Very discouraging. I lost 4 pounds the first week, and none this week. What might I be doing wrong? I thought I was staying on the program pretty well--I have never gone over 20 carbs, I drink tons of water, take supplements, etc. The only two things I can think of--I have allowed myself to have an ounce or two of cheese per day, which is allowed. Once I had LC but high fat cocoa. Maybe that was not a good idea during induction? I'm just not sure. I didn't know all of this stuff before I started reading this board.

But there hasn't been a day this week where I ate enough to gain weight. My calorie levels have been good most days. So what gives? Should I continue induction for another week?

I haven't gotten any ketostix, so maybe I'm not in ketosis?

I'm not going to quit eating LC, because I do feel a lot better...but I want to lose weight, too!

Hi, Terrasanct, and welcome to a good place to get all your questions answered--and your anxieties put to rest.

First of all, everyone's experience on induction is different. I didn't lose very much either--but over time, I've been doing just fine. Patience is the first thing you learn on LC!

For the sake of other posters who might be helpful to you, here's some information you can provide:
--How far are you from goal?
--What's a sample menu?
--Are you taking any medications?

My guess is--you're doing fine. Fat consumption should not be a problem. In fact, maybe you can even increase your fat foods, especially good fats like olive oil and avocado. And it IS time to move ahead into OWL, adding more vegetables, legal fruits, nuts, or other things you might like to try.

Best wishes!

Barb L.
Started Atkins January 2003
162/137/130

Hi,
the only thing that I can think of is that you may be moderate to high metabolic resistant. What you can do to combat this is up your exercise a little bit (try at least 30 mins a day) and triple check your sugar intake..many foods hide the sugars in the ingredients - fructose, dextrose, sucrose (all ending in 'ose') are sugars. Alternative sugars are alcohol sugars (polyols) which do not affect the blood sugar as they are metabolised via an insulin independant pathway. Hope this helps, but I'm also new at this!
Kirsten

I think I'm eating enough fats. Most days it seems to be around 70% fat, 27% protein, and 3% carbs. I'm not eating anything that might have hidden sugars, as I'm not having convenience foods.

I can't exercise very much because I have a disability that makes it difficult. I have found that I have a bit more energy though, so I will exercise as I can. I know I have a high degree of insulin resistance. I have about 56 pounds to lose.

Sample menu:

Breakfast
2 or 3 eggs
sometimes sausage or bacon
sometimes 1 oz tomato

lunch
grilled meat--lamb or chicken or beef
lettuces and or low glycemic veggies

snack
1 oz cheese, some veggies

dinner
grilled meat, mushrooms or green beans or cauliflower, butter, maybe some cheese if having cauliflower

snack
boiled eggs or cheese

Your menu doesn't look bad at all! You had about the same weight loss on induction that I did. I started uping my carbs anyway and continued to lose - but NOT ON A STRAIGHT LINE. I had an up and down course, with many plateaus along the way, right from the beginning.

Over time, however, the trend was down and continued that way.

I should also add a caveat to <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Alternative sugars are alcohol sugars (polyols) which do not affect the blood sugar as they are metabolised via an insulin independant pathway. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That is not true for everyone. Most sugar alcohols (with the exception of erythritol) raise my blood glucose the same way sugar does - rapidly and excessively. So watch your own reaction. Many people seem to stall or lose their ketosis when ingesting products which contain sugar alcohols.

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

I hadn't read about the sugar alcohols last week, and I did try a few Atkins bars. I liked them okay, but can certainly do without. I've never liked convenience foods much, anyway.

I know it's going to be tough going as far as dropping pounds, but as long as I'm feeling better on the diet, that's the important thing. I hope to lose weight, too.

Feeling better is good! Also, you will probably discover that your clothes feel looser and looser, even if the pounds don't seem to be dropping that quickly.

Many people on this board report bad results with Atkins bars or other so-called lo-carb bars. I've stood in the store many, many times reading the labels, hoping for an "easy" fix. However, as a long-time weight watcher, I always get hung up on the number of calories in these little snack bars. They are so small! The convenience factor aside, I always find a way to get to "real food" instead.

Best wishes!

Barb L.
Started Atkins January 2003
162/137/130

I bought and used Ketostix yesterday--if it's correct, I am burning fat. It turned deep purple, and I drink a lot of water. So that's good, unless there are false positives on those.

If so, what would cause it?

I don't think you can get false positives with ketostix.

It can be argued that if you test positive, that you're not necessarily losing weight, that you can be burning your dietary fat as ketones. If you're just starting the diet, that's probably not what's happening to you.

However, that's not a false positive. Whatever, ketosis is good because it kills your appetite, which means you're going to want to eat less food.

**************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

So does this mean I need to be more careful about how much fat I'm taking in? I'm still confused about how much fat is appropriate. Can or should the plan be low fat? If I cut down on fat, what should I be filling up on?

I never paid any attention to how much fat I was consuming.

As Barb L. said in another thread, 65-70% is about the norm for this way of eating.

When you ask what you should "fill up on" it makes me ask if you are hungry on the menu you've described?

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

No, I'm not, but I suspect I would be if there were not as much fat.

Another issue is calories. I suppose many people at this point don't worry about them, but since I'm not losing weight I wonder if I'm taking in too much. The days seem to be variable, from about 1500 to around 1900. That last seems like too many if I'm trying to lose weight. But I'm not sure how I can trim it w/o taking out fat.

I didn't feel at any point today like I was eating too much, but it added up to over 1900 calories. Sausage and two eggs for breakfast, lamb and cauliflower for lunch, salmon and green beans for dinner. Flax seed "cereal" for a snack, and three ounces of cheese during the day. That doesn't seem like too much, but it adds up. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong at this point.

Hi Terrasanct,
It sounds to me that your doing just fine. When I first started induction I lost 4 lbs the first week and then went up 2 lbs the next week.

Patience ! ! This amazing WOE pays off in so many ways...

It has taken me time to re condition my mind to not think, calories-in-calories-out, low fat, no-fat etc. We have had our minds programed for so years to believe that this LC WOE is not healthy. Just go with it. Research as much as you can and you will start to understand your new way of eating.

Good Luck! This board is great for helping with any problems you have.

Merry Christmas

Kimberly
October 2003 WOL
262/243/175

If you're on Atkins, keep on eating fat. Some of the plans, like Zone, require you to control fat intake, but Atkins doesn't require it at all, and even encourages a high fat intake.

1500-1900 calories a day doesn't sound too bad. You're probably losing weight on the 1500 calorie days and on the 1900 days just maintaining and giving your metabolism a breather. That sounds fine to me.

**************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

Ditto to what everyone else has said. I just want to comment on my weight loss and hope that it will encourage you. I only lost 6 lbs during 3 weeks of induction. But at this point, I have lost almost 30 pounds. I've been doing this since March '02. This coming March it will be a year. (wow, how time flies) I needed to lose about 40 lbs. I am about 10 pounds from my goal and my loss has definitely slowed down again. But I am okay with that, I look and FEEL much better now. Your slow loss is fairly typical for a person with metabolic resistance. Don't lose heart. It will happen. I took measurements in the beginning: biceps, chest, waist, hips, thigh, calf and ankle. Even though I didn't appear to be losing pounds, I was losing inches. The fat that gets metabolized eventually gets converted to water for elimination. The body holds onto that for periods of time, so you look slimmer, but don't necessarily weigh less. Give your body the time it needs to eliminate that water. Your purple reading on your stix is VERY encouraging, and your menues look fabulous. So keep doing what you are doing, give it time, hang in there, keep coming here for info and encouragement. Remember, you didn't gain this weight overnight, so it won't come off overnight. Hang in there!!!!!

You're doing great!!!!

Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/146/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER