Need Advice

[lisadallasr]

Hi everyone, well a little about my situation, sorry i always feel i need to go into detail. But anyway i started on January 1st 2007 and i have done atkins in the past just not really by the book, so anyway i wanted to do it right, so i did induction for 2 weeks and decided to go another week at that then i started doing rung 1 to add more veggies, did good at 25 a week so i went up to 30 well as im going up in owl i have really stalled out and am craving so bad, i tried spaghetti squash the other night and really that is when this all started but i dont even know if thats it. The last time i did atkins i went to a website called Leadwiththediet not sure if you all know what im talking about but im sure many of you do, basically it is a more simple way to do atkins and i cut out all my cheese and processed meat and cream and i got up to about 40 net carbs and still losing with eating a lot of veggies and meat and eggs well i got bored with that so i was trying to do it the regular way this time around and more by the book, so i guess what im wondering since im having such a rough time all of a sudden should i go back to induction and do it more strict and cut out cheese and processed meat and see if that helps, the only time i eat processed meat is at bfast, and its usually 2 pieces of sausage or bacon and thats it for the day, the only time i eat it during the day is if i make a recipe like the jalepeno poppers or something but i dont make it to much anyways and then cheese i love cheese so i have to really watch myself and im thinking maybe i need to just cut it out all together, just any advice would be helpful!!!! Sorry this is all crammed together thats how my mind is working and im typing as fast as im thinking it.

[boonie stomper]

Re: Need Advice

Might I suggest you post a day's complete menu for review - perhaps it needs tweeking...

[lisadallasr]

Re: Need Advice

Hi Bonnie, well it usually looks something like this

bfast-2 sausage patties, 3 scrambled eggs in butter with a pinch of shredded cheese,
a cup of coffee with 2 splendas and heavy cream

lunch-2 ground turkey burger patties sometimes wrapped in a lettuce leaf, a side of veggies example a cup of green beans

dinner-meat usually chicken, salmon ground turkey, i dont do ground beef whatsoever actually the only red meat i do is a steak from time to time and i usually will have two veggies at dinner now that i can have more, sometimes i will do roasted squash, or okra, green beans, spinach sauteed in a little olive oil, my percentages are usually fat 68% protein 27% and carbs 5% sometimes the protein and fat will be a little higher or lower but my carbs are usually 5 or 4%.

[boonie stomper]

Re: Need Advice

Have you tried cutting out the caffeine &/or the artificial sweetener? These things cause some people trouble. Also, are you eating just enough to satisfy your hunger?

If you are triyng new foods in OWL and you encounter difficulties, take tat food back out & see if the problem resolves so you will know which foods to avoid.

[lisadallasr]

Re: Need Advice

Hi actually i did caffeine the whole time on induction and still lost i have never cut coffee out and it usually dont bother me, i have cut back on splenda though, i use to take 3 in my coffee and now im fine with 2. I am eating eneough to satisfy my hunger i think maybe on 2 occasions did i eat to feel so full but for the most part i stop when full. I think i will just do a stricter induction to see what happens, what do you think?

[not2late]

Re: Need Advice

You were losing at 25 net carbs daily, but stopped at 30 net carbs. How long have you been eating the 30 net carbs?

If you've been eating at that level for 1 week, do the following:
1. Make sure TOM isn't interfering with your loss.
2. Make sure you really are measuring your food properly and are eating 30 net carbs.
3. Your other post indicated that you experienced cravings with the spaghetti squash. If so, lay off the spaghetti squash for a few days and see what happens.

If, after reviewing, those things, you've still can't find anything that would have stopped your weight loss (pounds and inches), then drop back the the 25 net carbs level and see if you lose weight. If so, then congrats, you found your Critical Carbohydrate Losing Level (CCLL) and in order to continue losing weight, you should not eat above that level of carbs.

[Taji]

Re: Need Advice

soooooooooo... those of us that are Resistent to Weight Loss, might have to really stick to just 25? wow! i guess i will find out pretty soon huh? im on Day 5 of my Induction Phase... then i plan on taking my Rungs Verrrrrrrrry Slowly... is is ok to stay in a Rung for 1 month instead of 1 week? thats the way i think im gonna go... and... LISADALLASR... your babies are SO CUTE!!!

[soliwit]

Re: Need Advice

Yes taji you can do owl as slow or as fast as you feel is right.
I agree with not2late that you should at least first try to lay off the squash, it really can be that certain foods make you crave really bad, those are your 'dangerfoods' and you need to just never eat those or deal with the fact that they will make you crave badly.
I hope you find what the problem is Lisa!

[kylie]

Re: Need Advice

Lisa - I can't remember - but how much did you lose in your first 14 days? What that can tell you about your resistance level would be helpful to know, I think.

Try not to get too frustrated - I know it's hard.

[lisadallasr]

Re: Need Advice

hi kylie i lost about 9lbs the first two weeks and then i lost 4 the 3rd week which i did an extra week of induction and then i moved into owl and lost an inch off my waist no weight at 25 a week so i moved up to 30 a week and have lost neither but i only stayed at 25 for one week so not sure if i really lost the inch due to losing fat or could it have been water so i think i need to go back to 20 to see what happens.

[not2late]

Re: Need Advice

soooooooooo... those of us that are Resistent to Weight Loss, might have to really stick to just 25? wow! i guess i will find out pretty soon huh? im on Day 5 of my Induction Phase... then i plan on taking my Rungs Verrrrrrrrry Slowly... is is ok to stay in a Rung for 1 month instead of 1 week? thats the way i think im gonna go... and... LISADALLASR... your babies are SO CUTE!!!

Not necessarily. Your CCLL can actually increase, especially if you are what Dr. Atkins called a "regular" exerciser. I went through OWL very slowly and I started with a CCLL of 35. As I got slimmer and more active, my CCLL increased: it is now 50.

So make sure you check the charts in Chapter 13 of DANDR 2002 on Day 14 and see what your degree of resistance is. Alot of people incorrectly assume that if they didn't lose 20 pounds they have a high resistance. That's not the case.

Folks with an average metabolic resistance can have CCLLs from 15-40 net carbs daily. And again, if you are a 'regular exerciser', that CCLL can be 60-90 net carbs daily.

hi kylie i lost about 9lbs the first two weeks and then i lost 4 the 3rd week which i did an extra week of induction and then i moved into owl and lost an inch off my waist no weight at 25 a week so i moved up to 30 a week and have lost neither but i only stayed at 25 for one week so not sure if i really lost the inch due to losing fat or could it have been water so i think i need to go back to 20 to see what happens.

Lisa drop back to 25 and see what happens. Remember losing inches is losing fat. Dr. Atkins wrote that the loss of inches represented fat emptying from the fat cells of your body.

[kylie]

Re: Need Advice

I agree with not2late...drop back to 25, avoid the spaghetti squash for now and see what happens in the next week. If you are still not happy with the way things are going (weight/inches-wise and cravings/control-wise), then you can reevaluate and make more drastic changes if necessary. Hang in there!

[soliwit]

Re: Need Advice

Also what happens a lot is you have these little stalls (not really stalls actually but let's just call them that way) during the time you are losing, especially close after induction, like a little break in your weightloss, as if your body has to adjust and then next it will start up again, I've seen that mentioned a lot since I started coming on this board, people tend to worry about that because they think they've hit a stall, but they actually just stop losing for a week or 2 maybe even 3 and then start back losing again.