If I keep saying I'm Skinny 2, I will be!

I've been on the Atkins diet for 5 weeks. I went through withdrawals the first few days, then felt wonderful! Lost 5 pounds in the first week. Then my weight loss slowed down to 1 pound per week. Taking tons of supplements, drinking lots of water, walking every day, sticking to 20-25 carbs/day. I eat a variety of meats, chicken, fish, cheese and salads. I eat about 5 tablespoons of olive oil, butter or salad dressing/day. No noticeable change in clothes. Started counting calories and am getting approximately 15-1600/day.

Why am I feeling tired and why is my weight loss so slow?! Will I ever be able to eat more than 25 carbs per day?

Thx much for replies...

Hi Skinny,

I don't know about the tiredness (someone else will) but generally, if you don't have a lot of weight to lose, the pounds come off slower. There are a couple of "slow losers" on the forum and they just keep with it because they feel great.

Are you eating any low-carb bars, protein shakes or anything with artificial sweeteners? Nuts? Deli meats?

When you have reached your goal weight, you go onto maintenance and increase your carb intake to maintain your weight. But no, you will not be able to go back to the way you ate before. It's what got you here in the first place!

Why don't you keep a food diary in the Journal forum. We can have a peek at it. You never know! We may see something that you don't!

Karen

Thanks for your quick reply, Karen.

In response to your feedback, I have approximately 40 pounds to lose to get to a healthy weight. I'm not eating any processed meals, shakes, or processed meats except bacon. Also, I know I can't go on eating the way I was but my concern was that 20-25 carbs isn't a whole lot and according to the Atkins plan, you should be able to take on more than that without gaining weight. Like the other slow losers, I feel great and want to stick with it. I believe it's the eating plan for my lifestyle.

I've been keeping a diary on an Excel spreadsheet. Any way I can forward it to you?

hi skinny and welcome! you could copy from your spread sheets to the journal/bootcamp forum. it's a really good way to account for yourself and you get great feedback as well! your weight loss sounds good for someone who only has to lose 40 lbs. 5lbs initial and 1lb a week there after is great! pat yourself on the back instead of kicking yourself in the bu**!

Hi skinny,

You sound like you have a good handle on things. One pound a week is great! Remember that it took you a long time to gain weight. It's not going to fall off in a matter of weeks.

You could try increasing your carbs to 30 grams, but do it by eating more fresh LC vegetables. Most people can handle 30 grams and eat quite well at the same time. You can always go lower if you have to. You could also increase your calories slightly by adding good fats to your diet. Calorie intake should be 10-12 x your current body weight, so you have some room to move.

What area of BC are you in?

Karen

Hi Karen... I'm in Langley.

I'm one of those 'slow losers.' My beginning and goal weights are not too far off from yours. I'm also losing at about three pounds a month.

No, it's not lightening-fast, but hey, it beats GAINING weight, which is where I was heading! And since I'm not anticipating a return to a high-carb lifestyle, a few weeks or months here or there doesn't make that much difference. I've lost 20 pounds in 8 months (including a 2-month stall last winter), and I'm looking forward to the next 20!

I eat between 20 and 30 grams of carbs a day, after subtracting fibre. That allows me lots of raw and cooked veggies, some berries, and limited amounts (some days, alas, not limited enough!) amounts of nuts, cheese, and other snacky things.

As Karen says, experiment with adding more carbs in the form of more veggies, and maybe a handful of strawberries a day now that they're in season. Limiting ourselves too much means boredom, and that leads to....well....you know!

Keep up the good work, you're doing great!

Rachel

Hi Rachel,

Thanks for the input. Good to know I'm not the only one and it will probably make it easier to make this a lifestyle change anyway.

What do you mean when you say "minus the fibre"?

Love to know more about the barbecue, too!

Thx....

Hi Skinny,

You can subtract the fiber from the total carbohydrate count to get the amount of digestible carbs. For example, Romaine lettuce has .7 grams for 1/2 cup, but the fiber content is .7 grams which makes Caesar salad an ideal thing to eat. 4 spears of asparagus has 2.6 grams minus 1.2 grams of fiber. So 4 spears is 1.4... Carbs minus fiber is known as ECC or effective carb count.

There are mega things to eat on this WOL if you eat within the boundaries but learn how to prepare food in an interesting way.

The BBQ/potluck is taking place in downtown Vancouver, the evening of June 22nd. If you want to come (and we welcome all local and far away low-carbers!), respond in the Local Low Carber Vancouver section of the forum and you will be sent a secret communique in which the secret location will be revealed. It may give you some great ideas on how to make your own WOL more interesting.

In addition to lowcarbing humans, there will also be several low carbing dogs participating who will bring bones. So much for sharing!

Karen