Stuck at 15lbs

[Tactical Cat]

I've been on induction for almost two months, and I've lost 15lbs to this point. Thing is, I've been at my current weight for almost a month now and can't figure out what I need to change. I started adding in 20 min of cardio at the gym 2-3 times a week (augmenting my normal workout) and normally drink the 64oz H20 daily.
I haven't totaled my daily calories yet, but that's probably next. Is it possible I'm not eating enough and slowing down my metabolism?

[widget246k]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

It could be not eating enough or you might be building muscle since you just started working out. Maybe it's time to move to OWL? I've heard of people breaking the plateau when they moved from induction to OWL. Good luck!

[IrishSarahHB]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

Post your menu, maybe we can help you find where the problem is.. sometimes its just a certain food you are eatting that your body doesnt agree with

[frankenspine]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

How much weight do you have to loose? I would suggest downloading FitDay and using it religiously. Also, look for hidden sugars. I've been on Induction for almost sixty days, but stalled for almost three weeks because I was eating hidden sugars and not enough fat. I swtiched to a 60 30 10 ratio of fat protien and cards and voila!

[Tactical Cat]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

Another week and no loss. I started at 260 and have been stuck at 245 for a month now. I'm 6' and my goal is 220 so I'm not too far off, but I am fairly muscular from working out the last two years and want to minimize the loss of lean mass.

Back in January before I started Atkins I fell into the rut of eating too little and doing cardio to lose weight, but all that happened was I slowed down my metabolism and got nowhere. I had been using Sparkpeople, but I see the FitDay has a protein/carb/fat breakdown which would be useful.

[Elizellen]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

Have you lost inches even though the scales have been on strike?

I see you have another 25 pounds in total to lose - so maybe extending your induction is no longer an effective course to follow now?

Many members here have also experienced a plateau of no weightloss for several weeks or months on induction and on moving to OWL they restarted losing

[Tactical Cat]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

Interesting. I thought the greatest weight loss happens during induction when the carbs are most restricted? I was hoping to be one of those folks you read about that lost 30lb in 2-3 months. How critical is cardio during this phase? I lost the 15lb essentially without doing any cardio - I did lift weights though.

[Elizellen]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

Interesting. I thought the greatest weight loss happens during induction when the carbs are most restricted? I was hoping to be one of those folks you read about that lost 30lb in 2-3 months.

I think that really only applies to someone with a hundred pounds or more to lose.

Remember that you do need to move up the OWL carbohydrate ladder in order to find your CCLL and see if any foods upset your body. and Dr Atkins told us to move to the third phase of Atkins when we have between 5 and 10 pounds left to go and lose those last few pounds slowly

my advice is to proceed so slowly that your weight loss is almost imperceptible.

[Tactical Cat]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

I was perusing the forums and came across a thread that sounded similar to what I'm experiencing. In analyzing my diet, I think my focus has been on eating protein and not fat. I suppose that comes from my having to maintain a high protein intake to support muscle growth from bulking up in the gym.

A typical day is 3 fried eggs and 4 sausage links with coffee for breakfast. Lunch is the two cups of salad and 3-4 baked chicken thighs (or drumsticks) and dinner is a cup of veggies with meatloaf/steak/fish/pork/chicken. I've been pretty good at getting enough water during the day, normally at least 48oz.

Would a quick fix be to start adding in sour cream with meals to raise the fat intake?

[Lyssie]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

Hi. Exercise is not negotiable. While I love lifting weights, I really feel like if you add in cardio, it could help you out immensely.

I also think that if you were to put your meals into either fitday or dailyplate, you would see that your percentages are off. You should be eating more than 10g net carbs per day. Depending on what your veggies are in the evening... I don't think that you're having a problem with your fat percentage (as long as your chicken has skin attached to it)... on the other hand, I am not sure what you put in your meatloaf. A lot of them use breadcrumbs which are (obviously) forbidden. A quick fix for a higher fat amount would be to add butter to your veggies at the evening meal, or with the salad. Breakfast would be pretty high fat. I would also check for hidden carbs in the sausage though. Coffee has been known to stall some people (especially if you do not drink it black).

These are my comments. Good luck!

P.S. I really think you should take Elizellen's advice about moving up. And to answer an earlier question, moving onto OWL can help you lose more weight than induction. Eating less carbs does NOT mean that you will lose more weight. It can break stalls (it has for me in the past) to move from induction onto OWL.

[Tactical Cat]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

I started doing 20 minutes of cardio with my workout at the gym, but then wasn't sure about my total daily calories being too low so I stopped. I'd been using Sparkpeople to keep track of daily/weekly calories, but have just started with Fitday, their protein/carb/fat ratio graphic is very helpful.

I do eat a lot of chicken (lucky it's so cheap) and I do leave the skin on. When I do make meatloaf, there's no breadcrumbs. I know - they're evil. I thought 20g carbs was the limit for induction?I like the idea of moving on to OWL, just not sure how to go about it. I guess I gotta read the book some more..

[Lyssie]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

It's 20g net. If you're eating something like lettuce for you 2c at lunch, it's like, 3g net. Not sure about other veggies for dinner, but like, broccoli is (i think) somewhere around 6-7g net per cup. I could be completely off there though.

I have no idea what your calories would be since you don't give amounts for anything besides breakfast, but a large egg is like, 70 cal, and if I remember correctly, each sausage piece is somewhere around 100 cal... It would help to figure out your BMR (there are calculators online) and not go much below that.

I would read the part about OWL and see if it suits you, but I would also check what I'm currently eating.

[abbeyrd1]

Re: Stuck at 15lbs

I agree, I also moved on to OWL and I got out of a stall as well.

Good Luck!