Anyone out there ever been STRICTLY on plan for four weeks, show dark pink on the stix THE WHOLE TIME but don't have inches or pounds dropping? I'm down about a pound in all that time and maybe (I mean REALLY maybe if I close my eyes real tight and wish hard enough!) have just a tad more room in the waist of my clothes (or maybe you could say a smaller muffin top)? Certainly not enough to feel all the hard work has been worth it.

Lifting weights 3X a week, walking or hiking 2X a week. Lotsa water. Very low carbs -- less than 15 per day.

Why don't you post a sample menu for things you have been eating/drinking. Maybe there is something hidden that is NOT agreeing with you.

Lots of people go through slow downs or stalls. Your body is probably resetting itself. Also with your lifting and walking you are probably toning up quite a bit, its hard to see yourself sometimes. You see you every day. Best of luck, posting what your eating is a good idea. reviewing your self can help also, are you drinking plenty of water, are you eating salad veggies, how high is your dairy intake, are you using bars and shakes, check that kinda stuff...Bru

Pretty standard stuff:

Bfst: 2 eggs, 1 oz cheese, scrambled in butter, 2T heavy cream in coffee
Lunch: either chix salad, tuna salad or egg salad, a little celery and regular mayonnaise
Dinner: 6 or so oz. protein (pork, chix or steak usually), small salad with bleu cheese dressing.
Tons of water, sometimes a diet soda.

All homemade, no chance for carbs to creep in. A vodka cocktail from time to time, s/f mixers, maybe a small lime wedge.

You might want to up your veggie carbs a little, sometimes people will lose better with more veggies. Personally, I would bet your body is resetting and growing muscle. Have you checked your measurements lately?

No, I don't measure cuz I never seem to measure the same spot twice. Usually when I'm losing, I feel a rather immediate change in how my clothes fit. Not so much this time around. I've been bouncing between 155 and 160 for a year, but usually when I'm strict for as long as I've been this time, I do manage to drop down under 155, but even at 156 or 157 my clothes feel looser. Dr. A. says when ketones are present, you're burning fat. From where? My freezer?

Agree with Bru

Your Weight training more than doing cardio. Its great to see your getting into the exercise, awesome work!

I would look at increasing my cardio though, because you don't actually burn fat (or very little) during weight lifting. So considering your now on a high protein diet with weight training, putting on all this muscle, which happens to weigh twice as much as fat.... well you do the math

And because there is probably still layers of fat between muscle and skin you can't see the changes because while fat is coming off muscles are growing. So at this stage my motivation would be in how much healthier you feel and what more you can accomplish.

My advise: keep up the great work!! if your going to do weight training and cardio in a workout (very beneficial) make sure you do your weights first as they will burn any carbs in the muscles and liver. Leaving your cardio (walking, running whatever) to purely burn fat.

The more muscle you build the better your metabolism becomes and the more fat you will burn at rest and during aerobic exercise. So give it time and keep it up because I wreckon you will turn into a fat burning machine!

Looking forward to seeing the progress!

Clint

keep an eye on portion control.....it can stall me out....

clunk is right: while lifting weights may not burn a ton of calories while your doing it, its crucial, i feel, for fat burning, because the more muscle you have, the more fat youll burn. cardio is awesome too, try to get 30 minutes a day, and thatll lean ya out.

i had a similar problem, i lift/cardio 5 days a week, pretty hard and heavy, and i feel like i should be tinier (ha ha, dont we all), but i think some peoples bodys sort of "swell up" when they work out alot...so hang in there! youll have a woosh soon...those are the best! do you have a gym log? id love to see what your doing...your menu is so similar to mine!

Cardio does not burn fat! It can help build the heart muscle but does not help with fat loss.

with all due respect, that last statement goes against everything i have learned about cardio. low intensity cardio allows the body to burn fat at a higher rate than calories, both during the workout and afterward. this as opposed to burning more calories and less fat with a higher intensity cardio workout.

i'd like to be wrong because i'd rather do weight training than use the elliptical lol. any links to the cardio not doing anything for fat burning info?

I think you wil have a big whoosh soon. Also if you are wearing clothes that have any spandex in them progress will be very slow (like stretch jeans). You need to measure everywhere to really understand where you are losing. I never lose where it counts for clothing fit first, but lots in my ankles

Lisa if that statement is true, why do my ketostix's go darker purple when I increase my cardio? My diet doesn't change, just my exercise. Can you please explain that. Just my personal experience with my body. Thanks...Bru

Are you serious? That is probably the silliest thing I have heard in quite some time...........

Well I am studying in fitness at the moment and am looking at doing a qualification in the next 6 months to become a fitness instructor.

It took me around 30 secs to find these sights on the net. They will give you some info into how cardio burns fat....

Cardio Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

Let me ask you a question. What energy does a person use to do a cardio workout on a LC diet? Vital organs tend to use up most of the minute amount of carbs we intake. Protein generally gets used for muscle growth and some converts to energy... So I guess that leaves fat......

My girlfriend who knows very little about the subject even said "What the hell" when she saw this.

I mean this is logical to me.

But I am interested to see where your source of information is from. Really because false information as bad as this can discourage people and that is CERTAINLY not what these forums are about.

Clunk

You mentioned you have diet soda occasionally. Apparently some people are very sensitive to artificial sweeteners as they can mimick carb intake, causing an insulin rise. However, I do not know if diet soda has any bearing on ketostix results.