Hi all. My boyfriend lost 40 lbs. on Atkins and is my total inspiration. I started the program 11 days ago. I don't think I lost a pound though and haven't weighed myself yet. It is that "time of the month" so maybe that has something to do with it. I have been sticking to it. I am actually really excited because I love the food! I am not bored at all having been on low-fat depriving diets off and on all my life. This diet to me is heaven, but I have yet to notice anything. So, I wonder what I may be doing wrong. Here's my typical menu for a day:

Breakfast - Carb Solutions Bar (3 net carbs)
Lunch - Chicken breast, 3 cheddar string cheese (0 carbs)
Dinner - Salad greens with ranch and ground beef or chicken (not many carbs), OR
3 pieces Natual Ovens Low Carb bread (3 net carbs per piece) with ham spread (0 carbs) and tough of mayo
Snacks - sugar free jello, pork rinds with cream cheese dip.

That's about it folks. I have gone out to eat and had a steak with brocholi and salad. I have had no potatoes, breads, etc, no sweets. I have not done the water, water, water thing though. I am drinking Snapple Ice Tea (0 carbs) at work, some decaf ice tea at night (3 glasses) and some diet coke. A glass of water here and there. Anyone have any ideas why I'm not losing? Thanks for the support...

I am no expert but I think they will tell you to try going without the bars and the LC bread on induction. Does the ice tea have sugar? Try to find drinks without sugar such as diet rite, sweetened with splenda (if you are from Canada, east or west, you cannot get this) And you have to drink your water. That is vital! Not only is it important for weight loss but for your organs, like kidneys etc. I drink 3L a day and they recommend a gallon per day. That could be why you are not losing. Oh yes and READ the book! The Atkins website has some helpful hints and if you keep reading here, everyone is very helpful and informative. Hope this helps. But I am sure you will get many more responses from individuals who are further along than me.

~Steph

Ditch the bars quickly, they are terrible for induction except on rare occaisions for most people. They have more than 3 carbs. Read your label. Carb solutions Bars go from around 7-14 carbs per bar when you dont subtract the sugar alcohols which affect many people.

Cheese has carbs. Count the carbs in all your cheese you eat.

3 slices LC Bread? On induction you can't have any bread, not even low carb. After you progress to OWL, a rare slice of LC bread is okay for some. At the end of your post you stated that you haven't had any bread...You HAVE eaten bread. Just because it's LC doesn't mean it doesn't count as bread.

What is your ice tea sweetened with? Splenda has carbs (very low but carbs none the less)

Your 20 g of carbs should come from Veggies off the approved veggie list and your 3-4 ounces of hard aged cheese (1 carb per ounce)

For many people, the sugar alcohols, caffeine, and aspartame, stall weight loss.

Drink 1/2 ounce of water for every pound you weigh each day.

And finally, you could be one of those rare people who are fine with sugar alcohols, and TOM will definitely affect results.

I get a conservative 23-25 carbs from the typical menu you have described.

Good Luck!

Susan

LC and feeling better every day!

Atkins since 7/18/03
210/185/140

Yeah, you may want to consider adding salad and/or veggies instead of the bars and LC bread. So have a salad with lunch and a salad and veggie with your main meat at dinner. Remember induction on the Atkins plan is supposed to include either 3 cups of salad or 2 cups, and one cup of veggies - but you don't have do all that in one sitting.

Some ideas that my help out - for easy breakfasts, try hard boiled eggs. You can boil a bunch ahead of time, then just grab 'em and go. You can also eat them as is, or devil them (YUM!).

I also liked eating celery with cream cheese for breakfast. I'd cut up the celery ahead of time and found a big bag of 1 oz packets of cream cheese at Sam's - which is perfect for taking them to eat at work.

Or you can grab some turkey or other sandwich-type sliced meat and piece of cheese.

If you're missing sandwich-type things, you can try buying butter lettuce (it comes with it's roots still attached to the head!) and wrapping meat and cheese or whatever in a leaf. I'm personally fond of grilled chicken (we found some pre cooked frozen filets that take only a few minutes to nuke), cheese, and pesto sauce. yummy!

And plenty of water - You might what to stick at least to the decaf tea, rather than the diet tea or decaf coke. I understand that caffine and/or aspertame can stall some people.

Best of luck!

***********
...wishes come true, not free!
-from Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Breakfast - Carb Solutions Bar (3 net carbs)
Lunch - Chicken breast, 3 cheddar string cheese (0 carbs)
Dinner - Salad greens with ranch and ground beef or chicken (not many carbs), OR
3 pieces Natual Ovens Low Carb bread (3 net carbs per piece) with ham spread (0 carbs) and tough of mayo
Snacks - sugar free jello, pork rinds with cream cheese dip.

That's about it folks. I have gone out to eat and had a steak with brocholi and salad. I have had no potatoes, breads, etc, no sweets. I have not done the water, water, water thing though. I am drinking Snapple Ice Tea (0 carbs) at work, some decaf ice tea at night (3 glasses) and some diet coke. A glass of water here and there. Anyone have any ideas why I'm not losing? Thanks for the support... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think you just answered your own question as to why you're not losing.

Breakfast - Lose the bars, and have some eggs & bacon.

Lunch - Where are your veggies? Have a big salad with your protein.

Dinner - Have a cup of green veggies in addition to your salad, and protein.

Low carb bread - Not on induction.
Ham sald - If it's deli, it more than likely has salad dressing, and added sugar as well as sweet pickles - all of which are not induction suitable.

Soda, Iced Tea, etc are not water. You should be drinking mostly 100% pure water (amount depends on what you have to lose).. The iced tea, and sodas should be occasional treats (in my opinion, after induction).

All of your carbs on induction should be coming from green veggies - not processed foods, and certainly not low carb bread (3 slices is half your carb alottment for the day).

It's my opinion that you should start induction over again, and follow it for 14 solid days, to the letter, and by the book. If it's not in the book on the acceptable foods list, don't touch it.

Thanks for the tips. Actually that was 2 slices of the LC bread not 3. I thought on the Atkins I read it said to count "NET CARBS" and not to worry about "TOTAL CARBS" so on the Bread and the Carb Bar I eat for breakfast, each as 3 NET CARBS. What's wrong with that??? I count my cheese carbs(0 carbs on the package... believe me, I read everything). I do love eggs and sausage so I suppose I should switch to that instead of the "LC Bar" and maybe that would heop. I will give up the bread, but I don't see why I have to... for 3 NET CARBS I though was A-OKAY?

I can't answer on the LC bread, but as far as the bars are concerned....

My understanding is that the sugar alcohols they use as sweeteners can affect some people like regular sugar does. So you might need to count those sugar alcohol carbs, even though the label claims their impact is minimal. The conventional wisdom around here is that if you are eating the bars but having problems with cravings or weight loss, then try not eating the bars...or at least make sure you're counting all the carbs in the sugar alcohols...which means it would be really hard to "afford" the bars during induction.

Oh yeah - you may also want to check out the "Possible help for Newbies" thread too - it's got alot of helpful suggestions.

***********
...wishes come true, not free!
-from Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods

Please get the book, and read it cover to cover before you restart induction. You need a grasp on how and why this WOL works in order to see progress.

Induction is intended to be a dotox process, and the start of a path to better health. It's not a quick fix for a few vanity pounds, but is a lifetime commitment to a better you.

By the way, cheese has carbs, regardless of what the package says - it has less than 1 carb per serving, but it does add up, and must be counted.

Also, you don't "have" to give up the LC bread - you can do anything you want. However, you asked for advice on why you're not losing. Quite simply, you're not losing, because you're not following induction properly.

Good luck.

The problem with Carb Solutions bars is that they are sweetened with a large amount of malitol, and many people are sensitive to it (it stalls them). For those people they certainly aren't 3 net carbs.

If you have read your book and are properly doing induction on Atkins. No bread of any kind is allowed period. Your carbs are to come from leafy green veggies and other veggies off the approved list of foods for induction.

Hope this helps explain.

Susan

LC and feeling better every day!

Atkins since 7/18/03
210/185/140

Induction is eating meat, salad, some veggies, fat and count your carbs. No milk, sugar, most fruits starches. It's pretty simple.

To jjbean39, I think people are saying to ditch the bars and the aspertame because in their experience it has caused a stall. And it has affected quite a few people. I remember reading on the site or in the book, I can't remember which, to not have over 4-5 ounces of cheese a day and to count one ounce as one carb--I could be wrong on that? Anyone know if that is true? Oh and NO fruit.

On induction we are trying to detox and get all the bad carbs out of our body and by eating bread, even though it is LC, can slow the detox, in my opinion. I just want to get everything out of my body and start with a clean slate, ya know? I think the Atkins book and site is great, but I like to take the advice of the people who have actually done this and have seen what caused their stalls.

~Steph

Thanks Steph, appreciate the kindness.

No problem, I know how hard it can be trying to figure all the information out at once. Good luck, I know you can do this!

BTW: it is 3-4 oz of cheese, oops, my mistake!

~Steph

Okay folks, starting tomorrow no more bars and LC bread. I will go with eggs and sausage, more veggies, and more water. Wish me luck!

Thanks for posting your menu - helps alot.

First thing - get the the book (Dr. Atkins's New Diet Revolution) and read it. This is a must. The more you research and read the better success you will have.

Now about your menu: I would suggest you not eat the carb bars or bread during induction - they aren't on the allowed list. Some folks find the carb bars deadly whether they are in induction or not. You should also be eating more veggies. My typical menu in induction looked like this:

Breakfast:
three egg omelette with cheese and two strips of bacon
Lunch:
two cups salad topped with chicken, beef, fish, cheese, whatever (around 6 to 8 oz)with blue cheese dressing
Dinner:
Slab of meat (or something) with one cup of veggies like grean beans, asparagus, snow peas, spinach - whatever.

Since I'm not a big snacker, I sometimes had another cup of salad with dinner.

Lots of people have problems with artificial sweeteners or caffeine and find that such things slow their weightloss so I would try getting rid of these.

Water is critical!!! I find that I lose weight when I up the water intake. If you can't take plain water try Fruit 2 0 flavored with splenda. Water flushes your body out.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Jen
175/131/120