I'm confused and PISSED

[FatJessica]

So...compared to different times that I've attempted Atkins, I'm being a lot more strict and sticking to it this time around. My weight keeps fluctuating and it's not really going down. The weird thing is, when I go out drinking, I ALWAYS lose. The other "morning after" I was down to 158, and this morning I was 162.5 and I was REALLY good yesterday. I'm so pissed. I don't even know what to do. I don't know what I'm doing differently this time as compared to last time I went on Atkins and lost consistently. :help:

[DarkFairy]

It could be the"drinking". I think I read once that in low carb diets you should not drink alcohal. Your body stops burning fat for energy and uses the alcohal. I don't drink but I am having the same problem. I dropped to 247 from 260 then went up to 250 and stalled for a week. I did not eat anything that was not on my plan but it happened.

[amandawald]

So...compared to different times that I've attempted Atkins, I'm being a lot more strict and sticking to it this time around. My weight keeps fluctuating and it's not really going down. The weird thing is, when I go out drinking, I ALWAYS lose. The other "morning after" I was down to 158, and this morning I was 162.5 and I was REALLY good yesterday. I'm so pissed. I don't even know what to do. I don't know what I'm doing differently this time as compared to last time I went on Atkins and lost consistently. :help:

I have only managed to consistently lose weight after drastically reducing my beer consumption (I live in Germany and the beer is very good and very cheap here - worse luck!). What I noticed, as a daily weigher, is that after drinking beer, I wouldn't put on weight straight away, but that the weight gain (usually about a pound) would kick in about 2 days later. And then it would stay on for about a week.

Alcohol really messes up a low-carb diet. Instead of being able to metabolize fat, your liver says "Oh my god, poison in the system, must get rid of alcohol first, all other processes on hold!" and all the good work you may have achieved by low-carbing is out the window!

I started to google all this stuff and was absolutely horrified at how your system reacts to alcohol. It pretty much put me off drinking the stuff. Now I have also found out which amount of alcohol (2x 0,33l small bottles of say Czech Pilsener) will NOT have any effect on weight loss, in my case, and on social occasions, will have a tipple.

I sleep much better without alcohol, too. There was a thread recently in the media watch section about sleep and weight loss. Poor sleep equals poor weight loss. So it follows that alcohol will also impede weight loss for that reason, too.

Stay off the stuff as much as you can! Google information on "alcohol metabolism - liver". Get scared. Get thin!

Those are my thoughts on the matter.

amanda

[amandawald]

One other thing crossed my mind: how old are you? I sincerely believe that your body can deal with all the poisons we routinely ingest as "youngsters" quite well, but that the body's ability to do so diminishes with age.

Before 30, I could recover from hangovers much more quickly and easily than in my late 30s. Now I just stay away from them. Too much pain. And painkillers mess up your kidneys...

The difference could also be due to ageing, is what I'm saying.

amanda

[pennink]

and drinking dehydrates. they're not real losses.

[amandawald]

It could be the"drinking". I think I read once that in low carb diets you should not drink alcohal. Your body stops burning fat for energy and uses the alcohal. I don't drink but I am having the same problem. I dropped to 247 from 260 then went up to 250 and stalled for a week. I did not eat anything that was not on my plan but it happened.

Another thing crossed my mind: you guys should look up a thread about water retention on this forum; I think it was called "why the scales lie". It explains why it appears that one is not losing weight, but in fact what is happening is that the shrinking fat cells (which will not disappear completely once they've been made, just shrink) fill themselves up with water. They don't give up the fight easily and if they can't fill themselves up with fat, they'll make do with water! Water is probably heavier by volume than water (I imagine) therefore a loss of ffat could actually look like a gain in weight! So don't give up!!! I forget the name of the lady who posted this thread, but if you use the Advanced Search facility to search the forum, you should get it.

Don't give up and good luck!

amanda

[BeautyG]

Drinking dehydrates you- I always weigh less after a night of vino. Dehydration--> your body overcompensates the next day by retaining more water.
Don't give up. I'm not. I lose not at all.

[DarkFairy]

Amanda thanks for the info. I am still holding strong and am now at 245

[ruthla]

I think you need to stop worrying so much about daily weights- it's normal for your weight to fluctuate a little each day- just look at the overall pattern, not every little up and down.

It's truly not about "being really good" one day and seeing the scale move the following morning. It's more about taking care of yourself, feeding yourself right, and then trusting your body to do what it needs to do and in its own time.

You CANNOT control how fast you lose weight. There are so many factors beyond diet and exercise- hormones, or your body simply needing to "take a break" after a certain stretch of weight loss before moving onto the next one. Stalls happen- and all you can do during them is to keep on doing what you've been doing and be patient with your body.

[FatJessica]

Well, here's where I'm at. I'm really not ready to completely cut out alcohol. I'm 22, and having a good time..also, my last "go" went really well and I lost about 40 pounds whilst drinking all the time, so I know that my body reacts differently to alcohol than other people...but as for right now I'm just eating what I want but not too much, and I think I'll cut out carbs again in a few weeks and see how my body reacts. I'm not giving up, I'm just putting my body back to default...well, my default..Anyway, you guys kick ass. Thanks for all the advice/support.

[BeautyG]

You're doing yourself a huge disservice.

[amandawald]

Well, here's where I'm at. I'm really not ready to completely cut out alcohol. I'm 22, and having a good time..also, my last "go" went really well and I lost about 40 pounds whilst drinking all the time, so I know that my body reacts differently to alcohol than other people...but as for right now I'm just eating what I want but not too much, and I think I'll cut out carbs again in a few weeks and see how my body reacts. I'm not giving up, I'm just putting my body back to default...well, my default..Anyway, you guys kick ass. Thanks for all the advice/support.

By the way, did you know that "pissed" is one of many British slang words for "drunk"?

You're 22 - your body can deal with toxins better than mine which is twice as old as yours - but if you get into the habit of drinking a lot, you could easily get properly hooked. And if you do, you won't be looking so good at 44 - you'll be overweight and heading for liver problems, probably not doing your kidneys any good either if you take a lot of painkillers after hangovers, and you might find that your body stops dealing with toxins so well after 30.

But, hey, you're young and it's your perfect right to do stupid stuff when you're young. I did loads of stupid stuff when I was young. It took me years to get off cigarettes and beer, and I regret ever having tried alcohol and nicotine. But preaching to you won't help.

I hope you don't end up an alcoholic. Mind you, alcoholics do tend to be very skinny just before they die, because they then get to the stage where they get all their calories from alcohol... Or they are very fat with huge beer bellies. Sounds like a great choice.

I wish you luck with life nonetheless.

amanda

[amandawald]

Amanda thanks for the info. I am still holding strong and am now at 245

You're very welcome!

Hang on in there!

amanda

[LessLiz]

I lost about 40 pounds whilst drinking all the time, so I know that my body reacts differently to alcohol than other peopleNo it doesn't. Lots of thin alcoholics in this world. You're just kidding yourself if you think drinking doesn't make a difference. But, as Amanda said, you are only young and stupid once. I was young and stupid once myself so I'm not going to preach.

One thing -- taking a break when you are not ready to go forward is *smart*. When you are ready it will be easier that if you spent a lot of time beating yourself up and being frustrated.

[Yazzi69]

I was thinking about this after I read this post. My mother was an alcoholic. She drank alot. She would go on benders that would last months! I remember when she would stop drinking for a period of time, she would gain weight. She would try dieting but never had any success at it. I always thought that alcohol basically broke down to sugar,which is basically what low carbers are trying to avoid. Funny though, I have known alot of alcoholics, other than my mother, and not one was overweight. That is until they stopped drinking. Maybe they drank so much, they didnt need to eat?

[amandawald]

I was thinking about this after I read this post. My mother was an alcoholic. She drank alot. She would go on benders that would last months! I remember when she would stop drinking for a period of time, she would gain weight. She would try dieting but never had any success at it. I always thought that alcohol basically broke down to sugar,which is basically what low carbers are trying to avoid. Funny though, I have known alot of alcoholics, other than my mother, and not one was overweight. That is until they stopped drinking. Maybe they drank so much, they didnt need to eat?

Yup, that's about it. The alcohol is very calorific, so it gives you energy (so to speak), just no goodness whatsoever. Some alcoholics practically live off alcohol and air!

amanda

[annemj]

I've known a few alcoholics, and all of them have been thin. And they ate too; so not eating isn't the reason. Perhaps there is something in the genes that predisposes people to being alcoholics that also tends to have them burn alcohol differently.

[FatJessica]

I guess it kind of seems obvious to everyone but me that I'm on the precipice of alcoholism. It's just so difficult to tell the difference between people who are just young and drink too much and people that are headed towards alcoholism. Everyone I know drinks. I work at a bar. I work in a college town of 10,000 in South Dakota where pretty much all there is to do is drink. These sound like excuses, and they are, but excuses are often also valid reasons. I know one person my age that doesn't drink, and it seems like such a foreign concept to me. A 23 year-old girl who doesn't drink...weird...I'm hoping that when my bff and I move to Oregon together there will be more stuff for us to do. I don't crave alcohol, I just crave fun..and I'm bad at fun sans alcohol.

[RosieGirl]

I'm young and drinking is part of my life too (well, not as young as you, but I'm Australian and we seem hard wired from birth to binge drink).

I guess it's a choice you need to make, do you want to be thin or do you want to socialise? I have managed to do both on some occasions, but I have had to say no to my boozing friends a few times. That's cos I want to be thin, and I want it badly enough now to commit to doing it properly.

i still drink, but not nearly as much as I used to. I miss it, I miss drinking wine when I get home from work, I miss going to the pub with my colleagues a few times a week for a big old drinking session, but I won't miss this fat arse once it's gone!

[mzsunrize]

I'm 28 so I've been there and done that...then at 24 the partying was out of the system and I wanted to to other things. If I wanted the social night life, I'd go the club and dance. It was easy to avoid drinking then because I would just tell the bartender I was the DD and get free diet cokes.

On the other hand, I have a friend thats 34 and still feels compelled to get sloshed every weekend...then call me to cry about how lonely she is...or call me the next morning to "speak her regrets".

So yeah, you might to just get it out of your system if that's what you need to do...just don't be like my friend, LOL.

[amandawald]

I guess it kind of seems obvious to everyone but me that I'm on the precipice of alcoholism. (...)
I don't crave alcohol, I just crave fun..and I'm bad at fun sans alcohol.

Hi there,

Whether you're on the brink of becoming an alcoholic is anyone's guess, and I don't get the impression that anyone on this forum was implying in any way that this is the case. If you think so, then maybe you are getting worried about your drinking, but that still doesn't mean you're going to become an alcoholic. And even if you were on the way, you can always turn round and leave that path. A few years back, after a few nasty twists of fate in my life all in a row, I suffered from "reactive depression" and drank too much. Since then I have battled with alcohol, but not to the degree that my drinking was so out of control that I couldn't hold down a job etc, but it bothered me because I knew that once I opened a bottle of beer (at home alone or out with friends), I would feel like I couldn't stop.

Bizarrely enough, committing to low-carbing has given me the best control I've had over alcohol for about fifteen years! I know that low-carbing and drinking beer will not lead to any weight loss in my case, but I also felt that the LC WOL was definitely the right thing for me, and I wanted to give the WOE a chance to get some weight off. I've committed, drank far less often than for years and am slimmer and feel really good about myself!

If you think you can't stop drinking, then it's time to assess whether the alcohol is controlling you, or vice versa. The amount you're drinking is not really relevant.

All the best - and believe me, I've been there, it can be done!

amanda

[hairquilts]

I like to have 1 margarita a nite & found a margarita sugar free mixer called ZILCH. It does not slow my weight loss. I mix it with a sugar free-caffeine free lemonade drink call fruit refreshers(it is really onlu flavored water) I love it but try to limit my drinks to 1 or 2 a week.LOL

[beernutz]

and drinking dehydrates. they're not real losses.
Dink! I bet her body fat did not change after drinking (or if it did it was for the worse).

[beernutz]

I guess it kind of seems obvious to everyone but me that I'm on the precipice of alcoholism. It's just so difficult to tell the difference between people who are just young and drink too much and people that are headed towards alcoholism. Everyone I know drinks. I work at a bar. I work in a college town of 10,000 in South Dakota where pretty much all there is to do is drink. These sound like excuses, and they are, but excuses are often also valid reasons. I know one person my age that doesn't drink, and it seems like such a foreign concept to me. A 23 year-old girl who doesn't drink...weird...I'm hoping that when my bff and I move to Oregon together there will be more stuff for us to do. I don't crave alcohol, I just crave fun..and I'm bad at fun sans alcohol.
Well if you work at a bar, it stands to reason that most of the people you meet and know will drink. I went to school in a town about the same size as you are in and although I did drink, I knew many people who didn't, or who drank very little. They are out there, even in small college towns. Of course, I worked in a gas station during school.

Check out page 6 of this report: http://www.acha-ncha.org/docs/ACHA-NCHA-II_ReferenceGroup_ExecutiveSummary_Fall2010.pdf
The differences between actual use and perceived use of alcohol by college students is pretty large.

On the other hand, binge drinking and other issues with drugs and alcohol are huge problems on most college campuses. See:
http://www.yic.gov/drugfree/alcabuse.html

[faduckeggs]

Jessica, it really saddens me that in a college town of 10,000, you don't know anyone college aged people who don't drink alcohol. And that you think alcohol is necessary to have fun.

I don't drink. It's not a moral or religious thing with me, I just don't really see the need or point to it. I have friends who drink and friends who don't. But when I was in college, I didn't know a single person who drank alcohol regularly. Who has time and energy for that, when you are have class, studying and work? I loved college, but I was way to busy with school to have time to drink regularly. What kind of college is it that students don't have to be students?

I suddenly feel really old and out of touch. (I'm 37, fyi).

[FatJessica]

Faduckeggs, this is a pretty old post.. I'm not drinking nearly as much anymore. While I still have plenty of issues to sort through, I'm in nowhere near the same amount of pain I was in at the time. The town I was referring to was my home town, and yes, I didn't know a single person who didn't drink at least four times a week. I moved three years ago, and the environment is much healthier. I'm in school, working, and focusing on losing weight. I do go out and drink (more so in the last two weeks because I finished my ridiculous summer class), but I feel as though I have it under control.

[bmore4now]

Good for you Jessica. I saw '08 and I was thinking whew as much as we start-stop-start LC a lot can change in that time.

Good Luck Jessica!

[faduckeggs]

Jessica, I didn't even notice the date. But I am hapy for you that you have found a nice balance for your life. And there's nothing wrong with some celebration time.

Now, when are you going to change your name to SkinnyJess like we discussed?

[FatJessica]

Jessica, I didn't even notice the date. But I am hapy for you that you have found a nice balance for your life. And there's nothing wrong with some celebration time.

Now, when are you going to change your name to SkinnyJess like we discussed?


Okay....how do I do it?

[faduckeggs]

Okay....how do I do it?

Oh, I have no idea. Maybe one of the mods knows? There is a user hep section where they can give that kind of info.

[flowers4me]

Alcohol makes u pee. Dehydrates u. Not true weight loss.

[flowers4me]

Success is getting up just one more time than u fall down...I like that.