No gain. Afterall I spent both days running around with a dog & also moving equipment!

Well, I have to confess that I've done one too many HC meals. So many that I fell right off the wagon. I'm out wallowing in desserts, ice cream, and wine - and I'm miserable.

It's going to be back at it come next Monday AM (we're headed out for the weekend and it won't be a good time to try induction).

I'll start Walking Away the Pounds with my new videos, and give it another go. I know I feel so much better on Atkins. I just get to the point where I'm bored and feel deprived. Think that I will also "unsubscribe" to this thread. It makes me hungry ;-)

I'm very thankful for a mssg board like this one, where "everybody knows my name" (did you hear the Cheers theme song playing......)

I was searching for this thread as a last resort before throwing in the towel, quitting, bye-bye, ariba-derchi, baby, adios, etc. (I think you know the drill).

Anyway, I have been back to lc'ing since July 03 and lost 7lbs and then NOTHING. I truly mean nothing. Oh, in July I couldn't fit in my size 12's, but August they fit and are now a bit loose, but my upper abdomen looks like I'm 4 months pregnant w/o clothes and I am livid.

I followed the book to the "T", drank my water, took my supps, and watched for hidden carbs..none, bc I'm scrupulous with my food.

I only weigh myself at my podiatrist's office every Friday now for six weeks and this last Friday I weighed 179lbs. I was down 171lbs, but somehow I've gained the darn weight back.

I eat 1700 cal a day which include fat, no carbs over 20. This was really getting to me until I was in chat at lowcarbfriends.com and someone told me to do a "carb overload" or carb blowout and to go back to lc tomorrow.

So, I've eaten fried chicken breast tenders (5), a few fried pototoes, 2 chocolate glazed donuts w/custard, and a few tbls of Ben & Jerry "Everything, but the Kitchen Sink" ice cream.

I couldn't do this for anything longer than a 24 hour period. I can't stand all those carbs, but if it will jump start my weight loss, I'll give it a try. Tonite, I'm gonna have (ugh) pizza...maybe. I'm so used to lc'ing, it really bothers the hell out of me and I feel guilty doing it.

I'm not being sarcastic, I honestly don't crave these foods anymore, I just don't know what else to do before I decide to quit for good.

I've been stuck myself, seems my weight has been frozen no matter what I do. I lost one pound in the last month.

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.

Too late. I did eat those darn donuts this morning along with the fried chicken. I thought I would really pig out, but I didn't. Now, I bought a meat lover's pizza from roundtable and that's that.

No, there is NOTHING hidden in my food bc I cook everything and the only salty foods I've eaten last week were the dry salami, harvarti cheese, and bacon w/my eggs in the mornings.

I ate all of these foods 3 years ago and lost weight rapidly. So rapidly, it scared me to go from a 12/14 to 7/8 in 2 months time, and I listened to my nutritionist and naysayers, and I didn't really grasp the lifetime concept of this WOE and now I feel screwed.

I've been back since July 6, 2003, not August and 61 days is a long time not to lose anything on this diet. Yes, to answer your question regarding the scale, yes, I went by the one in the VA clinic. No, my clothes fit me nicely, that is my size 12's. The jeans are kinda loose now.

I promise you, I am not a cheater and have been diligent with diet. Although, there are Fridays when I drink my merlot and I drink about 4 glasses on the Friday night. I drank Chardonnay 3 years ago and that didn't stall me at all.

I had lab work done on Thyroid, urine, etc. and am now waiting for the Nurse Practioner to call with the results.

I hope I haven't screwed up my metabolism since that time ago.

PS-I stay away from the frankenfoods. If I eat a bar at all, it's because I am in SF shopping and don't have time to stop and eat a decent meal and I buy a bottle of spring water with it.

I ate the carbs and now I have painful heartburn, it's so bad I'm throwing up. Geez, this is getting too complicated.

This is the cyclic ketogenic diet. A lot of athletes, especially wrestlers or others who need to control their weight to the actual pound use this to keep themselves on track. If you are interested in an article on the cyclic ketogenic diet, there is a good one at www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/8/10/125116/513
I've tried this and found that it doesn't work for me, because I crave carbs. Once I eat them in this quantity, I just want more.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

You may want to go to the "official" Atkins site and look up what they have to say about the "Golden Shot"...basically, the first time you radically change your WOE you will have fantastic results. If you go back to your old way of eating and then try the same WOE again, the results will not be as good. The more you go through this cycle, the worse you do. In otherwords...yo yo dieting. It messes up your metabolism. I agree wholeheartedly about the scale issue. When I first started this WOE the scale wasn't what I was afraid I would obsess over...it was the dieting mindset I was afraid of. That isn't the problem...it is that damn scale. But I have lost 10.5 inches (bwh) and my body looks very much better than when I started and I am down a jeans size. If my dear H wasn't on this with me, and in the middle of OWL, I would get rid of the scale. It is a downer for me even though I can look in the mirror and see the difference and have had to start wearing different clothes. My new Atkins "goal" is to refuse to let the scale rule my life and ruin this WOE for me. If your clothes don't fit the way they used to, this WOE is working and you need to junk the scale.

How much does a glass of Riesling or other wine change your metabolism? I drink several glasses a week, and sometimes add low carb light beer, but never in excess. According to Atkin's book, white wine has few or no carbs. You are not the first person that claimed to become ill from an overdose of carbs Linda. I guess I have not gone that far when cheating so all it has done to me is take me out of ketosis, which I have not been able to get back into for a month now .

Linda Love, are you taking any SSRIs or other antidepressants? They can cause you to gain weight and/or make it impossible to lose.

Bayrat, honey, I would stay away from the Riesling if I were you. It's a very sweet wine & high in carbs. (I think a dry red is supposed to be relatively low in carbs -- like a cabernet sauvignon? Also they say Guinness is pretty LC, but I don't know how it stacks up against the lite beers you've been trying.)

"are you taking any SSRIs or other antidepressants? They can cause you to gain weight and/or make it impossible to lose."

That can be true...however, the same can be true if you are suffering from depression and NOT on antidepressants. It is a myth that all people lose weight when depressed...some may, but most people, especially women, gain. Your metabolism slows down and makes every movement feel like you are living underwater in a swimming pool because of the amount of effort it takes to do the smallest tasks. Get the depression taken care of and then worry about how the antidepressants are affecting your weight loss.

Dumb question, what does the light bulb under the post indicate?