so for the past 2 months or so i've been going up and then down about 5-8 pounds. sometimes i'll be about 193 and thinking that i'm going to hit the 180's finally when my weight goes back up to 198. what's the deal? i've been getting stricter and stricter, hoping the weight will come off faster. i've even cut out cheese. i'm basically eating nothing but meat and drinking water, although today i had two atkins chocolate bars.

before i was losing 10 pounds a month without exercise, now i'm not losing at all. i had the plan that i was going to be around 130 pounds by December and now it seems like it's not going to happen. should i decrease my food intake? here's a list on what i usually eat:

Breakfast: 1 t-bone steak seasoned w/ garlic salt
Lunch: 1-t-bone steak seasoned w/ garlic salt
Dinner: 1 rib-eye steak seasoned w/ salt
Drink: water

what's the deal? i don't "exercise" but i don't lay around the house all day. i get up and go to school and walk around campus and whatnot. i even went walking the other day and i actually gained weight. don't tell me it was muscle because i doubt that i gained 4 pounds of muscle walking just once.

any advice?

I suggest you re-read the Atkins book and follow it to a tee. You NEED the carbs it recommends. Also, you will need to increase your calories. Even eating 3 portions of red meat, does not give you enough calories for your body to function (i.e. heart, lungs, typical everyday movements) will burn this many calories, therefore your body can go into a starvation mode retaining those fat cells and not letting them go. The best advice I can give is to read the book. You need the green leafy vegies and those 20 carbs that Dr. Atkins talks about, also, those Atkins bars are loaded with hidden carbs, not the right ones either. Punch the numbers into the hidden carb counter to the right of the page and see what I mean.

You need to tweak a bit to get back into losing. Reading up will be a first step and you should keep a journal so people can see your daily menus, this will help with the advice you are asking for.

Good luck.
Cindy

Cindy has given you the best advice!

You have to have some of the carbs, but the good ones like in green leafy veggies.

I have a hard time myself upping my calories too, the old mind set that less is better, but in this case it's not. Add some green leafy veggies and increase your calories 10-12x your weight. Water should be half of your weight but a minimum of 64 oz. per day.

Meat and water? Yikes! Your body could easily be going into some kind of crisis mode here! If you've been doing atkins for 3-4 months, you definitely should be adding in some carbs, and in the form of good FRESH veggies. How about a big spinach salad at dinnertime with that meat?? Or some steamed asparagus? Broccoli?

Are you taking vitamin supplements? Even if you are, they are no substitute for the fiber and micronutrients that your body needs to function properly, which can only come from the vegetables.

You'll fell 100% better, too!!