[letmelogin]

Oh, help me please!

I did Atkins successfully in 2000 and lost 75 pounds, went into maintenance and successfully kept it off. I then contracted meningitis, forgot how to walk, literally, and regained an outrageous amount over the course of 14 months.

This Easter, I started induction with my fiancé at 272 pounds. (I'm 5'8") We cleared the house of any and ALL carbs, and went on an extremely strict version of induction, since I'm very resistant. He lost 55 pounds by July. I lost 32, but 20 was due to a bout of food poisoning.

Now, nearly six months later, I have been completely unable to lose a bit since April! I consume NO caffeine, NO aspartame, and no more than 5 grams of carb a day, and more usually 0! No booze, no soda, not even any sweetener. Meat, water, fiber, and sugar-free vitamin preps. I've picked up swimming laps on my doctor's advice, and still, NOTHING. Nor inches lost, either. No sauces, no dressings, no fun at all. . . but I can and will do it, if it'll work! I'm desperately sick of plain chicken breasts!

I do have some dietary limitations (dairy for one) and must be really strict about what I eat, so cheating for me is worse than just the blahs and a few pounds gained, thus, I don't do it. For a while I had sunk below 1500 calories a day, but about 6 weeks ago I corrected to get back to or slightly above that level. I KNOW Atkins works, it did for me once, but I'm so terribly disheartened - I was hoping to be at least 50 pounds down after 6 months of perfect behavior!

I can't believe my body really wants to stay at 240 pounds, which is outrageously heavy health-wise! I've built some muscle mass, but even with the lean mass addition, I'd expect the metabolically active tissue to help me lose faster, not stall me completely. . . has anyone ever run into this?

[kasandrasikl]

Can you keep a food journal for a few days and post up everything you eat? I'd also imagine that 0-5 carbs a day is very boring! I would have to add onto that in order to stay on the diet.

Good luck! I too have been stucl around 240 for about 3 months now. I just finished reading through chapter 16 (i think, stopped at pre-maintenance chapter), and I am personally going to incorporate more carbs from veggies, cut back on my cheese consumption (I eat about 3/4lb a day), drop the caffeine as much as I can and get out of aspartame as well. I have already begun a swimming routine (1km/day, 3-4 days a week), and increased my water intake to at least 64oz/day. I am regularly taking my vitamins now (without iron!) and I cut my carb intake back to 30 grams (from the 45 grams i was losing so well on). These things will be/have been done to try to break my plateau, but not so much as a lb lost so far though. I did try some questionable tactics (refeeding) and I have been losing weight ever since my last one!!! But, i gained more on the refeeding than i have lost so far, so you know.. not a good place to be....

[JeremyBalll]

Now, nearly six months later, I have been completely unable to lose a bit since April! I consume NO caffeine, NO aspartame, and no more than 5 grams of carb a day, and more usually 0! No booze, no soda, not even any sweetener. Meat, water, fiber, and sugar-free vitamin preps. Um, that isn't Atkins. You need to be getting 12-15 grams of carbs from approved veggies. What does a typical day of food look like for you?

[GlarlraTpople]

Not even close to Atkins. Get out the Induction food list and rules and review those... if you want to do Atkins, you HAVE to eat veggies and you HAVE to exercise.

Tril

[letmelogin]

By fiber I should have said green leafy fiber. I don't count greens as food, they're a chore that must be done. I can't eat most vegetables for various other reasons, so greens (baby spinach primarily) is it.

My day looks like this:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, olive oil fried or scrambled,
2-3 strips 0 carb bacon (nothing special brand-wise, just not sugar-cured)
occasioanlly add mushrooms.

Lunch: greens no dressing, (about a loose packed cup each time)
2 plain chicken breasts
or
greens no dressing
chicken salad (canned chicken, mayo, no spices)

Dinner: greens no dressing
steak or ground beef no seasoning. If meat not fatty enough, cooked in olive oil.

I don't snack. On this, I am NOT very hungry. I get water and only water, all the splenda and caffeine in everyhting legal knock me right off. That is it, day in, day out, my grocery bill doesn't change unless something goes up. I'm bored out of my gourd! I want grains, for god's sake!

I'm doing laps until my arms fall off. (literally, sprang a rotator cuff tear a bit ago, I think) I'm just at a loss. I screwed up once because I'd slipped into low-fat mode by mistake, and now corrected that (everything gets either olive oil or bacon grease in small measure) and then I screwed up again and let my actual calorie count get too low. These were not intentional, I have no desire to become anorexic. I just want to get out of induction!!!

I rarely show in ketosis. Actually, I never go above trace unless I cut the spinach out entirely.

[GlarlraTpople]

"I rarely show in ketosis. Actually, I never go above trace unless I cut the spinach out entirely."

I don't either. I get "trace" on a good day. I figure I use up the ketones I'm producing so there aren't enough left over to show up in my urine. There are other ways to know if you're burning fat... reduced hunger, funny taste in your mouth, etc.

I have no idea why you're not losing weight, unless you're not eating enough for your current weight. You eat about what I eat (except I eat a lot more veggies). I don't add much fat to my meals... a little to keep things from sticking, a little to add some flavor. But I'm not generous with it by any means. The difference between you and me, though, is that I weigh 128.5. So it could be that your body simply needs more fuel. I know it's counter-intuitive, but you have to eat to lose. If you cut back too much, your metabolism will slow down in order to conserve the energy it is getting. Exercise will only make the deficit bigger... it won't increase your metabolism if you're not eating enough.

You said you can't eat dairy... can you eat berries or nuts? You might try upping your calories to 1800. That's the top of the range that Atkins said women should be eating. Other than that, I don't know what to suggest.

Tril

[JJascaxal]

Some suggestions to break the plateau:

1. Throw your current menu out the window. No more chicken breasts and spinach, for example. Eat completely differently. Base your diet on a whole bunch of different vegetables from the Induction list, every single day, totalling 15 carbs. Eat all of them, spread out throughout the day, not just at one or two meals. Eat fish, especially salmon. Add spices you haven't tried before, if your doctor permits it. Try any food that's on the Induction list that you don't normally eat. Your body is used to your routine--it's time for some surprises.
2. For one week only, eat from 1800 to 2000 calories per day and cut your exercise to no more than 45 minutes per day. That's meant to break you out of the low metabolism you could be in right now. In "starvation mode" you can almost live on air and water alone. Celery can put weight on you.
3. Do not eat after 8pm. Eat your breakfast before 9 am.
4. Ask your fiance to massage your whole body every evening (and you can do it for him, too). Get the blood flowing to every part of you, down to your toes and up to your scalp.
5. After the week that's relatively high calorie and low exercise, start your exercise routine back so that you are exercising an hour a day most days, and also, at least one day per week, spend several hours in a high intensity activity, like hiking or bicycling, or actively swimming.
6. Post pictures around the house of you at your lowest weight. Look at them often and visualize yourself back at that weight.

Good luck! Different combinations of these steps have worked for me to break a plateau in the past. I hope they work for you!

[letmelogin]

ladies,

well, I was hoping I had avoided starvation mode, but that may well be it. . . and it does make a good bit of sense. Tril, I can do nuts, I LOVE macadamias, I had pulled back on eating them when I'd drop back out of ketosis. I think I must have been assuming "negative" = "bad" forgetting the effects of burning them off. . . back to the macs! karen, although I can't eat a lot of veggies, I can sure try to add some more, especially since no one here is telling me I need to really avoid those extra carbs. 15 grams a day - ohhhh, how luxurious after months without!!! I think I can get that within my limits. . . and as to fish, not my first choice, but after eating this for six months, ANYTHING different will be an improvement.

And my fiancé approves of the massotherapy regime.

That heavier eating week may make a world of difference!

Thank you both. . . this gives me hope, that no one just scratched their heads and said "I have no clue." I'll be sitting down to budget for new menus and keeping this in mind. I'll be back!!!!