Hello again .

I was doing Atkins in the summer for 6 weeks and didn't lose a pound. I got so depressed and bummed out about that, that I ended up throwing caution to the wind and gaining about 10 lbs. (argh). I am not happy about this!

I don't know why I didn't lose when I was on plan but I did have elevated liver enzymes prior to that however they were fine again when I went to the specialist right after that, and he tested me for every liver-related autoimmune disease and I'm fine, yay.

I am back and planning to make this low carb lifestyle work for me somehow, as without it my eating is out of control .

If you have any encouraging words or suggestions on how I should use this forum, or ways to succeed, I'll gladly take them .

Hi, just wanted to say welcome back. I can't offer you any sage advice, I still feel like a newbie and I've been doing low carb on and off for 18 months! The only thing I can say is: Read lots, find a plan you can live with for the rest of your life and stick to it.

I'm off to take my own advice!

Welcome back
Six weeks isn't long enough to have changed habits so my first suggestion would be to read the Newbie Advice sticky with fresh eyes. Second, re-read your previous posts and questions (just tap your name) and see where you stumbled, what the advice was before. Also, you have read a few different LC books, so Pick one, re-read it and follow its induction plan exactly.
All the best,

Welcome Back, 1DogDay!

Great advice from the previous posters!

Like Jey said, follow the Induction plan exactly of whichever LC WOE plan you are doing ~ that's the only way to be truly successful!

Wishing you much success on your journey to a healthier YOU!

BTW: You and I share the same b'day!

Hi and welcome back.

My favorite advice is in my sig.

As for "making this work somehow", maybe tell us a bit about your lifestyle. Everyone has different challenges - finances, time, disabilities, distance to shopping, etc. The most successful people make difficult changes besides just white-knuckling through an approved foods list: you have to be willing to change your money budget, your time budget, your social life (possibly), the way things work in your house (possibly,) etc.

I don't know why you didn't lose weight previously, but there is a good chance you had fatty liver disease and you NEED a healthy liver to get excess fat off. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is somewhat of a silent epidemic. There is no difference between NAFLD and alcoholic FLD except for what caused it. It's serious. Luckily, it's fairly easily fixed by cleaning up your diet.

Best of luck.

Everybody is offering you good advice and support. I just want to say that I've been strictly OP for a long time without losing. In my case, it's probably my age which is the culprit.

Even though I no longer lose pounds, my arthritis is much better and my general health is excellent. I will take those benefits and reject what would happen if I stopped eating On Plan.

So pick a plan. Stick to it. You know what will happen if you don't.

Thanks Skulder, I just ordered Eat Bacon, Don't Jog yesterday as Janet had posted about it being on sale for one day. I also spent a lot of time watching the videos on www.FitterU.us.

Yesterday I felt good, less hungry than normal as I had some good protein however today I woke up really hungry (but "hey, it's only day 2"!).

Good luck to you too!

Thanks for that advice Janet and for being here for those of us who struggle, it really means a lot!

My doc (ND) has a plan that I might follow however he says NO coffee and I love my 1 decaf a day with whipped cream (he says it triggers insulin :-(). His plan is eat no sugar, grains, processed flour like coconut flour or milled flax meal, alcohol, starchy veggies, coffee, beans, bacon, processed meats, yogurt and fruit.

He's a little more strict than some of the plans out there so I will see over the next few days which I pick. I feel like there has to be some joy in what you're eating but I also know I have a tendency to overdo the bacon and whipped cream.

Thanks you JustJo, I hope by our birthdays I can celebrate with you in a much slimmer body!

PS My A1C, which had been at 5.9 for years bumped up to 6,0 this summer :-( after I fell off the wagon. My doc (MD) of course sent me to their nutrition nurse who told me I had to eat a bazzilion carbs a day and fruits etc. as low carb was not a plan that could be sustained long term ~ argh! I ignored them. I think if I did what she said I'd gain more weight for sure.

Thanks Kristine, great idea about telling you about my lifestyle as that will help for sure.

I am single and work for myself from home, on the computer, a lot of hours at times, so I often feel isolated. Because of that I think I eat as I am lonely or as a reward for myself. I've had a lot of stress as I have been living half the year in AZ and the other half in Canada - I own a place in AZ and have been renting, site unseen in Canada. My mom just had a heart attack and triple bypass at 85 so that's been very stressful too.

I don't mind spending money on good food, I consider it a requirement. I am celiac so have spent a lot over the years and usually buy organic natural foods at health food stores.

I live 6 minutes from a grocery store and I tend to go too often as I don't plan ahead as well as I'd like to. Also, when I was in real estate for 16 years, I got very used to eating out, and probably do so more than most. I don't love to cook and haven't prioritized it enough but can certainly get back into it. I might hire someone local to help me get some things ready (she lost 100 lbs. on Atkins years ago so she understands it even though she has put 50 back on).

Almost all of my socializing recently involved going out for meals and or wine.

Sometimes I wish I had more fun things to do, and more people to do them with so I will work on that but its hard when you split time between two places, that should end this year I hope. I have considered getting back into riding (horses), that is one of my loves and would also get me moving more between catching, grooming, tacking up and riding and it might make me think of food less and be a way to get out and see people and do something that does not involve eating.

The friends that I do have mostly all drink wine, many of them every night. I love wine and would be happy to have a glass or two everyday but I realize that it's not possible for me. Not drinking does isolate me from some of the people I know but I'm willing to do that as I have in the past successfully for over 2 years.

I have a tendency to eat pretty good and then binge on something to the point of feeling sick. I have done this before dinner and not been able to eat dinner. I have even recently done it where I feel too sick to go to sleep. This is an eating disorder.

I am hypothyroid since birth and my TSH was only .01 in the fall :-( and my meds have been switched as I was on compounded T4 and T3, and now I'm back on synthroid. I have arthritis too.

For my liver, I had both an ultrasound and CT scan and neither showed fatty liver and the doc said it would show for sure. My liver looked VERY health.

Thanks for suggesting I do this, it will help others to see what I'm dealing with.

Thanks Glenda, I would be okay with being stuck somewhere, as long as it was 175 or less, I've been there before when I did my doctor's plan for 2 years. I could get to 175 and then bounce down to 173 but only for 48 hours max and then I'd pop back to 175. I am big boned and looked good at that weight so I'd take it, but I hate the thought of being stuck around 200 or 200+ :-(.

I am looking forward to less body pain however it's much better these days than it was in the summer.

I really feel supported by all your posts and thoughtful answers, THANK YOU all!

I am down 2 lbs., was hoping that would happen as the last bit of weight came on fast!

I love the book Eat Bacon, Don't Jog. My mom gave me this and I took off from there. I made this life style my own and custom made my plan and it works great for me. I did not follow the book to the T but took many great things from it. Some advice that helped me (make it your own):

Water Water Water Drink it (I do 80 - 100 OZ a day)
I do good pace walking only
Veggies
No Sugar ( I eat none but some low carb fruits)
No Starch what so ever ( I hate pasta so easy for me)
Fish
Dark meat chicken
Pork
ribs
NO SUCH THING AS CHEAT DAYS

You get where I am going. I wish you luck. I say try it for 6 months, No cheats and you will see the transformation.

Thanks NRRacing, do you actually eat bacon though? If so how much?

I'm not the best at cooking ribs and pork, or even beef roasts, I don't even know which ones to buy. I want to learn this. I eat lean meats and fish as a rule, and filet mignon (mmmm, my favorite). As you can see I like non fatty meats but like fat from other places!

Filet is very fatty--that's why it's so good.

Bacon, bacon grease, butter, pork of any kind, fatty fish, chicken with the skin on--they are all your friend. One reason they are your friend is that they won't let you get hungry, and if you're not hungry, you are less likely to binge.

But, as you are easing into your body using fat as its main source of energy, also try to ease yourself into thinking of yourself differently. NOT as a person who DOES binge, who has an eating disorder, but as a person who USED TO binge because the carbs in her diet gave her cravings all.the.time.

For me, the very best thing about eating grain free and low carb is that I eat when I'm hungry, and that's not nearly as often, because eating high fat keeps me full much longer.