I have been on a low carb intro (under 20 grams) for 13 days. I have been very very strict on myself. I haven't had a drop of sugar or starchy foods! I haven't really started working out yet, but I never have. Shouldn't I have lost more then 3 lbs in this amount of time. I have heard that the first 2 lbs is water weight anyway...so really I haven't even lost fat! I'm really discouraged at this point and feel about ready to give up. I have tried other diets (weight watchers and low cal.) before and worked out without any results...
It sounds like three pounds is pretty good for 13 days. A healthy rate to lose at. Are you expecting too much, maybe? Why not give it another 12-13 days and see if the weight loss remains consistent. The closer you are to your optimal weight, the slower it should come off, and the slower you really want it to come off so it's an easy transition to maintenance. And you aren't that much over your optimal weight.
I think you are doing great. Don't give up, and to the forum.
Last edited by recidivist; 12-20-2008 at 11:16 PM.
An average healthy amount of weight loss is about 1% of your bodyweight per week. For you, that means you should expect to lose around 1.5 lbs per week - which is right on track with your 3 lbs in 13 days.
And no, the first 2 lbs is NOT just water weight. A lot of people do sometimes lose faster at first due to losing some water weight, but some don't.
There's nothing wrong with the rate you're losing at. Giving up now would be silly. You're making progress. Why quit while you're making progress?
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Last edited by PhotoChick; 12-21-2008 at 12:01 AM.
I am feeling a bit discouraged today as well. I was down to 175.5 a few days ago before Christmas and now I'm holding steady at 177 even though I started exercising again. I have to remember though that if I lose a pound a week over the long haul it will be good. Hang in there
The closer you are to goal the slower you will lose as your body wants to hold on to those last few lbs. Also, sometimes we set lower weight goals for ourselves than our body wants, and it can fight you.
Exercise is the great difference--burning off the excess as well as getting you in great shape.
On Atkins induction, generally you can expect to lost 10% of what you can lose overall the first 14 days. I needed to lose over 200 lbs; I lost 20.5 lbs the first two weeks. For you, it looks like you want to lose 30 lbs or so; 10% of that would be 3 lbs. Perfection! You're doing great!!
Thanks for the info DC.....I was feeling bad that I didn't lose any weight the 2nd week of induction, but I did lose 6 pounds the first week. Since I want to lose 65 pounds I'm feeling much better.
I'm also going to check in on fitday to make sure I'm not totally over eating the calories.
No matter what plan I'm doing "there is no such thing as 'free' food". I need to learn to eat until I'm satisfied, not to just mindlessly pound it in.
One great thing on Atkins - if you have a really large appetite, as long as you don't go over in carbs, you can eat a lot of protein/fat and still lose. You won't lose as fast, true, but you will lose weight. Maybe every now and then you need to eat a whole rotisserie chicken or whatever - not every day, but every once in a while, that's fine.
On induction, and by that I mean strict, by-the-book induction, after a few days of 20 grams of carb per day eating only meats and veggies, you should begin to have a much smaller appetite. Appetite suppression is one of the side effects of ketosis, as is a reduction in carb cravings. So long as you do it by the book, you should experience these wonderful things.
One great thing on Atkins - if you have a really large appetite, as long as you don't go over in carbs, you can eat a lot of protein/fat and still lose. You won't lose as fast, true, but you will lose weight. Maybe every now and then you need to eat a whole rotisserie chicken or whatever - not every day, but every once in a while, that's fine.
The one thing to watch specific to rotisserie chickens (assuming you're doing store-bought and you don't have a rotisserie set-up at home--who does?) is that some have added sugar. Safeway does; Coscto just a little bit. You can always ask behind the counter what it's marinated in. Not saying to avoid them; just so you can budget those carbs into your day.
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