Atkins Help! I've stalled!
 

Female/40/5'6"/sedentary hiker. High ketosis from 2/22/20-current. Started at 184, dropped 11lbs in 5 days (not uncommon for me) and I've been 169-172 for the last 4 weeks. 1200-1700 calories/day (90-110 grams fat / 90-100 grams protein).

Why am I not losing? I'm eating veggies for carbs, avocados, eggs, meats, cheese, all is balanced. I feel like I'm missing something!

Try compressing your eating schedule - aka time-restricted eating (TRE). If you eat three times a day, one way to TRE is to skip a meal at the end - either dinner or breakfast. This leads to a longer fast between days and allows fat burning.

Also, try keeping track of your waist measurement. Another good trick that worked for me is to only measure / look at weight changes once a week. I use Friday, and it's better than looking at daily changes, which don't mean much.

Thank you! I think I'll try that! I'm a veteran of fasting/IF and I hadn't thought of doing that. I'll start a 15 hour daily fast (evening/night) and see if that gets it going. I'll put away the scale too, maybe if I don't see it every morning I won't be tempted (and then disappointed).

You've lost 11 lbs in ~5 weeks. At first it was mostly water, but by now it is probably mostly fat as your body rebalances hydration levels. And you'll lose less per week as you close in on your goal weight. Your plan to IF and stay in ketosis sounds good. I'm 25 years older and typically do 18 hrs fasting and eat 2 meals 6 hrs apart, which works great to reduce shopping trips during the pandemic.

Try going carnivore for 2 weeks - eliminate all carbs (even "healthy" ones) and see if that doesn't get your mojo going again

Cut calories to 1200 or less

Perhaps your body is building muscle to replace fat? There's always that hope.

Yes, there is that hope! Turning 40 has transitioned my body into a perimenopausal state. Over the last few months my cycle has drastically changed and I've developed uteran fibroids. I know this isn't a medical site, but research details that this could be due to an overproduction of estrogen (unbalancing my progesterone level). I think I'll incorporate the above techniques along w taking a wild yam, vitex, or natural progesterone cream to see if I cannot combat this hurdle. :/

Hi and welcome. That was going to be my question/comment: whether or not you were experiencing any hormonal weirdness yet. Once I turned 40, crap hit the fan. Big time body changes, despite not really changing much about my eating (I've been LC since I was 28.) My periods started getting further apart, thinning hair, different body fat distribution... bleh!

I don't have any particular advice except maybe to start a journal here or elsewhere, and just keep track of what you're eating and doing, even if you're not weighing and measuring. Others can pop in and share their thoughts, and it's handy if you want to try to go back and connect some dots later on.

Best of luck. :thup:

You didnt list your carb counts. That is more important than the fat protein and calories listed.

SOmetimes the body just takes a pause. If you are in perimenopause you may end up with a wacky loss pattern like me. In my forties, I would only lose one week a month. It would then rise slowly then wack out for two or three days, then drop to a new low. Repeat in 30 day cycles. Made me nuts until I recognized there was a true pattern working. Then I knew to relax and just stay the course each month until I hit the drop week -- and it always dropped to a new low by several pounds. I also cannot lose unless I am drinking a LOT of water and limiting my cheese. I assume you are probably doing both, but it is worth mentioning. ;)

Every time you eat, the body secretes insulin, the fat storing hormone. I found eating 2 meals per day instead of 3 lowers the insulin being secreted and it seems to be working better for me. (they are not ginormous meals either I actually count calories as well as carbs. Diet Doctor recommends watching calories if nothing else is working)

IMHO, if you keep doing ATKINS, drink your water and incorporate daily activity, then the results will come.

Take are break from the scale, use your clothes and how you feel, to gauge your progress.

You body is healing and may take some time for that to show up on the scale, in terms of weight lost. Don not despair, this works.

One year from now is what matters. Wishing you the best.