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  #1   ^
Old Mon, Aug-04-03, 07:58
Dube Dube is offline
New Member
Posts: 21
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 237/223/135 Female 5' 4"
BF:
Progress: 14%
Location: near Birmingham, AL, USA
Default I'm about to quit

Hi! This is one last ditch effort before I quit. I've been doing Atkins for 5 weeks now. The last 2 weeks, I've cut carbs to 10/day, cheese/ cream only 3 days/ wk, no coffee or other caffeine, etc, etc. I've lost a whopping 10 lbs out of 100 that I could lose in these 5 weeks. I drink plenty of water, I'm usually hot, esp my feet, so don't think it's thyroid, etc. The test sticks always come out negative, so I figure I might as well eat some of the fresh fruit I enjoy instead of all the eggs that I can not stand. Typical day includes 1 egg for breakfast, 2 eggs with 1 leaf of romaine for lunch, hamburger with (some days) slice of cheese or slice of tomatoe for dinner. Sometimes a couple pieces of bacon or sausage.... Some days if I'm allowing dairy and haven't had cheese, I'll have whipped cream with sucralose for a treat. No nurtrasweet, no saccarin, no milk, etc. I've read and reread Atkins' books, and can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Bacon I only allow once a week. THe sausage I get has nothing but pork and spices in it (no hidden carbs...) I try to keep carbs to under 10, because on 20 I was gaining... I force myself to eat breakfast. Drink lots of water, plus some spenda sweetened drinks, too. Most days I drink the 2 qts by lunch time...
Just looking for a clue. Thanks! I've been thinking of doing the fat fast, but want to do it when I'm not going to be outof town, so that may not happen until the end of this month- 4 more weeks.... I really miss fruits and veggies, and still haven't gotten to where I enjoy the "approved" foods.
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  #2   ^
Old Mon, Aug-04-03, 08:09
Sinbad's Avatar
Sinbad Sinbad is offline
Too kinky for you
Posts: 1,445
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 265/246/187 Male 176 cm
BF:xxx/27.2/20
Progress: 24%
Location: South Africa (JHB)
Default

Hiya!
Do you keep a journal of what you eat online?
If not, you should consider it - then people can cast an eye over what you've eaten and see where you're going wrong?

Cheers
Steven
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  #3   ^
Old Mon, Aug-04-03, 08:53
Atriana's Avatar
Atriana Atriana is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 2,118
 
Plan: South Beach
Stats: 170/139/130 Female 65 inches
BF:
Progress: 78%
Location: Atlanta, GA
Default

Start a journal and write down everything you eat and drink, including water, supplements and medications. The problem should reveal itself then.
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  #4   ^
Old Mon, Aug-04-03, 13:24
musicmama's Avatar
musicmama musicmama is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 961
 
Plan: South Beach
Stats: 325.4/228/175 Female 5'7
BF:mostly!
Progress: 65%
Location: Indianapolis Area
Default

Hey,,just read your post,,,,,I havebeen on for over a year, and have lost only 53 pounds,,,,,,hang in there.
Are you feeling better? Are your clothes looser?? Maybe your calorie count is too low. Have you ever gone to fitday.com and checked your calories compared to carbs?
Just trying to help..I know when my calories are too low, or I eat the same foods over and over,,my body rebels by not losing an ounce. Keep a graph and see ,,,you may be one of those who goes a week without a loss,,then loses a couple of pounds the next week. Everyone is different,,,,,,,
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  #5   ^
Old Mon, Aug-04-03, 14:27
jude's Avatar
jude jude is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 946
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 182/147/145 Female 65"
BF:
Progress: 95%
Location: Innisfil, Ontario
Default

Hi Dube,
Before you decide to throw in the towel, why not record for at least a few days on Fitday. I know it's a pain, but it really does help you to see what's wrong. You need to know your fat/protein/carb ratio (s/b about 70/25/5%) and there's a chance your calories are too low.

I can't see how 20 carbs a day would cause you to gain weight, if most of them came from green veggies and salads.

BTW when did you lose the 10 lbs? Was it during the first few weeks? If so, you may just be going thru the same mini-stall a lot of us go thru while our bodies adjust.

My Mom, who is 82, started LC 7 weeks ago. She lost 13 lbs in the first two weeks, then nothing for the next 3 weeks, then 3 lbs the following week, and 1 lb this past week.

I hope you can hang in there, because it does work.

judy
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  #6   ^
Old Tue, Aug-05-03, 08:24
ALEKA ALEKA is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 14,309
 
Plan: General low carb
Stats: 257/239/220 Female 5ft. 7 1/2in.
BF:
Progress: 49%
Location: Southern Illinois
Default

Dube, When you started LCing--did you put down your measurements?? I have found that when I am not losing pounds, I am losing inches. I sure hate to see you give up and quit. Did you read Karen's suggestions--Are you really a turtle??? If not, check it out--you may find some help there. Aleka
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  #7   ^
Old Tue, Aug-05-03, 21:06
Dube Dube is offline
New Member
Posts: 21
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 237/223/135 Female 5' 4"
BF:
Progress: 14%
Location: near Birmingham, AL, USA
Default

Honestly, I'm more depressed than ever, because I've given up eating my favorite foods and eat things I really hate, and haven't lost much weight. I feel tired all the time, fall asleep if I sit down in a chair for more than 5 minutes, and my clothes are not looser. Thanks for the encouragements. I haven't quit yet... I guess I was excited reading the books, and thought I'd be dropping 4 or 5 lbs/ week the first few weeks.

Today I ate Breakfast 1 egg fried in butter with lots of pepper.
Lunch 1 hardboiled egg with lots of pepper and 2 olives
Dinner 1/4 lb hamburger with 1 slice american cheese, 1 leaf romaine lettuce and one slice tomato. salt & pepper & garlic powder on the hamburger.
drank 2 liters H20 plus 1 liter fruit flavored carbonated Splenda sweetened drink.

This is fairly typical, though the cheese and tomato slice are treats that I only allow 2 or 3 times a week. Sometimes I have a couple slices of bacon instead of the cheese, and for lunch I sometimes have 2 small sausage patties instead of the egg. The sausuage has no carbs. Sometimes I chop up the egg and put salad dressing on it that I made from the Atkins book.... Earlier I was eating tuna and salmon some, but they didn't have much fat and get expensive fast, so I went back to eggs. Once a week I'll have a bowl of salad for lunch with lots of oily salad dressing instead of the egg. Or, I'll eat the hamburger for lunch and have an egg for supper. I eat the same thing almost every day, I'm afraid if I eat anything else, I'll gain again. On this I maintain, or lose 1 lb...

I lost the 10 lbs during these 5 weeks.

thanks!
Dube
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  #8   ^
Old Tue, Aug-05-03, 21:56
jude's Avatar
jude jude is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 946
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 182/147/145 Female 65"
BF:
Progress: 95%
Location: Innisfil, Ontario
Default

Hi Dube,

I know you're not going to believe this, but if that's all you're eating on a regular basis, your calories are around 600 a day--way too low! You must feel hungry all the time.

Do a search here for "calories" (in the title) and you'll find several threads about people keeping calories up where they should be. Honest, this is not a low calorie diet. Your body may have gone into starvation mode--that's why you're not losing.

Sorry to be such a nag (I hate nags!), but I know you can do this once you free yourself of all the old low cal brainwashing!

judy
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  #9   ^
Old Wed, Aug-06-03, 08:15
Dube Dube is offline
New Member
Posts: 21
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 237/223/135 Female 5' 4"
BF:
Progress: 14%
Location: near Birmingham, AL, USA
Question

Judy-
I cut back on what I've eaten since the 3rd week. I lost 4 the first week, then lost none the 2nd. The 3rd week I gained 2, so I cut back to 1/2 the carbs and tried to keep fats high. I was hungry the first week of Atkins, but that was it. I think I actually eat the same amount as I have been eating for years, just different times of day and different proportions, so that may be why I'm not hungry- and have rarely been hungry for years. I figured it was because I was so overweight that I was rarely hungry. So what is starvation mode, and how do I get out of it without gaining weight?? I have never dieted before so a lot of this in really new to me. My husband likes me big, and the extra 100 lbs I've gained gradually over the last 15 years. Don't think I've been starving myself. I've just eaten when I felt like it and what I wanted. If someone had some good cookies around I might eat a ton of them. If there was nothing around that I really wanted to eat, I didn't bother eating... I've been keeping track of what I eat on the Atkins, but not online. I tried to go to the site last night that someone suggested I log eating on, but I couldn't figure out how to make it do what I wanted. Then the computer crashed, so I gave up... Thanks for your help.
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  #10   ^
Old Wed, Aug-06-03, 08:45
Sinbad's Avatar
Sinbad Sinbad is offline
Too kinky for you
Posts: 1,445
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 265/246/187 Male 176 cm
BF:xxx/27.2/20
Progress: 24%
Location: South Africa (JHB)
Default

Hi Dube
Fitday does look intimidating, I'll grant you that - I stopped using it for that reason.
Maybe transcribe your notes in your written journal onto a journal online on this site so that people can get an idea of what your eating patterns are like? I agree that the menu you posted is way short!
I eat like 4-5 eggs a day, plus a couple of pork sausages, bacon sometimes, a good helping of chicken, plus more veggies than I've ever eaten in my life - lettuce, squashes, zucchini/courgette, eggplant/aubergine, spinach (creamed (yum!!!)) plus about 50-80g of cheese. I snack on cheese when I'm hungry. I used to have a serious capacity for food... Cravings between meals, hunger headaches, the works... Now I've found I don't get hungry at all between meals. I even had to force myself to eat yesterday as I had no appetite at all.

You need to try and get to 20g of carbohydrates a day (watch out for your fruit flavoured drink - and for the carbs in the Splenda) and most of these carbs should come from vegetables.
Are you taking any supplements?

Good luck!
Steven
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  #11   ^
Old Wed, Aug-06-03, 09:00
Dube Dube is offline
New Member
Posts: 21
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 237/223/135 Female 5' 4"
BF:
Progress: 14%
Location: near Birmingham, AL, USA
Default

Steven- I was eating 20 carbs, having the allotted 2 cups of salad and 1 cup of veggies, but I was gaining, so I cut them in half... veggies and fruits are the things I miss most about atkins. The fruit flavored drinks say no carbs, but I count 1 carb/ cup for the spenda anyway... I couldn't figure out how to get to the calorie site Judy mentioned. I spend an hour searching around... I actually have a problem getting fats, since in my previous life fats came with carbs- like french fries, baked potatoes, etc. Do you really think I should eat more than the 1 cup veggies, 2 cups salad in the Atkins books??
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  #12   ^
Old Wed, Aug-06-03, 09:08
Dube Dube is offline
New Member
Posts: 21
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 237/223/135 Female 5' 4"
BF:
Progress: 14%
Location: near Birmingham, AL, USA
Default

Judy- Haven't been counting calories, nor never have except for 6 weeks in highschool for biology class where we had to log everything... That was a long time ago... I couldn't really find anything on keeping up calories. I'm sort of website impaired= takes too much time, and I haven't done it enough to be good at it... Anyway, where can I get more calories without carbs or dairy, or any of the other things that Atkins says to avoid if you're losing slowly?? I really miss fruits, veggies and big salads, but they are mostly carbs, and I don't like them with butter, dressings, etc. When I eat my 1 c of salad, I usually eat 2 or 3T of dressing on 1/2 of it, and then enjoy the 2nd half as a treat without the dressing... I guess my problem, is that I am picky- comes from years of only eating what I really want to eat, and not being hungry if Ididn't eat anything, I suppose... Some things I really can not stand. Others, like salad dressings and eggs I make myself eat...
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  #13   ^
Old Wed, Aug-06-03, 09:11
Sinbad's Avatar
Sinbad Sinbad is offline
Too kinky for you
Posts: 1,445
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 265/246/187 Male 176 cm
BF:xxx/27.2/20
Progress: 24%
Location: South Africa (JHB)
Default

Hiya
No, if you were getting 20g ok from the 1cup/2cup that is probably where you should stay.
The site for putting your food in to see how much is in it is http://www.fitday.com
You need to create an account, then you can start putting in the food you've eaten. Watch out for the quantities, the default measures are a bit daft sometimes.
Were you getting enough fat in the past, do you think? 60% of your daily calories should come from fat, 30 from protein and the remainder from carbs (if I remember my figures properly). Also remember you subtract your "carbs from fibre" from total carbs to get "carbs that count"

I still think you should stick with it for a few more days, and religiously enter all the food you eat into either fitday or your journal here.
If you have no luck after that, and no-one can see any problems with your menus, then perhaps this WOE isn't for you... It can't be right for everyone, people differ so much.

Which atkins book have you read?
I recommend Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution. It has a section on people with high resistance to weightloss, maybe some of this is applicable to you?

Strength!

Steven
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  #14   ^
Old Wed, Aug-06-03, 09:45
Dube Dube is offline
New Member
Posts: 21
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 237/223/135 Female 5' 4"
BF:
Progress: 14%
Location: near Birmingham, AL, USA
Default

Steven- That's the main book I've been using. I cut back on cheese, since that's one of the things that he says sometimes messes people up. I have no idea if I was getting enough fats before, I just ate what I wanted to eat... Thanks for the encouragement. None of the other stuff in the chapter seemed to apply to me...
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  #15   ^
Old Wed, Aug-06-03, 10:25
ALEKA ALEKA is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 14,309
 
Plan: General low carb
Stats: 257/239/220 Female 5ft. 7 1/2in.
BF:
Progress: 49%
Location: Southern Illinois
Default

Dube--It sounds like you have your body in the starvation mode because you are eating way too little food. Get the Book and re-read it. This is not necessarily a low calorie way of eating--it is low carb. 600 calories a day is way to low--for your weight I would think you should be eating at least 1500-1800 cals mainly of meat, fats, and 2-3 cups of lettuce with regular-not low fat- dressing. Go back and read the foods allowed on induction. Less food than recommended for the most part isn't always better. Go to the posts entitled "am I a turtle" which should help you also. Eat- don't starve yourself. Have a good day. Aleka Aleka
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