Atkins -- Fat Fast?
 

Hi everyone! Happy Friday!

Can someone please explain to me what the Fat Fast part of the Atkins diet it? I'm thinking I might need to do it to jump start my diet a bit more. I seem to be stalling a bit...does anyone suggest this part of the diet?

Thank you for your input!!!

Hi Kim -

Thanks so much for replying! :smug:

I started on the Atkins diet last week which was May 2nd. I did really great and lost 5 lbs in 4 days! But on the weekend, I slipped up...had 2 parties. :(
But just started back up again this past Monday. Since then, the scale hasn't changed.

On average my menu has consisted of:
Breakfast: 2 eggs & 3 pieces of bacon
Lunch: Chicken Salad w/ veggies (medium to large size)
Dinner: Meat w/ some veggies
Snacks: String Cheese (only 1 at a time about 2-3 times a day)

***I've also tried 2 of those low-carb ice cream bars.
***I've skipped breakfast a few times too.
***I worked out 4 times this week.
***I drink plenty of water.
***I have not started to take a multi-vitamin.

After writing it down, I think I know what my problem might be? Too many veggies, I need to eat breakfast and I need to pre-plan my meals the night before so I can measure my veggie in-take.

Any help and/or advice is GREATLY appreciated. I really want to do well on this program. I have a great friend at work that we are doing this together.

From my experience, it would seem that your veggies are OK. You lost 5lbs. in first 4 days which was great. You had probably went into ketosis and when you had the 2 Parties, it put you back out of ketosis. Therefore, it had to take your body a few more days to get back to ketosis again. My guess would be that sticking strictly to the program that you should see a couple more lb. loss soon. This is just how it was for me. I have been on Atkins for 10 1/2 months and everytime I get above about 25 carbs, I don't lose a lb. and my weight will sometimes fluctuate up a lb. or two. Also, watch the low-carb ice cream bars (I've used them too) the sugar alcohols can cause a problem for some. Good luck and I hope this has helped. Not trying to be at all critical, just trying to help.

Also, I would add that you are way to early in the program to need to try a fat fast. Most people do this when they've hit at least a month long plateau without any weight loss while remaining strictly on the diet and exercising like crazy. Believe me, the first 2 weeks of induction takes off a lot more weight than a fat fast.

The fat fast works, but it is really nasty. So unless you stall out for over a month, I wouldn't do it.

I did it twice in 3 years and yuck!

I think they suggest in the book that if you stall you should wait it out. That it's your body's way of shifting things. But suggests using the fast as a last resort. A couple weeks of not losing after eating carbs isn't long enough to really jump into a fast. Give it more time :)

I've never done a fat fast, but I DO know that after you spend a few days off plan, it's gonna take a few days atleast to start seeing the scale move again. You haven't hit a stall, you just got out of ketosis (the fat-burning stage), and now you just have to get back in ketosis, which means basically you had to start over from scratch. Just be patient, it won't take long to get back in. The fast is only for LONG periods of no loss.
I agree on being wary about the ice-cream bars-for alot of people, especially during induction, they can make loss stall. I also wanted to add that you really shouldn't be skipping breakfast. We all end up doing it now and then for convenience' sake, but the book says not to because it will slow your metabolism. Dr Atkins said that we should NEVER go more than 6 waking hours without eating something. Not eating on this diet, as opposed to others, can actullay slow your loss! The fat fast, from what I've read, is eating a 1000 calories of high fat foods broken up into 4-5 meals for several days. Your daily intake would be 85-90 % fat. Since your body is already trained to burn fat instead of carbs, and you are only consuming mostly fats at metabolically efficient intervals, it will help boost your body's "furnace".

I would just like to thank each of you that posted here! I really appreciate all of the very valuable information and it makes lots of sense. I'm going to be patient and have started this diet with a friend so we are going at it together. I'm going to give it some time and while I'm mad at myself for falling a bit off the wagon there, I'm still happy that I didn't go super overboard. I feel like this diet is making me re-learn how to eat.

I'll wait on the fat-fast for now. I'm hoping it's not something I'll have to turn to.

Good luck to you all! :carrot:

Yeah, you just gave you're body an nasty jolt, and it could take the rest of the week before you see any changes. Don't be so inpatient. That's what will cause you to fail. And no cheating, party or no party. Also it's a good thing you cut out the ice cream. I bought that stuff for a while and stalled.

I have since detoxed myself of all artifical sweetners, because even Sweet-n-Low can cause some people to stall. Eat as clean as possible, and you will see the difference before you know it. Good Luck!