I started Atkins in Nov. 02 and I had lost a total of about 32 lbs. My low weight was 212 about a month ago, but I have gained 7 lbs since. I have not changed a thing. I am eatting the same foods, the same amounts, the same everything, yet I am gaining about 2 lbs a week. I do not understand what is going on. The ONLY thing that I can think of is I now have a DESK job again after being laid off most of the summer. I still dont see how lack of exercise can put 7 lbs back on in one month.

My wife even noticed that I no longer have "dragon breath" which I had pretty bad when I was losing weight. I no longer have that ketosis feeling either. I was able to tell when I was in ketosis without any sticks and I have not been at that stage for probably 2 months now.

Before I go forward...I should tell a little of my history. From Nov to April I was steadfast on low carb. I did not cheat even once in that span. I was married April 25 and cheated on my honeymoon. The end result was no weight gain...but the beginning of a very very long stall which I never really got out of. I then cheated a few more times in the summer and gained maybe 4 lbs which I lost within a week or two. I have since teetered between 212 and 215 for the past 3 months. No loss, no gain. I can handle a stall, but I cannot stomach being on a diet and GAINING weight. I am about to quit after getting on the scale today and seeing a big fat 219. I track my weight and I have not been this heavy since March 16. Now I know some of you may say that this is not a large gain, but I know my body and it is very steady. I will set at a weight...not jump all over the place. The past month though I have watched a steady increase in my weight and today has me up in arms. It is sort of the last straw.

I need to know if this is unusual or if anyone has any ideas why this is happening. A typical day is a leftover piece of meat from dinner for breakfast, a moderate lunch with consists of a salad with ham bits, shredded cheese, real bacon bits and ranch dressing and a portion of some sort of meat. For dinner I ALWAYS eat a salad or veggie like brocolli and a larger portion of meat. I will snack on some nuts in the evening (pistacios) or sometimes I will have a few teaspoons of peanut butter.

So, any ideas on why did I jump out of ketosis and more important, how do I get back in? Thanks in advance.

There is no telling what kicked you out of ketosis but you might want to go through induction again to get back in. Sometimes it happens. Dont give up!

Susan

LC and feeling better every day!

Atkins since 7/18/03
210/185/140

Paul, I can imagine your frustration at this point. A long term stall gets really old. I did that through much of the spring and summer also. I commend you for looking for new answers!

A very helpful book is Laura Richards, The Secret to Low Carb Success. She describes the pitfalls and potential problem causers with low carb eating, as well as having a lot of great tips and hints on how to make low carb eating go more smoothly.

As it has been such a long stall, it may be helpful to start using a food tracker to see if that will pinpoint any problem areas.

Fitday.com is a free tracker and not bad. I prefer DietPower's tracker, a locally installed program that runs faster and has more features. You can get a 15-30 day free trial of the software from www.dietpower.com.
You may be a victim of carb creep. If you start measuring and weighing your foods and entering that into a food tracker, you may find that you are consuming more than you expect. For example, few teaspoons of peanut butter, could be more like a few tablespoons in reality. I assume you are using a your flatware teaspoons rather than a measuring spoon? Flatware is much larger than measuring spoons, so digging out a lump of peanut butter could easily be a portion that's well over a tablespoon's worth. If the daily amount of peanut butter is more like 4 level measuring tablespoons, that's about 10 net carbs.

And, there's lots of other little things that could contribut to carb creep. A food tracker - or even a pencil and paper journal could help you figure out what is causing your stall.

While it may not be responsible for all of the problems, I'm sure the decrease in exercise would have an effect. I can imagine that adjusting to a new job is quite taxing, but is there some way you could fit in a 30-minute walk a few times a week? I think it would help.

~~~Teelbee

174 (Mar. 2002, highest weight), 164 (Jan. 2003, begin LC)
164/133/137-134
remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic

Paul, I think it's the desk job. A change in your activity level can reduce what Atkins calls your "CCL" -- Critical Carbohydrate Level, how many carbs you can eat and still be in ketosis.

Another factor is that, sometimes, our CCL just falls, for whatever reason, on its own. I think that our bodies have a tendency to try to adjust to our carb intake and thus the CCL over time becomes a moving target.

One of the points of OWL has always been to find your CCL and then not go above it. Since yours has moved, you need to lower your carbs until you get back into ketosis. Hopefully you don't need to move it much. You might want to review what your highest-carb or highest-glycemic foods are that you've been eating and eliminate one or more. You might also want to get some Ketostix so you can see some visible scientific confirmation of your state of ketosis. Adding exercise would also help, but if it's not something you can do every day, lowering carbs is still more important.

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

the only thing I can think to add to the good advice above is-get rid of the nuts and peanut butter. I stall on them for some reason. I also stall if i eat heavy cream or more than 3 (not 4) ounces of cheese. You are probably different so why not take Susan's advice and go through induction again. then reintroduce the foods (veggies first) as you did in your original induction. I agree with Teelbee - a food tracker can help you pinpoint problems.
I feel for you, believe me. In past attempts at weight loss I experienced similar problems.

Rob
310/250/180

I think, too, that you need to take that four letter word - "diet" - right out of your vocabulary!!

To be successful, I think you MUST view this as the way you are going to eat, always. Not a diet that you go on and off.

I sympathize with your dilemma. It's not fun to see those scales go UP especially when you know your own body so well.

I can't add much advice to what's already been said, except make SURE you're still drinking plenty of water and try to move around more! Sometimes stress has a way of making your body go into a mode where it tries to retain what it's got, in case that "stress" is due to a coming drought or other reason for lack of food. Of course, in this day and age, WE know that isn't likely to happen, but our bodies haven't evolved enough to know that too!

Exercise can also be a great stress-reducer - I'm not saying your job is necessarily stressful, just DIFFERENT from what you had been doing and therefore causing your body to view it as a stressful occurrence.

Best wishes for getting it back on track!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!

I dont know why but the water seems to be the answer to me. If I dont drink enough water I stall or gain a lb

Lynn
6/6/03
163/152/145
38/33/39.25 5'8"