Struggling to Stay Motivated

[Elizellen]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

Good decision

[Georgiana]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

Just a note here, since you said you've introduced berries. The first rung is veggies, then dairy, then nuts... and only then berries. While you can skip rungs (e.g. you think you might have a portion control issue with nuts and decide you're not gonna eat nuts... at least not until you go through other rungs), my advice would be to do at least the veggie rung before jumping to berries.

[BluegrassMama]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

Hi, Beverly! I'll hold myself up as an example of what Megs said--both times that I've been on Atkins (pre-baby, and between babies #1 and #2), I had about 30 lbs to lose. I lost about the same amount as you on induction, so I thought I'd stay on it to drop the rest of the weight super quick. It totally did not work for me. I didn't lose a pound for almost two weeks, and was frustrated and tired. Working out was almost too much of a struggle. I added in some more carbs (didn't do the rungs first time around), and it worked like a charm. I've since learned that if I'm eating too little, I will stall or GAIN!!! The other big *big* piece of advice I would give is to absolutely not weigh yourself everyday. My weight fluctuated day to day like mad, and I became obsessed. If I had a stall or--heaven forbid--a gain, my day was ruined. I started weighing only every two weeks, and measuring with a tape every week (I'm a numbers junkie )

Hope this helps. Good luck!

[hopejoy]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

I never 'feel' like exercising but I'm always glad I did and that's when the energy kicks in. Sometimes you have to force yourself and then you'll feel better.
Congratulations on the 11lb loss! That's great! You're doing good!
liz

[bsquare12]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

Thank you again for all your replies and advice. Much appreciated.

The berries were a something I had twice but not many. My husband got confused and thought we could have them.

So, this week I have backtracked and have added brazil nuts, but only going to have them 3 times a week at first. Today for the first time I had 24g of carbs. I think having glanced back over my diary that I keep religiously I just haven't had enough carbs. Up until now I've never eaten more than 18g a day... sometimes as low as 14g. I was finding it hard to eat the volume of carbs I needed, so swapped today from green to red peppers which are that bit higher, and added onion which is pretty high too. It helps give my salad a higher carb content without adding more leaves!

I see from here that some people stay in a rung for a few weeks.. whereas the book talks about going up each week.

Can people tell me how they found this? Did you do one week each and move on, or do each rung for a few weeks?

I actually made it into the gym last night, and felt great! I would have gone tonight but got engrossed in that programme about skinny people that find it hard to gain weight (hmmm yeah... I feel so sorry for them! lol)

I am not weighing myself, because I got my period yesterday and I know it is possible that I may gain. However, today I've been to the loo (thank god for linseed) and I actually think I look slimmer round the waist.

Oh.. and for those interested... chicken breast stuffed with Boursin cheese and smoked bacon, in foil, shove in the oven for 20 mins... 0.5g carbs - yum! Was certainly a tasty dinner!

Thanks.

Beverley

[lisau39]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

You are an inspiration. You don't give up! Good for you. Best to you.

(((lisa)))

[Parouz]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

That show on BBC 2 Horizon Why are thin people not fat.I found that very interesting....
I felt that it explained my chubby childhood curse really well....sigh

[bsquare12]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

Just wanted to pop and say a big thank you for all the advice I got on this thread.

I did as advised.. stopped induction, moved on (albeing I cocked it up with a few berries the other day)

I've upped to 25g - and have included nuts a few times this week. Got my backside in the gym despite feeling tired.... and I've managed to drop 2lbs since making the changes you suggested a few days ago

I've been to the gym 3 times and am back to feeling full of energy.

Thank you all so much.

Beverley x

[lisau39]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

awesome! I need a kick in the pants I think. I feel blech lately, tired, napping. I need to get my butt in gear more I think. If you can do it, I can it!

(((lisa)))

[ariesdragon]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

Have you worked out how many calories you're taking in? Calories still do count - at least for me. I find I can eat an extra 100-200 on Atkins than on my previous way of eating and still lose weight.

The other thing to consider is that perhaps you have a food intolerance? Is there a food you're now eating alot of on Atkins that you didn't eat before? You may want to drop that food for a few days to a week and see what happens. I'm not very knowledgeable about food intolerances but I'm sure there are some posts here on the board or some members who could help you out in this regard. "babypiggy" on this board knows alot about food intolerances and she's really friendly. Give here a shout. The tiredness you are feeling could be due to a food intolerance.

Good luck and hang in there!

E

[lisau39]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

You know I think it's a cold. All of a sudden I got congested and achy. I worked 14 hrs yesterday and felt okay- aside from cold. I think the weather has a lot to do with the way I feel too. We've had nothing but snow and ice and not enough sunny days.
So between the two I think I've found the culprit. Plus I was being lazy- I didn't exercise for like 6 days.

About the food intolerance. This is weird. Since doing Atkins, I have NO problems with dairy. When I was eating yogurt and cereal I had more gastro trouble. The atkins way been a blessing for me.

Thanks so much for your support. Y'all here are awesome-really. I feel so part of something.

(((lisa)))

[bsquare12]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

Well.. after a great week, gym a total of 4 times... upping my carbs, losing 2lbs... I've regained it.. and no cheating!

I'm now going to count the calories too - I am sure loading up with thousands of calories isn't helping :-(

Today, stuck to my 25g of carbs.. but kept to 1250 calories.

Going to stick to this level of carbs/calories for another week.. weigh next saturday and see if it makes any difference.

If it doesn't... well, I'm stuck as to what to try next.

B

[blueberrylady]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

I was tired too after a month or so on the diet but then discovered that I had a vitamin deficiency. I started taking a B complex pill everyday and was back to normal in no time. Maybe that could be your problem too? It certainly wouldn't hurt to add more vitamins. Even Dr. Atkins swore by them. I hope this helps!

[ariesdragon]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

Hey B,

Maybe you want to try keeping away from the scale for a while too. I'm going to not get on the scale for 2 weeks so I won't get disheartened. I'm using fat calipers and a tape measure and just how my jeans are fitting (they've fit much better over the past week - no more muffin tops - lol).

Did you read chapter 20 of DANDR where Dr Atkins tells what to do if you're not losing. I'm no pro at this but you may want to consider the fat fast and see what happens but first of all I'd really scrutinize your food intake. I've found that eating fewer calories works on this WOE because of the natural appetite suppression so its easy to cut back a bit.

Are your ketostix turning pink at least?

Here's my situation: I'm at day 13 of induction and I'm down 4 pounds so far. I expect I'll be down another 1/2-1lb when I weigh in tomorrow (fingers crossed). However, I know I haven't done a clean induction. I've had a couple glasses of wine and on another 2 days ate way too many cals. Plus I ate nuts in week 1, ate ricotta cheese and some low carb chocolate (which I had trouble not pigging out on so I'm going to avoid that from now on... So, I'm going to do another 2 week induction and this time I'm going to keep it clean and by the book and I'm also not going to weigh myself for 2 weeks. I'm also going to eat 1200 cals/day and keep exercising (I do weights and cardio). Now I know what to expect and know that I'm not that hungry I know I CAN do this. I know I have lost some weight these past 2 weeks but I also know I could have lost more if I'd done things by the book.

Let me know how you do over the next week.

E

[Georgiana]

Re: Struggling to Stay Motivated

In a post you wrote on the 27th, you mentioned brazilian nuts. Did you introduce them this week? After one finishes induction, the first thing that has to be introduced are veggies. No nuts, no berries, no dairy... just veggies.

Then, on the 29th, you were down two pounds... today (31st) you are up two... When exactly did you weigh (what days, morning/evening/noon, after/before eating, etc.)?

Could you post some of the menus you had this week?