Since I began low carbing 5 weeks ago, I have been going through a decrease in my appetite and am not able to eat as much as I could before. I am happy about that! But, sometimes I get this overwhelming feeling of hunger and want to eat everything in my fridge! I was down 3 lbs last week and now this week I am back up the 3 pounds I lost. This is my sixth week on low carbing and I have been faithful to it. My clothes are fitting looser, which feels great. I don't understand how this can happen. It seems that the initial 6 pounds I lost the first three weeks has stayed off but I can get more to stay off. Any suggestions?

Steph, I reread your posts from last week (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...6338#post176338). to help you we need to know just what you've been eating. Part of this WOE involves losing your appetite. This is the time it is most important to keep eating. You have to keep feeding your body what it needs or you run the risk of putting stress on it, leading it to go into "starvation mode" (which you may have done). It will refuse to give up any of the fat it has and will start hoarding more. Why not give us a few examples of what you've been eating for the past few weeks?

Also, have you measured yourself? Have you lost inches? How are your clothes fitting?

Nat

Nat, thanks for your reply. I usually eat 1 egg and 2 sausage links in the morning for breakfast with a coffee that has light cream in it. For lunch I usually have 6 ounces of tunafish with real mayo or a small salad (romaine lettuce, 5 black olives, pepperoni disks with oil & vinegar). Sometimes I just have a few pieces of cheese. For dinner I have whatever meat I cook for the family (usually steak, chicken or ground beef) and a vegetable from the low carb list (broccolli, yellow or green squash). I sometimes will have a diet gingerale at lunchtime. I do drink between 2-3 liters of water per day. Some days I have fallen below that but on the average I do not. I do not eat after 8 at night. I walk 2 miles everyday at lunchtime at work. So what do you think? I am open to any suggestions you may have.

I would suggest first taking measurements. It's good to have them for reference (and motivation). I would make an effort to cut down on the cheese and dairy, you may have an intolerance.

But the biggest thing that jumps out at me is your caloric intake. Have you tried increasing your calories? You should be eating 10 times your body weight as a minimum (10 x 149 = 1490 calories a day) What you've listed sounds borderline undereating... try putting everything into fitday to get a breakdown. A few more calories might just do it. Take a look at Doreen's journal. She was eating 1300 calories a day and was stalled for months. When she increased to 1700 she began losing again. It does work.

Also, bare in mind that you dont have much weight to lose, so it will be slower. At the same time those 7lbs you have lost represents 19% of your goal. Patience is needed. This WOE does work. It didnt take you 4 weeks to gain the weight it wont take that long to lose it. Hang in there.

Nat