Puzzled & need help

[tofi]

I know it is said that famous last words are "I'm doing the diet perfectly". However, after 3 years of LC, I went back to Atkins Induction to try and break a stall and I DID do it perfectly.

I quit all dairy. No caffeine, no aspartame, no soft drinks (sodas) to avoid aspartame & citric acid. Nothing but meats (chicken, pork, lamb or fish), eggs, LC veggies in the correct amounts (measured), lettuce with oil & vinegar, butter for cooking

At least 3 litres of water daily, no other drinks except peppermint tea with liquid Sugar Twin.

Supplements: GNC multi vitamins, Vit. C & E, Cal/mag, CoQ10, Oils- borage & salmon, Thyrolean (4), Chromium Piccolinate (200), L-carnitine, glucosamine & chondroitin sulphate, soy isoflavone capsules & a combo (black cohosh, dong quai, red clover etc )

I did lose the usual 6 pounds of water in the first week, then stayed the same for 4 days. Today on Day 11, I am UP 2 pounds.

The only thing I can think of is that I did have 4 strips of lower salt bacon & some
tinned chicken yesterday, and some pork rinds( which I can finally buy in Toronto) Could it be sodium? No it's not TOM.

Any suggestions or help towards breaking the major stall, if these last 2 pounds are just water? I really need to get this weight off for health reasons.

BarB :confused:

Menu
Breakfast: 32 oz of peppermint tea with supplements
3 eggs poached, fried or scrambled

Lunch : leftover meats from other suppers
1 litre of water

Supper: chicken, fish, pork, lamb - grilled, sauteed in butter,
2/3 C broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower or green beans
2 C lettuce w/ oil & vinegar or LC Caesar dressing

Snacks: not hungry so usually just more water during the day.

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[wenderwomn]

BarB, I just went through the same thing myself. The wonderful people here helped me to see that I wasn't doing anything wrong, and neither are you. I didn't realize it before, but sometimes our bodies have to play catch up, especially when we've just lost a decent amount of weight very quickly! I lost 16 lbs. during induction (Atkins), then over the next four days, proceeded to gain 4 lbs! It wasn't my TOM either, and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. It turns out I wasn't doing anything wrong, my body was simply adjusting to the weight it had lost. I know that was correct, because yesterday 2 of those 4 lbs had disappeared and I seem to be on a downward trend again. :)

You're doing fine! Don't worry so much about little bumps. If you're following the program and keeping carbs to a minimum, drinking alot of water, the weight will come off. I guess we're learning this together huh? ;)

I'm going to start weighing myself only once a week from now on, so I don't have to see those little hiccups and drive myself crazy with it, LOL.

Wendy

[Karen]

Hmm. I think what happens to long term LC'ers is that their body gets so used to the way they've been eating that it takes drastic measures to shake it up again.

How long have you been stalled for?

Karen

[tofi]

Thank you for that idea. wenderwoman. And Karen, I lost 20 pounds from Oct 98 to dec 98, stalled for 3 months then lost 20 more between Mar & Jun 1999. Have been stalled since then. This is not the first time I have tried going back to Induction, but it has been the most strict and closely followed time I have done it. The first 40 pounds were so easy and I didn't have to weigh and measure. Then, the brick wall.

Thanks for your interest.

BarB

[Karen]

Did you eat exactly the same way as when you did during the time you were losing weight, or were your carbs all over the map?

Karen

[doreen T]

In 3 yrs. time, have you had any health changes, changes in medication or started any new medication?? That can have an effect too ... hormonal changes, etc .... low thyroid springs to mind as well.

If you're doing everything else 100% to the letter, then there might be a medical reason for failure to lose weight. Are you exercising at all?? That would help boost things along.

Actually, I just re-read your post, and the dong quai/soy/black cohosh answers the hormonal question. Do consider having your thyroid checked as well. Hypothyroidism is one of the most underdiagnosed problems for women over 40, and so easy to correct. Check the About.com Hypothyroid pages (http://thyroid.about.com/cs/hypothyroidism/index.htm). There are some simple self-tests you can do before you see a doctor. Just as an aside, you might want to consider cutting back or eliminating soy. There are a few studies suggesting that soy isoflavones can suppress thyroid function. There's a link on the About.com page for more information. I'm hypothyroid, taking natural dessicated thyroid ... and I've cut way back on soy. I suppose I should eliminate it from my diet completely, but I have to confess I do like marinated fried tofu.. :rolleyes:

Doreen

[tofi]

Yes Karen, I ate the same way: strict Induction to begin which dropped 12 pounds in 2 weeks, then at least 1.5 pounds every week. I didn't really increase carbs very much for a long while but the stalls still happened. I did have some medical things happening during the long stall time (which I sent privately to Doreen) and that could have affected things a lot.

I will check out the thyroid stuff too.

Thank you - I stayed very LC today.

BarB

[tofi]

Day 12 and the tide went OUT !!!
And took some fat with it. After yesterday's awful obsessing about the numbers (haven't I suggested to others that it's not a good idea?) the scale went to a lower number today: 215. I have been rounding the .5 pounds down, but today I'll be exact.

I started at 222.5 and today I am at 215. Only 6 pounds before I hit 'new pounds'. I guess yesterday's rise was the sodium.

I am going to stray some tonight as I have a nice dinner planned for dear friends and there will be wine, berries and whipped cream. But the menu is basically LC and I will try to save ALL my carbs for dinner. Here's the menu:

Smoked salmon with lemon, capers, onion (on rye bread for the non-LCers)
Dry white wine from the Loire Valley: Sancerre
---------------------------------
Barbecued rib eye steak with grilled Portobello mushrooms sprayed with olive oil

Faux Tatoes (cooked cauliflower with cream cheese and minced onion, consistency of mashed potatoes.) Many people can't tell the difference.

Asparagus with homemade Bearnaise sauce (eggs, lemon, oil & tarragon vinegar.)

Spinach salad with raspberry vinaigrette and bacon bits (I'll make them)
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Dessert:

Rasp, straw & blue berries marinated in a little Triple Sec (orange liqueur). Wrapped in a crepe for non-LCers, and topped with whipped cream and a dash of Triple Sec.

Wine: a red French Burgundy of the "Morgon" type.

And no, I am not weighing tomorrow. Thanks for the caring and kind words & suggestions.

BarB

[doreen T]

Originally posted by tofi
I am going to stray some tonight as I have a nice dinner planned for dear friends and there will be wine, berries and whipped cream. But the menu is basically LC and I will try to save ALL my carbs for dinner. Here's the menu:
Sounds wonderful BarB. What time should I be there???

;)

Doreen

[jomil]

Doreen, What do say we meet at Barb's house for the next get together?

Regards
Joe

[ShirleyL]

Doreen, I've been hypothoroid for a year now. It's dropping very quickly lately, so medication was doubled and then some.

I'm curious - what is "natural dessicated thyroid "? I'm on synthyroid, and I've read some not so encouraging stuff about synthetic thyroid medication recently, i.e., could be flakey.

Doreen is right about soy and hypothyroid. Interaction there...

Shirley
Florida

[Sharon]

I'm so sad, you didn't invite me too!!!

[detroitlad]

I'm at my wit's end. I stopped smokeing 2mt's ago. now i have all the s/s of hypothyroidism! I'm out of work, no med. coverage can't see a dr. so I've been doing some research on the web looking for supplements to help. I had lost 20 lb's on atkins,I've gained 6 of them back! I've found a lot of thing's I need ase far as iodine & L-Tyrosine. I'm concerned mostly about the s/s of the hypothyroid. but it would be great to lose the rest of this wt.[100lb's] Iwant to feel better so I can get back to work! thank's for any info!