Hi all! I have been on Atkin's since August 20th and I'm still fairly new to this whole low-carb way of life. My start weight was 200 on the nose and I have since lost 5 lbs, bringing me to 195.

My problem is that I lost those 5 lbs in the first week. Since then, the scale hasn't budged, nor have I taken off any inches. I follow the plan to the "T" with NO cheating. I am in the "moderate" range for my ketosis test strips, so I'm really confused as to why I'm not losing pounds OR inches. I was drinking diet soda, but I read somewhere that the aspartame (sp?) can cause stalls, so I cut it out completely now for 3 days. I'm thinking that may be too soon to tell if that was the culprit, but I'm hoping to see SOMETHING soon. I have to say, I'm getting pretty fustrated. I don't think I'm drinking as much water as I should, but I'm not sure how much to drink. I usually drink at least 18oz per day.

Any help would be SO appreciated.

Hi Tara.
I think you might be right about the water. You need to drink about 60 oz. at least a day. Some people drink even more. This has been an important factor in my weight loss. Also, are you eating enough calories and are you taking vitamins, cal/mag and potassium? Check the "low carb tips" section above for more info. If you follow the program, you will inevitably lose your weight. Sometimes it will come off all of a sudden after a period of no losing. Keep it up and we're all pullling for you.

Cheers,
Lara

Also, you might consider posting a journal in the Bootcamp/Journal section. List everything that you're eating including fluid intake, supplements, exercise, medications, etc. There are a lot of really smart people here who could help figure out what the stall might be.

Keep the faith!

Raven

Thanks for the responses! Since my post, I've been poking around in other folk's journals and I think I might not be eating enough (which is hard to beleive because I'm never *starving* anymore and my cravings have just stopped altogether (even when I get close to that time of the month). Weird to think I need to eat more when all of the health "professionals" have been saying you need to eat less.

I'm going to start my journal tonight. Again, thanks so much for the responses!

Tara, I know what you mean about the calories. I'm finding it a real struggle to get enough of these down. I'm also never hungry and cravings have pretty much disappeared. You can add a bit more fat to how you prepare your food to up calories a bit. Add some olive oil or flax oil to salads, another pad of butter when you make your eggs, etc. Good luck and happy lo-carbing!

Hi Tara. I read your Journal this morning, and yes, you're not drinking enough water. If you up that to about 10 glasses a day you'll notice a huge improvement.

Be prepared though, you may not show any trace on the ketostix once you increase your water. You will still be in ketosis though. Don't let it panic you!

Nat

welcome tara! an easy way to add calories is to add olive oil and butter! have your veggies and salads swim in butter and olive oil! yum!