I've been on Adkins for 4 weeks today. I lost 10lbs. in the first 2 weeks. That was great! I lost 2 lbs. the next week. This week NOTHING! I've kept way under 20 carbs a day all month. I doubt there has been a day that I even had 20. Has anyone gone through this????

Hi, Mfarm. How much water are you drinking? Beyond that, perhaps you could give an idea of what a typical days menu would be. Maybe there's something in there you aren't aware of that's stopping you.

315/296/150 (Started 8/17/03)

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I've kept way under 20 carbs a day all month. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You shouldn't be keeping "way" under 20 grams of carbs a day. You should be getting as close to 20 grams as possible per day - almost all of them should come from green veggies.

From this point forward, I think you should up your carbs to between 20 and 25 per day. You're more than likely not eating enough, s your body is holding on to whatever you do feed it as a reserve.

You should also be drinking pure, clean water that amounts to half your body weight in ounces.. Example: If you weigh 200lbs, you should be drinking 100 ounces of water per day, every day.

What does a typical induction day menu look like for you?

(296/226.5/135) 04/01/03
The Downward Spiral Begins

I usually have 2 eggs for breakfast, sometimes with bacon or sausage. If I'm tired of eggs, I may have hard salami with cream chees and dill pickles. Lunch usually consists of salad with plenty of vegies and ranch dressing. Supper is usually any kind of meat and another salad. I snack on cheese, jerky, celery w/cream cheese, vegies, few nuts. I'm afraid to up my carb intake since I'm not losing.

Forgot to add I do drink lots of water. I wasn't much of a water drinker until now. Its a battle, but I do try to drink at least 64oz. or more a day.

You may still be a little low on water. I don't know how much you weigh, but I drink at least 120 oz of water a day. It really DOES make a huge difference. The water flushes the burned fat out of your system.

Also you may try cutting out the nuts for awhile, and maybe cutting back on the cheese. I eat lots of cheese but it doesn't seem to affect my loss, some people say too much of it slows them down.

ALSO... check that ranch dressing. The number of carbs in most bottled dressings will astound you. If you can use a simple oil and vinegar dressing. (I used to be a huge fan of creamy dressings, but have gotten very used to the oil and vinegar).

315/296/150 (Started 8/17/03)

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mfarm:
I've been on Adkins for 4 weeks today. I lost 10lbs. in the first 2 weeks... I lost 2 lbs. the next week. This week NOTHING! ... Has anyone gone through this???? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yes, this is common.

and YES, up your carbs a lil bit.

some call this the dreaded 3rd week stall, though it really isn't a true stall - but more of an adjustment period.

have you taken your measurements at all? some do find that they lose inches even though the scale isn't moving - very common.

increase your carbs a bit... way under 20 is not where you want to be.. but 20 - 25 at least.

and depending on your weight... 64oz water is NOT enough. most around here shoot for a gallon a day... i tend to shoot for 90oz a day... though on hot summer days, you do need more.

HTH and keep us posted on how you are doing...


My LC web site
LCE Member since 12/00

You're still missing alot of veggies. You should be eating a bare minimum of 2 cups of salad veggies AND 1 cup of other veggies (broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, etc.) per day. That's also where most of your fiber comes in (the additional cup of other veggies).

64oz of water isn't a whole lot.. Have you tried upping that?

Cheese, jerky, nuts, salami, etc. are all loaded with salt, as well.. They may be causing you to retain more water than necessary.

Try cutting those items, upping your water, and adding at least one more cup of quality veggies (if not more), and see what happens after a week or so.

(296/226.5/135) 04/01/03
The Downward Spiral Begins

Thanks to everyone for all the info. Seems like all I do eat is vegetables. I do eat alot of cauliflower. I will up my water to see what happens. I hate to up my carb intake though when I am not losing weight. I know on Adkins, he says to up 5 carbs a week while you are losing weight until you stop losing weight. Won't uping my carbs make me gain? I'm so afraid of gaining back.

Oops! Forgot to add that I have lost inches around the waist in the last 2 weeks. I can actually button my jeans again!!!!!

Mfarm, I think you are doing very, very well indeed!

The rule of thumb for water is to drink 1/2 oz. of water for every pound you weigh (more if perspiring heavily). So a 150-lb. person would need about 75 oz. a day while a 200-lb person would need about 100 oz. a day.

Most people find that the pace of weight loss slows after the first two weeks. That's to be expected. One thing that happens is that there is a water weight loss going on in the beginning. The body needs more water on board to metabolize carbohydrates, so when you reduce carbs, the body sheds the extra water it no longer needs.

I agree that you should move up to 25 carbs a day and start increasing your good veggies. You want to be able to maintain this way of eating in the long term, so it's important to add a few more higher carb, but legal foods as you go along (higher carb veggies, nuts, berries, etc.). This adds a lot of options for variety and leads to a more satisfying way of eating.

I don't know what plan you are following, but Dr. Atkins recommended adding back 5 more carbs a week until you reach a point where you stop losing weight. Then, to back off by 5 carbs.

I'd also like to point out that different people have different weight loss patterns. My pattern happens to be slow and in steps. Though I lost 9 lbs in the first 3 weeks, which I thought was fantastic, my weight loss after that was about 2 lbs a month. I won't lose any weight for 2-3 weeks, then I'll have a "whoosh" and lose 1-2 lbs overnight. Other people have noticed this same pattern, while some lucky souls lose weight every week.

Whatever you pattern is, learn to live with it. If you lose quickly, fantastic! If you lose slowly, fantastic! Losing slowly is, after all, way better than gaining!

~~~Teelbee

174 (Mar. 2002, highest weight), 164 (Jan. 2003, begin LC)
164/135/137-134
remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic

Uh.....ditch the nuts and the jerkey and the salami and the dill pickles. Those are snack foods and full of sodium (and most jerkeys have sugar)...

You should be having real meals with GENEROUS portions. Lunch and dinner should look like this:

two pork chops
OR
two hamburger patties
OR
two chicken breasts
skillet of sauteed mushrooms with butter
OR
large salad of lettuce, radishes, mushrooms, cucumbers, celery, hard boiled egg, green peppers all tooped with a smattering of shredded colby cheese and Ranch dressing
OR
steamed broccoli with butter
OR
steamed cauliflower with butter

Limit yourself to 4 ounces of cheese per day, and then only aged cheese (nothing pasturized or processed). Snacks should be more veggies or a little sugar-free jello (no whipped cream unless you're making it yourself).

You should be eating over 20 carbs per day now. If you want to add more carbs, healthy carbs, you can try adding in a few more higher carb veggies like onions, tomatoes, and carrots.

You'll have plenty of carbs from meals like that.

There's my two cents...

April
352 / 204 / 180
5'10", large frame, size 13 shoe
www.geocities.com/aprilreinhardt

One other thing to look at is exercise. Cardio and resistance workout. If you do resistance workout (weight training), remember that muscle weighs more than fat. That will also influence what your scale shows.

You're doing it! Don't ever give up or surrender!

Katrin

It sounds like you're doing okay. Going one or a few weeks without weight loss ON THE SCALE isn't that strange especially after a significant early weight loss like yours.

You can up your carbs. It doesn't matter how low or high they are as long as you're in ketosis. Just be sure you remain in ketosis.

If you're still in induction, you probably are experiencing some constipation, which can distort your scale readings. Drinking more water and eating more vegetables can change that.

***********************
"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."