Hello...I am a first time "poster". I started Atkins on 01/01/2003 and have lost 15 lbs, 6 lb the first week and then a steady 2 lb per week until 2/5, but I have been stuck since then.

I haven't even heard of bars, shakes etc, but what I eat is a breakfast of a one egg omelet with a small slice of cheese, one strip of bacon. one link of sausage and a cup of decaf, sometimes with heavy cream. All the packaging says 0 carbs. Lunch is a good sized hamburger or some tuna & mayo with pork rinds and dinner is another hamburger or some chicken. I was having a portion of lettuce or spinach but have cut that out now. I never get hungry, just a bit empty when it's time to eat. I drink about 3 litres of water a day and take a multivitamin. I do indulge in one small dish of SF jello each day and occasionally some pork rinds with mayo as a dip. The ketostix continue to register in the medium range of purple.

I absolutely have NOT eaten anything else but I am getting discouraged. I like the way I feel with this pattern of eating and am quite content to continue but sure would like to see some results. I have referred back to the chapter on "getting stuck" and do wonder about medications...I take blood pressure medicine, hormone replacement therapy, arthritis meds and one for acid reflux (which seems to be nonesistant on Atkins).

I sure would appreciate any suggestions and a word of encouragement from anyone who cares to comment. Thanks for listention. Perhaps I should have a little cheese with this whine!

Hi Dingo...

Glad you've joined in on the discussions around here...

First thing I noticed on your post was that you used to have some spinach or lettuce, but you cut that out?? Well...cut it back IN!!! You must have your veggies every single day. Your body needs the roughage and fiber to help with digestion, not to mention the balance of nutrition to your system.

Also, it takes up plenty of room in your stomach where carbs used to be! I eat a huge salad - lettuce and blue cheese dressing, full fat kind - and a cheeseburger patty on top...that was my breakfast today!

Later with my lunch, maybe a little more salad, maybe just some sliced lunch meat - I save my cheese portions for when I want just cheese, like with salami or some other snack. I don't usually melt it over eggs anymore!

I would ignore the medication issue entirely...they always tell us about things that may interfere with weight loss (they have to) but I find the more things I ignore, the fewer hinderances I have!
Ignorance is bliss maybe!

Also, perhaps you are not eating enough...your menu sounds fine, but fun your numbers through fitday.com and see what they come out like. You may have too LOW of a caloric intake. Your numbers should be about 65% fat, 25% protein and 5% carbs.

If you get the water you need, and increase on your veggies, you will have the higher amount of foods without bothering your carb count too much. Lettuce is not a terrible thing to over-do, in fact I'm sure I get more than my 3 cups of veggies a day...but it fills me and doesn't affect my loss.

Finally...when you stall out a little bit, don't worry about it. This WOE is not to be tracked daily, but over the long-haul. You will see a 2 pound loss, then a 1 pound gain, then nothing, then a 2 pound loss, etc. It's at the end of a few months that you'll see the downward trend. Otherwise, don't look for a consistent loss pattern...that may start to take on a zig-zag in the future. No problem...it goes with the plan.

Good luck,

I would suggest looking at the "Rules of Induction" on the Atkins site, as well as the "Acceptable Foods" list. Both strongly urge quite a lot of veggies. I wouldn't cut them completely out of your daily meal plan.

Atkins Center Rules of Induction

Atkins Center - Acceptable Foods for Induction

Eggs do have carbs: about 1/2 to 1 gram per egg. It helps to use something like FitDay or CalorieKing to track your foods each day to see how you're doing. It seems like extra work but it does pay off, especially when you stall, being able to track your intake.

I take blood pressure and acid reflux medicine, and have done fine following strict induction. I'm in my second week, and have already lost 15 pounds! One of my goals is to reduce or eliminate my daily prescriptions by the end of this year.

Remember that as you lose weight, you need to proportionally decrease your caloric intake as well.


Also, note that the body is a mechanism of efficiency and routine. Try breaking it up a bit.

If you walk in the evenings, try walking in the mornings instead, or take up something new altogether, like indoor swimming.

Mix up your meals too. Instead of eating breakfast at 9am, eat it as soon as you wake up. Break up dinner in to two large snack meals instead.

Also, if you haven't done it already, do one days' worth of calorie counting, just to make sure you are consuming no more than you need to be.

If you aren't getting any exercise, now is the time to start.

Also, this may seem like bad advice to some on here, but take two weeks off of Atkins and switch to Sugar-Busters. Then go back to Atkins and do another 2 weeks of Induction. That should help shake your body's patterned, routine bahavior.

Tom C

I'm with Donna on two parts...

1) not enough veggies. Even at the Induction minimums 2-3 cups of allowed veggies daily is mandatory! You need to flush (get it ) the weight!!!

2) you may not be eating enough. Sometimes when we don't eat enough the body clings to the weight because it doesn't realize that this is your choice- all it knows is that it is starving.

Most people after losing a significant amount of weight - have a stall for there bodies to recover. You should definitely take measurements because these are times that you lose inches more then lbs.

Anyway... the menu sounds pretty good (EXCEPT FOR THE LACK OF VEGGIES).

Eat your veggies, relax and watch your body change. You are now into the grove of things. Enjoy!

Oh, one more tip before you give up and take my latter advice.

Make sure you are drinking enough water. Also, make sure you are getting enough vitamins. There are certain nutrients and minerals you may be lacking that affect body weight and metabolism.

Finally, you can take on a new weightlifting routine. Join a gym for a month and get on a weightlifting routine. You will gain weight on this, but pack on some fat-burning muscle as well. Keep the protein high on this program. Then later, swing back in to Induction and you should be able to drop any weight you gained fairly easily, and have a few extra pounds of lean muscle.


Tom C

Hi! I haven't posted here in a while. I started induction late July and had fabulous success - I've lost over 40 pounds! After the first few months, I started to get stuck, even tho I was still following the induction diet. What I did was ease up a little - I allowed myself some extra, "good" carbs, like fruit, nuts, etc. It seemed to shake my system out of whatever rut it was stuck in.

Good luck!

Pobo

Many thanks for all of the helpful replies. I am going to check out the site where you can enter your food intake right away and add some veggies to my meals. I am very lucky to live at a Sun City community where we have free access to a terrific fitness center. When I first arrived here, I took a water aerobics class every day but recently, I have, frankly, been embarrassed to be seen in a swim suit. I shall try to overcome that and also to get out on the street with my Golden Retriever puppy. Thanks again so much, just seeing and hearing about your successes has renewed my enthusiasm.

Good for you....and let us know how you're doing...a few weeks will tell all the difference...(of it takes that long!)

Add the vegis for sure. Get out with that puppy and walk as well! It'll be good for him and great for you as well.

if/when I stall I plan to have the gf drive the car with me tied behind and jog my butt 5 miles...NO 6 miles ! she promised to drive slow...