Now that I have stopped crying long enough....
Today was my fourth week weigh-in.
I completely cut out the shakes, the bars, hot dogs, and pepperoni.
I am down to 2 cups of decaf green tea a day, with 1 Splenda and 2 Tbsp. cream.
I am eating more veggies like green beans and broccoli.
I bought low-sodium bacon and I limit it to 4 pieces a day, split between breakfast and lunch (and I don't eat it every day).
I drink water until I am ready to float away.
I started working out this week (Monday) on my elliptical, 20 mins. a day, followed by about 15 minutes of crunches and toning of my arms.
I test with the ketone strips every other day, and they fluctuate from moderate to large amounts of ketones.

AND I HAVE LOST NOTHING!!!!!!! IN FACT, I GAINED 2 POUNDS!!!!!

My clothes don't feel any loser, and I am doing absolutely everything I am supposed to!!! I have re-read the diet book, read Atkins Essentials cover to cover, and followed everyone's advice on this forum...WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?!?!?!
I am trying so hard and I am so ready to stop all of this...PLEASE HELP.

I am so sorry that this has not been working for you...
Did you take measurements by chance when you began? Also, I will let you know from personal experience that after I began working out that I retained water for a few days.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do though!

Have you just recently cut out all of the shakes, bars, hot dogs, and pepporoni? I quit using whey protein shakes because I thought it might be stalling me...I was right. Having had high blood pressure a few years ago and getting off of medication by lowering my sodium intake I can now notice when a food has too much sodium for me by the retention of water, even when I'm drinking LOTS of water. The high amount of ketones even with high water intake shows that it's working and you're burning fat.

Don't quit before the prize! You're doing it right. It will start to show! And, like Katie said, if you just started to excercise, you could be retaining water to hydrate your muscles that are getting worked out now.

Tari

You might want to post some complete daily menus, to see if anyone can spot a problem. Also, do you total your carbs for the day? Do you come out around 20 grams?

Other than that, I think if you are in ketosis (which your strips indicate), then it's just a matter of time before you lose weight, unless you are eating enormous amounts of calories (or way too few).

A 2 pound gain could be water retention from salty foods, PMS, or just whatever. My weight on the scale fluctuates this much during most weeks. I know it's frustrating and disappointing though.

You could be extremely metabolically resistant.
If you read the book, you'll see this is the situation in which Dr. Atkins actually recommends the Fat Fast.
If you don't have the book, I suggest investing $7.

It's quite possible that you've come up on the well-known "Week Three and Week Four Stall" which happens to so many of us.

I think it's great that you've tweaked your eating a bit, eliminating some of the possible culprits in not losing...you just need a bit more time to let those changes take effect.

Furthermore, it really does seem to be true that when one starts up an exercise plan, sometimes the body will retain water for a short period of time.

From the sounds of it, you're doing really well on the plan - and while I know it must be incredibly frustrating not to see the 'results' as quickly as you'd like, I'd really like to encourage you to keep on keeping on. You never know what might be around the corner. Sometimes we have to go through a little bit of "ugly" to get to the "good". I mean...what if, suddenly next week, all these changes you've been making start to take effect? What if this is some kind of "lesson" in persistence and patience?

I know...I hate the "lesson" too - and I struggle with it all the time. Especially when it comes to trying to lose weight and eat well.

---I'm about to go off on a seemingly irrelevant tangent here, but bear with me----

Hmm...just by writing back to you, I'm learning something here. I'm suddenly reminded of the time a few years ago when I decided to go back to school as a mature student.

For awhile there, it seemed like the entire universe was putting roadblocks in my way. My car broke down. I couldn't get my transcripts from back East, and the most ridiculous thing happened - my puppy ate one of my hearing aids. Kinda crazy isn't it? But yes, this insane thing happened just as I was applying to get into university.

At any time during this transition phase, I could have easily said, "I can't" or "This isn't working out".

I didn't though...and I'm only a few courses away from completing my bachelor's degree.

The same thing happened when I met and married the love of my life. I'm Canadian and he's American. Which meant thousands of dollars, numerous forms and interviews to get the correct visa for me to be able to move here. It was WAY harder than I'd ever anticipated. It took far longer than I ever thought it would. Dealing with the immigration process was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life, and it took more than a year after we were married for me to get my visa. Yet...what was I gonna do? Throw up my hands and say, "I'm NOT doing this anymore!!!"

???????

The thing is - I really believe that sometimes the universe will "test" our commitment to achieving our dreams. It's like...when you finally make a move towards a new future, a whole bunch of things happen to test your willingness to keep on keeping on. It's as if the world is saying, "You think you're going to what? Oh yeah? Let's just see if you're up to the task".

----end of tangent-----

You're not going to let a minor stall stop you from achieving your dreams are you?

Yes...exactly!

hi, I am in my second month of Atkins..weight has been really slow to come off, i went 5 weeks with no weight loss and a 2lb weight gain..i too was ready to call it quits, but everyone told me to continue which i have...well i now have a 10lb weight loss and am thankful that i stuck with it..I was feeling really good the whole way along..which helped me stick with it, PLEASE DON~T GIVE UP YET..you can do it

You can do it!!

My brother was a ssssslooowwww loser too! It took him twice as long as me to lose 1/2 the weight then he had his thyroid checked out and he has hypothyroidism but the doctors are jerks to him saying that is an old womens disease! I have it too just not as bad and the doctors told me that I was too young to have it UGH!!! Anyway the point is maybe you should have your thyroid checked!!

I hope you keep at it.

If you're up to it, post menus. Drink the water. Eventually, your body says "hey, she's not going back to the old ways. Guess we have to burn the fat and give up some of this retained water."

Keep the self-talk positive. You are well on the way to making permanent, positive changes to your life.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you just cleaned up your eating, I would estimate, last week Thursday. If I remember you correctly, I responded to your post on Wednesday and opined that you may want to limit your sodium intake, elimanate the shakes/bars, cut back in the Splenda/Reddi Whip, etc. Your body needs to adjust to the changes you've made. This WOL does work, which is evident by any color that registers on your stix and the weight you have loss, in spite of not doing a clean induction, the time when people usually lose the most weight. I agree with KLC145, get a tape measurer. It will become your best friend, especially during the weeks, and there will be many, when the scale will not move or fluctuates in an upward direction, despite your best efforts. Are you weighing in daily? Do you weight at the same time of day? I find that weighing in the morning, before eating and immediately after voiding is the best time to get your "true weight". Also, if you recently added strength training exercise to your regimen, that could very well be the explanation for the weight gain, unless you weighted in after eating or drinking. Remember you will not drop weight every day or every week. Hopefully, we can encourage you to continue on plan. starting a journal is really helpful you can keep track of what you eat, you'll make a lot of friends and get a boat load of encouragement.

I understand your frustration but don't give up. If you are following the plan as it is outlined you are getting some benefit - your body should be getting healthier by not being fed junk any more.

Now, about frustration, look at my stats. I've been following the Atkins WOE since August of 2003. What's keeping me going when I'm probably the slowest weight looser in the world? My blood pressure is under control, my hypoglycemia is under control and my cholesterol ratios are absolutely fantastic - in other words, I'm in my mid-50s and the only medication I take is for asthma while the rest of my family, about 10 other folks in the same age group, are taking blood pressure meds, diabetes meds and cholesterol meds.

THAT'S what is keeping me going. It's worth following this way of eating just to keep from having to shove all those meds into my body every day.

I exercise, I stay on plan, and I reap the rewards of having a healthy body. The weight loss will happen - it's just going to take me awhile to get where I'm going.

shortstuff

I would like to try to help you. I am going to respond to each of your items:

I completely cut out the shakes, the bars, hot dogs, and pepperoni.The shakes and bars sound like they have carbs in them, but I don't know. The hot dogs and pepperoni won't stall you, but the nitrites in them are not good for you at all.
I am down to 2 cups of decaf green tea a day, with 1 Splenda and 2 Tbsp. cream.This will make little or no difference in your weight or rate of loss.
I am eating more veggies like green beans and broccoli.This will make little or no difference in your weight or rate of loss unless this is ALL you are eating, and then it will seriosly stall you or make you gain weight. It is very important to stay low in total carbs, and to keep your % of calories from fat very high. It does not take much of your total calories from carbs to stop losing or start gaining weight.
I bought low-sodium bacon and I limit it to 4 pieces a day, split between breakfast and lunch (and I don't eat it every day).I'm not sure why you are limiting here. Try to eat meat that doesn't have nitrates in it, like fresh meats (not deli), or frozen meats, and eat them whenever you get hungry. There is no need to limit yourself - not eating when you're hungry sends your body straight ito conservation mode.
I drink water until I am ready to float away.This will make little or no difference in your weight or rate of loss.
I started working out this week (Monday) on my elliptical, 20 mins. a day, followed by about 15 minutes of crunches and toning of my arms.(I will get flak for this) This will make little or no difference in your weight or rate of loss. The trade-off with aerobic exercise is that you burn calories while you do it, but you also make your body more efficient with calories when you're not doing it. DO NOT STOP DOING IT, THOUGH. It is the only way to improve your cardiovascular system.
I test with the ketone strips every other day, and they fluctuate from moderate to large amounts of ketones.I do not doubt that you are in ketosis, but if you do not take in enough of the right combination of foods (see previous answer), your body will be in ketosis AND conservation mode which is NOT what you want.

I hope this helps, we are here for you :hug:

Actually, I agree with everything mannaburn said, except don't misinterpret the comment about water. Drinking until you're floating away doesn't give me a quantity. You can slow your metabolism by not drinking enough water. You need water to flush the byproducts of fat-burning from your system and prevent kidney problems. But that usually means about half of your body weight in ounces, not gallons. About three quarts for me is good.