In Ketosis and Gaining

[sks]

Well, for almost one year now, I have been following the Atkins plan...started off just fine, lost 35lbs following the book's instructions, but still wanted to lose at least 10 more pounds when I stopped losing and went into plateau after about 5 months...then decided since I was not losing anymore to take a break, and go onto maintenance diet, eating maybe 30-40 grams of carbs per day, until about 2 months ago, when I saw that I had put back 10lbs again.
I decided to go back to induction diet again. Went on it in earnest over 4 weeks ago. Eating stictly according to induction plan that worked for me before. Only now, even though I am in ketosis every day, I am actually gaining more weight,( one or two pounds more).Certainly have not lost anything.
My diet consists of two eggs with swiss or cream cheese with 3 strips of bacon in morning. Usually don't eat again until dinner, but if I have lunch, it is usually a beef kabob, or hamburger/cheesburger, or something like that. Then for dinner, I have been eating a variety of meats, ribs, chicken, or fish. Usually tend to eat more pork than anything, mainly for the fat content, to keep the ketosis going strong. I don't really eat small portions, for instance, if I eat a steak, I will eat the whole steak (might be 1 lb. of protein at a sitting. Or, I will eat 1/2 small chicken or duck. I also have a side salad, that consists of Romaine lettuce with some cheese and Maries blue cheese dressing, or something similar( making sure that there are no additional carbs in the dressings). Sometimes, I get hungry after dinner, and eat more meat from dinner, or I eat slices of cheese (sometimes I go overboard and eat up to 6 oz of cheese at snack.) I also drink liberal amounts of water daily, easily over the recommended 64oz per day. No alcohol, no sugars, no coffee, no medications.
I am afraid that my body has made a permanent adjustment to this level of eating. I don't really want to cut back too much on amount of food eaten at each sitting, because I'm certain that I won't be able to adhere to this as time passes. I am pretty active on daily basis, and I also exercise 2 or 3 times a week, for 30 mins. a shot. My clothes are getting tighter instead of looser, I have been adding additional inches onto my waist(that were previously lost in the first part of diet last year). I have also started to take my body temperature as of yesterday, as I read in Atkins that sometimes this prolonged diet can affect the thyroid and liver functions in their ability to convert fat. Last night before bed, my temperature was down to 96.9. This morning, before breakfast, it was normal at 98.6. I have not tried a fat fast or anything, because I don't see the point if my body has made adjustments to the current levels, and will just bounce back once I come back to these levels again (induction levels). And I am very much afraid that this is permanent, and that I am always now going to be in this pattern for life. I don't want to have to go through this forever. I'm not interested in temporary measures, which is why I was attracted to Atkins lifestyle to begin with. I rather upset right now. Can this be a permanent condition now?

[slm6596]

I don't believe I read that you have artificial sweeteners, but I found out (using a blood glucose tester) that this is what has been causing my weight stalls. And yes, they are stalls (they last 1-2 months). I am temporarily giving up on Diet drinks and low carb sweet treats, at least until I get to my goal. I was in ketosis every day, but found out my insulin was being released when I drank my diet pop.

[sks]

once in a while, maybe 2x week, I have about 12oz of diet soda at a sitting...don't think that it is really the problem, but it won't be a problem to give it up either...what I really suspect is that my thyroid is borderline functioning , because I've been taking my body temperature at various times during the day, and seeing that I'm not getting to 98.6, or even close a lot of the times...sometimes dipping to 96.6...average around 97.4...so, based on the fact that I'm still in ketosis, on a daily basis now, for over 30 days now and running, and still have yet to lose any weight or show any real hints of it either (when I did this origionally, about this time last year, I started the diet, went into ketosis, after 2 weeks, started to lose pretty fast after that).... So, something has changed, and I'm starting to focus on my thyroid. Does prolonged use of this diet trigger problems with borderline thyroids?Anyone else out there had these experiences after using diet for a year?

[Caretaker]

Well you are not alone on this one. I too have been on Atkins for over a year. The first time (over 20 years ago) and lost very easily, this time I lost at first, but now after a 3 month stall, I find that I am gaining slowly.
I hope that we can come up with a solution to this!
Caretaker

[Lisa N]

Neither of you mention if you are taking any supplements or not. Supplements are needed by almost everyone who is dieting, but the type of supplements needed vary from person to person. Dr. Atkins says in his book that a combination of L-Carnitine, Chromium and Co-enzyme Q are very helpful to assist our bodies with fat metabolism (although you'd have to check his book for the dosages). If you suspect a thyroid problem, have your doctor check but remember, lab tests don't always catch someone who is just borderline hypothyroid. My doctor checked mine and pronounced me "just fine" although my body temperature consistantly ran about 97.5, my hair was falling out and I was chronically tired. I started taking an herbal supplement with L-Tyrosine in it (supports Thyroid function) and guess what? All the symptoms have disappeared and my body temperature now averages a very "normal" 98.6 consistantly. Dr. Bernstein (the plan that I follow) suggests that if you are not loosing weight to cut the amount of protein that you eat at one meal by 1/3, then cut it at a second meal if you are still not loosing (this assumes, of course, that you consistantly eat the same amount of protein at these meals). Another thing that you may want to consider is the nitrates in the bacon (known stallers and not too good for you anyway) and the possibility that you are not getting enough good fats. Hope this gives you some ideas.