Actually, when I first started in 2002, I went from around 212 to 196 (minus 16 lbs) in the first month. But then I would see-saw between two weights about 2 lbs apart for about a month, and finally drop those two pounds. So from 196 to 194 took a month, 192 to 190 took about a month, and so on. Once I got down to 175, it was *really* tough work and I only lost about a half-pound a month during all of 2003. But at the end of the year, I was fitter than I'd ever been, stronger than I'd been since I was in my 20s, wearing smaller sizes (mediums) than I'd worn in 15 years, and getting picture-perfect bloodwork results. I'd also completely *ended* my regular migraines. Weight loss was a bonus!

That said, when I started I was considerably farther from my goal weight of 145 than tmajic is from a goal of 150...and the closer you are to goal, the more work weight loss is because you are working on weight you've been carrying for the longest time at that point. People with more weight to lose do often see 'whooshes' on PP.

This time, post chemo and two surgeries and all of the drugs that contribute to weight gain during chemo, it's been pretty much the same. I went from 216 to 195 pretty quickly, within a month or so, but getting from 195 to 189 has been a five month struggle. I'm actually really close to 188, but since my scale doesn't do fractions of pounds, I just wait until I'm actually stable on the whole number. At this point, I start at 188 and then after about 20 seconds bounce back up to 189. =sigh= And now, I'm in menopause--which I wasn't before--and have to be careful about the kinds and intensity of exercise that I do each day, so my hormones, my body and my metabolism are NOT all working on the same 'lose this excess' team.

Tmajic, everyone loses at a different rate. I agree with what's been suggested here...measure yourself, and measure what you're eating, and change up your exercise if you always always always do the same routine at the same time and same intensity. Bodies are cautious things, and they don't willingly let go of weight they want to hang onto. You just have to be more persistent than your metabolism. Frankly, three weeks may not be long enough--but if you have insulin resistance health issues like elevated BP, lipid panels or blood sugars; if you have sleep apnea, migraines, PCOS, family histories cancer, or anything else where more and more studies are recognizing that controlling carb intake is the easy way to prevent/improve the condition, then you may want to stay with PP just for the health improvements. And as your underlying conditions improve, the body reshaping will follow.

Aweseome story, Gaelen. Inspiring and informative. My body has been fighting me for every pound, but I have to say that I've been living well while doing it AND physically I'm just in such a better place...so I can't complain. I'm going to be on this ride for a LONG time, so I might as well enjoy it!

Thanks to all of you for responding....I read PPLP and started doing the 7-10 carb per meal suggestion...I was having 2 snacks per day and 3 meals keeping under the 10 carbs...my "ususal day" is this:

Breakfast: Atkins LC brkfst bar- 3 carbs or
1/2 cup cottage cheese 1/4 cup blueberries -7 carbs

Lunch: Tuna with mayo on lettuce with Olive Oil and a little
Vinegar
Sometimes a chefs salad with ham, cheese, turkey and blue cheese dressing
Or a ham and swiss (4thin slices ham, 2 swiss) on LC bread 3 carbs per slice

Dinner: Chicken grilled, a veggie usually Cauliflower mashed with butter or green beans..peppers and onions as a side and a salad with black olives or gorgonzola cheese with Olive Oil

My snacks would be 7 alomonds or 1Tbsp LC Peanut butter which is 3 carbs per tablespoon.

I Make chicken cutlets once a week for my family and I do use bread crumbs but only eat 2 pieces so even though I know the bread crumbs are a no-no I cant believe it would stall me to this point..and I am much stricter than I was the first time low carbing which was about 8 years ago...

I don't eat red meat...and also find it hard to eat a lot of protein at one sitting...My son brought home Proetien Powder Whey which is one carb but loaded with protein...could I not be getting enough protein? Anyway I tried the powder in a shake with frozen strawberries and water...(under 10 carbs) didnt much like the taste but I got it down...

SO, any tips???

Do you really need those snacks? That's the first thing I would delete. No nuts and no peanut butter.

Did you figure out how much protein you should have? At your weight, you probably don't need more than 4oz per meal (I'm just guessing since I'm at 6oz and I weigh a lot more). So one 3.5 can of tuna is about the right amount -- that's not much is it?

Next, eliminate the cottage cheese and other cheese for a week. Can you eat a couple of eggs or some turkey bacon for breakfast?

Eliminate all bread and that includes the bread crumbs.

All these little things do add up. Just give it a try for a couple of weeks and see what happens. And don't forget to measure!

Okay, what I'd lose is the Atkins bar. The sugar alcohols and the other junk in those things might not be helping things. I know I don't lose much if I eat them.

A typical half-cup of cottage cheese is only about 13g protein...and while you don't need to divide your minimum recommended protein into three equal portions, and many people eat mini-meals throughout the day, getting a good shot of protein in when you first break your overnight fast is a good thing. At your weight, at minimum you need to be looking at around 77g protein, or more, and 13g isn't much of a start on that.



Okay. 3 oz. of albacore tuna in water, drained, is only 20g protein. Chunk light, drained, comes in a little better at 22g protein. That's for one of the single serving cans.
The salad you're describing, and the sandwich, all look like no more than an oz of cheese and maybe two oz. of deli meat...again, we're talking less than 20g protein. And the tuna, cheese and deli meats usually ALL have a lot of sodium, which could be helping you hold on to excess fluids rather than flushing them from your system. Are you drinking at least 64 oz. of water daily too?



A 6 oz. boneless breast of chicken, grilled, can be about 47g of protein--a good amount. However, for me it works a lot better to get that protein in much earlier in my day than dinner. And if the portion is smaller, so is the amount of protein you're getting.



Seven almonds? No more than 2g protein. A tablespoon of peanut butter is only around 5g protein.

On your best day, you're only taking in 7g of protein in snacks, and then maybe 13 + 20 + 47g protein in breakfast + lunch + dinner. If the chicken breast is smaller, then you're getting less. But it looks to me like you aren't getting any more than 80-87g protein. Have you figured out, based on your lean body mass, what your minimum protein requirements are? If not, there are protein calculators on the PP website in the forums which are very close to the calculations in the original PP book. You really do need to figure out what your protein minimum requirements are, and I'd try to get more of it sooner in the day.



You don't have to eat red meat to do PP...in fact, it's a very vegetarian-friendly plan for people who need it to be. I mainly only eat vegetable proteins, fish and a small amount of poultry myself. However, I do use protein powder, and you might have to shop around to find a taste that works for you. I like GNC Protein 95 chocolate flavore, a store brand of vanilla whey powder, and Isopure Dutch Chocolate and French Vanilla whey protein powders. I get Isopure at GNC, but it's also available in other outlets.

My typical day starts with a breakfast shake (cold coffee, kefir, ricotta cheese, Isopure chocolate protein powder and cinnamon) that is about 37g protein, 12g ECC, followed by a lunch that is around 22-25g protein (usually steamed or poached fish with vegetables), and then two 'snacks' which are each around 15g protein. That way, I can manage to get in at least my 77g protein minimum, even if I have to skip one of the late day or dinnertime snack-sized meals. When you eat and how much you at at each time has to work out best for you--this just happens to work pretty well for me. YMMV.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

I was just browsing by by I was curious about PP. Iwent to the library to get the book but is was checked out. This diet seems almost like Atkins? How can I tell what my recommended amount of protien is witout having the book?

Hello everyone!

This morning I did an upper body workout at the gym. I'm saving my legs for a 20 mile mountain run this morning. I'm doing a lot better running uphill. I can do a slow chug all the way up now without stopping! I can really feel my calves burning the whole time, but it's getting easier.

Tmajic - keep working on it, 1 pound is good and more will come!

Thanks for all the tips...I will check out the protein needed for my specific weight..I guess my biggest problem is that I am just reading the book in bits and pieces..last night I began reading whole chapters!! lol...I will look for the protein scale this morning, thanks, it makes complete sense when you think about it...I will also check out GNC protein powders, maybe I can buy single servings and try them out? The aktins bars will be hard to give up as I eat them on the run the mornings I have class I will have to come up with something else I guess..............also what about the idea of giving blood?????? What a wild chapter that was!! ..all of the symptoms they described for the over abundance of iron fit me to a tee! Has anyone done this?

(I am also taking magnesium and a multivitamin although I should up the magnesium according to the book.)

Thanks for all the tips...I will check out the protein needed for my specific weight..I guess my biggest problem is that I am just reading the book in bits and pieces..last night I began reading whole chapters!! lol...I will look for the protein scale this morning, thanks, it makes complete sense when you think about it...I will also check out GNC protein powders, maybe I can buy single servings and try them out? The aktins bars will be hard to give up as I eat them on the run the mornings I have class I will have to come up with something else I guess..............also what about the idea of giving blood?????? What a wild chapter that was!! ..all of the symptoms they described for the over abundance of iron fit me to a tee! Has anyone done this?

(I am also taking magnesium and a multivitamin although I should up the magnesium according to the book.)

Hi Mslaster, have you been doing Atkins for awhile? I think PP is definitely Atkins-compatible. You should note that PP is good for explaining WHY and getting you started, but PPLP (Protein Power Lifeplan) is even better for giving your guidance to HOW you should do it. Even finding your protein requirements are easier because they provided a chart (versus calculating LBM and all that). According to the chart, a woman at 5 ft 175 should have 27g protein per meal. I am currently at 34 per meal. So I think that would be a good start for you to make sure you're getting "sufficient" protein. That's really the key. I would highly recommend you read the book of course, but hopefully this will help!

Good job continuning to read the book, tmajic, I think you'll find the more ideas and tips you get on honing in on this WOL the more results you'll get. I know it's helped me immensely in ways that may not obviously relate to weight loss, but I truly believe it's all connected and my overall health is far superior since I've begun PP.

Now for some good news for the PP gang...I hit an all-time low on my scale this morning! Yesterday was 180.4 and today was 180. So after wavering and working to get things going, something finally gave.

But what I would say is that you need to listen to those who know, like Gaelen and AuntJoyce. The fact is, I did back off on the cheese and nuts and when I did have them, they were measured carefully. Of course I've enjoyed myself plenty over the months, but after the holidays I got a bit stricter. One thing I gave up for the month was alchohol. I also began working with a trainer and that has been incredible. But I still eat plenty, including lots of good fat and sufficient protein. I feel strong and leaner every day. My nails are stronger too! I've been enjoying myself and my WOL...no thinking "ugh, I'm on this diet" and best yet, I've finally honed in on something that is working to bring the scale down again too.

And speaking of protein, I'm off to go enjoy some rotisserie chicken and avocado.

Thank you for your prompt reply!!! I have a copy of the book on hold in the library once it is returned. I should be getting it in about 3-4 weeks hopefully. Another person is ahead of me. Could you please tell me my requirements? I am 5'1 and I weigh 188.

At 5'1" 188 pounds you should have 34g, 3x/day for your minimum requirement - just like me! You'll change down to 27 when you hit 175, but for now it's 34.

You should add to your profile and start up a journal, this way we can chat back and forth. Of course you're welcome to PM me too. You can certainly start out with the basics and start applying them before you get the book. Just have that amount of protein and 7-10 net carbs per meal and you'll do well.

Good luck!

Lisa,

I would love to PM you, but it states that I do not have permission. Gonna be honest here.....I am not that computer smart. I don't know how to do the profie and start a journal. I do have a few other questions? What can I use until I get the book to tell me how much protien stuff has in it-you know--like chicken or any other meat or egg so I won't gove over my daily allowance. I do understand that I keep my carbs around 30 (gonna go back and check the thread to make sure). Really excited about this. I can't wait to get the book. When I get paid next week, I am going to go out and see can I find a use one instead of waiting on the library. And again, thanks for you help.

Ok, right...you are too new to PM. No worries then. Perhaps a journal would be a good place to start. Go here to the journals section http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=36 and just start a "new thread" with your name on it. Simple. Then that will be your "home base" where others can visit you. They'll write to you and you reply in their journals. (Note how every post has links at the bottom right. As a matter of fact you could click on my journal right from here and post something. I just wouldn't be able to respond.) Works nicely!

I've often used online resources to figure out the "how much" thing. I used to go to calorieking.com to get nutritional information. Then I started looking up free trackers online. I came across Fitday and I love it. Also too, we have the MYPLAN system right here on this forum. You should see a green bar at the top of the forum while you're reading my post. To the left is the user CP area...that's where you add more information to your profile for us to get to know you better. To the right of the bar is the MYPLAN section. I think when you type in quantities of what you're eating (or plan to eat) you'll get the macronutrient breakdown.

When you're on the forum and you aren't sure where you "ended up" you can always click on the logo at the top left to start fresh.

I'm happy you're so excited and I hope this helped! Good luck.