yet another repeat question

[bornslippy]

I've been doing the induction phase for a long time...not sure if that's good or bad, but it keeps me in line mentally and keeps me from the risk of adding carbs and straying from the diet.
As just about everyone else, I saw a big drop when I started the diet within the initial 14-day induction period. Since roughly the beginning of the year, I've been repeatedly losing then plateauing for a week to 3 weeks. This week is a whole new story. I started a new job, so I'm actually eating better (on a more regular schedule), still taking in less than 20 carbs per day, drinking a lot more water, getting more excercise (which is job related), and I've gained 4 lbs!! Can someone give me an insight as to what's happening or what I'm doing wrong? Maybe it's just my body reacting to a new sleep/eating schedule...but my weight hasn't fluctuated, it went up and stayed there.

Thanks in Advance,
Tim

[Pineapple]

Re: yet another repeat question

Have you kept measurements? It might be muscell gain. Other things could be water retention or carbs creep. Do you log your foods onto fitday? And I'm sure you'll break through it soon Mini stalls are common after the first two weeks.

[bornslippy]

Re: yet another repeat question

Well I pretty much eat the same thing everyday. I have an omlette with cheese and bacon in the morning. I have a 1/2lbs cheeseburger (lettuce, mustard, and pickles..no bun of course) for lunch. And for dinner I might have a low carb burger and a salad or something relatively close to that.

I've been doing the "induction phase" for 6 months now.

[bornslippy]

Re: yet another repeat question

i AM happy to say that my jeans have went from a 40-42 to a 36 which im currently wearing. My shirt size went down from xxl to xl for t-shirts, and my neck shrank from 18 1/2" to 17"

[Pineapple]

Re: yet another repeat question

6 months? You may want to start easing into the other phases, just so you get used to adding in carbs. It sounds counter prductive I know, but it helps in the long run.

Anyways, spreading out your carbs lets your body handle it better and avoids blood sugar spikes (which leads to cravings and over eating). Aside from the veggies, have you dropped a size or do your clothes at least feel looser?

[bornslippy]

Re: yet another repeat question

im sure other people have these feelings, but im kind of apprehensive about going into the next phases. Since I've been doing the induction phase for 6 months, i've grown accustomed to it, and am terrified that if i start adding carbs i'll start adding pounds.

[Pineapple]

Re: yet another repeat question

You can go on it for a long time if you have a lot to loose, but if you only do induction for all your weight loss and then add carbs back once you've reached your goal the odds are actually higher you'll gain because you won't know your carb limits. Just as much as five carbs a week won't cause weight gain. You stop adding carbs when the weight loss stops.

How far are you away from goal?

[bornslippy]

Re: yet another repeat question

I'll have to look into moving into different phases I guess. My only problem is, I'm not adding carbs right now, and I've gained a little. So that doesn't give me much motivation to move to the next phase.
The little slider on my signature..if you can see it. I started at 310 in 10/05 currently at 267 (lowest was 262 as of monday ) my goal is 225.

[killerbombshell]

Re: yet another repeat question

Have you read the book? Dr Atkins outlines the proceedures for moving into OWL and explains why it's not going to cause a weight gain. Many of our members here have actually lost faster once they moved up the rungs.

I don't know what a "low carb burger" is but if it's filled with the kinds of ingredients like a Boca Burger those are not induction appropriate anyway. Pineapple makes some good points--you may be building muscle or retaining water from stress. It doesn't sound like you're even close to getting the appropriate amount of vegetables and that bacon cheeseburger can be loaded with too many calories (beef is a real calorie laden food); and you may be exceeding your 3-4 ounces of cheese (cheese alone is a large stall factor for many people) and that bacon is loaded with sodium. I think it would be helpful for you to read the book again to get a better understanding of the improtance of varying your meals and the proceedure for moving into OWL.

People's weight loss also starts to slow as they approach their goal. Don't be too concerned with the scale.

[Ivy]

Re: yet another repeat question

When I stalled, and I did that just at 3 weeks I switched over to OWL. It worked. More food choices and only 5 carbs additional. I think my body was telling me it needed more. My weight also goes up and down. Some mornings the Wooshie Fairy greets me with a 2 pound loss then in 2 days 1 pound is back by doing the same thing. But at the weeks end it levels out.

Try it and see. Also are you taking vitamins?

Ivy

[sunflowergrl]

Re: yet another repeat question

OWL is the most important part of this way of life. It is not healthy to eat Induction for the rest of your life. If you want to keep the weight off long term, OWL is the only way to do that. You will keep losing weight, and you will keep it off long term. I have lost on OWL, and I love the food choices. Please think about your health, and not just weight loss.

[bornslippy]

Re: yet another repeat question

Alright, so maybe this was a false alarm and my body was just reacting to the new schedule. As of this morning I was back down to 262, a new low for me . I 'll have to read up more on the OWL process maybe that'll jump start a steady decline again. I take vitamins, but I have to be careful about what I take since I have a clotting disorder.

Thanks,
Tim

[kathlyn76]

Re: yet another repeat question

Hopefully Sunflower will join this discussion. I've noticed that she has moved up through OWL and is consistantly losing weight. I'll move to OWL next moth and I'm also concerned about moving up and gaining weight. I've noticed that people in OWL are like, come to us! You'll still lose weight. Maybe it's time to give it a go? You're not losing weight right now anyway.

[not2late]

Re: yet another repeat question

Couple of things you have to remember. If you've been eating the same exact foods in the same quantities since day 1, you might be overeating your Atkins. Remember, you are a smaller person than you were 6 months ago. As a smaller person your energy requirements are less (unless you exercise like mad), so you don't need to eat the same amount of food you did when you were heavier.

You only eat the amount of food to satisfy your hunger. If your breakfast hunger is satisfied with 1 hard boiled egg, that's what you eat.

As for staying on Induction, Dr. Atkins wrote that the people who would benefit from staying on Induction longer than the 14 days are those people who a metabolically resistant to weight loss. By staying on Induction longer, Dr. Atkins said these people would be able to correct those metabolic imbalances. The majority of us have moderate to low metabolic resistance, so staying on Induction is not necessary and in my experience from reading posts on this board, it might be more detrimental than helpful. Why? There are folks who stay on Induction, don't lose weight no matter what they do and the only thing that breaks their stall is to move to OWL Phase. I'm not sure why this happens, but I think their bodies adapt to the very low carb level.