Good morning - I am new to the group and would like to introduce myself. I am Nancy.
I have been doing low Carb since April 24th and in the 1st 6 days lost 8 lbs. We then went away on holidays and just got back on May 21 (gone for two weeks). I only gained 2 lbs while away but have been back on Atkins/Keto since Sunday May 22 and haven't lost an ounce - so extremely frustrated.

Any Help would be greatly appreciated as to kick starting the lose again. What to eat what not to eat etc.

Thank you in advance for everyones help.

~AbsoluteN~

Hi Nancy. Sorry to be blunt but perhaps your expectations are too high. First 6 days, 8lbs? wow, nice work! Now that there's a bunch of water gone the real work begins of staying on a plan, any plan, and wait, then wait some more.

Have you set a deadline to meet your 118lb goal? (I'm assuming that's pounds) Another things folks might ask is that you give an idea of what you're eating on a typical day since you're back from vacation.

You will do well!

Yeah, all that kind of impatience will do is make you give up. Your body operates on its own time-table. Tell the brain to chill and settle in for the long haul. Work on making this a life change. Also, at 5'6" is 118 a realistic goal? You don't have a lot of weight to lose so it is probably going to come off very slowly and, if your goal weight is unrealistic, you probably won't get there unless you half-starve yourself.

My Doctor said it was not unrealistic at all. That being said, I also understand my body will let me know when it is enough.

I think what I was asking is, what would a typical person eat to kick start the plan. When I started it worked well. Then was away for 18 days before starting again and it seems to have come to a stand still.

I usually eat and egg or 2 in the morning with a piece of bacon, if hungry before lunch a piece of cheese. Lunch chicken salad, egg salad or salmon salad and a cucumber. If I need an afternoon snack I do an Atkins Snake bar and then dinner a protein and veg. Thats it.

Thank you for your help and response.

Thank you for your input. I totally get it. I really just want to loose what I put back on while on holidays along with continuing the journey. I hope I can do it.

Thanks again.

Let's start with the goal, and work backwards. At your height, 118 lbs is a BMI of 19.0.

Until for god knows what reason, the range for "normal" BMI was broadened downward, 19.0 was considered underweight: "normal" was 20.0-24.9.

So, you are very close to your goal, and, in reality, you are well within a normal BMI at your current weight.

One of the phenomena that is seen with people going back and forth between a weight loss routine, eating the junk that gained them the weight in the first place, and the weight loss routine is that successive returns to the weight loss routine take longer to "stick."

What I'd recommend, based on seeing your normal day, is this: eat a substantially bigger breakfast. At least two eggs, some other fattiness, whether by frying the eggs in a good amount of fat, or scrambling them with cream, or both. (I do both.) You should not, on a LCHF WOE, be hungry so soon after breakfast. The fact that you are leads me to believe that you aren't eating enough to get into and stay in ketosis at this point.

Again, at lunch, more food. More food at dinner, and you can skip that nasty, artificial Atkins bar.

When I changed from eating a light breakfast to my current one, first, I stopped needing a snack. Then, more slowly, I stopped needing lunch. And at this point, I probably need a small something or another (cheese, a piece of bacon, 1/4 cup of nuts) 5 days out of seven, somewhere between breakfast and dinner.

Do you know if you are in ketosis? Sweet smelling urine, sweet taste in your mouth are good indicators, as is frequent urination. Speaking of urination: are you drinking lots of water, and mostly water, not tea, coffee, artificially sweetened sodas?

If you can commit to this WOE as a lifetime change in your eating habits, you can lose weight. Because you are already at a healthy weight, perhaps what might happen is that, rather than weight, you will primarily lose fat. But as muscle is denser than fat, do you agree that weighing, say, 130, but being more muscular, is preferable to being a fluffy 118?

MickiSue,
I really appreciate everything you said above. I am really trying this week and again this morning gained another pound - now I'm 139.8. I ate 2 eggs fried in Ghee yesterday morning, a 200g dried Salmon stick for my snack, chicken salad with mayo 400 g at lunch and dinner I made a sausage egg & cheese casserole ate 3 pieces about 4" x 4" pieces each. Drank lots of water about 3 litres. I'm not sure why i'd gain or won't loose.
I do not want to be without muscle. currently right now my BMI is at 36 and I want to get it down to 22 at least. my doctor says to be the weight I'm looking at is at the low end but not to skinny. I am working towards that but really would be happy at 124 lbs. I don't have a lot of muscle as I haven't worked out in a long time due to travel and being sick a lot.
I'll give your suggestions on a normal eat day and see what happens and drop the Atkin products. They are really just so handy for me as I am out a lot or travel so to have something that I can just grab works really well for me.
I am definitely not in Ketosis, I have the sticks. I will check again tomorrow. I know once I get into ketosis my weight will start to drop.
Thank you again, I really do appreciate all the feed back I can get.

cheers
Nancy

Are you noticing any change in your clothes? We've had people drop substantially in size with only minimal changes on the scales.

Hi Nancy LC,
When I started in April even when I dropped I knew I had lost some fat, but not at all now. Nothing.

Absolute: if your weight and height are accurate (do you usually measure in metrics?) then your CURRENT BMI is 22.5. Even with the weight that you regained.

At your height, to be at a BMI of 36, you'd have to weigh over 220 lbs, or about 100 kilos.

And, since your doctor acknowledges that 118 is at the low end, I'm assuming that the height is accurate.

MickiSue,

My BMI is 36 that is accurate - I'm what they perhaps call skinny fat. I really don't have any muscle presay - but am working on it. My BMI has been measured in a doctors office on a scale that measures all of that. You can't just say someone that is 220 lbs has a BMI of 36 because that may be mostly muscle with maybe an 18 percent BMI (Bodybuilder) I believe that to say someone is 139.8 lbs is 22.5 (definite) is inaccurate. My height is 5' 6" and I weight 139.8 lbs with a BMI of 36 currently. That always comes down with exercise.
Currently, I am wanting to start with the weight loss then get back to working out 5 days a week. Then that BMI will come down.

Thank you again for your input, I really appreciate it.

Cheers

Sounds like you are doing the right things! Question, how do you "feel"? That is sometimes a good indication of how things are going. when I first started to get into ketosis as measured on strips I felt VERY energetic. I was eating plenty but actually needed to consider NOT eating in the evenings because instead of the usual sloth and torpor of high carb meals, I felt like I was bouncing off the walls

You'll figure it! I wish I had a magic "do this and you'll start loosing weight again" speech but I don't.

Thud123,

Thank you for your post. I feel good a little tired, had a headache on Tuesday but over all good. Not over the top energetic but definitely not sluggish.
I will stick to it and see where it takes me. Hopefully tomorrow, I will be down something

Absolute,

Bmi is defined as a ratio of weight to height:

"The BMI is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height, and is universally expressed in units of kg/m2, resulting from mass in kilograms and height in metres."

I wonder if what your doctor is measuring is your body fat percentage. People of the same height and weight would have the same bmi because the ratio of weight to height would be the same but could vary in their body fat percentage depending on how much of that weight was muscle and how much fat.

Jean

Hi Cotonpal,

Oh yes, it more than likely is my body fat percentage. Thank you for your message.
In any event, this needs to come down to at least 22 - 24.

Thank you

Nancy