I've stalled for 5 days.

[JustinG]

sigh

I've been on for about 1.5 months, still doing induction type phase, very little carbs if any per day...

This past weekend we had a huge party for a family member and had people staying with us the whole weekend and tons of food, etc. I did not cheat, except I drank many drinks on Saturday night (bacardi and diet).

My weight has not fluctuated up or down all week....since sunday morning.

It really is frustrating because you begin to panic thinking you are doing something wrong.

I have even cut back on the diet sodas this week and trying to drink more water. I have been having about 1 bar for breakfast 3 days this past week because we hadn't had a chance to go to the grocery store.

any thoughts? tips?

sorry if this is in the wrong section.

[JustinG]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

are stalls like this typical? will it kick back in if i maintain what I am doing?

[Greeneggs&ham]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

Based on other posts I've read here, a stall is technically a period of 3-4 weeks with no weight gain AND no loss of inches. While not a visually exciting video, I like Bowulf's YouTube video on the subject.

If you had alcohol and artificial sweeteners over the weekend, your body may take a while to burn off the excess calories which would halt ketosis. After that, it might take a couple days to get back into ketosis so a week without a loss should be no cause for alarm. Who knows? The stress/anxiety you are having over the scale may be yet another reason for your body to hang on to the fat stores. Frankly, I think you should focus on the positive: the scale may not have gone down this week, but after a weekend of alcohol you haven't GAINED either! Could be a lot worse.

Hang in there, and stick to plan. Give it a couple more weeks before getting nervous. It may just be coincidental that you are having a mini-plateau as your body adjusts to your weight change about the same time that you had family in town and you are blaming the wrong issue.

[JustinG]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

Thanks for the reply


i forgot to put that i purchased 'Ketostix' on tuesday and tested myself. i test at 'Moderate' levels of Ketones....not sure if thats good enough

[JustinG]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

Good video. I had ALOT of stress this past weekend with the fam in town, there was some drama haha.

I need to up my water intake as well...

[Greeneggs&ham]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

I have never exceeded "Moderate" on the ketone strips and I am happily losing weight. My understanding is that even if you register "Light" on the strips, you are burning body fat for fuel so take heart and know that something is happening!

[Brook]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

You're not going to be rewarded daily or even weekly for being good. It's just not going to happen. Weight loss is not a linear process. You are going to lose, plateau, gain, lose, lose, plateau, etc etc ad nauseum, because that's how it works. This is especially true if you're bending the rules, taking in a ton of excess calories (bacardi= 70 calories an ounce and I have yet to meet anyone that pours themself an ounce. Most bars pour an ounce and a half. In an evening you can easily consume a day's worth of calories drinking and not even have a clue you just did it) AND eating those garbage bars with all the non-legal ingredients and artificial sweeteners.

Being in ketosis is sorta like being pregnant. You either are or you're not. If you are, you're fine. The level of keytones on the strips doesn't matter.

Hang in there. 5 days is NOTHING.

[Elsie150]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

Yep...my tip is that you need to do this by the book.
A cheat is a cheat. And by your own words you had MANY drinks. So not only a lot of alcohol, which your body stops burning fat until it has burned off all the alcohol...but a lot of diet soda which means many more than your 3 servings of artificial sweetners a day.
You are eating bars which is a known staller and not recommended here...and certainly not on induction..they are a frankenfood.
And if you read the book you will know that the goal is not about "very little carbs if any per day" you should be eating TWO cups of acceptable salad veggies (notice I didn't say salad..doesn't have to be all lettuce..but salad veggies) and ONE cup other veggie. This is non-negotionable on Atkins.
Also there are going to be times when the scale just doesn't move. Sometimes it is our bodies taking a break, sometimes we are losing inches instead and sometimes you will get what we like to call a whooshie..so more than a pound or two lost.
Weigh to go on the 30 pounds lost. Don't use the fact that the scale has not moved for 5 days as an excuse to quit...keep trying. Do read the books and climb the rungs...this will give you a greater chance of success. And if you do cheat with alcohol again (and I am not recommending it) then do so with the knowledge that you may not be losing that week. You do the crime you do the time. Hang in there...I wish you success.

[livelaughlove08]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

You should definitely read the book... it talks about how alcohol with 0 carbs makes you stall especially if your not on that rung... so i suggest you read the book... and I had where I stalled for a while too but I stuck with it and began to lose again. GOOD LUCK

[moniegail]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

"very little carbs if any per day... " that part of your post was the first thing i noticed wrong too.....like elsie said you need to eat your veggies..... this is not a no carb diet....you get most of your carbs from your veggies, not to mention many of the nutrients your body needs on a daily basis come from veggies.

also are you getting any exercise in? if so know that your muscles will hold on to the water to help in the healing process from all the exercise. as the muscle starts to heal it will release the water.

i would strongly suggest you drop those low carb bars also. they can cause stalls. since i have restarted this woe, i have not relied on them, but other times i have and they definately weren't friendly to me in my weight loss then. now the only time i would even think of eating them is if i was in a real crunch and had to have something to sustain me until i could get home and eat a proper meal, even then i don't know if i could actually allow myself to eat them.

good luck and hopefully you'll notice a change soon

monie

[SueSue1212]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

FYI I have been at times in full as dark as you can get Ketosis and not lost anything for a week or so, but then it just seems to fall off overnight. And actually, I hear that darker is not better as it may point to being dehydrated.
Just a Thought
SueSue1212

[tacfla]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

I agree with everyone else. The bars make me stall every time so I try to stay away from them.

Robin

[Elizellen]

Re: I've stalled for 5 days.

Remember that you need to check that ALL ingredients on any processed foods are allowed for whichever phase of Atkins you arre at.
As far as I know NONE of the selfstyled 'lowcarb' bars only contain induction-legal ingredients so they should be left till you are on the level/rung of OWL that allows all the ingredients, no matter which phase of Atkins the label says it is OK for.

Another thing to take into account after drinking alcohol is that the ketosticks register the acetones given off when your body uses alcohol as a fuel as being the same as ketones, so you might see a false positive till they are all used up.