I have been on Induction since April 7th and have not seen ANY weight loss. I still can't fit into any of my clothing and not a thing has change in any visible way or clothing-measured way.

After hearing about women dropping 5 pounds a week or more, I am completely baffled and the torture of following the routine is making me think I made a bad decision to try this program at all.

This is NOT a lifestyle change for me - sorry - I simply put on weight during a time when I was trying to keep my body fueled to fight an illness. Now, the weight must come off.

I have been walking daily and running between 30-40 minutes every day, or every other day, if the leg cramps have been too severe.

I drink at least 64 oz of water every day, religiously.

Menu as follows:

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with tablespoon of pure fresh grated parmesan
(0 carbs; 0 sugars) and a heaping teaspoon of green chilies.

Chai Tea (which is NOT a true tea, just spices) with Stevia (1 pkt) and a shot of heavy cream.

Lunch: 1 cup cauliflower (which has been sauteed in coconut oil and 0 carb/0 sugar chicken broth), 1 hamburger patty (smallish) in coconut oil, too.

Dinner: Reasonable portion of steak, chicken, salmon, or ground beef...all sauteed in coconut oil. Small salad with Goddess dressing (0 carb; 0 sugar) or coleslaw with mayo.

or any of the other options, as I mass produce the food once a week for the week, in order to control purity and quality of what I'm eating (organics):

Salmon Caesar w/ Goddess or (0 carb; 0 sugar) Caesar dressing.

I tried Diet Rite soda for a few days, but didn't trust the Splenda effect in my body, so I stopped several days ago. I eliminated all cheeses, as I was previously consuming cheddar, except the allowed hard cheese, and only in small portions of that.

I have now and will always use real butter, and the half and half I normally use I upped to heavy cream for Atkins. All are pure, local organics.

I would have 5 tic tac sized xylitol mints after dinner. I stopped that, too.

I intake no caffeine...and never really did. I drink Chai and am not a coffee fan.

I drank Diet Cherry Pepsi for a few days and didn't trust it and stopped that. That began and ended the first week of Atkins.

I weighed myself last night at 127 pounds and again upon awakening to find myself now at 130 pounds. I gained 3 pounds in my sleep. I have a small frame, so a pound on me looks like 10 on someone else.

Needless to say, this is enough to put me off this whole way of dieting for good if I don't have some legitimate answers or loss by Friday (2 days from now).

Apparently, I can only conclude, that my body "doesn't comprehend" what I am trying to do to it. Starvation it understands. It goes to it kicking and screaming and producing nothing for the first 2 weeks, then the pounds begin to sheed at around 3 every 2 weeks.

With Atkins, everyone seemed to have significant weight loss in the first 2 weeks on Induction. I surmise that my body is simply unable to lose weight with this approach because it doesn't understand something so counter-intuitive: eat more, lose weight.

Starvation makes sense. Your famine mode kicks in, you don't crave food. If you keep exercising on a vastly reduced menu, it HAS to come off. I have only ever dropped a few pounds, at the rare times I've needed to, when I was so overwhelmed with work, I didn't have time for food or sleep and the food took the hit on that one.

I ate a sandwich at lunch, then broth with 5 tortellini as dinner plus as much unbuttered popcorn as I wanted. Stop eating, weight comes off. Makes sense.

My body must simply be running off the protein I give it and it is not burning any fat.

Trust me, I've been nibbling off the block of butter...love the stuff. Cooking with plenty of oil, using mayo, dressings, etc.

Maybe Atkins just won't work for me. There seems to be nothing I can do to prompt any loss. I'm as "globby" as I was 2 weeks ago, and my brain and strength are so limited I am afraid I might step into oncoming traffic and not even realize it.

I locked an animal and my keys/cell/purse in the car on the weekend and had to run to the gas station to call for emergency road service to get them out.

On Atkins, I'm a brainless, exhausted idiot. I don't know who is getting energized and achieving clarity on Atkins, but I have had the opposite. I am in a potentially-very-dangerous stupor.

I am doing religiously everything on the Induction plan. 20 g carbs a day and plenty of regular protein and butter (3 x day...and I am not a breakfast eater), coconut oil, mayo, cream. Not too much of the cream, and about a pat of butter. I put butter on my steak last night.

I have read the forums for weeks now and can't figure out why my body won't participate.

Maybe Atkins just won't work for me. My body will only do what it knows to do. Burn fat when it has no other means of fuel a.k.a. starvation dieting.

If anyone has any secrets or sees something I am doing wrong, please tell me. The psysio/psychological torture of eating only protein with little veg is excruciating for me and has been eveery second for this whole 2 weeks...which has felt like 10 years already.

As I said, sorry, this isn't a lifestyle change for me nor will it ever be. This should have nothing to do with weight loss. My metabolism is steady but I have been hammered with work for the last 6 months after the illness (during whcih the pounds were gained due to no ability to exercise.) and once I lose the excess, I'm back to normal living with a stable weight of 118 pounds and the metabolism of an incinerator, meaning I can eat anything and not gain weight.

To clarify, I DON'T gain weight regularly. My weight is steady. If there is an illness and I have to keep body fueled to fight it but can't exercise, that is my challenge, as I am normally very active physically with hiking, walking and cycling (I'm addicted to it; walk 3x week ~ 2-3 miles each, hike/cycle on weekend).

I jsut believe that if I keep eating food, my body isn't going to get the "drop weight" message. I would understand why it didn't! Makes sense.

according to your stats you are 128 pounds right now... what is your height? What is your lean body to fat ratio?

I lost 80 pounds in 8 months.. but then you have to realize that I had 130 pounds of fat on my frame.

Now that I am 15 pounds away from goal my weightloss has changed to a different dynamic.

I need to download your post and root through it and make some notes.. Hang in there... Not all is lost.

John

Wow!! John! You have lost more than my entire body weight in fat!! Congrads!

I'm 5'7". Runner's frame. Prob 12% body fat standard. I have a blazing metabolism. I'm the "eat anything, never gain a pound type." Eat like
a linebacker, don't store it. If I'm ill, I fall out of being able to be active.

If you look at me, you won't spot any fat normally. Now, it's like a neon sign! So around 12-15% max is right. Little SubQ, none visible. Body style: Courteney Cox and I have the exact same body, hips and all.

Interesting that your loss dynamic is different now that you are closer.

My head feels like it is in a vice. I have to check my drivers license to remember my name. I realized driving yesterday that I could very easily plow into a semi at 70 miles per hour and never even realize it...I'm in that much of an out-of-body mental state. I'm simply "not in here," if that makes any sense.

Starvation is easier for me. My body is used to periods of famine, due to extremes in workloads, and it gets the mesage after a couple weeks. Atkins, on the other hand, makes me so weak and witless, it could actually get me (and who knows how many others) killed.

Talking to my BFF this morning, we decided that it is safer, smarter and in better intuition with my body and its own processes to discontinue Atkins and "do what you know works."

I have decided to stay on Atkins a few more days, since I just made all the food for 3 meals a day for a whole week! I am going to increase whatever I need to to bring up my level ofbrain activity and muscle strength, stop the cramping. I am going for coffee now. Praying that eases this constant head pain. I may add Diet Cherry Pepsi, as it seemed to clear my head when I drank it before I knew I wasn't supposed to, and I felt more like "Me" again on it (Aspartame! Ick...but it works). I use organic whole sugar - a whole food - normally. So, I'm upping some kind of carb or soda to bring my brain back online, then doing Atkins program to get rid of the food, then its off the Atkins for good.

Lesson learned.

Doesn't work for me.

My body is its own machine. It certainly has its own mind. It was designed for speed and agility...and that doesn't point to a lot of fat and protein for me. I DO eat butter like it's a food group, but I don't ever eat fast food or ice cream (can't stand the stuff) or junk. I grew up on healthy foods and the lean, sleek - albeit a little rich - inclinations to food I am drawn to. I have never been a Big Carb person, as I love flavor and potatoes and starches are just boring and bland to me.

To be honest, starvation isn't the right way to go about it. You may not need Atkins.

You may do better on a Paleo / Primal approach.

check this site out:

http://marksdailyapple.com

I am following his book along with Atkins they dovetail nicely together.

People losing 5lbs a week probably have a LOT more to lose than 10lbs. You can't use that as a guideline for yourself. Some people who are extremely successful in the long run never lose while on induction.

The majority of losses during induction come from water weight. If you aren't carrying a ton of excess water, you won't see huge losses. That combined with the fact you are only looking to lose 10% on an already fit (12-15%BF...VERY fit) body...you're just not going to see these massive losses. We can expect to see up to 10% of what we need to lose come off in the first 2 weeks. For you - 1 lb. If you aren't weighing daily, you could've caught yourself on a bad fluccuation day. If you're working out a lot, your muscles are holding on to water while they repair. Lots of things fall into the equation.

That all said, if you aren't really planning on making this a lifestyle change, you may be right in thinking it isn't for you. It's not meant to be used as a diet since most of what will come off is in responds to limiting your carbs below what most would consider "normal" - even in maintenance. So if you go back to eating them at a SAD level, the weight will likely creep back on with them. This isn't to say there aren't a plethora of other benefits to low carb eating...I'm just saying if your only goal is weight loss, you would be better off finding a plan that is something that you can sustain long term. There's no one size fits all plan. The diet that is sustainable is the one that you should follow.

I agree with John - with such little to lose, Atkins may not be right for you.

I remember years ago ( actually 30...o.m.g. ) going with a friend to give her support to Slimmer's World. I followed the diet with her and in one week put on 3lbs. I was 100lb at the time, and it was all too rich for me.I didn't go back....

I like it.

I'm one of the great exposers (3rd generation) about the ways we do things wrong - contaminations, cons, hype, etc. [book to follow soon], so we are in agreement there.

I have never been a starch and grain person. EVER. I am the student. The body is the teacher. If I don't listen, it rebels. It is FAR smarter than me.

Still, I should have just followed my intuition. If I gained several pounds during an illness, suck it up, shut it, and "don't eat" it off.

Having low blood sugar/potassium is an issue for me, so stability is important. Still, my body DOES know best what is best for it, given the trajectory of health food and organics of my lifelong lifestyle (I've neevr eaten a McDonald's hamburger in my life).

Rebirthing (breathing), YES. Organics for purity, YES. The sugar I eat IS a whole food. I eat no processed foods, use real butter like a food group, and have been a bone-rack my whole life (except when sick a couple times).

NO diet coke, junk food, potato chips, impure fats (olive, coconut, butter...that's ALL you need for total life). Very little bread, almost no pasta. Rarely if ever a donut or fries (3x a year maybe?). So, I'm Primal to begin with...and purity is King for me.

I'm inclined to lighter fare mostly. I sit, but it is very difficult for me. I was born to be dynamic, in motion.

I believe that our bodies are different. We should all be active and eating right, but not denying moderate pleasures. This is, of course, governed by the individual body. My BFF lost 8 pounds by smaller meals and 15 minutes of exercise a day. No denials.

People in Tibet live to 140 years on a tablespoon of food daily. We overeat. I don't do it, as I am not inclined that way. I also don't eat while bored.

Maybe I can't lose like everyone else because I dont' EAT like everyone else to begin with?

krystalr...

my metabolism is a constant, neither adding or losing since it was acquired during a few months of illness...when I drop it, I will stay constant, too, just at the standard weight...make any sense? Nothing creeps...thankfully. It holds at whatever weight. I just want it back at 118.

theresaw & CIF...& krystalr...

I agree. I thinks Atkins is wrong for me and my body's Loss Style. I've decided to go off it within the next few days. Complicating the issue is the fact I am moving in about 2 weeks, so I need power and intellect. This is not conducive to a move, but I'd be stronger on it than on Atkins.

Atkins is just NOT right for me.

Thanks so much for validating my "fuzzy-right-now logic."

It sounds as though your mind was more or less made up before you took the time to explain why it was already made up, so I'm a little confused about what the question is here?

Everyone acknowledges that Atkins isn't effective as a "crash-lose-the-last-10lbs" kind of diet, so to come onto a board railing that you're only using the diet to lose a few pounds and have no plans of continuing with it seems redundant.

It sounds as though you have lots of experience with starvation, as do I. My metabolism is a mess because of it, and while I can lose 3lbs a week by not eating (as we all could) that doesn't make it a healthy alternative to eating whole foods and eating them regularly.

Also, the Atkins diet it not low on veggies if you're following it. Most (if not all) the carbs you eat come from veggies and you ideally should be eating veggies with at least 2 meals a day. Making up your own plan and calling it Atkins does not make it so, I would know.

Electrica...

Please read my entire menu from my original thread about what I consumed for the past 2 weeks.

If people lose up to 5 pounds a week, why can't I?

There is no universal law that requires me to make it a lifestyle change.

After I posted, about 3 hours after, in fact, and in response to replies, it doesn't seem right for me.

How do I explain it clearly.....hmmmm.....I don't NEED a permanent diet. My body MAINTAINS whatever weight it gets set at. If I have been in bed for a few months without exercise, when I get up, my metabolism simply goes back to its standard hold constant. PLUS THE EXTRA WEIGHT. If I am 115 pounds when I get out of bed, I will stay at that. 128, I will stay at that.

I don't NEED a permanent wieght loss plan. I don't creep. I remain constant. I want to REMAIN at my NORMAL CONSTANT. Does that make any sense?

I DO NOT have LOTS of experience with starvation. I have had periods of intense amounts of work that have precluded me from eating, hence the starvation mode down to 115 lbs(too low).

My metabolism is Never a mess. I am in peak and exuberant health. I SIMPLY need to lose this extra 9 pounds of fat accumulated during an illness.

I shouldn't be penalized for having a lean body by nature just because I had to keep up strength during an illness. (Backstory: Had bronchitis. Went 5 days without eating. Almost died. Thought it would be best to add weight and live, rather than die if it chose to relapse. Poor planning? Maybe. But "Hi. I'm still around.")

Please read my first post. I DO eat whole foods and have always eaten them fairly regularly, except for a few times in work overload.

Compared to the volumes of fresh veg MY body requests daily, Atkins is Very Low on Veg!! I have veg with every meal. Usually raw. (Whole foods are one thing; raw is another).

Hunh? Making up my own plan? PLEASE read my first post with my menu listed in detail and let me know how on God's Green you believe I am making up something "my own" and how my menu is NOT what is on the Atkins Induction Phase 1. It is to the letter to Atkins Induction.

Thanks.

P.S. Yeah, I get it. I'm the girl everyone hates because I can normally eat anything I want and never gain and don't have to diet as a lifestyle. So I got lucky. I normally HAVE to eat every few hours and that can be a real burden, believe it or not, when you're organic. When I drop the several pounds of fat, yes, I get to go back to my normal intake. It's genetic. But ANYONE will gain weight ill and in bed for months. That's just how it is. God made me this way. I can't apologize for it. It ain't my fault. I eat what I want, I just don't get stupid or sloppy about it.

So, in your original post, you said you usual tatics result in no losses in the first 2 weeks, then losses in week following. Maybe that's just how your body responds to dieting. No losses in these first 2 weeks, with something to follow next? I'm not trying to convince you or anything, just pointing this out.

People initially lose so much weight on a low carb diet because when they cut the carbs out, they shed water. But from reading your posts, you probably weren't holding much water, because you were already on a lowish carb diet. So the initial failure to lose doesn't surprise me at all.

As for how to handle it going forward, I'd start looking at calories as the culprit. You replaced half and half with full fat cream, for example. Not sure the effect some of the other changes you made would have on calories, but you can look at it and try to figure it from there. Atkins, or any other low carb regime, does not have any magical powers with regards to energy balance: if you are consuming more calories than you burn, you will gain; if you are burning the same as you consume, you'll stay constant, and so on.

How long were you ill, and presumably not exercizing? If you started exercizing again, it could mean your muscles are toning up, and that can make you retain some water.

krystalr...

I totally agree with you.

My mind has been spinning around that same loop, too.

I made food for the whole week, so I'm going to stay on Atkins a
few more days because I have to eat the food before I go on
"no food." I am adding coffee and I think my electrolytes may have
crashed out, making me very spacey and headachy (enter Pedialyte).

If your electrolytes are off, that can severely f with your whole life
and body. This is know. I run low potassium. I always thought it was
low blood sugar. Actually, according to my blood panel, it's both. Low
potassium blocks blood sugar uptake. You can die from low electrolytes.

So, I'm gonna stay on Atkins, but up my carbs about 5-10 grams and
get my electrolytes stabilized. Keep working out to cross-train for the
move (standard procedure there), then go on a cleanse, then fasting
at my former program of a sammich and broth a day.

I know what you mean though. I have been thinking the same thing.
But I know this body. It's smart. It WILL burn the proteins I give it and
then conserve energy by robbing my brain and muscles. If its the
electrolytes, the weight will start to come off. It's been 2 weeks. I want
to think it could work, but I can sense my body's diabolical thought
processes.

Case in point: I just got a coffee with Splenda and a reallly good pour of
half and half in it. I can now bound up stairs I could barely walk up this
morning, but I'm still spacey. What did my body NOT just get? Electrolytes.

The reason I decided to go it by less rather than the "more" of Atkins is that it is far less excruciating (though still some to do it the way I have done it before by NOT eating, than the torture of being on Atkins way for me.

kwikdriver...

Love your signature tags! Too funny!!!!!

I know. I have read it's water weight. I probably wasn't carrying much of that.

I was ill for the entire month of November 2009 and then again in Jan or Feb,
I can't remember which, for another month (relapse). After that, I was at the
computer doing business launches and learning to write code for 12-16 hours
a day.

I accumulated the weight then and it has just been sitting there "in storage"
ever since. When I started my normal routine back up, I just went back to
constant, not overburn.

Because I am normally so active, calories have never been something I have
ever had to watch. I normally burn them fast and need food every few hours
just to stay on an even keel. Still, clearly, it is how I gained it. My body just
doesn't understand inactivity.

I guess the sammich and broth a day is my way of saying to my body, "Now
you need to reverse the trend, til you hit the target...then it back to having
whatever you want." It has the incentive, so if it wants the old lifestyle
back, all it has to do it burn the fat (that and I give it no other choice....
which is often what it comes down to, in ketosis, psychosis, or starvation

P.S. Saw a bumper sticker the other day that was upside down, right side up,
that said, "If you can read this, roll me over." Wish I didn't feel that way
in jeans at this point!!