Stall...The first 6 months of Atkins I lost 60 lbs. Then during the next 9 months I lost 20 lbs. I wanted to be under 200 lbs by August of 04 and I have not been able to accomplish it. I went down to 230 and then got depressed and started to eat again. I have gained 10 lbs and I am back at 240 lbs. I returned to Atkins trying to do Induction, but I am still craving sugar and I had strawberries yesterday. However I don't understand why my body will not go below 230 lbs. I have osteoarthritis on my knees, hands, ankles and top of my right foot, so walking sometimes is difficult. On top of that, I am living now in a hilly area where I have difficulties breathing trying to go up the hill, so my activity level is low (but it was not very high either while I was losing those 60 lbs). I need some help here getting motivated again. Thank you.

Have you been using fitday.com. to keep track on your eating? It is interesting to do this as it will tell you about calorie consumption- as you are not able to exercise it is possible that you have leveled out because you are not expending enough energy so your body is maintaining. To maintain 310 lbs takes a lot more calories than maintaining 235...so initially the Atkins diet probably had you eating at the level of a 235 lb person with your level of exercise (little) so you dropped weight to that level and stopped. Also, some people just level out for a while.. a few people almost a year...and then start dropping again. I heard of one person who started dropping after years of stalling just by fixing a problem with sleeping that was preventing weight loss (due to trying to conserve energy as she was not well rested). We would need to know what you eat and so on to be able to comment in any more detail. If you want to weigh 160 lbs, then you should probably be consuming 1600 calories and no more...but unless you can exercise, the weight loss is very lkely to be quite slow now. Other factors that seem to affect all this is age (over 40's find it harder to lose quickly), and the amount of yo yo dieting you've done in the past. Then there is whether you are taking medications, the pill, eating too many lowcarb processed products etc etc.

But I think you did very well to lose 80 lbs in such a short time..
perhaps you need to try to get fitter now and keep to low carbing as a WOL and see what happens. Many people find that not eating sugar and starch leads to body shape change, if not much on the scales, it sometimes shows in measurements. We are all different in how we travel this path.

Val


Is there anyway you could do swimming or water aerobics classes in order to expend some energy?

Well, I must say that on my next birthday I will be 60 years old. My children say that I am not old enough to feel this sick, but for many years I ignored the fact that I was a diabetic and I guess I am paying the consequences now. I was under a tremendous amount of medications, which I have tried to eliminate now for two reasons: one is that with the diet I was able to control my diabetes and the other one is that I lost my job and my Cobra has expired and I still have not found a job.

I will try to use Fitday to see how many calories I am eating. I have not been constant doing this. In the past I ate a lot of Tuna with Mayo, but I can not do that any more. The thought makes me sick. I may be under a lot of stress as I lost my house due to not being able to find a job and I am at the moment living with my daughter. I have applied to disability, but they have not made a decision yet and I no longer have money to pay for meds or do anything. That has made me very nervous and that could also be a problem.

I will do Fitday and see how many calories I am eating and try to control that first.

Thank you very much.

Aww Sadlady, no wonder you picked that nickname, you sure have alot of hardships to contend with.

But you've accomplished quite a feat by losing the weight you have so far, I know it's discouraging when things stall, so easy to just say chuck it and start eating things you aren't supposed to, but that won't really solve any problems either, it will just make you more sad because the weight will come back on.

Keep on fighting this weight loss battle and eventually those stubborn pounds will melt off too, don't give up on the one thing that is going well for you at this moment.

Hopefully your financial situation will improve soon and you'll be able to really appreciate your weight loss effort all the more.

Take care.

Yes, and most importantly, you must always continue to lo carb if you are diabetic as a good means to controlling sugars..

If there is any chance to do some swimming or water aerobics that would be really a good idea to help get things moving.

Yes, sounds like there's been a heap of stress in your life which doesn't help, but eating more carbs than about 60 a day would probably only be stressing your body as well...good luck!

Val

Well, I found out yesterday that I am very hungry. I had like 30 carbs because I ate strawberries with whipped cream made with splenda, and about 2050 calories. I have to bring down the calories and eliminate the strawberries. I wanted something sweet. But I am going to start working on this again. Thank you all for your input.

Increase the proportion of protein to curb your hunger. I don't think the strawberries were awful to have- their glycemic load is only 1..perhaps just have fewer, or 'stretch' them further by putting them into sugar free jello. Drop the calories gradually over the next few days. And do try to see if you can't up your caloric output with some water aerobics...

You're doing well, really...hang in there and allow your appetite to catch up with you..you want to begin eating like a bit smaller person and it takes time for this to 'register' and for your body to release a few lbs. to match this. But if you remain very sedentary it will just take a bit longer as you will need little food to maintain.

Val

Hi, everyone. Please tell me what WOE means?

Way of Eating. WOL means Way of Life.

Val

I appreciate the article also, but my frustration is mostly because I JUST started back to Atkins (2nd week) and I gained this week. I will read the article, I'm sure it has great advice...

I was on Atkins for a whole year before and lost a bunch of weight. I thought I was the Atkins expert! Apparently I still have lots to figure out about my body!

Jen

oh! great article

Get this. I've been losing lbs but not inches. Go figure!

Thanks that is great infromation. I think I am in a stall and am doing the Egg/Meat fast for 7 days is this a way to get out of a stall as well ??

I also have stats similar to yours and lost quite a bit when I started the LC lifestyle. Then two things happened, one I was diagnosed with hypothyroid, LCing is hard on the thyroid with the soy issues and frankenfoods effecting the thyroid. Two, I stalled at 175 for 2-3 months and had to relook at my fitday stats-2 things stood out 1) my calorie intake was high and 2) I seemed to be fluctuating in carbs quite a bit. I now am reducing my calories as well as opting out of high carb foods. I know most people say this doesn't work but with my increased exercies this spring I have lost 5 pounds this month. I am not able to keep the strict induction carbs but I am now more aware of the things I can and can't have. I couldn't agree more with you that calories, unfortunately, do count in the end and no one with in goals reach could expect to loose consuming 2000 calories a day

Doreen, I noticed #7:

"are intended to lower your cholesterol will inhibit the liver from converting fat to glycogen, thus decreased fat-burning" is incorrect. I do not think fat is ever converted to glycogen. It does seem that statins screw up fat metabolism in some way, as I found out the hard way.