Well, as some of you know, I was doing AWESOME on induction for the first 3 weeks and then my body took a nose dive. I changed NOTHING at all and went from losing pounds and inches at a wonderful rate to barely anything at all and scale rollercoaster madness.

Well I tried a blow-off meal. It didn't budge the scale at all.

I cut the Advantage bars. No change.

I don't "do" any of the other bad stuff that might cause stalls. I even invested in salt-free butter and cut down on the bacon intake. I drank more water.

The damn scale kept going up and down but hovering around the same weight. The tape measure was worse. It got bigger! Then a little smaller. Then up again. UGH!

I knew I wasn't quite "stalled" yet, but I wanted to nip it in the bud, so to speak. Nothing was getting me back to where I was or anywhere near!

So even though I'm not a huge fan of ephedrine, ECAs or any of those BS pills... I said, "screw it. I'm gonna try it and see what happens."

Well sure enough I got a whoosh. 2 lbs overnight, and yes it was surely water weight. Hydroxycut (with ephedrine) is a great diuretic, but for me it was mostly because it MADE ME WANT WATER. I understand it could've been the extra water intake that "wooshed" me, but I thought I'd share. Before I went to bed, I somehow KNEW I was going to wake up to a lower number on the scale. Not only that, but I lost INCHES, too!

Before: 5/8/03-AM

Hips - 42"
Midway (area between biggest part of hips and waist) - 38"


After: 5/9/03-AM

Hips - 41.7" (I know it doesn't seem like much, but in 1 day!)
Midway (area between biggest part of hips and waist) - 37.6"

Yes I realize that's only a "tiny" bit of loss in just a couple of spots. But those are my trouble spots and the fastest loss I've ever experienced in such a short ammount of time.

This is the dosage I took:

1 after working out
1 two to three hours later
1 with lunch
1 2 hours after lunch

Today I took them a second time and only did 3. When I took one 2 hours after lunch, I felt snappy and wierd after work. Today I was fine. I guess it's just a matter of finding one's dosage.

I also want to mention that I would never take these "regularly". In fact, if my weight drops again tomorrow and the measurements continue to look good I'll just stop. It was a good motivator to get me to stick with this when I was getting frustrated about my weight and measurements "hovering".

Anyway....my very long, in-depth two cents on the matter.

= Meagan


**UPDATE** 05/10/03 -

Dropped another pound this morning and my waist measurement is down .4".

I have a bottle of hydroxycut taking up space in my cupboard. Guess I have always been nervous to try them, so thanks for posting this, I may give them a shot for stalls. Did you take them for more than 2 days?

Hi there. I bought these over a year ago, thinking stupidly that curbing my appetite would help me lose weight (I thank the Gods for the day I decided to look at the Atkins website!). They just made me miss meals and I didn't lose 7 lbs a week like my friend did (she was actually NOcarbing and feeling like crap, though.).

The bottle says to start with 2 twice a day. I would recommend starting with ONE twice a day. And if you drink coffee, switch to decaf while trying these out. Some poeple are really sensitive to stimulants, so it's best to have a clean slate the first day.

I take them 3 hours apart and then stop at least 6 hours before bed time. I haven't had any problems. this is my third day. I felt a little funny earlier but had caffeine (a no-no on atkins anyway, bad me!) and hadn't eaten lunch yet. So my main recommendation besides starting with a very low dosage would be to take them AFTER YOU EAT and of course cut the other stimulants.

It has worked, though! Good luck!

= Meagan

Hey....thanks for the advice. I'm wondering if the Hydroxycut that I have is the same as yours. Mine say to take 2 capsules 3 times daily.....yikes!

I think I will follow your suggestion and just start out with 2 per day & see how that goes.

Wish me luck.....I'll update you to let you know if I experience a whoosh (oh please, oh please, oh please....LOL)

Have a great weekend,
Jo

No, no you're right! I didn't actually look at the bottle. I tried to recall what it said (bad Meagan!).

Yeah, 6 per day seems like way too much!

I'm doing 2-3 per day, but if it gets too late in the day just don't take one even if you only took 1 that day.

It's working as a great diuretic for me, also. By making me drink water, probably.

I'm going to give it a shot & see how it goes.....will keep you posted & thanks again for your insight & help!

Jo