HELP something is very wrong

[Barbee]

I am following the exact same diet as I was when I was losing and now I'm gaining. What's with that?

I followed the induction to a "T"
I then added just a few extra carbs.

Here's my daily diet since May 14th 2008

breakfast: eggs & bacon or sausage

lunch: 1/2 cup chicken salad with celery, onion and mayo
1 cup cottage cheese mixed with real whipped cream to make a pudding that keeps me full till supper.

supper: meat of the day and allowed veggies. I get more veggies than ever before in my life.

I don't usually snack between meals but if I should get hungry I grab a hunk of hard cheese or hand full of peanuts...but that isn't very often.

If we eat out I have meat and salad.

On sat. night we go out and have prime rib, I don't order the potato just the yellow and green beans with it.

I was eating the Atkins bars for a treat but cut them out completely and am still gaining. I went from 209 to 218 in just 3 wks.

Don't ask me waht OWL step I'm on because I'm using the first ATkins book.

I don't know how I can possibly cut my diet anymore without really getting hungry.

Oh... on Wed. we go out for chicken wings and anti-pasta. The wings are made with hot sauce and butter only, no breading.

[Georgiana]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

First of all, did you give up the Saturday soy pancakes with Splenda syrup? You know you have an intolerance to Splenda since you had the same issue (but with flavored water) in 2008.

Now. On this Board, we go by Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution:

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/66915-post2.html

It would be confusing for everybody, and especially for newbies, if we started advising people based on the '72 version of Atkins.

Here are some questions for you, but don't be surprised if the advice you receive will based on the 2002 edition of the book.

When did you do Induction? In May 2008?
What foods did you add? When? In what amounts?
When did you stop losing? When did you start gaining?
Are you exercising? How long and how often? What exactly are you doing, e.g. walking, stability ball, yoga?
Are you taking any nutritional supplements?
Are you taking any medication?
Did you test for Candida?
Did you ever have blood tests done to check for thyroid problems? When? Do you have any thyroid issues?
Are you drinking coffee? Tea? Consuming aspartame?

[Georgiana]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

Something else. The hot sauce you have when you eat out most probably has sugar or other "illegal" ingredients in it.

[mitzimarie]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

Very excellent post, Georgiana! All of those questions are so very important, as is the fact that advice given here is based upon 2002 DANDR.

I would like to add one thing... just because you were able to tolerate something in the past, does NOT mean that you will always be able to eat it. For example, I used to be able to eat cottage cheese... no more! It does a number on me now... it is no longer on my list of tolerated foods. One thing I have learned is that that doing Atkins for Life is always a work in progress... the foods you can tolerate may change, as can your CCLL or CCLM.

[kibskix]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

even if you werent eating cottage cheese or splenda or nuts etc, sometimes your body does weird things. I lost 10 my first week, then gained 5 my 2nd and 3rd. I'm losing steadily now, sometimes you just need to stick it out till your body figured out whats going on and gets with the program. Don't freak out about the scale, it really is the kiss of failure.

[Barbee]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

When did you do Induction? In May 2008? Yes
What foods did you add? When? In what amounts? Whipped Cream, cheese
When did you stop losing? When did you start gaining? Stopped losing in January and started gaining in January.

Are you exercising? How long and how often? What exactly are you doing, e.g. walking, stability ball, yoga? At 65 with arthritis there isn't a lot I can do. Atkins says you can lose without it. I try to walk daily as much as I can but with arthritis in the metatarsal bone and my knee it isn't easy to go to far for too long.

Are you taking any nutritional supplements? Multi vitamin only
Are you taking any medication? Yes Blood pressure med and Prilosec
Did you test for Candida? yes... negative
Did you ever have blood tests done to check for thyroid problems? Yes, two weeks ago... normal When? Do you have any thyroid issues? I have the symptoms but the doc won't put me on meds because the blood work says I"m normal.
Are you drinking coffee? Tea? Consuming aspartame? _Decaf tea twice a day, the rest water. No sweetener.

What scares me is that I'm eating the same foods now as I was in the fall when I was losing. (Except for the soy pancakes and I have stopped them as well as the sweetened water.) I stopped the pancakes after just twice because they gave me
intestinal problems. That was over a month ago and I'm still gaining. I worked so hard to lose those 18 pounds now 1/2 of them are back!

If I cut out the cheese... what else is there to eat?
I also have all the symptoms of Insulin resistence. I have suffered with low blood sugar for years and years.

[Desertthorn]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

Your siggy said you are doing 14 day induction where nuts, cottage cheese isn't allowed
Do you use fitday, try it out a few days and then send us the link, we may see something that you don't .

[Georgiana]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

When did you do Induction? In May 2008? Yes
What foods did you add? When? In what amounts? Whipped Cream, cheese
When did you stop losing? When did you start gaining? Stopped losing in January and started gaining in January.

Are you exercising? How long and how often? What exactly are you doing, e.g. walking, stability ball, yoga? At 65 with arthritis there isn't a lot I can do. Atkins says you can lose without it. I try to walk daily as much as I can but with arthritis in the metatarsal bone and my knee it isn't easy to go to far for too long.

Are you taking any nutritional supplements? Multi vitamin only
Are you taking any medication? Yes Blood pressure med and Prilosec
Did you test for Candida? yes... negative
Did you ever have blood tests done to check for thyroid problems? Yes, two weeks ago... normal When? Do you have any thyroid issues? I have the symptoms but the doc won't put me on meds because the blood work says I"m normal.
Are you drinking coffee? Tea? Consuming aspartame? _Decaf tea twice a day, the rest water. No sweetener.

What scares me is that I'm eating the same foods now as I was in the fall when I was losing. (Except for the soy pancakes and I have stopped them as well as the sweetened water.) I stopped the pancakes after just twice because they gave me
intestinal problems. That was over a month ago and I'm still gaining. I worked so hard to lose those 18 pounds now 1/2 of them are back!

If I cut out the cheese... what else is there to eat?
I also have all the symptoms of Insulin resistence. I have suffered with low blood sugar for years and years.

Awesome. Let's make a deal then. Forget what you've been doing for the past year. Whether it worked or not, it is clearly not working any longer, so it has to changed.

Start a clean 14-day Induction tomorrow and follow the rules in Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, 2002. It would be great if you could get the book and read it, but if not, there are sticky threads around the Board summarizing the information in the book. I gave you some links below.

So for the next two weeks

• eat only foods from the list of foods acceptable during Induction. No nuts, no strawberries, no cottage cheese, no ricotta, no soy pancakes. If it's not on the list, don't eat it. You can find the list here: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...induction.html
• follow the rules of Induction, based on the 2002 book. They are here: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...induction.html
• give up ricotta and cottage cheese and have only cream cheese and aged cheeses instead (e.g. cheddar, Gouda, Swiss). Keep in mind that cheese is limited to 3-4 oz per day.
• eat three cups of vegetables daily (measured raw). Maximum 1 cup can be from the "Other Vegetables" list, while the rest (for a total of 3) should come from the "Salad Vegetables" list.
• don't consume any sweeteners. No Splenda, no sweetened whipped cream... nothing.
• use FitDay to track absolutely everything you eat. We'll need that at the end of the two weeks to tweak things if necessary. Here's the link to Fitday: FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal
• keep your percentages around 65% fat, 5% carbohydrates, 30% protein. These are percentages from the total calories and they are automatically computed in FitDay.
• if you eat out, avoid sauces or anything that is not "clean" meat or veggies. The hot sauce used for chicken wings has sugar in it. Salad dressings often have sugar.
• don't weight yourself more than once a week. If you can wait until the end of Induction, that's even better.
• drink nothing but water. Tea can stall some people (e.g. me) whether it is decaf or not.
• make sure you drink enough water. To have an idea of how much you should be drinking, take a baseline of 64 oz and add another 8 oz for every 25 lbs you have to lose.

It would be great if you could also post here what you are eating every day (including quantities) or share your FitDay food journal, so that we can make improvements if necessary.

Right. I guess that's about it. Read the stickies and let us know if you have questions. Then you should be ready to go tomorrow.

[smd123]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

I thought I would just chime in here....

The others have given you great advice here.

But just my thoughts here...

If you are only eating what you have posted and nothing more, it seems to me *mathmatically* you aren't eating enough food to account for the gained weight.

Outside of following what others have posted as suggestions, I would advise you to check with your doctor. It sounds like water weight, which your body is holding onto. I would check with my doctor on why my body is doing this.

Just my advice.

[Barbee]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

I thought I would just chime in here....

The others have given you great advice here.

But just my thoughts here...

If you are only eating what you have posted and nothing more, it seems to me *mathmatically* you aren't eating enough food to account for the gained weight.

Outside of following what others have posted as suggestions, I would advise you to check with your doctor. It sounds like water weight, which your body is holding onto. I would check with my doctor on why my body is doing this.

Just my advice.

This is exactly my husband's advice because he SEES what I eat... he is my food police. Problem is, my doctor doesn't believe me... I don't think she does anyway. All she said was: In order to lose weight you have to burn up more calories than you consume.

I told her in Atkins you don't count calories... she said, well that's the problem.

Yes... I am considering a new doctor. I've been searching the web and can find two things I can relate to:

Insulin Resistance and carbohydrate intolerance. The latter because I get very very sick if I eat any carbs at all. This is why I know if I eat something I am not supposed to.

Someone on here said in the later stages of the diet you can have 1 slice of whole wheat bread with your eggs... I tried that ONCE and almost died of the gas pains. They are sharp as a knife. Then I get the runs (can't spell diarrhea) and get bloated and gassy. I also have low blood sugar so this diet is perfect for me, for life, but I expected to lose weight as well.

Tonight I made a nice stir-fry. Lean beef strips cooked until tender, then I added sweet peppers, onions and water chestnuts. Makes me wish I could have gravy but I manage to drain it well enough so it isn't soupy on my plate. I made brown rice for hubby. He puts his on top of it.

Last night we ate out and I had a salad. I have zero carb salad dressing I carry with me.

And to the person who questioned my signature... I wrote that in May '08. I can't remember how to change my profile.

I did my 14 days and I turned the stick nice and purple. After that I lost but very very slowly. Took me 7 months to lose 20 lbs. But I was happy because I step on the scale every Monday morning and it was great to see it going down no matter how little.

I'm scared to death now because it keeps going UP and I have NO idea why. My gosh, will it stop????

[Barbee]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

Awesome. Let's make a deal then. Forget what you've been doing for the past year. Whether it worked or not, it is clearly not working any longer, so it has to changed.

Start a clean 14-day Induction tomorrow and follow the rules in Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, 2002. It would be great if you could get the book and read it, but if not, there are sticky threads around the Board summarizing the information in the book. I gave you some links below.

So for the next two weeks

• eat only foods from the list of foods acceptable during Induction. No nuts, no strawberries, no cottage cheese, no ricotta, no soy pancakes. If it's not on the list, don't eat it. You can find the list here: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...induction.html
• follow the rules of Induction, based on the 2002 book. They are here: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...induction.html
• give up ricotta and cottage cheese and have only cream cheese and aged cheeses instead (e.g. cheddar, Gouda, Swiss). Keep in mind that cheese is limited to 3-4 oz per day.
• eat three cups of vegetables daily (measured raw). Maximum 1 cup can be from the "Other Vegetables" list, while the rest (for a total of 3) should come from the "Salad Vegetables" list.
• don't consume any sweeteners. No Splenda, no sweetened whipped cream... nothing.
• use FitDay to track absolutely everything you eat. We'll need that at the end of the two weeks to tweak things if necessary. Here's the link to Fitday: FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal
• keep your percentages around 65% fat, 5% carbohydrates, 30% protein. These are percentages from the total calories and they are automatically computed in FitDay.
• if you eat out, avoid sauces or anything that is not "clean" meat or veggies. The hot sauce used for chicken wings has sugar in it. Salad dressings often have sugar.
• don't weight yourself more than once a week. If you can wait until the end of Induction, that's even better.
• drink nothing but water. Tea can stall some people (e.g. me) whether it is decaf or not.
• make sure you drink enough water. To have an idea of how much you should be drinking, take a baseline of 64 oz and add another 8 oz for every 25 lbs you have to lose.

It would be great if you could also post here what you are eating every day (including quantities) or share your FitDay food journal, so that we can make improvements if necessary.

Right. I guess that's about it. Read the stickies and let us know if you have questions. Then you should be ready to go tomorrow.

I will try this but wait until Easter week (next week) when I don't work. It will be easier and I won't waste all the food I have in the fridge like Cottage cheese, whipped cream and Ricotta.

thank you to all who helped.

[smd123]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

Definitely look at other lifestyle factors outside of your diet - have you recently been put on any medication? Sometimes this can cause unexpected weight gain as well. It could be many factors - all I know is that if you are indeed being truthful about your food consumption, then it shouldn't be correlated with your intake of calories.

Medically, if they cannot find any reason (such as heart, kidney, thyroid problems) I have also read studies on people who were gaining weight for no reason and they were sleep-eating in the night without knowing it or remembering it, however if that were the case, you would be missing food, because that is usually how its discovered.

Just trying to throw out ideas for the cause.

From what you listed, the small problems with your diet, like cottage cheese or atkins bars (albeit since stopped) would have to be eaten in a large quantity IMO to account for such a gain.

Fluid gain is noticed in the extremities - push your leg - do you have pitting ademia? This would be cause of worry and if you don't not likely the weight is excessive fluid. Your doctor may be shrugging you off because he/she doesn't see that type of fluid retention.

Also, TMI I know but also may be a cause - do you have regular BM's? Consitpation can cause weight gain, fluid retention and such. More fiber during induction in the way of flax is helpful.

Everyone is different though. I wish you luck. Do press your doctor and remember they work for you!

EDTA : The person who said the scale does weird things is right. It would drive me batty if I let it. Now I don't give it much measure accept for my accountability with myself and what I put in my mouth. But it does fluctuate quite a bit, but not 10 pounds...

[Barbee]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

SMD... what is TMI?

Regarding water retention... I used to retain water and was on a water pill for years. I asked my dr. if I could go off it before I started ATkins because the books says you shouldn't take diuretics. Since I've been on Atkins I've been eliminating water (peeing ) constantly... so I don't think that is the problem.

I feel very tired and fatigued, especially today as it was a very stressful day at work... and now it is snowing! Talk about stress!

I miss the Atkins bars... they were such a treat! The diet is very boring, eggs, eggs, eggs and more eggs, and meat. I eat more veggies now than ever in my whole life. Even though I'm gaining weight... my chloresterol is still lower than it was 6 months ago. It went from 225 to 210.

I'm just afraid my genes are the cause. My dad was 300 lbs and my mom was 200 and both my sisters struggle with weight also. I never had a problem until about age 35. I just hate being fat. I'm retiring in July and worry about weight gain then too.

[chinadoll]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

Barbee, I feel for you. I would suggest Georgiana's advice. Either follow the stickies or get a copy of the new Atkins book (2002) because it is a healthier way to follow Atkins and give it a try. I am finding my body is behaving totally differently this time around and I just did it the last time a couple years ago. It has even changed its tolerance for things in the past 18 months. The quantities are also an issue so posting them will help although I am betting there is nothing wrong with your quantities, still it won't hurt to look.

If after a new induction you are still gaining then it has to be medical. In the meantime, get a new doctor. Take your food logs with you. Be insistent. Hope to hear back on how you are doing. I know it is incredibly frustrating for you.

[Barbee]

Re: HELP something is very wrong

Thank you all for your help.

I've been doing some research online for insulin resistance and think I have it. I've had low blood sugar for years so this makes sense. Also my intestinal intolerance to carbs points to IR too.

I've studied diets for IR and Atkins and South Beach suit it perfectly BUT... most sources say no sugar substitutes because insulin reacts to it just like sugar so you are literally hitting your head against a wall trying to diet eating the sugars.

So... I'm guilty I eat quite a lot of things sweetened with Splenda. Even Stevia is forbidden. This is probably why I'm gaining weight too.

This might be helpfull to other having the same problem. I hate the thought of never ever tasting something sweet again... but what are the other options? Congestive heart failure, diabetes, stroke...the list goes on.

I will cut out sweeteners and get back to you.