Hey everyone! I'm new to this site. A friend of mine told me about it a couple of days ago. I've been doing the Atkins diet for about 3 months now and I've lost 30 pounds, and gone down several inches already. I'm trying to lose another 20 more before my wedding in June. I just had a quick question for those experts out there. I've hit a speed bump recently. I haven't been able to take any more weight off-I'm stuck at my current weight. I've been trying to figure out what's the cause of this, and have so far cut out caffeine to try and get it going again. I was jsut wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to how I can pick up the weight loss again. Thank you so much!!!

Welcome, Kerpickle.

If you tell us a little more, you're bound to get many suggestions.

What is your height and goal weight?

What are you eating and drinking? Best bet is to post a menu for the last couple of days.

We've got many vets here with information and support to share.

Make yourself at home.

Maggie
5'1" ~~ Atkins since '98 (160+)
Maintaining nicely (110 +/-)
~~ Redhead until further notice!

I'm 5'4''... When I started the diet, I was about 195. I'm now stuck at around 163, and I'd like to get down to 135-140 by June. I'm drinking a whole lot of water, and every once in a while diet sprite.

Breakfast is usually one egg and 2 pieces of sausage or bacon, or a piece of low carb bread (1 carb per slice). Lunch is usually tuna salad or a cheese burger. Between lunch and dinner I'll have a snack of either salad or a couple of pieces of cheese and pepperoni (all 0-1 carb). Dinner is usually grilled chicken, salisbury steaks (my own recipe), cheese burgers, or a small steak, and vegetables. Veggies are usually broccoli, or asparagus. I know that my servings of veggies are fine cause I love veggies. I don't seem to have hidden carbs anywhere-I'm very careful. I rarely eat any of the snack bars or anything. Maybe once a week, but usually less than that. I'm thinking that maybe increasing my exercise might help me out.

Thank you all so much for your help and support. It's so helpful to have someone who understands because my family is not helpful at all. They really don't understand the diet, and they are kind of afraid that it's "dangerous". I've tried to explain it to them, and even though I'm in the medical field, they don't believe me. Anyway, thanks for all of your help again!!!

Well I'm new to this but it sounds to me that you might have carb sensitivity. The diet you listed doesn't sound like it even has the 20 carbs you would need on induction. At 3 months in you should be having more carbs then that. I'm not sure what the solution to carb sensitivity is but all the vets will let you know.
Congrats on the wedding!

Jen

Thank you!!!

I ususally have around 10 carbs a day. I don't want to increase until I get closer to my goal weight.

What's carb sensitivity?

Kerpickle,
Your carb level is way too low. Staying on induction levels (and 10 grams a day is low even for induction!) can be counterproductive. Many people have the idea that the fewer carbs they eat, the faster they will lose, but this simply isn't true. You should be slowly increasing your carbs, ideally in the form of veggies and maybe some low-carb fruits (like strawberries or blueberries).
I know that you have a deadline, but thirty pounds in three months is fantastic progress. You may just be going thru a little "settling" period, where your body is adjusting itself to your new weight. It's normal, and no reason to panic. And at the rate at which you have lost so far, I don't think that carb sensitivity is a problem here.
Vary your menu a bit, for instance add some flaxmeal cereal for breakfast occasionally (Maggie's recipe, in the database, is great!), keep drinking lots of water, and I'm sure you'll be fine.

And, congrats on the wedding!!

Trina

Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy.
And cooking done with care is an act of love.
- Craig Claiborne

Hi, Kerpickle. Good thing you like veggies, 'cause it's time to eat LOTS MORE of them!

Please check with your Atkins book or website. Even at induction level, you MUST eat at least 20 carbs per day. By now, you should definitely be increasing your (good) carbs by 5 grams per day, each week adding five more. Your body needs them!

Fewer carbs will NOT speed up your loss--in fact, that may account for the trouble you're having. Your body is trying hard to conserve calories/energy because it's not getting enough carbs along with the other nutrients.

Eat more veggies, less cheese. Perhaps add some healthy carbs like nuts and berries. Be sure you're drinking plenty of water.

Best wishes! And don't let your family discourage you.

Barb L.
Started Atkins January 2003
162/141/130

Your carb allotment for the day is much too low. If you don't up the carbs, you will have your body thinking that you only need 10 carbs per day to lose weight, and that's what you'll have to deal with to lose weight.

Believe me. I've been there.

Also, you need to eat more vegetables. Way more vegetables since this is where you will be gleaning your carbs.

My two cents...

April
352 / 201 / 180
5'10", large frame, size 13 shoe
www.geocities.com/aprilreinhardt2

To go a few weeks w/out losing is not unusual @ all. Try going to fitday.com and logging in your food intake to see what the numbers show. You can even check to see how close you are to meeting your RDAs for vitamins and minerals. How many calories % fat, protein etc.