Question for all you big losers (Susan, Kim, lillybelle, etc)
You guys have come such a long way, I am sure at some point you have hit plateaus or stalls. Was just wondering, if you did, how often does it happen, how much weight did you lose before the first one, and how did you get past it? I am beginning my third week with no weight loss and I don't really see the inches down anymore either. I posted a sample menu under the thread Stalls and fluctuations.
Was hoping you had some good advice.
thanks
maggie
Location: NW New Jersey But, My Heart's In Pittsburgh!! GO STEELERS & PENGUINS!!!
Posts: 3,060
S/C/G: 245/143/145
Stay On Plan!
Hi Maggie
Stalls, especially in the beginning, can be very discouraging & frustrating. My advice to you is stay on plan no matter how discouraged or frustrated you become. Cheating or eating the wrong foods is the kiss of death.
I looked over your menu and it looks good to me. You might want to add a few slices of bacon or a couple links of sausage along with your eggs in the morning. You seem to be doing well as far as veggies are concerned Since the concept behind Atkins is burning fat for fuel..fry your eggs in butter & add some bacon or sausage (JMHO) The fat & protein will help you to feel full as well. Congrats on drinking your water!! That is VERY important and a lot of people don't do it.
When you are losing weight, it takes your body time to catch up with the loss (I hope that makes sense) Trust me, I know its frustrating. Becoming stressed over it does not help either. I lost 60 lbs on Atkins in 5 ½ months..then nothing for several months...was I ready to throw in the towel?...of course I was but...I continued to stay on track and eventually I began to lose again. Maggie, you are doing great! I am very proud of you girl! Just remember, you CAN do this!!
If I can help any further or if you ever just need someone to talk to, feel free to PM me anytime
Hi Kim! NOTHING FOR SEVERAL MONTHS???!!! Yikes! Don't know if I could make it through that! I'm going nuts after these 3 weeks.
I know what you mean about adding a meat to my breakfast, the problem is that I don't really eat meat! I know, what a diet to pick! I have been doing good with chicken. turkey and fish. perhaps I can add some smoked slamon to my breakfast though. I thinkfish has asmuch protien as meat no? I'll have to check that out. It's the fat that it really doesn't have.
Thanks for your input. I'll check into what I can add.
thanks
maggie
While needtolose4me2 has the big losers attention - may I ask:
I have been reading the threads and trying to catch up to everyone mentally on here. Everyone is wonderful that I have spoken to so far on the threads that I have joined. I have told several of you that this is not my first go round (although the go round that counts right now). Anyway, I am still using an old Atkins book (1973) that counts straight carbs. I have been reading the atkins.com site and took a class in their learning center that says to use net carbs. Are you guys losing using New Atkins or the Old?
Hi need2lose4me2, I have been on Atkins for 11months. My first stall was after losing about 30 lbs. and it lasted about 3 weeks. I then started losing 2 lbs. a week again and was very happy. My second stall was after losing about 30 more lbs. and it lasted about 4 weeks and then again started losing 2 lbs. a week. I've now been at 150 lbs. for 3 weeks and cant seem to lose the last 5 lbs. to get to my goal. I am not giving up, I will get there eventually. You are doing great with your weight loss. I watched a TV show the other day on weight loss and it said 1 reason we have stalls is so our internal organs can readjust to our new body size. This made sense to me, otherwise their would be crowding of our organs. The best advice I can give when a stall hits would be to journal all of your food, drink the water, eat according to plan and get your exercise. With all this, you know you are doing everything right and your body will catch up and let you lose more weight. Believe me when I say that stalls are frustrating to us all but we all have them no matter which way of eating we choose. Good luck and just remember that this is a completely normal thing to happen when you are losing weight.
MsChris, Hi , I have been using the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution and have went by net carbs from the start. Wishing you the best on your weight loss journey.
Very interesting Lillybelle. I never really thought about it that way!That must be what kim meant baout giving your body a chance to catch up with the loss. guess we get all caught up in the numbers and wanting to see that scale go down. however! I"m going to get through another week and hope for the best. I'm at about 25 lbs now so I'm close to where you were at your first stall Thanks for all the info. It helps me to know what to expect!
You are very welcome. The comment that the organs need to be able to readjust to fit in a smaller space made me feel a lot better. It explained why even with doing everything right, everyone has problems with hitting stalls. I can better accept it when there is a physiological reason for this happening and a natural occurence in the body , than if I was "dieting" to no avail for sometimes weeks at a time. Keep up the good work, you are doing great.
I used the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution as well. A couple of times when I stalled out for 6 months, I did the fat fast outlined in the book for 3 days and that seemed to break the plateau. It was really tough though -- I didn't like a lot of the foods on the fat fast list so I pretty much just ate the macademia nuts. It did help me get back on track.
here's some things I've done to start the scale movin' down again:
1) Drink ONLY water
2) increase water intake
3) increase exercise; however, if you are being a huge fitness freak and working out EVERY day for hours, then DECREASE exercise
4) Don't eat after 4 pm
5) NO atkins bars, shakes, etc. They may SAY they are approved for induction but they stall a lot of people.
6) don't weight yourself for a week, I swear sometimes the stress can cause the weight to stay
The ONE guaranteed thing that I've done (twice) and don't recommend to anyone but it works, is a form of the fat fast but with ONLY eggs. I eat eggs cooked every which way for three days and it has worked each time but you don't want to look at eggs for a longtime after that. They say at LEAST 8 eggs a day so you don't kick yourself into starvation mode and stall even further. Egg salad (with hard boiled eggs and mayo), deviled eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, you get the picture now
I know how it feels to struggle so hard and want something so bad and I PROMISE if you just stick to your guns, to your exercise and willpower that it WILL come off
yes, I think if I did do the fast I would do the nuts as well. I can't imaine eating 2 spoonfuls of cream cheese just like that! OR any of the other stuff. THe egg thing, maybe, but I can't really afford to get sick of eggs because they are a big staple for me now. I do eat the atkins breakfast bars sometimes 2 a day if I'm out and hungry. THat has been pretty new for me, maybe I will cut those out. THanks everyone.
SUsan did you say that you stalled for 6 months! God bless you for coming through that! See I knew if I asked you guys I would get the answers I needed. THanks again
Maggie, I didn't know you were using the Atkins bars. That's actually probably what caused the stall.....
Has anybody here eaten them on a regular basis and not stalled? Everyone I know of/read of who used them on a regular basis had that problem. All of the bars that I've seen have about 17 grams of carbs before deducting to net of 2-4. I don't understand that-the rest of that can't be all fiber! I thought fiber was the only thing we were supposed to deduct. That's what the book says, and then on their products they deduct the sugar alcohols and all that mess. I don't use them. I tried one and didn't like the taste, anyway, but that many carbs this soon into it was just too scary for me, no matter what it said the net carbs were.
Get rid of the bars, Maggie, and I'll bet the scale starts moving again. Try some sugar free jello or pudding instead when you have to have something sweet.
Question for all you big losers (Susan, Kim, lillybelle, etc)
Stay On Plan!
Since the concept behind Atkins is burning fat for fuel..fry your eggs in butter & add some bacon or sausage (JMHO) The fat & protein will help you to feel full as well. Congrats on drinking your water!!
Chris!
