I know. I'm being an impatient brat, but losing .5 to 1 #/week seems so slow for the amount of effort! The biggest problem is my mood. When I was eating more carbs (though not high carb - just paleo with some fruit,) I had good energy and good outlook - but no loss. Now, I do have weight loss, but feel sort of apethetic, and like I want to cry half the time.

I know if I can stick it out, I'll eventually get somewhere, but I don't like who I am. I miss feeling happy, zippy, productive.

Help.

Thanks for listening.

P.S. - It's been 3 weeks since I cut out fruit.

I really think that you should put fruit back in sweetie. It is not worth this pain you are going through. Maybe your body needed to detox from that for awhile and you may lose weight again. Try just adding in a serving a day for a few and see where it takes you. If you haven't been drinking green tea that is another way to go. 1 cup of green tea has more antioxidants (metabolism booster) then a serving of fruits and vegies. Don't give up and let us know what you decide.

__________________

I don't see why you shouldn't add some lc fruit within your carb allowance. What program are you following now that you're off paleo?

__________________

Impatience is one thing, feeling crummy is another. I agree with the comments already--you need to play around with the program until you find a combination that works for you.

Are you taking any supplements? B vitamin complex can help when you're detoxing from carbs.

Food is the best "supplement," of course. Add some berries? I love the frozen mixed berries, or blueberries, from Costco.

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


My Fitday Journal

I agree with Maggie and Barb. Add some low GI fruits like strawberries, blueberries, as well as cantaloupe. You can make a fruit salad with those. Be sure to count the carbs in them.

Barb, I was also going to say, TAKE VITAMIN B COMPLEX!!!!! It helps wonderfully for mood. Take it first thing in the AM with your B-fast. I find that if I take it at night, I wake up wide awake at about 4 am. So I take it in the morning ONLY.

Fluffy, this is not a WOE about deprivation. And if you are exercising, reward yourself with a fruit salad. On days that you exercise, you can afford a few extra carbs. If you are NOT exercising, START!!!! Even if it means just walking around the block. Then you have motivation for that reward.

I'll tell ya, .5-1 lb a week is FABULOUS!!!!! (That's 4 lbs a month!!!!!) Don't be in a hurry to lose it too fast!!! If you lose it slowly, it will stay off longer and your skin won't get horribly saggy either. Patience m'dear..........patience. (it's a virtue) Just be glad you ARE losing!!!! I know people who have stalled and gotten stuck there for a LONG, LONG time. Now talk about frustrating!!!! Think positively, "I'm still losing, I'm still losing!!!!"

Hang in there!!!!!

__________________

Hey Fluff, you have already received messages from some of the best around. I just wanted to tell you that I've been feeling this way, too. I think it is one or a combination of several of the following: Haven't had green tea in 3 days (not on purpose, just got busy, didn't drink it for whatever reason), haven't been losing much. .2-.8 per week?, haven't upped my carbs w/ fruit & veg, and I am about 2 months into this! Not still at induction levels, but upping with LC crap and cheese, not fruits and veggies.
Try some of the things mentioned, and thanks for reminding me to do the same!
let's feel better!!
hugs and happy weekend!

__________________
Heather
182-2/27/08

THANK YOU all so much for writing! I was on the second day of the second episode of feeling horrible and was getting pretty desperate when I asked for encouragement yesterday. Quick answers to your questions - plan is from biblelife.org (no fruit during weight loss phase, but otherwise very Atkins-like, hope you don't mind - I figured I would fit in pretty well on this Atkins board,) yes on exercise, yes on green tea (have a tall one right now, as a matter of fact Thanks for reminding me about that, I had been drifting back more to coffee. And B vitamins too, forgot about that! Whenever I got cranky during my teen years, Mom would give me a B complex capsule and have me take a nap. Would always wake up right as rain! Will definitely try that.

Giving up the fruit (temporarily) is the only thing that has worked for me for weight loss in a long time (in paleo circles, we call it the "winter diet,") and I wanted to stay with it. I still feel my body is adjusting to burning fat for fuel (this has always been a difficult switch for me.) So here's what I did last night: I figured I was low on seratonin and wondered what lc thing could help. I took out a square of unsweetened baking chocolate, melted it with a tablespoon of coconut oil, added 2 tablespoons of cream and some stevia, and stirred it up - it was sort of like hot fudge. (Five carbs.) I wasn't having sweet cravings - I almost never do - but it seemed like it might work. To my utter surprise and delight, within one hour, I began to feel better. Within two hours, I felt like myself again! I am a chocolate skeptic no longer I can be a lot more patient with weight loss when I feel better, I think!

And another surprise: down 2 lbs. this a.m., oh my!

Thank you all for staying with me through the rough spots. I deeply appreciate you!

Much love,

Fluffy

Heather - we were both writing at the same time, LOL. Hope you feel better too! It's reassuring to know I'm not alone or weird! Well, weird maybe

Like the pros said above - B vitamins, green tea, exercise, and maybe my 'chocolate cure' if it gets really bad. I also forgot to write my stats. I guess I'm a little embarrassed to post them, but here goes. I am so glad to hear from you, please stay in touch!

Fluffy
167/159/120

Excellent strategy. The Chocolate Defense. Good thinking.

And yes, feeling crummy is diet disaster. Nobody can live for long with deprivation and depression. Glad you found a way out.

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


My Fitday Journal

Fluff, I LOVE your chocolate idea. I do something similar, and yes, I find that I can handle life's stresses better with a bit of chocolate in my life. (well, okay, a lot!!! LOL) If you add fruit back into your diet at any time, I like to take fresh strawberries and dip them in my chocolate concoction and stick them on parchment paper in the frig. The chocolate hardens...............talk about heaven!!!!!

Congrats on the 2 lb loss and I'm glad you are feeling better!

We're all here to support one another, that's what it's all about!!

__________________

Chocolate! My favorite food group.

I get some every day, one way or another. Even if it's just a teaspoon of cocoa added to my coffee.

__________________

Maggie, it's definitely a FOOD GROUP!!!!!

__________________

I limit my fruit intake - as it does put weight on for me - but I ensure I have 2 servings daily. Like Barb - I dip in choc for a treat - I use 70% organic dark chocolate - its expensive - but stops me from eating too much!!! I also eat the occasional date or dried fig - these help with mood swings too I find and I've taken a morning tab of slow release complex B for years. I also exercise for about an hour daily. I limit both good quality coffee and green and rooibos teas to 1 cup each daily and base my WOE on veggies with everything else in equitable balance - it all works positively for me - and I'm a mood-swinger from wayyyyyy back! Best wishes.

__________________
The fox is wild!



5'3" Maintaining 121-125
Original weight 198 +

Hello there Fluffy (Fluffypicklechunks-just about the cutest thing I ever heard!)

You've received so very much great advice and hugs! Isn't it awesome how wonderful the men/women are on this site?

I just thought I'd throw in my two bits and say that I too experience the same frustration. I am a newbie and being one who has tried weight loss ten trillion billion million times in the past and not succeeded each and every time, I walked into lc thinking it's a quick fix, because as people who want to lose weight, I think we look at things that way --and please, please forgive me for being presumptuous--so, anyway, something different has happened as I've been here 6 weeks or so and I've not missed my sugar/pasta/taters (?????) and I feel so very proud of me.

I joined because my hubster and I will be cruising in sunny Mexico come spring and I wanted to be , how shall I say, the lovely thin for him...but I'm finding that's not really important (um, weight-wise I mean) so much as it's the 'journey'. One of the moderators (can't remember who) pointed that out to me - it's the journey- no matter what successes or failures happen along the way, it's the journey and the "coming back" that matter.

Keep coming back cutiepie Fluffy, I look forward to us and us-all in helping eachother!
Smiles, Candace

Candace said: And you SHOULD!!!!!!! You've gotten over the two week hump!!!! You are on your way to smooth sailing!!!! Just dig your heels in and enjoy that journey!!!! It's really a fun one!!! You need tools, and you will get them here!!!!

__________________