A Question
 

Hey there,

I had a quick question about suppliments.

I ordered vitamins for low carb diets from online. They aren't the Atkins brand but have basically the same stuff. I was also taking a fish oil dose daily. My weight loss isn't what it should be for the first two weeks of induction, which I complete today. I've only lost about six pounds. My clothes feel a bit loose but the weight loss isn't there to support that.

Now, I quit the fishy oil gel caps after week one because I didn't think I had lost enough and maybe there are some carbs hidden in there. No carb counts listed on the bottle. I thought that would take care of it. The only thing I can think of is it maybe the low carb diet vitamins I've been taking and still take. There isn't a carb count listed there either, which is odd since they are called "Vitamins For the Low Carb Diet" or something close to that.

My meals are egg whites and a few pieces of sausage for breakfast. The whites are carb free and the sausage is two carbs per serving. Lunch is some kind of meat which is no carb to two carbs. Dinner is the meat thing again with about a cup of broccoli, steamed or raw. No carbs other than that unless I have a cup or two of coffee in the morning with two teaspoons of splenda, so I can hide the coffee taste... I'm not exercising yet so I can rule out mussle build. I'm drinking so much water that the city may start rationing and my meals are good portion sizes so I'm sure that I'm not in fast and hoarde mode.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Tom

I'm not the expert but there doesn't seem to be a great deal of fat in your diet....and you seem to be eating not enough for your size imho.......

Even if the fish oil caps contain some other oil besides fish oil, there are no carbs there, not even in the gelatin capsule itself.

Your other supplements might contain a trace of carbs in whatever is used to hold them in tablet shape, but not enough to cause you not to lose weight.

Based on the foods you have listed (a typical day's menu?), I think you aren't eating enough food. You have to eat enough calories to support your body. Otherwise, it goes into starvation mode, in which it hangs onto every bite you eat, because it thinks you're living under famine conditions.

Eat food! Good, whole foods! Eat the whole egg, not just the white. Eat vegetables, too, and make sure you eat them with plenty of fat. Fat enables your body to absorb nutrients from the foods you eat.

I recommend that you read Gary Taubes "Good Calories, Bad Calories" if you have not already done so.

Best of luck to you! :)

Eat, Eat, Eat I found out the hard way about not eating enough, especially fats. Enjoy eating real mayo, cream cheese, butters, etc. Make sure that you eat more or you will stop losing cause your body thinks that it is starving-now this doesn't happen if you are low on calories just a few days, but I was below 900 for almost a month and didn't lose anything, was grouchy all the time and was losing hair. Was told by the great people in these forums to eat more especially fats and my mood improved, started losing again and stopped losing so much hair. I know that it can be hard to eat enough because you aren't hungry but you still need to eat more. Good Luck

I agree, it doesn't sound like you are eating enough. And pile on those veggies at every meal. Also, don't worry about any of the carbs in vitamins/nutrients - don't even count them towards your daily carb allotment. The benefit of taking them far outweighs any concerns about the little bit of carbs they might provide. And definitely take the fish oil as your highest priority supplement.

Ideally, you should log your foods either here in MYPLAN or at fitday.com, at least until you are comfortable with your routine foods... 2 to 3 weeks. That will help you see the details on your macros (carbs/fat/protein/fiber) and give you a feel for how many calories you are eating. You don't need to worry about calories - unless you aren't eating enough. Depending on your activity level, you can probably easily eat 2000 calories, give or take a few, at your current weight.

Many people start this way of eating thinking they have to cut calories right from the beginning. What you really want to do is cut the carbs without worrying about calories. By cutting carbs, you reduce the cravings and the calories take care of themselves. At some point down the road, when you weigh less, you may find it helpful to control calories, but don't worry about that for now.

Besides what the others have said, are you drinking a lot of water?

Thanks for the advice :) I have added more food into the routine and switched from egg whites to whole eggs. My tuna is now mixed with mayonaise. The fish oil was added back in also.

Hopefully this will correct the problem.

Tom