I am a 32 year old male and having been doing the low carb thing for close to 6 months. My normal day is to start off with a nice cup of coffee with low carb creamer. I always use splenda for my coffee. I ususally have a egg for breakfast. Lunch is always a big salad with lots of different toppings. (turkey, ham, cheese plus lots of veggies. I tend to stay away from corn or carrots.) I love my Ranch dressing and tend to cover the salad with a good amount. Dinner is pretty much the same, but occationally I will have chicken or pork. About three times a week I give myself a treat and have some popcorn. I love my Diet pepsi and I have two a day.

My problem is that I have been doing this for some time and the weight has stayed the same for about 1 month. I work out four to five days a week for 1.5 hours each time. I have lost 45 lbs doing this and I am happy but wondering why the weight stopped coming off. Any suggestions?

Welcome, kod42.

Congratulations on your success thus far. How much more do you feel you need to lose to achieve a normalized weight for your height? And which low carb eating program are you following?

(I'm moving this to the newbie forum, where more folks will see it. I know you're not a newbie to what your doing, but you're new here. )

Hope you'll make yourself at home.

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Hi, kod42. Are you following a particular program, or just your own version of LC?

On Atkins, an important feature is keeping the body chemistry in "fat-burning" mode--first through induction, and then by eating carbohydrates in gradually increasing amounts, up to the level where weight loss ceases. And then adjusting downward again for further weight loss over time.

For that reason, popcorn three times a week would definitely slow down or stop weight loss for many of us.

On the other hand, a month-long plateau (or longer) after six months of weight loss isn't at all unusual. The body takes time to adjust to a new weight level, and then begins losing again. You might try just being patient. Everybody has to work out their own strategy.

Best wishes.

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

i feel your pain. i plateaued for three months after losing 50 lbs. the first 50 came off really quickly, so i was expecting the rest of it to just melt on off. it didn't. it was frustrating. i'm just breaking the plateau-- my husband & i moved & i know the increase in activity coupled with the stress has caused me to stop eating. i was amazed to see a number 20 lbs lighter in under 5 weeks.

seriously, ditch the popcorn.
experiment with some low carb alternatives like pork rinds with dip & other crunchy snacks like cucumber slices with cream cheese. it will be hard to give up the popcorn, but in the end you'll thank yourself. and don't forget that the idea behind eating low carb is to eat until you're satisfied, so load up on lots of low carb foods & you won't crave the popcorn.

and increase your activity level. maybe it means climbing a flight or two of stairs extra a day, or going to the mall & walking around for an hour a week.
most of all, don't get frustrated. you CAN and WILL break the plateau!

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Welcome Kod!!!

I am a serious popcornaholic, but I only allow myself to have it once a month if that. This might be why you have plateaued. As a male, you might not be eating ENOUGH. With the amount of time you are working out, you may not be getting enough protein. And protein provides a "metabolic advantage" according Dr. Atkins. It takes the body more energy to convert it to glucose, which causes it to work harder to burn it. As a male, your protein requirements are higher since men have more muscle to maintain. And the amount of exercise you are doing, I'm sure you need it to maintain your muscle mass.

So: ditch the frequency of popcorn and up your protein. Try to cut the popcorn down to once a week to start off with and taper off to every two weeks. See what happens. You might also want to add green tea to kickstart your metabolism again. I use the sugar free syrups to flavor mine. The possibilities are endless. You need to do about 3 cups per day to see any results. You can drink it hot or ice it. Whatever works.

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"My normal day is to start off with a nice cup of coffee with low carb creamer. I always use splenda for my coffee. I ususally have a egg for breakfast. Lunch is always a big salad with lots of different toppings. (turkey, ham, cheese plus lots of veggies. I tend to stay away from corn or carrots.) I love my Ranch dressing and tend to cover the salad with a good amount. Dinner is pretty much the same, but occationally I will have chicken or pork. About three times a week I give myself a treat and have some popcorn. I love my Diet pepsi and I have two a day. "

Sounds like you have gradually started reverting to some previous food behaviors. The caffeine isn't a good idea as it stalls your metabolism and the ranch has quite a few carbs. Also, the popcorn, plain or loaded, is "corn" which you admitted you stayed away from in addition to carrots. I would cut down the caffeine, cut down/out the ranch (the low carb stuff isn't that bad), and find a popcorn substitute. I treat myself with gournet peanuts and cheeses, which are pretty satisfying.
Sounds like you've made alot of progress, just be careful not to slip back into old habits.
I've been on Atkins since 5/04 and have found out the hard way that it's easy to give into old temptations...slowly but surely. I am a former fast food fanatic and love nothing more than burgers, fries, and regular coke/pepsi. (lol) But, I know I cannot eat them and maintain an acceptable weight.
Thankfully, I've been able to maintain (went from a size 7 to a 3 and I'm on the petite side), but often still fight the temptation to give into to carbs (but know if I have one thing, I'm ravenous for more and then I binge). I have two kids (4 and 2) that eat lots of regular fruits, veggies, crackers, and goodies that I have to constantly turn away from.
It has to be a mindset, not something temporary. The lifestyle is structured as it is for optimum results. You may just be hitting the normal plateau, where your body could be at what it feels is a healthy weight for it right now. I'm thinking though, from experience, it's because of the things you've incorporated. Anyhow, hope this helps and good luck!
-Ann

A thought, you may be over-exercising.

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Ilse

380/286(current)/154
5'6"
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"
Walt Disney

I disagree. Kod's post implies that he has been eating the same foodstuffs all along.
Um...it doesn't affect everyone the same way. We are all different and, again, he's been using caffeine all along.
I disagree. Full fat Ranch dressing is fine, with only 1 carb per 2 tablespoons. It's the low fat stuff you've gotta avoid because they add sugar to it to make up for the fat taken away.

Here's my two cents....

Since you've lost 45 pounds eating the same stuff for six months, I don't think you need to cut out caffeine or popcorn or Ranch dressing since you've been eating them all along. They don't seem to have hindered your weight loss thus far. I mean, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

On the other hand, if you've added something within the past month -- and your weight loss has stalled in that month -- then that's probably the culprit. Cutting out that foodstuff will probably start the scale moving again.

OR

If you're very close to goal -- within 20 pounds -- then the weight loss will slow down. If you're NOT close to goal, and you've a significant amount of weight to lose, then your body may just be stabilizing itself. It may just be "resting" and getting comfortable with its new weight before it decides to move on. I've seen that happen many times in the 7+ years I've been low carbing.

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April

The face of a child can say a lot -- especially the mouth part of the face.

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Hi! For the first 6 weeks I was on Atkins, I hardly lost any weight, but I lost a lot of inches. Be sure to measure yourself, neck, chest, upper arm, lower arm, chest, waist, hips, thigh, knee, calf and ankle. Then, after each month or two, measure all again. If you stick with the diet, I am positive you will be smiling when you see the results.

A couple of things though, you didn't mention drinking water and you need to drink it to help get rid of fat. I drink 80 ounces a day and need to lose another 35 pounds. The other is I NEVER eat popcorn. Try some pork skins or celery if you want to crunch on something. Even get a low carb bagel, or bread and toast it crunchy and slather with butter.
Best of luck!

Kod, are you still with us?????

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