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  #1   ^
Old Tue, Jun-12-01, 06:28
Tams Tams is offline
New Member
Posts: 6
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 220/217/130
BF:
Progress:
Location: Iowa
Default 5th day on Atkins Induction-need encouragement

Hi everyone.
Im on my 5th day of Atkins induction. I lost 7 lbs in 4 days and now Im up 2 again-but my ketostix are darker purple than they have ever been. I havent exercised yet-any ideas why I would have a 2 lb weight gain ( or more because I JUMPED off the scale as soon as it said Id gained ) and still be in moderate Ketosis?
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  #2   ^
Old Tue, Jun-12-01, 06:44
agonycat's Avatar
agonycat agonycat is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,473
 
Plan: AHP&FP
Stats: 197/125/137 Female 5' 6"
BF:42%/22%/21%
Progress: 120%
Location: Dallas, Texas
Default

Hi Tam

Up your water intake for one. That will help tone down those deep purple ketostix. If you start dehydrating those puppies will go to the darkest possible.

It is normal to gain 2 pounds, lose 2 pounds due to water retention. If you are not drinking enough water your body will hold on to it. When you start drinking enough then it flushes the water. So try to get on a regular basis on how much you are drinking a day to even out the pingpong effect That should help.

I am also on the Atkin's diet. I played the pingpong with 2 pounds for about 2 or 3 weeks until bingo, one day it was a 3 pound loss.

Just remember one thing when you feel you are getting frustrated. You didn't gain all the weight over night, it isn't going to just melt off over night, just because you said the word diet. (We only wish it was that easy)

Keep that chin up and hang in there....since April 23th I have lost 24 pounds. That is 4 years of weight gain for me, lost in less than 2 months time.

It may be slow, but it's well worth the wait!
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  #3   ^
Old Tue, Jun-12-01, 09:35
Tams Tams is offline
New Member
Posts: 6
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 220/217/130
BF:
Progress:
Location: Iowa
Default

Thanks for replying.
I currently drink 120 oz of water at least a day. I make sure I drink enough because I know how important it is.
I know Im going to fluctuate a bit..and Im trying REALLY HARD not to get discourage. I have alot of weight to lose and this is a way of life for me. Carbs were my addiction..and just like anything else...going back to them will make me have to start all over again.
Would you recommend exercising? I havent done that because I was afraid it would make me gain.
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  #4   ^
Old Tue, Jun-12-01, 10:00
agonycat's Avatar
agonycat agonycat is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,473
 
Plan: AHP&FP
Stats: 197/125/137 Female 5' 6"
BF:42%/22%/21%
Progress: 120%
Location: Dallas, Texas
Default

I believe most of us do some form of excercise 3 times a week. Walking, lifting weights, yoga, calanetics (pick your poison)

Have you taken measurements yet? If not, go to it. If you start working out, and don't notice the scale moving it could be that you are replacing that fatty tissue with muscle tissue which is leaner and heavier than the fatty stuff.

I do yoga every day, sometimes twice a day (once in the morning/once at night). Depends on my old achey bones and the weather that day. *giggles*

What I did before I started this way of life was did an evaluation on myself. I knew I had gained 60 pounds in 10 years. 6 pounds a year......it didn't seem like much at the time ( 0.016 pounds a day as a matter of fact). Pound here, pound there, kept telling myself I will go on a diet Monday and get this back off. Monday came and went and I would forget about it until the next pound showed up on the scale.

I set a modest goal that if I could lose one year's worth of weight every 2 months I would be thrilled. (3 pounds per month) Currently I am sitting at 24 pounds in less than 2 months.

I guess my point is, don't get discouraged or frustrated at not losing 30 pounds in a week. It's not going to happen. It went on slow, it comes off slow. Your body NEEDS time to adjust to what you are making it do. That is why we stall....it's our bodies way of saying hold up a few....I need to rearrange this flab of skin that is hanging off over here because we lost 20 pounds over the past few months. Or I need to figure out which fat store to hit next because I lost the one I was working on.

Be patient with it.

Look at some of the others before and after photos and know in your heart this is the very best luxury diet ever. Know the pounds will melt away while you dine on lobster and steak while you watch someone else on a diet that is eating celery.
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  #5   ^
Old Tue, Jun-12-01, 11:16
r.mines's Avatar
r.mines r.mines is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,383
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 162/124/120 Female 5'1"
BF:
Progress: 90%
Location: Vancouver,BC
Thumbs up So true....

Thanks, Cat, for some reason I really needed to hear that today! I like what you said about losing a year's worth of fat every two months .... really puts things in perspective. The last time I weighed 125 'naturally,' without having dieted, was in my mid-20's .... 20 pounds, 20 years ..... losing at the rate of 2-3 pounds a month isn't so shabby when you look at it that way!!!

Cheers, and thanks again,
Rachel
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  #6   ^
Old Tue, Jun-12-01, 11:35
agonycat's Avatar
agonycat agonycat is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,473
 
Plan: AHP&FP
Stats: 197/125/137 Female 5' 6"
BF:42%/22%/21%
Progress: 120%
Location: Dallas, Texas
Default

You are welcome Rachel. I find it amazing at how impatient we become with ourselves when it comes to dieting. (I too am guilty of this) I have to remind myself over and over again, "look it took you 10 years to put this on, it ain't coming off just because I mentioned the word diet". Dang I wish uttering the word diet would burn 2 pounds, because I would be sitting in a room using it as a mantra! *laughs*

I take a deep breath and look at the progress I have made to date and it thrills me to the core to see my clothes fiting looser and the scale numbers going slowly down.

I just hope I can help others be patient with sticking with this and be content, by reminding them that weight didn't just jump up and apply itself over night. It takes time.

Keep your chin up people It gets better.
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  #7   ^
Old Wed, Jun-20-01, 16:50
Jacki Jacki is offline
New Member
Posts: 1
 
Plan: Dr. Supervised/Atkins
Stats: 189.5/183/145
BF:
Progress:
Location: Kansas
Default

One other suggestion...I would encourage you not to weigh yourself everyday. I lost 90 lbs. and worked for Weight Watchers for 6 years. I am doing the low-carb thing now and am in my first month. One tip from Weight Watchers was to only weigh once a week. That helps you become habit and lifestyle focused instead of scale focused. The bottom line is that scale readings fluctuate for many reasons. What the scale says today isn't what is going to get you to your goal. Planning ahead, drinking your water, shopping well, etc. are the behaviors that will ultimately make you successful. The scale will trend down if you do the right things. Why subject yourself to the daily fluctuations? I would recommend weighing once a week and track the trend. The rest of the days focus on how you are feeling, how your clothes are fitting, etc. In the long run it will assist you in remaining sane! :0)
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  #8   ^
Old Wed, Jul-11-01, 15:19
PhatPharm PhatPharm is offline
New Member
Posts: 3
 
Plan:
Stats: //
BF:
Progress:
Location: San Jose, Ca, USA
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I'm new to all of this too. Guess what, I'm on day 5 as well. It's been mostly mentally tough for me. Trying to break old, comfortable habits ... But I am feeling better already. Hang in there ... We're all in this together. WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT!!!
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  #9   ^
Old Sun, Aug-12-01, 15:27
suzannej suzannej is offline
New Member
Posts: 14
 
Plan: aktins
Stats: 216/194/145
BF:
Progress: 31%
Location: Oklahoma, USA
Default

I was wondering if you have experienced any fatique? I am on day 6 of the Atkins plan and I am becomming increasing fatiqued. What can I do?
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  #10   ^
Old Mon, Aug-13-01, 03:28
sushi sushi is offline
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Posts: 10
 
Plan:
Stats: //
BF:
Progress:
Unhappy Any idea why I haven't lost much?

Hi
I've been doing the Atkins induction for 8 days now and have only lost 3 pounds. I have approx 14-20 pounds to lose. I have stuck to the plan rigidly not allowing myself anything that is forbidden and being careful not to have too many vegetables.

My ketostix are not turning purple and I am drinking plenty of water and fruit tea. I can't understand why I'm not losing when my regular day consists of the following:
Breakfast: 2 eggs cooked with 2 tablespoons cream
Lunch: Chicken, ham or salmon salad
Supper: Steak (not always but sometimes with broccoli)

I have only snacked twice and that's 200g Macademia nuts for the whole of the 8 days.

Am I doing something wrong?
Help!!! I am about to give up!
Susie
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  #11   ^
Old Mon, Aug-13-01, 08:11
doreen T's Avatar
doreen T doreen T is offline
Forum Founder
Posts: 37,202
 
Plan: LC paleo/ancestral
Stats: 241/188/140 Female 165 cm
BF:
Progress: 52%
Location: Eastern ON, Canada
Smile hi sushi

3 lbs in 8 days is terrific! Some of us would be happy to lose 3 lbs a month ..

The big initial losses we read about are usually experienced by persons who have a lot of weight to lose from the outset, as well as younger persons, men and folks who have never dieted before.

You don't have a lot to lose, 14 to 20 lbs ..... if you think about it, 3 lbs is 15 to 20% of your goal ..... in only 8 days!!! In general, 1% of your weight is considered average and reasonable weekly loss. Your profile is blank, so I have no idea your height or weight ... but example is, if you weigh 140, then 1.4 lbs in a week is right on target. As well, as you shrink then you will lose less each week as you go along. Meaning, when you reach 130, the loss will be 1.3 lbs per week, 1.2 lbs and so on.

That being said, your menu looks as though you are undereating. You might want to bump up the calories a bit, by adding some fat in the form of olive or flax oil ... add it to the salad dressing, or use to dress the steak or vegetables. Don't skimp on the veggies either. Atkins recommends 2 salads or 1 salad + a serving of cooked lowcarb veggie every single day!

2 eggs is a very small breakfast, only 14g protein to carry you through to lunch. Try adding another egg, or some egg whites, which you can buy fresh in cartons where they sell eggs. In Protein Power, the Eades' recommend a bare minimum of 60g protein per day for the average woman, more if you are tall, male or very active. They also recommend that you divide the protein, as well as your carb intake ... evenly through the day. So that would be 20g per meal, if you eat 3x per day.

As for the ketone stix, don't worry about it. They are only a guide ... your body and muscles may very well be burning all the ketones produced, thus none are leftover to spill into the urine. Check out the article Ketosis and Ketone Test Strips by clicking on Tips on the red menu bar.

hope this helps,

Doreen
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  #12   ^
Old Mon, Aug-13-01, 08:35
sushi sushi is offline
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Posts: 10
 
Plan:
Stats: //
BF:
Progress:
Cool Thanks doreen

Thanks Doreen for your support.
I am from the UK, weighing 159 pounds and am 5"4 with a broad/large frame. I would like to get down to 144 pounds.

I do have salad dressing on my salad at lunchtime. The worst thing about this diet is not being able to have tea with milk (it's more popular in the UK than in Canada/US) and coffee with milk. I dont even crave sweets and biscuits now but a good cup of tea with milk would make me a lot happier.

I also must admit that I havent excercised much this past week. I walk about 15 mins to work but by the time I travel to work and back my days are 12 hours long and by the time I get home I'm shattered. I seem to be even less energetic on this plan than before and I am taking multi vitamins.

Giving up fruit isn't easy either. In summer all you want is a nice ripe peach or a bunch of grapes....ahhhh *sigh*.

Well sorry to sound so negative but I suppose it's not for everyone.
But I will persevere! I never will give up trying.
Thanks for your support.
Susie
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  #13   ^
Old Mon, Aug-13-01, 09:02
doreen T's Avatar
doreen T doreen T is offline
Forum Founder
Posts: 37,202
 
Plan: LC paleo/ancestral
Stats: 241/188/140 Female 165 cm
BF:
Progress: 52%
Location: Eastern ON, Canada
Default

hi Susie,

I use bottled salad dressing ... I make sure it has 1g carb or less per Tbsp (15 ml) .. and add an extra 15 ml olive oil to that. That may be difficult if you are eating your lunch in a restaurant though.

Tea and coffee .... hmmm .... I know Atkins recommends avoiding caffeine because supposedly it can stimulate a rise in insulin levels .. But more recently it was discovered that the study was done using diet cola with caffeine ... and the rise in insulin was more likely due to citric acid in the cola, and not due to caffeine. It really is a YMMV thing (your mileage may vary). Many lowcarbers find they can consume a moderate amount of caffeine without affecting weight loss efforts. On the Atkinscenter.com website, they suggest eliminating caffeine for the 2 weeks of Induction, then you may add back an occasional coffee or tea ... as long as it doesn't stall you out. None of the other major lowcarb programs suggest avoiding caffeine, including Dr. Bernstein's Diabetic Solution.

Now, the MILK would be a problem ... Depends on how milky you like your tea. One fl. oz (30 ml) whole milk (3.5 to 4% fat) has 1.7g carbs. You might consider using cream, diluted a bit, instead. Cream has fewer carbs than milk, less than 1g per fl. oz. .. (BTW, coffee lattés are all the rage on this side of the pond .. )

Some lower carb fruits can be enjoyed on the Atkins program, once the 2 weeks of Induction are up, and you have increased your carb intake to your personal CCL for OWL. Berries, a slice of melon, 1/2 a grapefruit or a small peach all come to under 10g carbs per serving, and certainly you can fit them into your day's carb allowance every now and then ..

Doreen
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