New & ZERO loss on induction x 3 weeks!!!!!

[wannatrim]

:o :o :mad: Hi everyone!
I almost gave up till I came across this forum. I lost ~ 10 lbs on Atkins 2 yrs. ago. Regained with beer. I've been on induction with SBD (cheated twice) am exercising twice daily - 1 hour each - which involves spinning or rep reebok (weights) or on the ellipse for an hour. My weight loss ---- Zero!!!!

Looking back - eating eggs + lean ham, cheese, chicken/salmon/steaks. One thing- is this bad- for my sweet tooth I got Vermont heavy whipping cream fro Trader Joe's and have that with 6-8 packets of Splenda. Also have been doing 1-2 carb free chocolated dailly- is that where I'm going wrong? considering the 2 hrs exercise I put in shouldn't those burn up. Please help for this is driving me nuts/ frustrated and I'm about to give up!!!

[Dogbert199]

You might want to consider the Fat Fast (it's in the book and on the web site); I think you need to put an end to the carb free chocolates and whip cream/8servings of Splenda).

It ALL has carbs; that they claim it has zero net carbs doesn't change that fact.

Live on real food (quiche florentine, salmon on a bed of spinach and lettuce greens, etc) and keep your carbs low (an entire bag of fresh spinach has less than 15 grams of carbs) and you'll be doing alright.

[tofi]

With all the exercise you mention, you are probably swapping muscle gained for fat lost and the scales show "no change". Hasn't the fit of your clothes changed yet?

Besides which, you are eating a lot of "empty carbs" and dairy. Just like "empty calories", those things add up and foil your attempts to lose fat. Where are the veggies and salads?

[wannatrim]

Thanks a lot Dogbert and Tofi for your replies. That was encouraging - as I was thinking about a sandwich!

I think you are very right about the whipping cream (recommended to me by a friend on Atkins) - it probably has loads of hidden carbs. I'm still wondering though - with increased exercise - shouldn't your minimum carb limit increase (from 20>>30-40)? I did check into the size loss - no luck there - only marginal although I can see I have gained muscle definition in the legs and arms.
Another thing I am a little doubtful about - could it be that the induction period of LC diets involves muscle loss?

Thanx a ton for your input - its encouraging.

[Dogbert199]

The whipping cream is fine, have it with some blueberries or black berries or strawberries in a few weeks, and don't add all that Splenda (real whipped cream has very few carbs). . . but get yourself into Ketosis.

Go buy Ketostix from Walgreens or Eckerds or your local pharmacy and use them to track yourself.

And stick to truly low-carb eating. On the atkins web site they have a 2 week induction diet that is very easy to follow and they offer recipes and everything. . . it really does work.

And by the way, I'm a week into it and I'm in full burn ketosis now! (yay me!)

[LucyLucy]

If you did two weeks of Induction clean with no cheating you will lose. Since you stated you 'cheated' several times, I'd start over, do two weeks clean induction, and see where that leads you.

Also, you should be tracking all food choices on www.fitday.com, sometimes we are surprised at the amount at which we're eating & actual carb intake........

LL :)

[blue4lemon]

1) each packet of splenda has 1g carbs. I know a lot of LCers think Splenda is the only "ok" sweetener. But you could use Liquid Sweet-n-Low, as the liquid form has ZERO carbs. It won't keep you from losing weight the way Equal does.
2) Don't eat so much LC chocolate.
3) eat some veggies for God's sake.

[Dogbert199]

Here's what dinner was tonight. . . fried chicken tenders (fried in ground blanched almonds instead of breadcrumbs or flour), sauteed spinach, and 2 tablespoons of low carb bbq sauce (3 net carbs). . . and it's awesome to the taste, the textures are great, and the whole meal maybe had 10 carbs total, half of which was all fiber.

[elijaeger]

Are you doing South Beach or Atkins? Yes, do Phase 1 over. I don't think you followed SBD quite right. You should be eating low fat dairy, lean meats, nuts, and tons of fiberous vegetables. Avoid that fake-carb food for sure.

[Ortancis22]

hey there I just finished reading some of DR. ATKINS DIET REVOLUTION a minute ago and I read that even just the slightest cheating can severly hurt you. When you cheat like that you need to start over from the beginnin in order to put your body back in ketosis. Some whipped creams contain Nutri-Sweet which contains aspartme. Aspartme is a BIGGGG no no it acts just as a sugar imposter and makes your body believe you are still eating real sugar(as the book states). Also, go easy on the splenda, count each packet as 1 gram. I also read that if you find that you are not losing any weight that you need to maybe cut out all aspartme products, cheeses and nuts all together and stick to the basics. I say dont eat any of these things for at least 4 weeks. Your metabolic resistance maybe high! But dont give up, this is the best and only diet that truly works for people who really and desperately want to lose weight.

[Arizona B]

Stay away from the splenda and the low carb chocolate. Too much sugar substitute can cause you not to lose weight. You are not suppose to have more than 3 servings of sugar substitute a day. You aren't suppose to have any low carb chocolate during Induction.

[mskllsws]

I had a bad initial three weeks and now in my fourth week the weight loss has finally kicked in.

I switched from a low fat diet having already dropped 30 pounds and I stopped my diuretic the first week, and it was my time of the month.

However, I did a clean induction with no cheats. Knowing my body was adjusting from a different diet, a diuretic and my cycle I kept plugging away and did not give up.

Week one I only lost half a pound. Week two I gained a half pound and was back where I started. Week three I dropped two pounds.

I am 100 pound overweight so a two pound loss in three weeks was a real bummer, but I scrutinized what I was doing.

I made some changes. First of all, I was not eating enough. My calories were only about 1500. My BMR was 1800 and my adjusted BMR with activity was 2350. There was a forum discussion about keeping your calories within 15% of your adjusted BMR , and for me that was 1990. I raised my calories.
Eating too little puts your body into starvation mode, which was self defeating.

On the other hand, overeating, even the right foods can prevent weight loss.

Atkins clearly says dont overeat protein. They recommend no more than 6-8oz protein at one sitting. I was probably eating more than this on occassion.
Excess protein is converted to glucose and defeats the purpose of low carb.

The forum discussions had recommended a ratio of 70% fat:25% protein and 5% carb. I went to fitday.com and started to enter everything I was eating into the program. I geared my eating to matching this calorie intake and this ratio, keeping my cargs below 20.

In addition I was not drinking nearly enough water. I increased my water intake to above the recommended. Right now I drink 14-16 plus 8 oz cups daily, the recommended for me was 12.

I also increased my fiber by adding the psyllium and flax to my regimen. This regulated my bowels so that I was having daily movements.

So what did all this do for me? It kicked things in gear.
Day 21 I dropped half a pound, day 22 dropped one pound, dat 23 dropped half a pound, day 24 dropped half a pound, and day 25, today I dropped a whole pound. Thats five days and three and a half pounds lost . Needless to same I am thrilled and I feel that all the adjustments I made, know what I really was doing made all the different.

Hang in there , hope this helps.
Karen

[anonyMouse]

In addition to all the other good information here, I've also read that when you are working out often and muscles are building, you may also be retaining water. I'm not sure, but don't give up, just stick to it. And like everyone else has suggested, eat some veggies. ;)

[suzanneM]

I'd like to reiterate: get an account at www.fitday.com and log EVERYTHING you eat.

Do a very clean induction - no nuts, no fruits, no low carb or carb free chocolate (bars / shakes). Easy on the splenda (count that in fitday too as 1 carb per packet), cream cheese, etc and no more than 4 oz of cheese a day. You are going to pretty much be eating salads (romain & spinach are good lettuces, lots of nutritional bang for the buck) and meats. Avoid low carb products (dressings, marinades, etc) for now as they all have fillers and sometimes sugar alcohols.

You'll see loss. If not, you can post your fitday here for folks to analyze.

[elijaeger]

If original poster is still around, you probably need to let us know what plan you are trying to do. Otherwise you'll get conflicting advice from Atkins people vs. SBD people. Phase 1 is different between the two, although as the diet goes along it can be quite similiar.

[wannatrim]

Thanks a lot guys! I'm touched with all the support one has here. Well, I'm trying to do the SBD and yes, as suggested I'm trying to go strictly by the induction; I found one more achille's heel - fat/sugar free jello - it has 10 cals/ serving (no protein/ fat) so I'd presume they come from hidden carbs- even though the lable says carb free - thanx also for the ketostix tip -I've got them and would be checking tommorrow.

[elijaeger]

If you're doing south beach, ketostix shouldn't matter. You may or may not go into Ketosis, but the stix only measure excess ketones (and even then there are a variety of ketones, of which the stix only catch some of them.) If you follow SBD by the book you probably will produce ketones to some degree, but I don't know if the stix will be helpful to you. for an Atkins induction, they'll probably turn dark purple and that is indication you're in ketosis and you're losing ketones in your urine.

I wouldn't worry about the sugar free jello.

The big difference