Linda Love,
1)Did your clothes get tighter, or did the scale just TELL you that you gained weight? Don't listen to the scale, it is at BEST a flawed rough estimate. If your clothes were still fitting it is safe to say you didn't gain the weight back. I have never heard of someone following atkins correctly and
gaining weight.
2)Assuming that you didn't gain the weight back: August wasn't that long ago, you might just be having a mini stall.
3)Finally, are you sure there is nothing in your diet which can be stalling you? Isolate everything before you think it isn't working.
a) Are you sure you are counting your carbs correctly? If you are eating sugar alcohols, they
do raise insulin slightly so these are not carb free food. If you are an insulin resistant/sensitive person this can play havoc with weight loss.
b) Do you eat a lot of salt? Salt can make you retain water which not only puts on weight AND inches, but also interferes with fat burning.
c) Drinking tons of water? Water is crucial to so many things, from flushing out acidic byproducts of fat burning, to keeping our electrolytes balanced, to allowing us to not retain water AND to let us burn fat.
d) Maybe you should try lowering your calories a little, 1700 might be a lot for you.
e) Did you get your thyroid checked? Untreated hypothyroidism makes it very hard to lose weight.
I don't approve of these "carb blowout" days, I don't see how it could realistically jump start weight loss. I think more often than not it is just a frustrated persons justified excuse to cheat. BUT, if you really can't see any other reason why you aren't losing, it really can't hurt can it. Just make sure you don't over eat and choose healthy carbs please
. If eating a lot of high gi carbs, cut down on the fat a little (unless it absolutely needs calories, your body opts to store fat rather than burn it when insulin is in excess) so junk food is not a good idea.