Help -- hanging in there barely

[chillpill]

3 1/2 weeks on Atkins, staying under 20 grams, probably eating too much dairy, maybe too much salt. No weight lost. I am starting to feel my spirit dwindling. On the bright side, I feel like my clothes fit a little loser and I will like my upper body looks a little smaller. I haven't taken any measurements yet. But loosing without loosing lbs feels very discouraging. I read everybody's posting with their wonderful success in the first month and I feel cheated. OK, enough boo-hooing. Just look for some support to keep on keeping on.

[hev]

Hey chillpill,
When people walk up to you in the street they say "god you look great" they don't say "gee you look about 190lbs", Take a leaf from your name and have a chillpill. I am loosing pounds but can't really tell so there is a reverse. Just be proud of yourself.
And if you can't cut down on the salt up your water to help dilute it's effects.
Hang in there and I'm sure you will get a visit from the woosh fairy soon, Hev.

[BeccaResRN]

Boy you are strong...you are persistant...You can do this. I know you are discouraged and I don't blame you...soon the scale is bound to catch up !!!

Hang in there hon...one the bright side I bet you feel better, you are eating helthier, and your clothes are looser!!!

All that is awesome...keep up your hard work!!!!

[cs_carver]

Big initial rush loss, now back on and fluctuating. Feel fat. Been at it a month--Day 28 today. I refuse to change my stats upward but they're not exactly showing what I am this morning.

AND:

1. I'm eating too much dairy--cheese--just came to accept it's a binge food for me; it doesn't give me the same "stop" signal that other LC food does, and it's time to stop eating it. (Of course, not till I finish what I've bought...) That's all there is to it.

2. I FEEL completely different as I move through my life. No fog. No crashes. No burning driving insane need to eat even though I've just finished lunch. I have two more hours in a day now because I don't fade away after dinner, and meals are shorter.

3. I accept the fact that nothing else has worked, and therefore, LC simply HAS to be the answer. So I'm here, probably for the rest of my life. Like I want to go back to full-blown carb addiction and think it's going to be any different this time? Something changed in the last month that will make it work when I couldn't make it work in 30 years of trying?

4. I totally trust that if I stay here in LC long enough, everything will come together and I'll get the weight loss I want. For the time being, however, I can hang. Not like I haven't been at this weight for a while. Another month won't change much. I have clothes that fit, even if I have more clothes that fit when I'm thinner (I have a 30#-range wardrobe in the attic, in trunks labelled with the weight at which those clothes fit...)

My bottom line--I am stronger than my carb addiction, than my fat. I can wait it out. Stick around till the miracle happens.

[MisterE]

Hi! (Warning MY diet rookie siren is now blaring!)
I would suggest you post your daily food for a few days and some of those who are experienced and successful at weight loss and health gain will see if you are on track. Can't hurt.
Funny thing happened in my office during my 4th week. I had a PHYSICIAN in here who was talking about being on Atkins and was not losing very well. During the course of the day I personally saw her eat 2 Atkins bars, drink a good 3 cups of coffee with skim milk and had the cafeteria's chilidog (without the bun but the chili is loaded with beans), a salad, and a cup of fat free jello with whipped cream. She had fruit on the bottom yogurt for a snack in the afternoon.
As a rookie, I did not comment on her food as she did not ask. But even I could have fixed her food plan to one more conducive to weight loss.
I think you will find a great deal of support from those who know the answers thru SUCCESSFUL experience. Good luck!

[lostarts]

Start taking measurements of all your body parts using a tape measure.

It seems that if you have been doing lots of lowcal/lowfat dieting before, your body may be starved for protein. Therefore the first thing it does with all this great protein is rebuild muscle tissue lost during previous diets, even while shedding fat.

Measurements will reveal this. Add all the inches lost from your various parts together each week for your "inches lost".

In my case, I'm entering my fourth week with no scale loss. Ack. But, I am down 4.5" in the same period, including 3 inches off my waistline. Therefore, even if slow, I know that *something* is happening.

Keep the faith. It *does* work. It's *not* the same as lowcarb dieting and works in its own way.

Tips:

1- Don't cheat. Not even one M&M.

2- Avoid the "fake" replacement foods. Stick to the lowcarb staples.

3- Do anything you can to up your exercise. An hour a day (!) is perfect. If you're not there yet, work up to it as slowly or as quickly as you can. This will paradoxically slow loss in the very short term as your muscles rebuild even faster, but it can accelerate this period and help get it over with, and on to more consistent losses.

Good luck. Keep us updated with your progress.

[rhaazz]

You ARE persistent! I tip my hat to you.

One word of encouragement for you: I was recently reading Nicholas Perricone's ideas about diet and skincare. He's a dermatologist who has a line of anti-aging lotions.

But in addition to the various lotions he markets, he insists that the secret to glowing, youthful skin is a diet very, very similar to the Atkins diet. He recommends that you cut out all bread and pasta and sugar, and that you eat mostly cold water fish and green vegetables and berries (Atkins also is a big fan of berries -- after induction).

Anyway, the reason I wanted to tell you this, is that it's a source of encouragement even if you're not losing weight. Perricone says that when patients adopt his diet, they lose cellulite, improve skin's firmness and smoothness, and look healthier and more radiant. (I'm like, "lose cellulite"? Sign me up!)

So, eliminating sugars and carbs IS improving your appearance -- even if the scale doesn't tell you so. And it's changing your appetite so that you'll no longer suffer from those cravings that got us all into trouble.

[chillpill]

Thanks so much for everyone's responses. After a very long day of getting the child off to camp, go to work, freak out a few times, pick up the child, go shopping, . . . I finally got home. What a treat to read everybody's responses. They definitely provided a boost, even after a long day.

It has helped me to be an even better non-carboholic. I will try posting my daily food intake to see if I am screwing up on the program. Thanks again for everyone's help.

[anniekid]

Ya know, chill, It took me almost 4 weeks to lose a pound. Now I have lost about 6 inches in my waiste, and barely shed any pounds still!!!! All are telling me the scale will catch up, which I hope it does.

Don't give up, because I almost did. I have lost only 8 pounds, but I am three pant sizes smaller!!

:thup: Good luck!!!!

:wave:

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[JeannieF]

Gotta go along with Annie and the others who mentioned inches lost.

I found that I lost inches much, much faster than I lost lbs. It was an amazing difference from lo fat/hi carb diets where I lost some weight but remained terribly flabby. That protien your body's been missing is being used up to build muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat and will help you burn fat.

I applaud your resolve. You've found the right way to eat. ALL the rewards will come. Yes they will! :thup:

Jeannie