Ketone strip darkest level....not loosing
 

So I started my diet three weeks ago. I lost all of 10 lbs and stalled. My ketone strip was the darkest level it could go and I just stalled. Finally after a couple more days I lost another pound, but then jumped off the diet bandwagon b/c I just was NOT loosing. Now, this is the third or fourth time doing the atkins diet (i've done this diet everytime after having a child). Is it possible that my body has grown use to this way of loosing? I mean, before when i would do this diet I would literally loose a pound a day! Any help would be great. I started off 197, lost 11, but then stopped doing the diet and now i'm back up to 190. I started the diet back again today.

Wow, not losing in a couple of days and then jumping off... you're going to need a lot more patience than that if you want to succeed.

Over the years our body changes and weight loss can get harder for many reasons: thyroid, medications, ageing, hormones, stress, food intolerances.

Rather than viewing Atkins as a temporary measure to fix things temporarily, how about adopting a LC lifestyle? Then you're in it for the long haul and the slowness of your weight loss isn't going going to make you derail.

I'd say drink more and stay off the scale. just my opinion

The initial loss is fast because you lose a lot of water. It slows down. Expect a pound or two per week and it won't be every day. Also, you could be losing fat and not showing it on the scale. Check out this great thread.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=365499

As I had to learn, finally, at my advanced age, patience is a virtue.

You lost 11 lbs in under three weeks, and gave up?

There is only one way to lose a whole lot of weight in your first month of low carb, and that's to have a WHOLE LOT of weight to lose. The people who lose 20 or 30 in the first month probably weigh 100 lbs or more over what you do.

Patience, and perseverance. You're a mom. You want your kids to learn to stick to things, even when they don't get results right away, right? Then you have to model it for them.

Do you have a copy of Dr. Atkins book? Either the first one, or the second one? If not, you can get one for next to nothing at used bookstores, or slightly more than next to nothing from Amazon.

Follow it religiously for a minimum of 6 months. You just had a baby, right? And you dealt with 9 months of pregnancy, so surely you can deal with eating healthy food and only healthy food for 6 months, right?

You'll continue to lose, but NOT at a steady pace. Look at where you are at the beginning of each month, including measuring your bust, waist and hips. Then look again at the beginning of the next month. Even if the scale hasn't changed, I promise that you'll notice changes. In your measurements, despite no change on the scale.

But that's the only way to do it. And not just till the weight is gone.

You gained weight eating a certain way. Losing it is just the first act of the rest of your life. KEEPING IT OFF is the rest of the movie.

You can do this.

I am feeling the same way Photogmom is feeling right now. My toddler is 2 and I will give it a try.. The message that stuck out to me is if I can stand 9 months then I can stand 6 months. BUT if I had a choice. If I knew my baby was still going to be healthy I would have chosen to stop being pregnant into my 4th week. But I know that is not possible so I had to endure it and keep myself healthy :)

Exactly. The difference with LCHF is that, way before the 6 month mark, it becomes truly enjoyable. The trick is to realize that it needs to be part of who you are--somebody who avoids carbs, especially grains of all kinds, because they do bad things to you.

If you had celiac disease, you wouldn't have a piece of cake every once in a while, just to see if it still made you have terrible cramps and diarrhea, would you? Well, if you can't eat carbs in general without either/or/both overeating/gaining weight, then why think you need to check that before you've made NOT eating them part of who you are?

YES! I feel like you are writing my story too, except I started a week ago.

5 years ago I lost 40 pounds on Atkins. I have tried it again several more times and it has never worked as well as it had the first time.

Last week when I started, I dropped 5 pounds quickly and my stick started turning purple after the 2nd day. The scale didn't move for several days, and I wouldn't have minded, except I spent those two days doing extreme amounts of walking and exercising. After a few days, the scale finally dropped another 2 pounds. However, the next day a pound came back! Then yesterday ANOTHER pound came back on the scale!!!! The 2 pounds I fought to get off came back!!!! :cry:

So, I am staying strictly on plan and my stick is in the medium purple range every day, but I am not losing any weight yet. (I say "yet" because I know the first 5 pounds was the water weight)

Weight loss is not linear. Many find (me included) that a pound will go, then come back, but over time, it is permanently gone and onto the next loss, etc. I have read that it's because the body doesn't want to change too rapidly. When you lose fat, it fills the space temporarily with water. In time, it will release the water and the scale will drop, showing the fat loss you really already had. I have seen posts here from some of those that have lost a lot of weight call this the "whoosh" I think. For them, it might be several pounds off instead of my one.

Patience is key. One to two pounds a week, on average (you might skip a week or two) is the norm. Faster loss after the induction loss just isn't reasonable unless you're significantly overweight.

If it really isn't coming off after several weeks and you've been very strict, consider lowering carbs more or trying intermittent fasting. I do this daily by skipping breakfast. I have cream or coconut oil in my coffee and am not hungry for food until lunch. I think this is part of my success in steady loss even though I am very close to a normal BMI after just after two months.

If you lost five pounds, and it's stayed gone, it's no longer just water. And Ccat is right: weight loss is not linear. Even though I only graph my low weights, OMG, that graph looks like the path of a drunken sailor! Walks straight across for weeks, even months, before dropping a bit. And that's over the past 3 years!

Exercise, if we're not used to it, frequently causes temporary weight gain, because the muscles hold water when they're sore (inflamed) from unaccustomed use.

But muscle takes up a lot less space than the fat you are burning. You've only been at this a short time. Life is long. Give yourself that same 6 months to get used to your new lifestyle, and see how you feel, then!

Thank you for the support and great advice!!!

Well, I've lost and re-lost the same few pounds quite a few times. But, over time, the trend is down. You can stay off the scale, or you can adjust your mindset to the fact that your body has it's own way, has a lot of water to move around, hormones to balance, and just needs time. It's pretty common around here to see an initial weight loss, a stall, some loss, a stall, etc. etc.

Just keep up a great plan, tweak a little if necessary, and soldier on. Good luck.