Oy. I began my vegetarian (lacto-ovo) low carbing on new years day, and now, nearly 6 months later, I have lost a total of 1 lb. Obviously, this is rather depressing. I have tried Atkins, then South Beach, then most recently the Fat Flush Plan. None of these have worked for me, my clothes aren't feeling any loser and the scale is stuck in that one place.
Although for the last 3 weeks I have not had any coffee or diet soft drink, yesterday I started back. Think I'll try to keep these at bay, but I need help to do so. I am avoiding all the atkins bars, etc and for the past 3 weeks i also hadn't had any of the low carb tortillas/bread but now I broke down and went to buy some. Of course after about a month of each diet I would have a breakdown period where for a day or two (or three :-( ) I would go back to crap food and feel awful, but I never put weight on during that period either. i am 5'3" and 130 lbs, I would love to get back down to 115, which considering my height is realistic. I was actually down there only about 2 years ago, but then my body suddenly slapped 25lbs on me in a matter of 6 months. I still don't know what caused that, I really hadn't changed my eating habits, I blamed it on stress (i was an exchange student in Australia for those 6 months and it started quite rough, though I loved it all so dearly).
I am in college/uni (whatever one might call it), during the school year I was exercising 3-5 days a week for at least 1/2 each time. Even with this I lost nothing. Now, the things I've been wondering about is a recent news report about the possible ill-effects soy can have on a persons health. A new theory I have heard is that soy products can actually lower ones metabolism, saw this on what I would believe to be a very reliable source, any one else heard such claims? i did some looking over the internet to see if there were websites on the issue and sure enough. Also, i have found that soy can increase a persons risk of breast cancer.
Anyway, I am just looking for any form of advice.
well, any ideas would be more than appreciated
thanks

You need to follow the book, get on induction, follow it to the letter, knock it out in 2 weeks, you will be in ketosis, gradually increase your carb intake accordingly, no more than 5 more carbs per day per week. If you do this, you will lose. Good luck, and get into that new bathing suit by 4th of July !

I think you just received some good advice. Read the diet book of your choice cover to cover, commit to it and then follow it. Some folks are metabollically resistant and have a tough time losing weight. I read that low carb cookbook author Nancy Moshier (she was discussed in Atkins book Atkins for Life), was metabolically resistant and lost very slowly with several plateaus. Yet she eventually lost over 100 pounds!

You can do it, but you won't do it if you keep switching diet plans and eating high carb in between. Believe me, I'm not picking on you, 'cause I've been there, done that, and it doesn't work!

You can do it!

with the Atkins, South Beach and Fat Flush Plan I did follow the induction phases religiously, yet still nothing would happen. i actually do register on the ketostix too. sigh, but i'll keep going until i figure out what is wrong.
thanks for your quick reply

iekeikei, how's you rfiber intake? I found that it is crucial to stay "clean" so I eat lots veggies. If I can't be bothered with washing/cooking all those leaves, I take 15g of psyllium with warm water.

hang in there

Hi, this is my first post. I'm also in a plateau. I haven't moved the scale in three weeks, but I'm trying to stay upbeat and just pushing a little more exercise. It's hard for me to get enough fat in my diet, and after reading several post here from other vegetarians, I see that feeling weird about trying to get fat is pretty common. Years of low-fat diet beliefs don't disappear overnight. But I belive the advice to pick one diet follow it as best you can and keep exercising has got to pay off in the long run. Have any of you tried the fat fast for really resistant metabolisms? I'm starting it today.

Where To You Get The Ketostixs?thanks.

iekeikei, a couple of things:
It's always good advice to read the available books, find a plan and stick to it. I'd also recommend Protein Power, which at 30-40g ECC per day for Phase I (your choice, depends on what you prefer) vegetarians can include non-meat protein sources--all of which have carbs--with a lot less mental effort.

That said, you are at 130lbs and trying to drop to 115--that's just 15lbs. Whenever you're only trying to lose a very small amount of weight, it's harder, regardless of the plan you're on. I don't know what type of exercise you do/did, or how regularly you exercise now, but you might find that increasing your lean body mass with resistance training (Pilates on a machine, a Total Gym, or weight training) would reshape your body as effectively as any eating plan. Combined with eating a healthy low carb plan, you'd really improve your health...but it might not end up looking like 115lbs on the scale. Resistance training will increase your metabolism and improve your muscle structure...and you'll likely lose inches, but maybe not lose many pounds according to the scale. You'll definitely fill out your clothes differently though!

Bottom line, although you've been there before, 115lbs may not be a realistic goal. Evaluate your current lean body weight and body fat percentage, and aim to improve those numbers. What you end up weighing according to the scale is inconsequential if you've build a healthy body. Hope this helps.

Soy has actually been shown in more than one study to increase metabolic rate via an increase in thyroid output. There is no research that I've seen to the contrary, so unless the "source" has some link to the research, forget it. As to the breast cancer issue, the Mayo Clinic http://breastcancer.about.com/b/a/047085.htm seems to think otherwise. The estrogen-like substances in soy are NOT estrogen, and in fact the evidence so far indcates that these substances might LOWER actual estrogen in the body.

As for your diet, try a vegetarian CKD. Works for me... I'm down to single digit BF levels now. I started in February and lost about 25 lbs of mostly BF, with very little LBM lost in the process.

Go to fitday.com and sample what you eat daily. count your carbs, calories , and fat content. get back with me!!