Hi, to quickly explain my situation, I'll go over some basic info.

Im a male, 17 years old, 6 foot 1 inch and 195 pounds. Im trying to drop down to 165 pounds.

Induction was great, i knocked off 7 pounds in that phase, but ever sicne then Ive completely stopped losing weight or inches. And the funny thing is, my diet is just about the same as it was during induction, but Im stuck here.

I thought maybe its the exercise, but I am getting frequent exercise, around half an hour every day for 5 days a week. Ive been at the same weight for 5 weeks, does anyone have a simliar problem and a suggestion on how they got past it?

It's going to be harder for you to lose weight, because right now, you're in your "perfect weight zone" for your height. At 5 weeks, you should be well off induction, and into OWL, and eating more carbs. The average 17 year old male is pretty active, so chances are good you're not feeding your body enough - especially with working out every day.

Up your carbs to at least 25-30 per day (good carbs = veggies), drink at least 90oz of water a day, and see what happens.

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

Awww, at your age and height I don't think you should be losing weight at all. Just my humber opinion.

If God is for me, who can be againist me?

Ditto the above.
At 195 and 6'1" You might be able to go down to 180. If you start upping your carbs 5 per day this week and 5 more next week I think You'll start seeing some results. Have you tried using a food tracker like www.fitday.com
It can help you get a picture of all aspects of your eating plan, including nutrient intake and activity monitor.
Good Luck
Rob

Glad to see some of you think I am in my weight zone, but Im still pretty determined to get down to 170 or so, maybe 180. But increasing my carbs will increase my weight right now wont it? I mean ive stalled.

And just wondering, how important is water? that might be the problem because Im not drinking much, and I tend to have one bottle of Sparkling water with Sucralose, a Atkins bars, and an low carb Cookie a day, could that be affecting it a lot?

And Im not really heavy on veggies, Im more of a meat 3 times a day type, is that harmful or is meat ok?

I have a ton of these questions, the book explains a lot, but not quite enough Im afraid.

Thank you for your replys and insights.

The green veggies and water are both very important to wt loss and your health..the snacks and cookies can not take the place of your veggies! If I do not drink my water, I do not lose wt!

To get to the rainbow you must first pass through the rain!

Hi, Issac

I'm not sure you need to lose weight either; but there are some improvements you could make in your eating plan.

Water is very important as your body needs water for the metabolic process of burning fat. Try to drink at least 1/2 ounce per every pound you weigh, more if perspiring a lot during exercise. In your case, that's probably about 100 oz per day. Remember, water really does help the weight loss process.

Meat is okay, but you definitely need to eat veggies - the more, the better.

Carbs - yes I agree your low carb intake could be contributing to your stall. Do get more carbs from:

- good veggies (mainly green veggies, cauliflower, salad)
- eggs
- dairy products (real cheese - not processed cheese, cream cheese, cream, sour cream, etc.)
- a small portion of fruit (berries and melon are the best low carb choices for fruit).

Bars and Cookies - many people find using the so-called low carb bars stalls their weight loss. The sugar alcohols and glycerine in those products have an adverse effect on a surprising number of people. For sweets, you can mix some sucralos and cream cheese for a kind of pudding, or mix a little sour cream and sucralose to go over strawberries. You can make some chocolate treats using cocoa powder, which is low carb. Mix it with hot half-and-half or cream and water; then sweeten with sucralose to taste for a nice hot chocolate drink.

~~~Teelbee

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

Only you can decide if you need to lose weight--and you might! At 6'3, y husband is at his best weight between 170 and 175. Anything over 180 and he starts getting a little gut. It just depends on your build.

And yes, the veggies are VERY important. You are not doing your health any favors by chosing LC bars and cookies over veggies (or lower carb fruits). Choose real, natural foods as much as possible.

Have you taken your measurements? You may be losing fat and gaining muscle, in which case you might be getting trimmer without it showing on the scale at all.

Welcome to our LC group!

Thank you for the welcome.

I guess I am screwing up then, I tend to drink little water per day, and Im really low on the salads.

Thanks for the tip about the LC bars, I thought those were safe, but now that I know better, ill cut down on it.

As to gaining muscle, its nothing that I can easily spot, but that might be the case for some of it.

The only question I have left is, why my low carb intake would cause a stall? Isnt it meant to be the opposite: The lower carbs you eat the faster you burn?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>The only question I have left is, why my low carb intake would cause a stall? Isnt it meant to be the opposite: The lower carbs you eat the faster you burn? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Your body is figuring out that it's not getting enough food to meet its needs, so it's going to hold on to everything that you give it, thinking it's starving. The more you feed it, the more willing it is to release.

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

BTW - My father in law is a prime example of Atkins gone bad. He read through most of the book, figured he got the gist of it, joined a gym, and stayed on less than 20g of carbs per day, since Feb. Now he can't eat anything. You'll see him eating one meal a day consisting of a small piece of meat, and a few veggies, and the rest of the day, he "snacks" on water, peanuts, and the occasional piece of fruit. While he should be looking trim, fit, and healthy, he looks gaunt and ill, but nobody can tell him anything different.

(And he's the one that originally inspired me to try this - good thing that's ALL he did, and I took the rest into my own hands)

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

I'm just curious. Why do you want to get down from 195 to 165?

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