Hello everyone!
Im on day 17 of LCing! I am really feeling 10000000000000000% better ---better sleep, better self-esteem, better habits, going to gym etc!

I am just curious--has anyone stayed on the induction phase the whole time of weight loss? I am sorta afraid to add in any carbs other than the ones I eat now (salads, cheese, cream cheese). I am not bored with what I eat-I found new stuff for breakfast time and I am very motivated because I feel so good. Just curous.

I test my ketosticks. They are always pink--this mornig it was purple. I drank 5L of water yesterday! Are they purple because Im not drinking enough water? I think someone told me that before. I think Im just really burning it off right now! I have that taste in my mouth--just curious. My mom says I have to watch my kidneys from this diet, but I feel great!!

Thanks for any tips--I was thinking of maybe adding in small, non dessert things into my regime. I am so tempted by chocolate and desserts that its better to just have my jello and whipped cream and be done with it! Also I read everywhere on here that those bars and shakes arent good for you-so Im not even going to waste calories on them!!

HAve a great day everyone!
Vicki

Hi Vicki,

I suggest you stay in induction and keep your carbs low to continue on your successful weight loss trend. I realize this is not according to Dr. Atkins' book. Eventually the body will adjust and stop dumping ketones in the urine. At that point the ketostrips will be a light color only and the breath will return to normal. Don't be concerned. You can still continue to lose weight. Increasing carbs can put you into a stall that could be difficult to break. Younger people can add in a few carb and continue with weight loss but older people are more likely to stall.

You also have a stall or plateau in the future. Don't panic when the weight loss stops. Continue on your successful plan and the weight loss will begin again. Weight loss will become more difficult as the body adjusts and your metabolism slows. A slower metabolism is great from a health aspect and necessary for a antiaging lifestyle. Don't believe the suggestions by some to increase your carbs and/or calories to boost the metabolism. I could never get that theory to work and started to regain weight every time I tried it.

I have returned to hard induction for the past four months to reach my final goal, and I am continuing in the expectation of going down another five pounds. Personally, I believe that continuous induction with reduced calories is the key to an antiaging diet. This has been proven in animal studies many times. Be sure you get all the required nutrients by supplementing with vitamins, minerals and essential oils as recommended by Dr. Atkins.

The negative kidney comment is a myth. Browse Dr. Atkins' web site using the search feature and check out the "Science Behind Atkins" section.

http://atkinscenter.com/dev/index.html

Good luck,

Kent

HI Kent
Thank you for the rapid response

So are you saying Im old? HAHA I know what you meant. I was a bit concerned because of so many years of yo yo dieting and stalls--I will stay here and be happy with the foods Im eating now !

Have a great day
Vicki

Hi Vicki,

No, I meant that I am the old one. 63 grrrrr

Have a great day.

Kent

Kent,

How long did you stay on Induction? Could you exercise on Induction for a long period of time without getting too tired? I am also 'older' (51), and have very long stalls with little or no weight loss. I recently went back and re-read New Diet Revolution's metabolic resistance chapters and lowering carbs was one of the suggetions, along with lowering calories and/or fat.

I also have a very slow metabolism and wonder if I really do need to lower my calories to about 1500 per day (I've been eating about 2,000 per day). Most 'normal' people do need at least 10 to 12 times their body weight, but if my metabolism is so slow even with my exercise -- I do 30 mins. of cardio exercise 5 to 7 days per week and weight lifting 3 days per week -- maybe my body can maintain itself on less calories.

I have lost a lot of inches, but I've been doing Low Carb for over a year now and I've only lost 25 pounds total in a year. I have been stalled at the same weight now for months. Any ideas about what I can try? I would really appreciate any ideas you might have.

Thanks -- Peg

Hi Peg,



I have been on induction for 14 weeks in this last run to my goal. My metabolism and weight loss results have been the very same as you describe. I had to lower carbs, fats and calories to break resistance, and it worked. Try www.fitday.com to easily analyze your daily diet. I set my daily requirement in the range of 1400 to 1600 calories for a lean body mass of 160 pounds. Your calorie limit should be lower. Try this:

Breadfast:

1 egg
3 or 4 oz. any meat, fish, etc.

Lunch:

3 or 4 oz. any meat, fish, etc. of reasonable fat content.
Salad with 1 tablespoon almond oil for omega-6 plus red wine vinegar.
1 table spoon Carlson's lemon flavored cod liver oil for omega-3 fatty acids.

Dinner:

Same as lunch but with the oils.
Take NO salad dressings.

Snacks:
All the low carb veggies you want.

Vitamins:
Supplement. Fitday.com will show this diet to be low in calcium, vitamin K and magnesium.

Try to NOT cheat during the first two weeks to prove the method. You will then soon learn that a little cheating stops the weight loss dead in it's tracks.

Check out my web page at:

The Ultimate Nutrition Program for Healing and Health Preservation.

Good luck,

Kent

Kent,

Thanks so much for the prompt reply and the link to the webpage. Our weights are similar, but I'm sure that I have more body fat and less muscle because of being female. I'm also in menopause and quit smoking 13 months ago, both of which would slow my metabolism.

How would you advise me to calculate the appropriate number of calories I need? I have read that it is not advisable to go below 1200. Do you think that 1200 calories is low enough? Would there be a problem with going lower than 1200, or is that about what I should try?

Thanks again,

Peg

Vicki-I have been on induction for 3 months now. I think that for people with a significant amount of weight to lose, induction is fine to stay in for a while. I have heard that you should try to move from induction regardless of how much weight you still need to lose after six months though. I haven't read this, but have heard it here in the forum. I also recommend taking the daily supplements that Atkins suggests. They are a must!

To be honest, I haven't been as strict with the food as is written in DANDR for induction, but I have kept the carbs to less than 20 a day. The Non induction foods (peanuts, strawberries....) are eaten infrequently, and I still keep losing weight.

Keep up the great job!

Hi Peg,

Yes, the 1200 calories sounds about right. Your goal is 135 pounds which would give a lean body mass of about 105 pounds. So, you can see that my 1600 calories is very low for my 160 pound lean body mass.

Avoid extra fats in the diet. I like chicken thighs and hate the lean breast. On very lean meats you can add a little low-carb dressing. Eating lean meat without any fat is not recommended by some of the LC book authors. Be cautious because fats and oils run up the calories very fast and must be watched as closely as the carbs.

My energy level is great, but I pulled a couple of other tricks to give the metabolism a boost.

1. Contrary to Atkins. I drank more regular coffee with caffeine, say three cups a day. I sometimes substitute a high caffeine tea called "Fast Lane" by Celestial Seasons. They have discontinued this tea to the displeasure of the local college students who used it for late night study before final exams. I still have three boxes because I stocked up on it. The factory is near my house.

2. Medical Malpractice. I malpractice a lot. The low metabolism that develops on LC also results in a thyroid drop for many people. This is easily detected by having very cold feet at night during cooler seasons. My feet were like icicles even though my previous thyroid test was normal. Therefore, I started taking 0.025 mg of Syntroid. That is the smallest dosage available, and I doubt that it would cause me any problem. This is one area where you may need a doctor to write the prescription and even then he may refuse. My source is about out so I will see what happens when I go off the Syntroid.

A neat book is The Ketogenic Diet which has good information about boosting low metabolism. The bad news is that it is out of print, and neither amazon nor other book stores could fill my order. I finally got a copy from inter-library loan after a long wait. The library could only find six copies in the USA system and they had long waiting lists to get a copy. This author needs to get some copies of this book published again.

Let me know how it works,

Kent

Kent,

Thanks much for your help. I'm going to start making some changes right away -- less calories and less fats, but the 4th of July might be a 'lost day' as far as calories and fats go. I am making low carb mock potato salad with cauliflower, and we are having brats (not exactly low fat or low cal).

I will keep you posted regarding my progress. This is the first time in a long while that I actually have real hope that something will work for me!

Thanks again,

Peg

Kent, you are a WEALTH of information! And your web site! WOW!! I bookmarked that one!! LOADS and LOADS of EXCELLENT information on many things! GREAT JOB and thanks very very much!

Peg, you sound a lot like me! I'll be 51 this year, menopausal, and I quit smoking and drinking about 5 years ago. For the last few years I"ve been low carbing and trying to restore this temple God gave me after many, many years of abuse (booze, ciggies, bad diets, etc.)

I am sure my metabolism is shot, my liver is fatty, my gallbladder is stoney and most everything else is a mess, too! HA. But, in time and with this forum and God's grace, I will be back IN HEALTH again! Just like my walk with the LORD, it's a daily growing and maturing process!

Peg, you are welcome and I wish you great success.

Soteria, thank you for the kind remarks. I am sure you are on the right track now and will see great improvements in your health.

Kent

I chose to stay on an Induction level because a) I was losing well; b) I was satisfied with what I was eating; c) I didn't want to bother trying to figure out anything and just stay focused on losing.

I started Atkins in Jan 02 and stalled big-time in April after losing about 30 lbs. I think the biggest problem is that I had started skipping lunch. When I made a point to eat something (usually just cheese cubes & olives while I'm on the web) I got back on track. I've had two weeks "off" the program in these 6 months- one the end of Mar and the other last week (around holidays & travel). I didn't go crazy and eat garbage- basically stayed on the program (which encourages me on doing this as a way of life) with just a few extra carbs here & there- of course I didn't lose, but I didn't gain either!
I'm back on track again this morning to go on & get these last 6 lbs off to my goal- want this DONE before my birthday in August! Again, JUST the Induction level program... I'll have time to figure out a maintenence program after I've reached my goal!

sjm30741 -- I thought about trying induction for a longer time, but I did not think it would work for me. I did lose some weight on induction the first week, but stalled and did not lose any weight the second week -- even re-gained a couple of pounds that I had lost the first week! If all else fails, I might try induction again to see if I can lose a couple more pounds on it. I have a very difficult time getting into ketosis -- I have only tested postitive on the ketostix 3 times in the past 13 months -- a trace one day the first time I did induction, a trace on the 3rd day of a fat fast after I stalled, and a trace one day of the second time I did induction.

Soteria, it does sound like we have a lot in common! So far my health is good -- have slightly elevated blood pressure, but the doctor says it's acceptable. I have heard that gallstones can be very painfull -- hope you are doing alright! If you have any tips that you have tried to end a stall, please pass them on to me! In the meantime, I am trying to lower the calories and fat, but keep up the protein for muscle. Hopefully this will work!

We were out of town this weekend, eating on the run, etc. So Monday will be the 1st day of lowering calories to 1,200 (it's too difficult to judge quantities and ingredients if you don't cook it yourself!). Also plan to keep up with the exercise -- did not do treadmill, but we were at an amusement park and shopping malls most of the weekend, so I think I got plenty of walking in!

Thanks again for all of your support!

I have been doing Atkin's for just over 1-year now. I stayed on the induction plan for most of it. At least 9-10 months, staying below 20-g a day. Very rarely (2-3 time) went about 20-grams.

Did hit stalls along the way. (Some lasted 6-8 weeks...AUGH!) Tryed the increasing carb's route, only a day or two. Seemed to help break through a stall.

I have had no problems by staying on induction except for the fact I had to keep buying clothes and tighten my belt. (Had close to 100-lbs to loose)

Chrolesteral, HDL, LDL, and trygiserides have been tested 2-times during this and they were always in the good to perfect range. (Went for the blood test the second time because I started seeing veins in my arms showing while working out, thought possibly was high BP but was fine, just never saw the veins / muscles before )

If you have a lot to lose, I'd stay close to the induction levels. Decide and try it for yourself is all I can say on this subject.

Just my 2-cents worth, John