So...compared to different times that I've attempted Atkins, I'm being a lot more strict and sticking to it this time around. My weight keeps fluctuating and it's not really going down. The weird thing is, when I go out drinking, I ALWAYS lose. The other "morning after" I was down to 158, and this morning I was 162.5 and I was REALLY good yesterday. I'm so pissed. I don't even know what to do. I don't know what I'm doing differently this time as compared to last time I went on Atkins and lost consistently.

It could be the"drinking". I think I read once that in low carb diets you should not drink alcohal. Your body stops burning fat for energy and uses the alcohal. I don't drink but I am having the same problem. I dropped to 247 from 260 then went up to 250 and stalled for a week. I did not eat anything that was not on my plan but it happened.

I have only managed to consistently lose weight after drastically reducing my beer consumption (I live in Germany and the beer is very good and very cheap here - worse luck!). What I noticed, as a daily weigher, is that after drinking beer, I wouldn't put on weight straight away, but that the weight gain (usually about a pound) would kick in about 2 days later. And then it would stay on for about a week.

Alcohol really messes up a low-carb diet. Instead of being able to metabolize fat, your liver says "Oh my god, poison in the system, must get rid of alcohol first, all other processes on hold!" and all the good work you may have achieved by low-carbing is out the window!

I started to google all this stuff and was absolutely horrified at how your system reacts to alcohol. It pretty much put me off drinking the stuff. Now I have also found out which amount of alcohol (2x 0,33l small bottles of say Czech Pilsener) will NOT have any effect on weight loss, in my case, and on social occasions, will have a tipple.

I sleep much better without alcohol, too. There was a thread recently in the media watch section about sleep and weight loss. Poor sleep equals poor weight loss. So it follows that alcohol will also impede weight loss for that reason, too.

Stay off the stuff as much as you can! Google information on "alcohol metabolism - liver". Get scared. Get thin!

Those are my thoughts on the matter.

amanda

One other thing crossed my mind: how old are you? I sincerely believe that your body can deal with all the poisons we routinely ingest as "youngsters" quite well, but that the body's ability to do so diminishes with age.

Before 30, I could recover from hangovers much more quickly and easily than in my late 30s. Now I just stay away from them. Too much pain. And painkillers mess up your kidneys...

The difference could also be due to ageing, is what I'm saying.

amanda

and drinking dehydrates. they're not real losses.

Another thing crossed my mind: you guys should look up a thread about water retention on this forum; I think it was called "why the scales lie". It explains why it appears that one is not losing weight, but in fact what is happening is that the shrinking fat cells (which will not disappear completely once they've been made, just shrink) fill themselves up with water. They don't give up the fight easily and if they can't fill themselves up with fat, they'll make do with water! Water is probably heavier by volume than water (I imagine) therefore a loss of ffat could actually look like a gain in weight! So don't give up!!! I forget the name of the lady who posted this thread, but if you use the Advanced Search facility to search the forum, you should get it.

Don't give up and good luck!

amanda

Drinking dehydrates you- I always weigh less after a night of vino. Dehydration--> your body overcompensates the next day by retaining more water.
Don't give up. I'm not. I lose not at all.

Amanda thanks for the info. I am still holding strong and am now at 245

I think you need to stop worrying so much about daily weights- it's normal for your weight to fluctuate a little each day- just look at the overall pattern, not every little up and down.

It's truly not about "being really good" one day and seeing the scale move the following morning. It's more about taking care of yourself, feeding yourself right, and then trusting your body to do what it needs to do and in its own time.

You CANNOT control how fast you lose weight. There are so many factors beyond diet and exercise- hormones, or your body simply needing to "take a break" after a certain stretch of weight loss before moving onto the next one. Stalls happen- and all you can do during them is to keep on doing what you've been doing and be patient with your body.

Well, here's where I'm at. I'm really not ready to completely cut out alcohol. I'm 22, and having a good time..also, my last "go" went really well and I lost about 40 pounds whilst drinking all the time, so I know that my body reacts differently to alcohol than other people...but as for right now I'm just eating what I want but not too much, and I think I'll cut out carbs again in a few weeks and see how my body reacts. I'm not giving up, I'm just putting my body back to default...well, my default..Anyway, you guys kick ass. Thanks for all the advice/support.

You're doing yourself a huge disservice.

By the way, did you know that "pissed" is one of many British slang words for "drunk"?

You're 22 - your body can deal with toxins better than mine which is twice as old as yours - but if you get into the habit of drinking a lot, you could easily get properly hooked. And if you do, you won't be looking so good at 44 - you'll be overweight and heading for liver problems, probably not doing your kidneys any good either if you take a lot of painkillers after hangovers, and you might find that your body stops dealing with toxins so well after 30.

But, hey, you're young and it's your perfect right to do stupid stuff when you're young. I did loads of stupid stuff when I was young. It took me years to get off cigarettes and beer, and I regret ever having tried alcohol and nicotine. But preaching to you won't help.

I hope you don't end up an alcoholic. Mind you, alcoholics do tend to be very skinny just before they die, because they then get to the stage where they get all their calories from alcohol... Or they are very fat with huge beer bellies. Sounds like a great choice.

I wish you luck with life nonetheless.

amanda

You're very welcome!

Hang on in there!

amanda

No it doesn't. Lots of thin alcoholics in this world. You're just kidding yourself if you think drinking doesn't make a difference. But, as Amanda said, you are only young and stupid once. I was young and stupid once myself so I'm not going to preach.

One thing -- taking a break when you are not ready to go forward is *smart*. When you are ready it will be easier that if you spent a lot of time beating yourself up and being frustrated.

I was thinking about this after I read this post. My mother was an alcoholic. She drank alot. She would go on benders that would last months! I remember when she would stop drinking for a period of time, she would gain weight. She would try dieting but never had any success at it. I always thought that alcohol basically broke down to sugar,which is basically what low carbers are trying to avoid. Funny though, I have known alot of alcoholics, other than my mother, and not one was overweight. That is until they stopped drinking. Maybe they drank so much, they didnt need to eat?