Lack of weight loss

[AngieT]

I have been doing Atkins since July. I was getting frustrated because I lost very little weight in a couple of months with only eating 20-30 carbs a day. I have recently discovered fitday and realize that I was eating too much protein and not enought fat. Even now, I will eat tablespoons of cream cheese or plain butter and my fat for the day is at 60%. To get into ketosis (I thought I was in it when I was doing Induction several months ago, but now, I'm not sure), what percentage does my fat level need to be? Is 60% good enough or do I need to be at 70%? Also, I am a regualr exerciser. That is, I work out 4-5 times a week for 1-1 1/2 hours per session. Thanks, angie

[Kristine]

Angie,

Fat percentage doesn't matter that much to be in ketosis - it's carb count. Anything under, oh, 40-50 g per day would keep the average person in ketosis. Much higher than that and it will be transient, in and out.

Okay, here's why you're frustrated: you are already at the low end of a healthy weight for your height. Atkins is a protein sparing plan, which means your body will not waste away and drop pounds (ie muscle) the way it would on a low fat plan. If you have EXCESS fat to lose - and that's EXCESS, not what's normal for a curvy female body - it will come off very slowly, because you're very close to goal. If it's not coming off at all, perhaps you need to re-evaluate whether or not it's realistic... and I'm talking about the fat here, not the pounds. The scale is an abysmal way to try to measure body fat for anyone who's close to goal. Atkins and other LC plans are made to get you to a healthy weight, not a perfect one. *shrug*

I know this from experience - when I was a low fat starvation dieter, I was about 120 lbs. I now wear the exact same clothes at about 130-135 lbs. Go figger. :roll:

[LilaCotton]

I can definitely attest to what Kristine has said. In my early 20s I weighed roughly 180 pounds at 5'6" and decided to take it off and reach my 'ultimate' weight, which was 124 according to all the charts. In retrospect, it wasn't that BAD of a diet, really, although knowing what I know now I should've been eating more calories.

Anyhow, to get to the point, I lost about 40 pounds on the first go-round, but that just wasn't enough! After all, I was 'supposed' to weigh only 124! After a year or so at going back and forth between 140-147, I started in again, only this time on a carbo-calorie plan, and usually restricting my intake even more (often times 1000 calories a day *gasps in horror!*). At 139 pounds, which was the lowest I ever got, I wore a very small Size 10 and larger Size 8's. At the time I thought I was absolutely fat, but I took that Size 10 skirt out of the closet the other day and just shook my head in wonder. I was VERY small for my height at 139 pounds.

Each person is very different in their density. I have a daughter that is 5'4", and at 170 pounds wore a perfect Size 12. She is very, very dense--packs a lot of muscles in her legs and is extremely well-endowed. She's now down to 165 on Atkins, but didn't lose that until she reached the end of Induction. I don't know for sure if she's lost any more or not by now, but I really don't care because I'd rather have her focus on the health benefits of eating like this. If she has much weight to lose, it will eventually come off.

At first, we had all of our goals set by weight, and still have a rough idea of where we might be going, but it didn't take us very long to start looking at this from a slightly different angle. Yes, I still weigh, and get bummed if I haven't lost a little within a week or so, but we're shooting for size now, not weight. :)

[AngieT]

Thanks for your quick responses. In the beginning of summer, I tried on my shorts and they were snug. I went on Atkins and after 6 weeks they fit. After that, there has been no change in my size. As I mentioned before, I exercise on a regular basis. I like the look of a toned body and I don't care what the number on the scale says if I look good in a bathing suit. My body fat is within the average range. However, I would like to drop a size in clothing and have my body fat decrease. Plus, if I lost some fat (not muscle) I would be able to jog/bike faster. Thus, my goal is to lose 10 pounds of body fat. If I could gain some muscle weight that would be even better!!! Also, I bought the k-sticks and it went pink!!!! So I guess I'm there. Since I've increased the fat, I'm not as hungry. That was also a problem for me. Some days I exercise for 2 hours and as a result am very hungry. If eating more fat causes me to feel less hungry, I'm pleased. Angie

[Kristine]

Cool! Sounds like you're on track. All you need is patience, unfortunately... it's terribly slow once you're within 10-20 lbs of your goal. :rolleyes: Good luck!

[indigogirl]

HI Angie,

I just had a couple of thoughts....

I went to my gym yesterday and had a test done (I think it's called impedence) where they measure body fat and tell you what your % is. When you weigh yourself and apply the % it will tell you how many lbs of lean body mass you have and how many lbs of fat you have. For women I think it is supposed to be roughly 18 - 26% although it varies with age. With all the exercise you are doing you will be able to track (when you have a retest) if you are losing fat weight and not lean body mass. You don't want to lose your lean body mass. The scale alone will not tell you whether you have lost fat or muscle or bone or water.

Also - I am a bit of a dimwit about the whole thing but I thought I read somewhere that when your body goes into ketosis essentially you are producing ketones and that is what shows up in your urine when you test. However if you are exercising a lot you can be burning up the ketones and then you might not see a change in the urine strips.

Others are likely far more expert than me on this but I thought you might be able to check it out somewhere.

Take care,

Sally