that getting outside isn't really an option for you. It's a great workout, easily modifyable, and takes away all the excuses!

Again, hang in there

~Brook

[Sallyb]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

Hi

Don't be down hearted, our bodies are set for survival! Being in ketosis does mean you are burning adipose body fat, keytones can only be produced by the breaking down of our body fat and not directly through your days dietry intake. If you would like the Bio-Chem overview of this I can provide you with it, it's always debated but medically speaking, it is the case.

If I hit stalls, I reduce cheese, Mayo and workout daily with a minimum of 40 mins at my max heart rate and the weight starts to shift quickly. Physical activty, carb reduction and avoiding too many calories will achieve results. It just may take a little time, but your body has no other option but to respond.

Don't let the negative thoughts creep in, fight them off always, once that thought takes over, your out and it's won.

Take care

Here you go, some enjoyable reading for you

It is stated that ketosis starts with adipose tissue, then triglycerides are broken down into free fatty acids in the blood in which the liver breaks into fatty acyl-CoA, then into Acetyl-CoA, then into the ketone body. From there, it is converted into B-hydroxybutyrate (free acetoacetate), which goes to three possible places...into the mitrochrondria to produce ATP, which is the basic cellular unit of energy; excess ketones excreted in urine; or used by the brain.

Dietary fat is emulsified by certain enzymes into micenes, which are absorbed by the intestinal mucosal cells. These mucosal cells re-synthesize triglycerides, resulting in chylomicrons being formed. Chylomicrons transport the dietary fat through the blood to the liver, where they are then changed to form three types of hepatic lipoproteins: VLDL, LDL, and HDL. These substances carry the triglycerides to the adipose tissue for storage.
Triglycerides are degraded into FFA and glycerol by lipases within the adipose tissue. The FFAs and glycerols are carried to the tissues, where B-oxidation and the sequential cleavage of the fatty acid chain happens, yielding acetyl-CoA, FADH2, and NADH, resulting in large number of ATP molecules.
Once appropriate fatty acids are made within the cell, mono-,di-, and tryglycerides can be synthesized using glycerol phosphate and molecules of fatty acyl-CoA. At this stage any excess keytones are expelled in urine.

[Nutri_Nut]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

Hi

Don't be down hearted, our bodies are set for survival! Being in ketosis does mean you are burning adipose body fat, keytones can only be produced by the breaking down of our body fat and not directly through your days dietry intake.

Well, that's what I thought. I looked through my Atkins book at all the information on ketosis, and he leaves the impression that this is part of the weight loss process - that if you are in ketosis, you are burning fat & losing weight.

If I hit stalls, I reduce cheese, Mayo and workout daily with a minimum of 40 mins at my max heart rate and the weight starts to shift quickly. Physical activty, carb reduction and avoiding too many calories will achieve results.

If I reduce cheese, what am I going to eat for snacks? Can I go ahead and grab some pecans? I don't want to eat pepperoni all the time or other meats loaded with nitrates.

I talked to a cardiologist; and according to him, to lose weight, I don't have to maintain a max heart rate - just exercise for a certain period of time. Of course, after calculating my max heart rate, I hit that just by walking around the neighborhood. Maintaining a certain heart rate is not necessary for weight reduction, but it does help maintain a healthy heart (which I already have, according to the doctor).

Please allow me to play the devil's advocate here. I am a person who questions things, and I don't believe everything I hear. I was very skeptical of the Atkins diet when I first heard about it and actually posted anti-Atkins "warnings" on another Atkins message board. I started this WOE years ago only to prove Atkins didn't work! The joke was on me.

Ok, the devil's advocate role.....40-minutes of exercise a day, reduction in calories, reducing some "fatier" products like mayo and cheese....results in weight loss. This is not specific to Atkins or low carb eating. This is true of any diet! If you exercise this much, this often, and reduce calorie intake, you cannot necessarily claim that you lost weight due to low-carb eating. All diets advocate exercise and a reduction in calories. Isn't this the claim Atkins' critics proclaim all the time?

[Finelly]

Re: Week 3: no weight loss, no inches lost

You are absolutely right. If you exercise and reduce calories, you will lose weight no matter what diet you are on. This is why people lose weight on a low carb diet, a low fat diet, a Zone diet, a Weight Watchers, a Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, and Optifast diet.

The difference on Atkins is that you are eating more satisfying foods, because the high fat content prevents you from feeling starved and deprived. The difference on Atkins is that you are burning fat for energy, and there is no danger that you will lose muscle weight. The difference on Atkins is that by burning fat, you are melting away the fat that makes you....FAT. Starting in the inner organs (we have layers of fat, we fat people, surrounding many of our internal organs, and that usually comes off first) and extending out to those other areas. THere are other differences, too, but I'm only on my first cup of coffee this morning and my brain resembles a cooked zuchini.....

Now, as for calories. Dr. Atkins said that for the first few weeks, calories don't matter. This is because you are getting your body into ketosis and detoxing your system of the nasty carbs/sugars. As you enter and become established in ketosis, your appetite decreases and you naturally don't eat as much. So the calories are regulated naturally.

But the deal is that you need to be eating around the same number of calories as your basal metabolic rate (bmr). The bmr is the number of calories that your body uses to simply exist on a minimal level - if you lay on the bed all day and didn't move a muscle. Some call it the basic metabolic rate, or the resting metabolic rate.

If you go to your fitday.com account and click on "activities", you'll find your bmr. That's what you want to aim for in terms of calories. A little higher or a little lower is ok, but not more than 1 or 200 calories. For example, my bmr is about 1640. I tend to eat between 1500 and 1750 calories per day.

As for snacks, cheese is not the only option, nor is pepperoni. I never eat pepperoni. I eat: devilled eggs, 12 olives, chopped cucumber with a dash of ranch dressing, chicken wings, cold zuchini fritters, stuffed mushrooms, and the occasional slice of salami. You can only have 4 oz of cheese per day, so you HAVE to find things you like for a snack!

I know you are frustrated. As you know, I've been hovering at the 200 mark for 3 weeks now, without a move downward. There is always a tendency to question whether one is doing the right thing. But tweaking what you are doing NOW is far better for you than looking outside the box!

Brook is right about exercise. It may be hot, but there are plenty of things to do indoors. If you can't join a gym, then get some exercise tapes. If you CAN join a gym, do so! My daughters and I have a whole ritual with exercise. We work out separately, then head together over to the jacuzzi, the shower, and a 5 minute stint in the sauna slathered with moisturizer. When we emerge, we feel pampered, relaxed, and oh, so virtuous! No matter what I weigh!