2 week stall on low carb- is my body ready for something else?
 

Hi everyone,

I'm getting frustrated with my weight loss progress. I've been up and down the same two pounds for the last two weeks! At first I blamed it on maybe I'm ovulating or something, but this is lasting much longer than just a couple days.

I'm wondering if my body is "done" with low-carb. I have NEVER had a problem losing weight by doing low carb. I consume probably 20-30 carbs a day. No soda, no sugar- real or fake. I've added in some exercise and even more water and it still doesn't seem to be helping. My jeans are still snug, so I don't think inches are being lost.

Suggestions? Please help! I'm all out of ideas and on the brink of binging!

Grace

What is your protein intake? You might to get more protein in. I know I stall when I work out and don't get enough protein in my days. I usually aim at .75-1 gram of protein of my ideal weight. Change some stuff up and see what works for you. Also you might cut night shade veggies out. Experimentation always works for me.

Are you also drinking enough water?

2 weeks isn't much of a stall, and you are pretty close to goal so you have to be even more careful about your eating.

You haven't really hit a 'stall'. The truth is, the closer you get to your ideal weight, the more weight-loss is going to slow down (within 20lbs. usually). So, you haven't stalled out, just slowed down. I know the slow down is frustrating, but the best thing you can do is push through it. If you tell yourself that you're cheating and you binge, then you've not only set yourself back physically, but mentally, too. And look how far you've come -- do you really want to throw that away? Just not worth it. If you're not tracking your intake right now, THAT would be my suggestion. Many times by writing down everything you're eating, you'll see in the numbers what is going wrong. I track EVERYTHING. I may not really pay attention to the other numbers and look mostly at carbs, but I track them all because if I slow down or stop, I am pretty sure I will find the answer in the numbers. Your cals could be too low, your fat could be too low, or your protein too high. It could be any number of things. So, tracking will help you a lot to figure out where things need to move now.

You just have to keep reminding yourself that you haven't lost the race -- you've just steadied out for the long haul and at some time, you WILL have another little 'burst' and move ahead. Just don't say oh, well, I've slowed down now and there's no way I'm going to 'win' so I'm going to quit! That will get you NO WHERE! And if all else fails, try an Atkins trick -- try a 'fat fast'. Cut back all carbs to only salad veggies and up your fat intake for a few days. It will trick your body into using up it's stores and you will lose. I believe it was even discussed in that Documentary, 'Fathead'. Good luck and don't give up so close to your goal!