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I am very worried about moving up to OWL as my weight loss in Induction has not been much, so i do not see how OWL can help.
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You have have been indoctrinated into thinking that eating less and doing something drastic will cause better weightloss, and this isn't a very healthy attitude to food and eating. A lot of us also have battled with the same issues. You need to trust what Dr. Atkins said, and follow his diet properly. Otherwise you are not doing the Atkins diet - you are doing a starvation diet of your own, which is a sad state of affairs when Dr. Atkins devoted his life to sharing all his knowledge and experience gained through a lifetime of helping people to lose weight in his clinic. Your current diet might lead to nutritional deficiencies which will IMPEDE weightloss, and possibly cause worse problems. Dr. Atkins stipulates that you eat top quality food and don't get hungry on the diet. So that is a first thing to aim for.
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Please can someone explain to me why the scales show i have lost weight, but my body looks no different?
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When you lose fat, the body replaces the lost fat with water, so your weight and appearance might stay the same, but the fat nevertheless is breaking down in the cells, and you'll eventually lose the water. You need to be patient, Molly. Work just now on getting a healthy, adequate OWL and the weight-loss will follow.
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Also i have spoken to a Atkins follower a while back who had virtually exactly the same amount of weight to lose as me, he said the trick was to stay on induction throughout. He said he did move up the stages only when he had finished his weight loss goal.
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A. He is male and his nutritional needs, food tastes, metabolism and body composition are very different to yours, so his experience is irrelevant.
B. Dr. Atkins started low-carbing as a young man and died (from a head injury) in his mid-70s, so he ate low-carb for about 50 years. He ran weight loss clinics for years, and the New Diet Revolution was produced near the end of that long, healthy and professionally successful life. He knew more about the subject than your "Atkins follower".
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It feels like I am running before I can walk if i move up to OWL right now. I just need some justification for me moving out of induction really.
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You need to move out of induction because it did not suit you and raising your carbs might help. I have spent many many hours learning about low-carb eating and I have read the experiences of many different females on this site. I am telling you that some women who cannot lose on induction carbs can lose better by raising their carbs, induction is generally understood to last two weeks and that your own particular nutritional needs will be met if you raise your carbs by including more good veggies, etc. Leave off the wheat, sugar, corn, potatoes and any starch which doesn't pack a punch of fibre and you will be fine.
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I really cannot get my head around why on earth I am not losing weight, it is just ridiculous. I understand that not everyone loses weight at the same pace, but mine just does not seem to want to begin!
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You won't lose weight easily if you are eating too few calories, because your body will go into starvation mode. You might also have an intolerance to a food group, so by adding in more different foods, you'll naturally eat less of it, thus enabling better weight loss. There are other reasons as well, such as certain nutrients accelerating or enabling weight loss, etc. If you add extra vegetables etc. then you will be able to have some butter with them, which will raise your calories. Remember what I said about eating a little oil with every meal, which helps to burn fat.
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I also have one BIG problem, do you remember i said i was beginning school, yeah well because of my schedule and the lack of food (acceptable for Atkins) that they sell at shops, my meals are becoming non existent! I am not eating breakfast or lunch only dinner, and even that feels like a chore! I am also suffering quite severely from lower back and leg pain, as well as the blackouts and occasional stomach aches.
Is it possible Atkins is just not for me?
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Molly, you are not doing the Atkins diet! You have taken advice from one person who *thinks* it is better to stay on induction. In fact the Atkins diet does not advocate staying on induction. Otherwise the book would only be about four pages long. You are supposed to move onto add more carbs and Dr. Atkins gives direction how to do that. If he thought everyone would be better sticking on induction, he wouldn't have suggested that people start adding carbs after 2 weeks. You need to grasp the fact that by adding more carbs the diet will be easier, more varied, you'll feel better and will learn far more about eating a healthy diet which will sustain you in good health for your life.
There's no reason why you cannot do Atkins at school. Is it a boarding school? If not, you have your breakfast before leaving the house. You can take a packed lunch. If you used to eat so many carbs that removing them means there's nothing left, then you really need the Atkins diet, so you will learn to eat more variety, good quality protein foods, a good selection of high quality, vitamin packed veggies, healthy oils and fats and much more. You'll soon find a few staple things you enjoy which you can throw together quickly, and you'll be set for lunches.
LUNCH IDEAS
Take one large tub, a couple of small tubs, a picnic knife, fork and spoon to school every day. Packed lunch ideas are:
1. Devilled eggs like Brinethery said - that's eggs with mayonnaise
2. A greek salad is very easy and quick to prepare: feta cheese, lettuce, tomato, olive oil.
3. Chicken salad with mayonnaise.
4. Prawn cocktail salad.
5. Chop 1/2 an avocado with a can of tuna (drain it and break it up a bit) and add either a little sesame oil or a different dressing of your choice.
6. Raw broccoli with a curry mayonnaise is a delicious salad you could have on the side of some cooked ham, etc.
7. Raita (cubed cucumber in greek yoghurt) would be lovely with something meaty, or with a quiche.
8. Tuna dip with raw cauliflower and courgettes to dip in. (Mash a can of tuna with mayonnaise, and add lemon juice/chilli/black pepper to your taste.
9. Egg mayonnaise with cheesy coleslaw (go light on the carrot)
10. You could make a baseless quiche to last for several days - try mixing 4 eggs with around 4oz of cottage cheese and some herbs, fry a sliced onion, then layer the onion, 2-3 sliced tomatoes and 3-4 ounces of sliced cheese in a baking dish and cover with the egg mixture. Bake at 180 for around 30-40 mins, until set. Serve with any salad and it's 4 servings. (For variation you can add some seaweed (soak it for a minute first if it's dried) or spinach to the egg mixture or use different vegetables
11. Mix up lettuce, chopped tomatoes and chopped cooked bacon with mayonnaise mixed with mustard for a tasty salad. That recipe comes from "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution".
12. Mix sliced tomatoes, boiled eggs and mayonnaise for a yummy salad to serve with cold meat or other salads.
13. Smoked mackerel pate - mash approximately 150g tub of cottage cheese with 2 smoked mackerel and some black pepper to taste. (2 servings) Serve with sliced tomatoes.
Have a couple of extra small containers with a couple of teaspoons of hummus or greek yoghurt (3-4 teaspoons of Total full fat) with some fruit to eat with your lunch. (You can freeze some fruit like rasps/strawbs and just take a little out to add to your yoghurt every day).
Take a bag with a few nuts (Dr. Atkins suggests brazil nuts), seeds, or small amounts of fruit, but don't take too many - just a few is enough each day.
Try to get plenty of variety.
Start to broaden out your diet then you won't have so many problems.
I really think you need to challenge yourself to loosen off your tight control over what you think you should eat, and accept that the Atkins diet is called that because Dr. Atkins was the diet guru who has saved the lives of countless morbidly obese people. Consult Dr. Atkins book for lists of possible foods and some recipes. Start adding in the carbs slowly, get some healthy exercise which you enjoy like dancing, walking or skating, and accept that men, excessive eaters and those who retain water lose weight quickly on Atkins, but many others just take a lot longer to get the weight loss rolling, and the key to getting it rolling is to try out different things, because we are all different. ((((Big hugs Molly)))).. It's hard, but I know you can do it. xx