That's an interesting point. I'm going say it's because of both, but primarily because it's higher. For the sake of argument, we'll assume salt intake is the only factor.

If there's not enough, it's impossible to keep salt balance. We can't create salt of nothing. First Law of Thermodynamics and all that. If there's just enough, we still can't keep salt balance in case there's a sudden need for more, and then afterwards because there's no excess to replenish what's been lost in that event. First Law again. To keep salt balance, there must be more than enough. Excess is the only we can be sure that we have enough all the time. But we're talking about a few grams per day. So it's not like the weight of the salt itself is what causes the scale to move either way. Point is, it's impossible to create salt out of nothing, but it's ridiculously easy to get rid of a few grams, if that, when we do have too much.

For the sake of argument, your weight is more stable because you always have enough salt, because you always eat more than enough.

I think the point of the Mars Bars thing was that a calorie is not a calorie is not a calorie. Finally, I'm not sure you couldn't lose weight eating only cheese. I haven't tried it but I wouldn't bet against it. I listened to a lecture from Doctor Briffa on YT the other day and he had a lot to say about cutting calories. You might want to check it out. He was a speaker on a low carb cruise that Jimmy Moore arranged.

To tell you the truth, I think you would do better with Protein Power over Atkins. It allows full flexibility in your food choices, you just have to stick to your daily intake. For me, that's 30g after subtracting fiber. It works better if you spread it out but I would try to use it with your one meal a day habit and see if it works. If not, I'll tell you it works for me with two real meals and a light evening snack. I get really intimidated when I read about induction and bless every day the fact that my intro to LC was Protein Power. I recommend you pick up the first book, Protein Power rather than the later Life Plan book. That to me is more about maintenance and doesn't have as much great explanation as the first one. Good luck.

[QUOTE=KristyRusi]mushrooms taste like spongy slimy dirt boogersQUOTE]

Bahahaha!! Cracking up at that comment! I love mushies so I can't relate, but thanks for the lolz!

I can back ojoj up everyone - I was on a 1200 calorie balanced diet, power-walking 5 hours a week and DIDN'T LOSE ANYTHING IN 2 MONTHS. Yet I ate about double those calories and did barely any exercise on Atkins, lost about 1kg a week.

I believe, from what little information I've been given from doctors, that there is a hormonal problem at work - besides not being able to lose weight, I was cold all the time, dizzy, forgetful, irritable etc etc.

A calorie is NOT a calorie, for some of us. Be grateful if all you have to do to lose weight is a simple math equation. I tried so hard, zero cheats, 100% accountability - with no results. Imagine my disappointment after 2 solid months of hard work.

Those are textbook thyroid symptoms.

But on Atkins, she lost weight. That's not textbook thyroid symptoms. Makes me wonder just how many thyroid diagnoses were made, when it was really just a matter of cutting carbs.

Thank you

Jo xxx

Haha, yes thyroid was my argument too... docs did tests, which all came back normal, so because of some numbers on a piece of paper, it was decided that my symptoms and suffering did not matter.
I got myself some medication anyway, just to see if it helped - and it did, except for the weight issue. (Grrrr)

Glad I could help you feel less alone, ojoj! You inspired me even before I knew we shared the same quicksand! lol

Actually many of us with Hashimoto's autoimmune hypothyroidism lose weight on lowcarb before we are medicated. I lost 54 pounds before I finally slowed and antibodies decided to attack, lol. I then had to have T4 and T3 hormones to get to goal.

Since hashi's 'swings back and forth'...a lot of us get an 'upswing' and lose weight on lowcarb (haven't seen it happen with lowfat though). Many of us lose ONLY on lowcarb.

Having one paradoxical symptom doesn't mean much. When I was hyperthyroid with Graves disease, I gained weight. The opposite is usually true.

Once, after my thyroid was killed with radiation, I was on a 1200 calorie a day diet and exercising about an hour a day (which I now know isn't the best thing), and I couldn't lose weight at all. They were letting all the thyroid hormone drain out of my body so they could figure out the right dose.

Anyway, IMHO hypothyroid, or poorly treated thyroid, makes it easy to gain weight and very difficult to lose. Getting it treated correctly and optimally doesn't make it easy to lose weight, just not quite so difficult.

^^^ I was *always* cold before. Always. I would wear a hoodie in summer in southern California. Went LC and a month later, my body stopped running at 96ish and started running at 98ish. Now, I'm not freezing in the sunshine. Irritable, oh yeah. Dizzy? Yup. Now if I'm irritable, it's because someone irritated me. Dizzy means I skipped break/lunch (1 big meal for me). If I'm cold? It's because it's -20 outside. LCing did all of that. And stopped my migraines, cold. When I'm LC, unless I overindulge in alcohol, I don't get migraines anymore. LC also brought down my triglycerides, blood glucose, and overall cholesterol.

So cool, Tchice!
To me it seems like LC is a way to normalize your body. You get it back to where it is supposed to be, so it can do its thing and do it well. Does that make sense?

Since i started, i've been ovulating. i'm 51 and i was really hoping menopause would be over! my kids are grown and adopted, so i'm not super anxious for "those" organs to start working.

Holy cow! Yeah, that's not exactly what I meant when I wrote "normalize" . I can imagine that must be a bit, well, odd!

So, for you, lc is actually more expensive (birth control) regardless of not buying anymore junk food.