I've been on Atkins for about 5 weeks now. Lost 3 pounds the first week, 3 pounds the second week, 7 pounds the third week - then nada, but the past couple days my clothes have felt tighter.

2 weeks ago, I decided to try and figure out what my CCL was, but gave up after a week because I completely stalled and went back to induction. I also went back to a modified induction about 5 days ago because after noticing my weight loss had stalled, I remembered that I had been going heavy on the Splenda products and had a glorious two days of eating berries in 5g/carb increments. Lately, my Ketosticks are *almost* completely "white" in the morning, when they were absolutely bright pink when I first went on induction.

I've been trying very hard to drink enough water (I manage between 60-80 oz a day). I'm taking 2 fiber pills, a multivitamin, potassium pills (500 mg), cal-mag & zinc, B-complex and C, & L-carnitine (250mg). I've been eating mostly eggs, bacon, chicken thighs, and hamburgers with usually 3-5 cups of salad greens a day. I drink maybe 1 caffinated beverage a day (sweetened). I also eat a lot of peanuts, and the occasional Wasa cracker with salmon cream cheese (6g). I'm not likely eating enough calories, but I'm REALLY poor right now, so chicken and salads with lots of bleu cheese dressing is where most of my calories come from. Maybe 2000 a day, tops?

I'm not quite sure where to narrow down my problem, or if I just need to be patient some more. I'm also on the Pill, with about a week left of "actives", so my hormone count is really high right now. Any advice is appreciated!!

delilah, my two pieces of advice are this:

• nix the peanuts - they are a known staller for many. They lend themselves to over indulgence and they aren't really nuts, but rather legumes. and
• wait out the last few BC pills and see what happens. LCing is notorious for playing with hormones, particularly if you're on BC. You may not be officially due for a week or two, but you may just get a surprize in the next little while.

And of course, give your body time to adjust. You've lost 18 lbs in 5 weeks - that's a fair amount of weight. Pick up a 15 lb dumb bell and see if you don't believe me

Nat

Hi Delilah!

Ditto what Nat said. I just want to reiterate the patience part of it. I know you're anxious for the weight to melt off....we all are! But really, try not to worry too much and just stick as close to your chosen plan as you possibly can. Enjoy your new life and visit the kitchen sub-forum! Recently I've been seeking out some new LC recipes and having a lot of fun in the kitchen.... it really does help to NOT get bored with your foods.

You may want to try increasing your water, too....just a little...to 80-100 oz a day.

You're smart to post when you need help and encouragement... the things you'll learn here will help you for a lifetime!!

Best of luck and let us know how you're doing by posting here with an update in 2-3 weeks, OK?

Thanks you two!

Now I have to weigh how much the pills mean to me (no pun intended... I think!). Doh! And I wanted to keep my Pills more than I wanted to keep rice and cookies!!

On the plus side, the pant-o-meter wasn't showing results, and the measuring tape agreed - but, the measuring tape also noticed that I've been losing instead from my bubblebutt and my bust! I wouldn't mind keeping my bust, though. Maybe I'll keep my cup size? Too bad we can't direct where we lose from!!

I think that there are 2 woosh fairies: The scale whoosh fairy and the measuring tape woosh fairy. I think that the scale whoosh fairy is mischeivous and likes to go on vacation a lot. Well, my scale fairy is still on vacation (or nudging the scale upwards), but my tape fairy has visited!! I'm sitting comfortably in a pair of pants I haven't been able to wear in years, and even able to pull the waistband out a bit!

I'm not sure if this is coincidental with my pill cycle being on the empty pill week or not, but I'll stop taking them and hope that convinces the damn scale fairy to come back home!

Thanks for your advice!