Hi,

I have been on Atkins for 1 1/2 years and have lost ~60 pounds. Works great for me. My wife has decided to go on the diet. She has 120#'s to loose.

She started induction and lost 18 #'s in two weeks. She has been on the diet a total of four weeks. Over the past two weeks, she has been gaining again and has regained 8 #'s.

We are very carefully watching her diet. She was making a few errors but nothing that would cause the weight gain. She has actually been sticking to the induction menu over the entire four weeks.

Out of frustration, we checked her Ketone level and she is not at all in Ketosis. Her carb intake is well below 20 gram.

We are stumped as well as very frustrated. Her Dr. ran blood tests including thyroid and everything is normal.

Any ideas???

Huh. OK, are you using fitday? If not, go to www.fitday.com and begin logging all the foods (and I mean everything! Suppliments, condiments, beverages) for several days. That's the only way we can really see what might be going on. Because unless she's just metabolically resistant (this way of eating won't work for everyone), she's getting some carbs or sugar somewhere. That's the only other way to gain weight WHILE induction.

I agree with Suzanne, I was shocked when I first used Fitday. I was eating WAY more than I thought I was. Sometimes the snacking can be the cause. But you having lost 60 lbs. are really a great guide for her to have.

Also you might want to eliminate any sugar alcohols if she is eating any foods with them. There is a good article about the SA's in the general section.

Jenn

list a daily menu for us to see please

I agree, www.fitday.com is a great resource and we're usually quite surprised at how much we are eating. Also, don't go below 20 carbs, if she is starving herself calorie-wise and carb-wise, her body will slow down to compensate. You need to eat good foods, dump the bars, shakes, low-carb 'foods' that replaced all the junk food staples, and stick to healthy whole foods. The frankenfoods are there for an occasional treat, not as a staple.

18lbs on Induction is awesome! Also, as her body loses weight, it will sort of freak out and take time to re-adjust. 1-2lbs a week is safe and more likely to STAY off for the long term. Exercise on a daily basis is critical to keep the weight off also.

Keep up the great work!

LL

I've had that problem too, but I was also in keytosis at the time and not loosing.

Ok, first of all...watch the water intake. That's a big important one. I drink over 64 ounces a day. What some people will do is take a water bottle and wrap rubberbands around it to represent the amount of water left to drink. Once you've cleared one bottle, take off a rubber band. It seems easier to keep up with the water that way. While some will fill up a gallon jug and when it's empty, they know they've gotten to their water goal.

Also, is your wife drinking diet soda? I've noticed NutraSweet, Aspertame, will knock me out of keytosis at the drop of a hat, but Splenda won't.

Is she eating any of the low carb packaged foods? If she's eating a lot, those too can be a culprit.

Sometimes even decaf coffee will ease up my keytosis. Green tea too as it has a little caffine.

Not much else I can think of right now. I hope this helps.

I am concerned about "well below 20 g of carbs per day".

This is too low, and as someone else mentioned, it could cause the body to become very unwilling to burn it's supplies, especially if it is used to a high carb intake previously.

If she adjusts to following Induction *precisely* and exercising, and still doesn't see loss or sees gain, I would suggest maybe trying the Atkins Fat Fast (see link)

http://atkins.com/Archive/2001/12/21-237659.html

HTH

It could be too many salty foods like pork rinds, deli meats and cheese or foods containing sugar alcohols like proetein bars or chocolate bars. If she has a wheat intolerance and doesn't know it, low carb products like bread can cause a gain in water weight.

Karen

I'm new to this site and I want to thank everyone for all of the wonderful advice. I've been doing Atkins for several months and I have lost 16 lbs. I'm having a difficult time losing for the last month . After reading all of the advice I think I've got it figured out. I'm going to cut out all Diet soda, low carb bars and low carb ice cream. I drink lots of water and I exercise 4 to 5 times a week. I'll keep in touch and let you know how things are going. Thanks again.

Is anyone doing Atkins and going through menopause at the same time ? Do you have any advice to make losing easier during this time ? Everyone keeps telling me Atkins wont work during this time of a woman's life but i don't believe them. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.