4th Weeks of Nuthin'

[hydroflame]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Hey Joe,

First off get rid o that scale, trust me it is something that almost brought me down several times. Secondly, yeah man, you gotta eat more veggies. Thirdly it looks as if you are eating too far apart break it down into 4 or so good size meals per day. Lastly it looks as if you just hit a plateau just keep with it you are bound to get out of it. Just listen to all the advice give by the ladies and gents in this board beacause they can give you all the boost of information and a nice jolt of inspiration.

[Sherri]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Joe, you have excellent advice here and I just wanted to say congradulations on your success thus far. Awesome job! Whatever you do, don't get discouraged. I remember when I lost my first 100 pounds that I hit a 36 day stall in weight loss. Your body is just adjusting to the weightloss your body just went through. Mitzi is right, fitday is an awesome tool to use for your ratios. It really helps me too. The scale will start moving again. Remember, this isn't a race or a diet, it's a "LIFESTYLE". We're eating this way for life to live. So proud of you!

[D14965]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Hi Joe

Lots of great advice here from everyone. Just another thought or two that i would like to add. 1 - have you worked out your BMI? this is your basal metabolic rate -- this is the amount of calories you need to consume to stay at your present weight while at rest . You can work that out by using a BMR calculator ( just google BMR and one should come up) if you eat under your BMR on a regular basis your body will think you are starving ( weird on atkins I know) and hold onto fat and you will be in whats known as "starvation mode" and lose no weight. I had a 6 week stall because of this -- even though i was eating heaps! You are doing lots of excercise so you could easily eat about 200 or so calories above your BMR and lose weight. go under it and weight loss stops.YOu may not be eating enough calories so i would get onto fit day -- up your veges and add your fats - it doesnt take much fat to get your calories up where they need to be THis helped me a lot !. my second thought and something that i am tackling at the moment is a yeast overgrowth .You can establish this by doing a simple test in the morning first thing when you get up .Its sounds a bit gross .. you need to get a glass of water and spit into it before eating or drinking anything. if the spit goes cloudy and starts to grow" legs" towards the bottom of the glass then you have a yeast overgrowth. if the spit stays on top of the water and is clear you dont have a yeast overgrowth. Dr Atkins says that about 80% of people suffer from this to some extent. if you have a yeast overgrowth this will undermine your metabolism and your weight loss will come to a screeching halt. I started taking Apple Cider Vinegar ( needs to be unrefined -- it looks cloudy in the bottle ) added acidophilous and garlic tablets to rid my system of the yeast overgrowth and reestablish the good bacteria.Cut out dairy foods ( except for cream cheese and mozzarella) no vinegar , alcohol, mushrooms or yeast containing foods. Just doing this for one day has kicked started things again for me. My stomach is FLAT ( bloating gone) and I feel great .YOu can read more about beating the yeasties on the CANDIDA section in the forum list. JUst a few thoughts that could help you to work out what is giving you trouble ..before long you should be able to move into OWL and keep losing while enjoying yummy foods!
NB -- eating too much protein? if you eat too much protein your body will convert it to sugar and store it as fat. keep to the 30% ratio as Mitzi suggested ( and fitday will calculate these percentages for you automatically which is great)

Goodluck and let us know how you are getting on ( try not to look at pizza joint !)

[westphalia]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Joe,

My biggest help with this WOE has been using Fitday. Are you familiar with it? Whatever phase of Atkins you are in, at least half of your daily net carbs should come from veggies. And the first rung of OWL is more veggies! If I were you, I would continue for a week with how you have been eating and start tracking everything on Fitday.

Give it a try, and come back with any questions you may have. Look for it at www.fitday.com . Adding veggies in 5 gram increments really should not make you gain weight... something else is going on there.

See ya!

Okay, I logged into Fitday and input everything I'm eating, because I eat essentially the same thing every day. My BMR is 2854, and I'm way over that - way over. I'm close to 4000 calories a day. I was under the impression, though, that calorie-counting wasn't as important on Atkins, and I was really looking for the carb count. It is important, then, and Atkins is another method of calorie restriction?

If I slice a few things out, I get around 2200 calories, with the following percentages: protein - 25%; carb - 3%; fat - 73%. Is that closer to what I should be looking for? Two cups of cauliflower and two cups of broccoli a day would give me 30 carbs (15 net). That's okay, then?

Here's what a typical day might look like, then:

2 hard-boiled eggs
2-3 pats butter

4 hamburger patties
2 cups broccoli
2 cups cauliflower

4 tbs. olive oil
6 tsp. mustard

All this would be spread out over the day, of course. I'd like to keep mayo in there, but the calories shoot up. I could use chicken breasts with the skin on (I've been errantly using skinless to this point) to replace two hamburger patties, but the fat goes down to 63% and the protein up to 33%.

Gawd, this has to be aggravating for you folks. Sorry.

[sallyseachange]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Well... I stick to my guns: Don't stress about the percentages too much (Dr A didn't), feed only your hunger and have a varied diet (a rational balance from the various categories). Fitday is a very useful tool, but it can make us obsess somewhat.

[loo-see]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Hi westphalia,

I would go back to the Induction phase and would take this,

• multi vitamin & mineral supplement without Iron(I started taking Natural Wealth Senior),but I've heard that Daily-One without Iron/Twin Lab is also great.
• Chromium - helps activate the uptake of insulin at its receptor sites. It is best assimilated in the form of chromium polynicotinate. A spate of studies has shown that chromium will build muscle, decrease body fat and lower cholesterol levels. Take 800-1000 mcg per day.
• L-carnitine - is involved in fat transport. It has been used to correct cardiomyopathy, help stabilize heart rhythm, lower triglyceride levels and increase HDL. For weight loss,a typical dose is 1,500 mg.
• Co-enzyme Q10(COQ10) is another great weight loss aid,which plays an important role in heart function. Since it works in collaboration with carnitine and chromium to mobilize fat,it is also useful for someone aiming to slim down.Use 100 mg daily.

I wasn't in your situation, but I can imagine how frustrated I would feel.
I would do it the way I wrote it.
I will do it the way I wrote it.

[westphalia]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Well... I stick to my guns: Don't stress about the percentages too much (Dr A didn't), feed only your hunger and have a varied diet (a rational balance from the various categories). Fitday is a very useful tool, but it can make us obsess somewhat.

Understood, and I don't want to follow numbers too much, either, but should I understand what everyone is saying to mean that calorie totals do matter? Am I shooting for a number of calories just under my BMR? Is this an appropriate-looking assortment of foods? If I wasn't getting enough fat before, or enough veggies, are these percentages better, i.e., more toward what I should be looking for? (I guess now this should be moved to the menu board, but I don't want to cross-post.)

I'm not trying to be bothersome; I'm just looking for clarification. If I feed toward what I'm hungry for, I'll be cooking spaghetti and garlic bread before the night's out, and vegging out in front of "The Godfather." If I've been following Atkins wrongly, or misinterpreting what I read, then I need to know so that I can fix it.

[mitzimarie]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Understood, and I don't want to follow numbers too much, either, but should I understand what everyone is saying to mean that calorie totals do matter? Am I shooting for a number of calories just under my BMR? Is this an appropriate-looking assortment of foods? If I wasn't getting enough fat before, or enough veggies, are these percentages better, i.e., more toward what I should be looking for? (I guess now this should be moved to the menu board, but I don't want to cross-post.)

I'm not trying to be bothersome; I'm just looking for clarification. If I feed toward what I'm hungry for, I'll be cooking spaghetti and garlic bread before the night's out, and vegging out in front of "The Godfather." If I've been following Atkins wrongly, or misinterpreting what I read, then I need to know so that I can fix it.

Hey, Joe!

You're not being bothersome at all... It's great that you ask questions. Feel free anytime.

First of all, I didn't mean to stress you out with numbers. Let me put it this way... Dr. A said not to count calories; he didn't say calories don't count. To me, that means eat until you are not hungry... not eat until you are stuffed. It is especially true in Induction that you don't have to worry about too many calories as long as you aren't gorging yourself. As I have progressed through the rungs, I started paying attention to them. As you lose weight, your body needs less calories to function... your BMR is lower. Believe me, mine was a lot different at 215 pounds than it is now at 148... and as I get closer to my goal weight, it continues to lower. So, that means I need to eat less. I have had to learn to stop eating when I am no longer hungry versus stopping only when there was nothing left to eat. Also, since a clean induction puts you in ketosis and that suppresses your appetite, it is a good idea make sure you are eating enough. I have had to have a little something extra at night because I consumed too few calories some days just because I was busy and not hungry. How active you are with exercise will determine how many calories you can get away with... the more you exercise, the more calories you need.

About the percentages - Sally is right... Dr. A didn't stress about them in the book. I like to get a general idea of where I am at, though, because excess protein does convert to sugar and store as fat. So, I basically look at the percentages to not overdue the protein. Which has been easy... my protein is usually low because I only eat meat once a day. I like fat.

About the menu you posted...

Here's what a typical day might look like, then:

2 hard-boiled eggs
2-3 pats butter

4 hamburger patties
2 cups broccoli
2 cups cauliflower

4 tbs. olive oil
6 tsp. mustard

Both broccoli and caulifower are on the Other Vegetables list (page 126 in the book), which means that in Induction you are only allowed 1 cup of these if you only ate 2 cups of Salad Vegetables (page 125 in the book). After you go to Rung 1 (more veggies), you can add in additional veggies from the Other Vegetables list, but you still have to get 2 of your total cups for the day from the Salad Vegetables list.

Other than that, I would just try to branch out from the hamburger patties with chicken, fish, and shrimp (my favorite!). I do love hamburger patties... I eat them at least 3 days a week, but I don't make the patties near as big as I did when I first started.

I don't consider Atkins a calorie-restrictive WOE. It's just a matter of making the right choices. Tons of meat is fine on Induction, but in the long run, a major part of what we eat should be veggies. I am loving my dairy, ounce of nuts, and berries, too... but most of my carbs come from veggies. I am up to 45 net carbs now.

Once again, Joe... never hesitate to come and ask questions. I think doing Atkins correctly does involve effort... in my experience, it is soooo worth it.

[kellyf48]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Wow I have learned a lot from the questions you have asked! Great job so far, hang on this board (instead of looking at the pizza place) thats what i do.!! These are great people and thats what the board is for. I am sure I am not the only one who learned something from this post! You should sooo proud of what you have done. Now you need to get creative with the food choices so you dont get bored((my downfall) Best of luck on your journey!

[sallyseachange]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Ditto everything Mitzi said... and she said it way better than I could!

[D14965]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

great post mitzi ... dont ever feel like you are bothering us Joe -- it makes us feel special and very clever to be able to help! heheh as for the BMR question -- dont under your Bmr because you risk going into starvation mode =-- about 200 over it is about right . You do need to identify when you have had enough to eat to feel satisfied and as mitzi says not gorge yourself ...listen to your body . remember as you are losing weight to re test your BMR level as it will change.

[Bren]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Hi Joe and WELCOME TO THE BOARD! Also, CONGRATULATIONS on your huge success so far!

Wow..........look at the amount of exercise you are doing! That is fantastic! That alone will take your body a good amount of time to get used to. Have you been doing that amount right along? I also did not see where you have been measuring? Any change in your clothing the past few weeks? The norm is when we are not losing pounds we are losing inches. 90% of the women I train lose next to nothing their first 30 days of working out, but LOTS of inches.

Have you changed anything in your lifestyle the past few weeks? Added any new meds?

Are you spreading your meals out throughout the day? Never go more then 6 hours without eating!

The best and only way to increase your metabolism is to either eat or exercise!

Are you eating breakfast?

Honestly, what you are going through is TOTALLY normal! If you start making a bunch of changes you are only going to confuse yourself right now. I am KISS (keep it simple ..... person). Baby steps.

IMHO, add more vegies and wait it out. You need the vegies, move on to the first rung of the OWL ladder. That should be the "Shake-up" you need. Your 10 pound gain from vegies was surely something else as by adding the extra vegies you will be doing your "Shake up". The only way you could have gained a true 10 pounds was by eating approx. 3,000 calories a day more and there is no way you get that from 1 or two cups of vegies.

NEVER GIVE UP! You could have hit a set point and your body is fighting you. You can do it!!!

[owl48]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Hey Joe!

I won't add anymore technical advice....I just want to say YOU'VE LOST 94 FREAKIN POUNDS! DON'T STOP NOW!!!

That's whats important! You will start loosing again, just hang on!
Maybe "google" the words "Atkins" and "breaking a stall" maybe you'll find something that helps.

Good luck!

[Sera]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

Hi Joe...I think you've had all the advice you could ever use in this thread already and you've lost loads...so don't be too hard on yourself and the scale (it's my enemy too )
use fitday daily and also enter your exercise, it'll really help.
and DO start measuring, you'll see results the scale doesn't show.
I have been losing, even gained 600 grams, in the last 10 days and believe me, that is already enough to get me frustrated.
BUT I have been measuring and have lost significantly there, so I know that I'm not stalled.
Maybe it now just takes a long time until the weight comes off but the inches still do.
I wish you good luck and hope you stay motivated

[gettinskinny]

Re: 4th Weeks of Nuthin'

I can't believe you are soo upset...you've lost 90 lbs....that's INCREDIBLE...keep on pushing through...you'll break the stall.