Hi everyone. I hope you're a welcoming bunch; I'm sure you are from reading some of the posts as a guest.

Time has come to join though as I'm looking for help. (Hope I'm not being needy, only just having joined :/ )

I started Atkins 18 months ago with the aim of losing 14lbs. In that time, I've lost 10lbs. I've been on induction or Phase 2 the whole time, but always staying within 20g net carbs per day. Recently I started to use the myfitnesspal app to track things strictly, which has really helped. My lifestyle is pretty sedentary, so I restrict calories to 1200 per day.

Trouble is I want to start reintroducing a wider variety of healthy foods, including more fruit and veg, but seem to put weight on when I do. For example, yesterday I made a low carb muffin (3g net carbs - 1/4 cup ground almonds and 1tbs coconut flour) and stayed within my 20g daily limit, but this morning had put on a lb.

What did I do wrong? Am I choosing to reintroduce the wrong things? I look at OWL or lifetime maintenance and wonder if I'd ever be able to get back to eating those things when a single low carb English muffin can throw me off...Can anyone offer any advice please.

Hi and welcome.

In my opinion, the most important advice you need to listen to is from your own body. You cannot decide how many scale pounds you'd like to lose and then expect it to just happen. Rather, you have to accept that scale weight is NOT a good indicator of how "good" you've been on your diet, and it's not even a good indicator of body composition, which is more important, isn't it? The real goal is to be slim, right?

If I were you, I'd stop restricting calories. If you want to restrict, restrict portions. Eat to hunger on real, fatty food and don't substitute 'lite' foods for the sake of sparing a few calories. You can't serve two masters.

If you really have more excess body fat to lose (that's *excess*, not the normal fat that we ladies are supposed to have), go back to induction and and follow the carb ladder. Almonds and coconut flour are pretty much maintenance food.

Best of luck.

Hi, Susan. I know the feeling. Since I restarted Atkins in June, I've barely made a dent in the 30lbs I'd like to lose. Nothing like the amazing results many people report. It's annoying to say the least.

Here's what I ask myself:
--What would be happening if I had not returned to low-carb? (Answer--slow but steady weight gain up to an unknown high)
--How do I feel? (Energized, virtuous, healthy, and--yes--lighter)
--What is the end date when I can quit "the diet"? (There isn't one)

Truth is, the journey IS the goal. Eventually your body will sort out its own ideal. That's what I tell myself.

I've recently returned to my resistance training routine as well (via home videos) because I know that REALLY makes me feel good, in addition to brisk walking 3-4 times a week.

By the way, a weight change up or down of 2-3 lbs over night is not unusual. Go with a trend across days or weeks, not daily fluctuations. You'll drive yourself crazy.

So...just hang in there.

Ladies, thank you. Good advice.

"What am I doing wrong?"

NOTHING.

Unless you are 4 feet tall, with your weight, you must already be pretty svelte compared to the majority of us. It doesn't seem like you need to lose much weight, if any.

If the weight isn't coming off, it's because your body is already where it should be. And the less weight you need to lose, the longer it takes to come off.

Consider yourself lucky---I'd be thrilled if I could get down to 150, much less 123, trying to get to 110! I'm 5'4" and I'd be STICK THIN if I could do it!! I'd be a size ZERO for sure!

ALSO: Remember--you are a woman! With hormones!! And hormones can make you weigh a little more, or a little less, every month. SO can a lot of other factors......age, level of activity, liquid intake, medicines, salt intake, poop output, even the weather!

A gallon of water weighs 8 lbs. I know I drink sometimes that much in a day. And fiber--- the food we eat, it weighs something. It says in you until it's used and the remains come out.

You are not doing anything wrong. I eat that same muffin a lot! As long as you stay low carb, under 20g a day, everything should be fine. At your weight, it sounds like you need to burn more calories to shed a pound or two. How about working out with weights? Building muscle is one of the best things you can do-- to burn fat. Better than exercise per se--- muscle requires MORE fuel (fat, or calories) to work. The more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn.

I would not waste my time with aerobics or running, or spinning. I'd want to try to bulk up with muscle. The men are lucky! They naturally burn more fat than us women, and their hormones are way different.

Until then, keep going! And don't fret so much about a couple of pounds. Enjoy life!!

"fruit and veg" is not a food group, and if I ran the world, would not be grouped together as if there was no difference. Don't kid yourself that you are somehow nutritionally deficient without apples, grapes and peaches. But if you want to eat them, go for it. It's not as if you need to lose because you are facing health issues, at your weight it's pretty much down to personal preference. But there is no need whatsoever to ingest fructose.

I know you must be frustrated. I remember the feeling well!

Your body tells you things you need to know, including whether your goal for numbers on the scale are realistic. One of things I've learned to do is listen to my body wants and stop looking at the numbers on the scale. My kindest and most compassionate advice I could give you is this: eat for health. Eat what makes you feel good. Ignore the numbers on the scale, because in the grand scheme of life, they mean exactly nothing. If the way you eat does not make you happy because you can't have a piece of fruit now and then, then those numbers really aren't all that important.

Essentially I agree with you, NoWhammies.

On the other hand, a couple glasses of wine or a couple fingers of bourbon make me happy. I just have to control the "now and then" part. For "now," I am postponing "then" indefinitely (which could be never)

The low-carb lifestyle allows for a great deal of individual flexibility. Atkins was so right when he established the "induction" phase (for a fast result demo). The entire rest of the program is aimed at figuring out one's individual plan for lifetime maintenance. Maintenance, it turns out, is the hardest part.

Susan, your lesson for today is Patience. You'll need it. We're with you all the way.

Patience, thank you, yes, I need me some of that.
As regards not eating fruit? I suppose it's 43 years of being told by the media that I should eat it in order to be healthy that's niggling at me. But the last 18 months of feeling pretty damned good on Atkins has told me otherwise. Listen to my body. Yes. I certainly know I wasn't happy eating doughnuts and chocolate all the time.

Thank you guys. Sometimes you just need to hear that moral support coming through loud and clear to keep you on the right track.

Lots of good advice above. I would just add that I found it to be a matter of either/or choices. If I ate a lc muffin I would need to not eat something else to prevent gaining. Muffins, or an apple, or a sweet potato, or a glass of wine, or cheese are all "sometimes" foods for me. I can't have them every day or even every week without gaining. The only way to know what has that effect on you is to experiment and keep track of what happens. I know what foods I can eat every day (eggs, fish, steak, pork, salads, kale, spinach, collards, and so much more) and luckily I love them. So I'm not going to forego any of that for one of the "sometimes" foods - which is why I can only have them sometimes.

Whofan, thank you. I still have. Lot to learn.

And I love your motto