Old dieter/New questions

[QuestionsQuestions]

Hello everyone! Well, here I am... This is my "n"th attempt at making Atkins stick. Two summers ago I lost 40 and then, with all the stresses of life (moving, work, small children), I managed to put it all back on again.

I should say that at the time, and until recently, my husband and family haven't been all that understanding or supportive of this way of life. Since then, my husband, an MD, read Gary Taubes' book cover to cover and is completely convinced that this IS the way of life that is healthiest. He went low-carb around Easter and has lost 20 lbs. He wasn't all that strict about it, either. But the weight melted off and he continues to think that limiting carbs in the diet is the way to go. He has convinced all the MD's and nurses in his practice that this is the way to go, and is now a kind of unofficial consultant to all of his colleagues who are adapting this way of eating.

So, in short, I have a tremendous amount of support right now. Also, I am not working over the summer (I work at a college), so it looks like it will be a relatively stress-free time. The past few summers have been really stressful for me (trying to raise little ones while finishing graduate school). But I have declared this the "Summer of ME" (kinda like "The summer of George" from Seinfeld... ).

But here are my issues: I've been doing induction for about two weeks now. The ketostrips have been turning purple for several days now, but little to no weight is coming off! What's up with that? Is is possible to be in Ketosis and not lose any weight? This is especially annoying to me as when I have done Atkins in the past, the weight has come off with very little resistance. I could pretty much count on doing the right thing and getting on the scale on any given day and seeing a loss of .5 to 1 lb. And what's more, I am being stricter than I have ever been previous times in terms of following the rules of induction.

I know people say that you shouldn't weigh every day, but I feel like if I don't, it's very easy for the carb creep to start up. But when I do weigh and I don't see a lower number, it is very disappointing, and I start having thoughts of "well, maybe this is as good as it gets. Maybe I should just give up and try something else." But I also know that there is no such thing as something else. My body is very sensitive to carbs, and I know that a different kind of diet isn't going to do it for me. I'm one of those folks who managed to get really fat on the low-fat diets of the 90's.

My husband says that it's impossible to be in ketosis and not be losing weight. I just simply don't get what's happening. He tells me to persevere, but it's hard to summon the stick-to-it-iveness when day after day I hover around the 74.5 kg mark.

Just FYI, I'm 43, 5'4", and need to lose about 35 lbs. I don't really care how long it takes, but I'm having trouble managing this mentally and I'm hoping to find support here.

Well, that's about it.

Nice to be here...

[hrgillespie]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

First of all welcome back to this WOL .......... your husbands a doc so far be it for me to say he's wrong but in my experience with stalls and such it is very possible to be in ketosis and not lose pounds. You can be in ketosis and if you consume enough calories to balance things out you can see no weight loss at all. I know everyone likes to find comfort in the whole "you don't have to count calories on Atkins" theory but the truth of the matter is if you are resistant to weight loss you may infact have to monitor very closely what you put into your mouth. I know I do. Can you post a daily menu? Not just what you eat but how much? There's can be huge caloric differences between things like eating a 4 ounce burger with a slice of cheese and a 6 ounce burger with a slice of cheese. If your not measuring and you dump on ranch dressing even though it's legal 2 TBSP is 150 calories and 4 which is easy to do is 300! Add a few slices of bacon to that 6 ounce burger and while all still legal you now have an over 900 calorie burger as opposed to a 550 ish one ......... see how easy the count can creep up on you? All still legal but a huge difference in calorie intake ........ you may be extremely aware of this but I just thought it may be worth some thought. It was a huge eye opener for me when I started using FItday and really thinking about what I was consuming.

Heidi

[QuestionsQuestions]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

Heidi! Bingo! I think you are exactly right about the caloric intake thing. I have always suspected that "you don't have to worry about calorie counts or portions" is not true for everyone, particularly for someone like me who seems to be resistant to weight loss.

Thank you for being one of the first folks who has actually made some sense of this for me.

So, in the past I'd have eaten two strips of bacon with my breakfast rather than 3 or 4, and would have eaten very small portions of everything. Also, for me, it's been important to not eat a whole lot of protein, and to not eat after 6 or 7 pm at night. Just as a rule, for me, eating at night is disastrous.

Thanks again. I think my hubby's speaking from his own experience... someone who is genetically thin. His body wants to be thin, whereas my body wants to be fat. He and I clearly need to do different versions of the same thing. He can eat handfuls of nuts, carb-free chocolate, cheese, etc... and not stall or gain weight. Me? It takes very little for me to stall and for the weight loss to revert itself to gain. Such is life... I guess if I want to be at a happy and healthy weight, I'm going to have to a little more restrictive than others.

I also think that Gary Taubes (hubby and I have both read the book cover to cover) makes no mention of the fact that some people will resist weight loss even on a low-carb plan, and that for these people, portion control still remains an important part of things.

I know fitday and I've done it off and on, but I find it hard to stick to. Maybe I will give it another whirl.

Thanks again.

[jenivieve74]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

Hi & welcome. I have done Atkins a few times. Hopefully this is the last and I never stop. When I start induction, I lose pounds the first week and nothing the 2nd week. I always stay in extended induction. When your in Ketosis your appetite is suppressed, but for me eating all the time was also a habit. I stay in induction until I feel I have total control and am in the habit of eating less. I am such a carb addict. I can't have just a little of anything. It turns into a whole bag or box or something. I have gone cheat free and exercised for a month with no weight loss. It drives me crazy. I don't think you have to lose weight to be losing fat. I have always given up. This time I haven't. I figured, well, I am eating right, exercising, and no loss, but I feel better than I did eating junk all of the time. I have to be doing something good for my body. I stuck with it. I weighed myself everyday hoping and saw nothing. After 6 weeks I had a 5 pound drop overnight. Then it starting coming off again. I am at a plateau again, but I know if I stick with it, it will happen again.
I can fluctuate so much day to day. I notice if I have salty things like, bacon and nuts that have salt in them, I can gain 3 pounds overnite. You'll learn what foods help you and which ones slow you down.
It's not fair that men lose faster and don't have to try as hard. It is good that your husband is trying also.
Make sure you take your measurements. In the months that I don't lose pounds I always lose inches. Also as you gain muscle you will get smaller with out losing as much weight.
I am not working as much this summer as I have in the past either. I have decided this time is my time and I can do it. You can too. Don't give up!

[QuestionsQuestions]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

Hi Jenivieve, and thank so much for your response! Thanks also for the advice and inspiration to keep going. It's so easy to say, "Well, I'm not losing every day, so what's the point?" But I know that would be a personal disaster for me.

I'm taking Heidi's advice and logging into fitday. I started today. I want to figure out exactly what happens when I eat particular things, or amounts. I'm trying to see this as a way of getting to know "me" better.

As for my hubby, yes... he started doing low carb around Easter and now is 20 lbs lighter, and is totally convinced that reducing carbs and eliminating the nasty refined stuff is the way to live.

In the past I've used low carb to lose weight. But I should add that I've also been extremely restrictive, eating as little as 600 calories a day. I know that that was part of my past failures, but there's something so exhilarating about seeing pound after pound just melt off. I've decided I'm not going to be that restrictive this time around, with hopes that what I do can be sustainable for the long run. In keeping with that, though, I am also realizing that my weight loss may be slower and more moderate than other times, and I will have to accept that as part of how things are now.

Thanks again. Looking forward to sharing progress reports with you, as well as exchanging support and advice.

[jenivieve74]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

I will have to check out fitday. It sounds neat. Wow, I can't believe you only ate 600 cal a day. Did you feel week or have hair fall out? It is awesome seeing weight drop off so fast. I think maybe I am stalling now because I don't eat enough. Someone on here gave me a link to calculate how many cal I need to eat each day to stay out of starvation mode. I am not very hungry at all right now, but I am exercising a lot. I am not sure what foods to eat to add extra calories with out adding carbs. Have a grat day and keep up the hard work!

[QuestionsQuestions]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

Hi. Well, I went sniffing around a little bit and found a really interesting blog on-line regarding stalls, calories, etc...

Check it out:

Health & Nutrition by Michael R. Eades, M.D. » Low-carb and calories

[jenivieve74]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

That was very helpful. Thanks. Nuts are my problem the last few days. I got the munchies bad last night and had more peanuts. I ahve been eating them for 3 days now. It is hard to eat just a handful too. It makes sense that my body would burn that fat instead of my own. I was actually wondering about that last week, but everything in the book says to eat fat. I also love cheese. I am going to get rid of the nuts and cut way down on the cheese and see if I can break out of this. Thanks again.

[hrgillespie]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

Jenivieve cheese has always been a tough one for me I love it but it stalls me quicker then almost anything ...... I save it for "special dishes and just know that I won't see a loss for a day or two afterwards ...... peanuts are my biggest weakness. I love the ranch flavored ones planters has out but they are a definite no no for me ..... I will gain a pound or two in fluid retention everytime I splurge on them .....

[jenivieve74]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

If ieat peanuts that have salt, I blow up like a balloon. I gained 3 pounds overnite by eating them one time. I made my husband take them to work. Cheese will be hard for me. I think it must be salty too. You know how after doing atkins things taste different to you? Sometimes when I eat cheese it tastes really salty. I am not really a fan of salt. Diet drinks taste really weird to me too.

[QuestionsQuestions]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

OK, so in the past week, I've started dropping weight again, and here are a couple of things I've come to realize about myself on this way of eating:

1) There comes a point at which you know you're really ready to do this, and you will do what it takes to make it work. This is something that cannot really be forced or be made to happen. There isn't a magic formula. It can't really be taught. It's a personal moment of quiet recognition or resolution. For me it came after a few days of doing and seeing what happens.

2) I started losing again when I took the advice that amount of daily fat intake DOES matter. I read on the "Protein Power" blog that in the absence of glucose, the body will begin to burn fat for fuel. Metabolism couldn't give a hoot where the fat comes from. If your diet is providing enough of it, then your body's fat stores won't open up. You may not gain weight, but you certainly will not lose. This is exactly where I was getting stuck. Also, I clearly cannot eat cheese in moderation and have needed to eliminate it for the time being. It was hard at first, but now I find I don't really want it.

3) I seem to be dropping more weight at times when my ketosticks are showing small to moderate ketones (light to deep ping) rather than large amounts (purple...). I'm not quite sure why that is, but perhaps it's because I'm burning more as fuel rather than excreting it through urine? I don't know.... But it's just something I've observed in the past two weeks.

[jenivieve74]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

Hi, good for you for dropping again. i still haven't lost anymore for 3 weeks now, but I am still ahnging in there.

[jenivieve74]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

Just checking in on you to see how you are doing this week.

[QuestionsQuestions]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

Thanks for checking in. I just read back where you guys were saying about how when you eat cheese or nuts, you can pretty much expect not to see loss for a day or two. Thanks for writing this.

The other thing I'm finding is that I just cannot eat later than 5 pm. If I do, the first thing is indigestion. The second thing is "stall". This works out because I usually feed my kids 4 meals a day, dinner at 4-ish and then a light supper at around 6-7 (milk, toast, etc...). Amazingly, if I stick to a pretty strict Atkins WOE and don't eat after like 5 pm, I drop pounds like crazy and I feel amazing.

Just goes to show how each body is different and how one size does not fit all. You gotta fiddle and tweak until you find exactly what works and keeps you happy.

I've dropped a little more, but boy is it going SLOWLY...

How are you guys doing?

[carbless_in_seattle]

Re: Old dieter/New questions

Thanks for checking in. I just read back where you guys were saying about how when you eat cheese or nuts, you can pretty much expect not to see loss for a day or two. Thanks for writing this.

The other thing I'm finding is that I just cannot eat later than 5 pm. If I do, the first thing is indigestion. The second thing is "stall". This works out because I usually feed my kids 4 meals a day, dinner at 4-ish and then a light supper at around 6-7 (milk, toast, etc...). Amazingly, if I stick to a pretty strict Atkins WOE and don't eat after like 5 pm, I drop pounds like crazy and I feel amazing.

Just goes to show how each body is different and how one size does not fit all. You gotta fiddle and tweak until you find exactly what works and keeps you happy.

I've dropped a little more, but boy is it going SLOWLY...

How are you guys doing?

Dropping slowly is good. I can't remember the correct terminology for what I'm about to explain but I've read it a million times.

When the body drops slowly, it adjusts and becomes accustomed to its new weight as it goes along. The body as a certain weight that it likes to return to, your body's "set weight". When we gain weight slowly, we slowly change the "set weight" to a higher number. If we gain really rapidly, then go back to eating right, it doesnt take long for us to lose it. Your body just returns to its "set-weight" which didn't change in a short period of time. So when people lose weight super fast, their body doesn't adjust properly, and it's easy for them to gain it back rapidly. If you lose it slow, your set-weight changes to a lower number, and you're able to keep it off.

This is why they say to lose 1-2 pounds a week and no more, or whatever.

Anyway, you might have already known all this stuff...but yeah...thought I'd share.