Hello everyone,

I have a major problem. I have been low-carbing, off and on, for about 8 months now and I am down 55 pounds. For the past 3 weeks I have been completely refocused on eating low-carb and low calorie, keeping carbs between 25g-30g and keeping calories below 1200, and I haven't lost a pound or an inch. Here is the kicker, I had been doing cardio for 2 hours per day, 7 days a week, (during the first 2 weeks), and still nothing. The third week I had to cut back on all the working out because I had zero energy and was beginning to space out during my workouts. So, the question is what is going on?

How about posting some daily menus?
2 hours of cardio 7 days a week is a little much, IMO, especially if your calories are also quite low. You need to give your body a break once in a while. Maybe 1 hour of cardio every other day would work better.



How much off and how much on? When you keep switching back and forth between a fat burning metabolism and a carb burning one, your body can get somewhat confused. I've also noticed that a lot of people who go on and off low carb frequently find that weight loss becomes slower and more difficult each time.
My suggestion would be to back off on the cardio a bit, increase your calories a bit (between 1200 and 1500), stick with it and be patient.

Thanks so much for your response Lisa!

My meals for most days would look like this:

Breakfast:

1 egg
2 pieces of turkey bacon
lc cappaccino

Lunch

1 Chicken Breast
1 plum

Dinner

1 Chicken Breast
1 small salad
1 plum or
1 cup lc cappaccino

Now looking at that, I am remember it wasn't hardly enough vegetables, or food for that matter, for the way that I was exercising. I was extrememly tired and grumpy.

I will take your advice and cut back on the cardio, and try to eat more to see if that will work. Oh yeah...and I will try to be patient.

Thanks a bunch!!!

Doing 2 hours cardio on low carb, low cal is a sure way to stop ANY weight loss AND a sure way to destroy muscle.
After around 45 min cardio your cortisol level increase to a level, where your body stops using fat. If there is no fat, no carb, your body can use only protein from your muscles. Other problem: this way you train your body to function on LOW CAL level. The body is a wonderful mechanism, can adjust to almost anything. Something else: so much cardio can cause huge amount of water restrain.

My recommendation: cut back your cardio to max 5x45 min/week. Increase your cal to min 1600-1800. I would not recommend to combine low carb with low cal.

Cheers:
Eva

I would guess your body is going into "starvation mode". I agree with the others, you need to eat more!!

If all else fails, look into thyroid issues. Its not altogether uncommon.

I see that you are doing Atkins but your diet doesn't appear to have much fat in it....the essence of weight loss while doing the Atkins diet. Perhaps you could include more fat in your diet and your scales would start to move again.

Thanks to everyone who replied!

Galladriel and Neela-I think that you two are absoultely correct. I really think that my body was going into starvation mode from the low calories. I guess that I fell into a mode where I wanted to speed up my weight loss efforts and end up doing more harm than good. Thanks for the advice!

NancyLc-I don't know much about thyroid issues, however, I always experience an overwhelming feeling of fatigue which makes me feel horrible because I can't do a lot. At 24 years old, I have a husband, a 5, 3 and 1 year old, and I spend most time wanting to sleep and my doctor prescribed me Ambien to help me sleep at night, and it does. However, I still wake up exhausted in the morning. So, I will have to look into that. Thanks!

Luzyanna-Another great point. I guess when you stray away from the original plan and try to add and subtract what you want, you will goof something up. I hadn't even paid much attention to the fact that I hadn't had much fat in my diet. Thanks for pointing that out!

I have taken everyones advice and cut my workouts down to about an hour a day and my calories are up and I am losing weight again. I would like to speed things up, however I won't do it the way that I tried before, obviously. But I am curious as to how the people on the biggest loser can do 3 hours of cardio a day and eat between 1200 and 1500 calories per day, and lose weight so fast?

Hey mrslbrown,

I was just wondering, do you snore? Of course, you don't have to answer that except to yourself. If you are a heavy snorer (ask your husband to be truthful!) you may be suffering from sleep apnea. You do not have to snore to have apneas (episodes of not breathing while you sleep) but it is normally associated with snoring. I had the problem of always being sleepy like you said, even if I got(what I thought) was a good 8 hours of sleep. I would be typing something at work and fall asleep. I had fallen asleep standing many times. Once I was diagnosed and began treatment, I had more energy and got better quality sleep. But being overweight aggravates and even contributes to the condition. I am hoping as a lose weight, the problem will ease up even more.

Just a thought.

Good luck
Al

Kodiakcub-Thanks for taking time to respond. And with all honesty and embarrassment, I do snore. Since low-carbing, I have been able to lose 55 pounds, and I assume that it is not as bad as it used to be. Before losing the weight my husband would poke me in the side, or roll me to my side, when the snoring got really loud. So, he doesn't wake me up, or comment on me snoring so loudly, so I have to ask how loud it is.

Anyhow, I did research before I started low-carb dieting and I thought that I had sleep apnea, which is why I started my low-carb journey. I really wanted to remedy the situation. So, I did take a survey at the doctor's office and signs did point to a potential problem with sleep apnea. However, my insurance refused to cover the sleep study. So, my husband wanted to pay for it, out of pocket, but like so many mothers, I couldn't see spending so much money on myself when I have 3 children.

So, needless to say, the problem is still undiagnosed, but I am hoping that when I get out of the overweight category, the sleep issues will go away. I really hope so! I can't imagine having to have a surgery to correct the problem, or dealing with for years to come. I will post this question seperately, but I would like to know if anyone has suffered from sleep apnea, or sleep disorders, that dissapeared with weight loss? And how much weight did you have to lose to see a change?

Sleep apnea is a life threatening condition. I'm sure those three children want their Mom to live a healthy, long life without her being sickly or worse. Get the study done. You're worth it.

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for pointing that out, because it is true. mrslbrown, if I were you, I would pressure the insurance company to pay for it. Treating Sleep Apnea could pay off for them in the future because it can lead to other health problems that they will have to pay much more for.

After I was diagnosed, I got to thinking about how long I probably had it. Well I realized that I had suffered from it since I was a kid. It just got worse with the weight. Then I lost the weight to join the Army NG but I still got a boot upside the head more than one night during Basic Training. Apparently I still had a severe snoring problem even at my lightest weight since I was 12.

The initial treatment for me was a CPAP machine. This machine blows air in through my nose to keep the air ways open while I sleep. At first it was annoying but you get use to it. Then I found I was fighting with the hose thoughout the night (I tend to toss and turn). So I talked to my new doctor about it after I had moved to florida. He took one look and said "Da.., your tonsils are huge! I'm surprised they didn't removed them." So he scheduled me to see a surgeon. They removed my tonsils, adnoids and part of the soft pallet and uvula. It helped at first but I had to go back to using the CPAP because I gain a tremendous amount of weight. After weeks of not being able to eat solid food and using the surgery as an excuse to quit smoking , all I could do was eat! Then I went back to smoking! Another good thing that I attribute to the surgery is I haven't had a sinus infection since. At my previous rate I would have had four or five since then.

So now I am at a stage where I still have a lot of weight to lose but hoping that it will clear up the apnea when I get down to reasonable weight. I have lost 35lb total and seems to have helped but I'm not possitive yet.

Good luck,
Al

Go to www.google.com and type in "sleep apnea" and read up. You might be able to find ways to get your insurance to pay.

NancyLc-You are so right! I really do need to be healthy so that can be around for my babies, and I am a SAHM, but I am not able to fully do my job because of the lack of energy.

Kodiakcub-I am not sure what to do next, as far as the insurance company goes. The doctor wrote them a letter, and the doctor's office called me and told me it was approved, and then the next day, they called and said that it wasn't. I called the insurance company and they told me that it was just something that they didnn't cover. So, I am very unsure of what I should do next. Should I submit letters or talk to other people? Not to mention, I never got a clear understanding as to why they didn't pay for the sleep study.

It doesn't say whether you are in OWL or what stage of Atkins you are in right now. But, I am wondering about the plum. In your menu it is listed twice a day. According to DANDR, plums have 8.6 carbs and only 1 from fiber. That could be some of it. Also, how about your water intake? It isn't listed in your menu at all. Just wondering....!