I hit another bad stall, and even after that last one, I have only dropped about 3 pounds. I have been very good! I have eated heavy on the protien and fat, very little carb (I mean like under 10 grams if that), cut out the carb freedom ice cream bars (was only having 1 after dinner) and the coke zero (was only having 1 12 oz can a day)... but to no avail.
I am in ketosis - besides those stupid sticks, the breath and thirst is there. I just don't know what else to do..
So my question is - Fast fast, or off program for a few days.
I get really sick to the stomach taking in tons of fat such as the requirement of 90%. I mean to the point of nausea. I am wondering if I go off for a few days, and then restart intro, if I can start dropping again?
I don't have any worries about being able to go back OP! I am so damn determined to get this off before we go to Washington, and Philadelphia. As I said, the Smithsonian is my reward, but I am getting frustrated with the stalls!
What are ya'lls thoughts, and do you find it easier to start dropping after going off for a few days, or do you prefer the fat fast? I don't really want to go in that direction since I know it will make me feel awful.
Well, my two cents here. If you go off plan, you will gain. Yes you may only gain water, but you will gain. If you just need to see that scale move, you could do that, but it will move in the wrong direction first, and then maybe move in the right direction. Either way it is basically a wash.
You are in ketosis. That means you are burning fat. Trust the process. Stalls are normal, the body is still burning fat, it is just hanging on to some water so that your scale isn't showing it. Have you taken measurments? Have you been eating extra salt? Have you been taking your vitamins? The B vitamins are good for helping you to drop any excess water your body is hanging onto. It could be that a few vitamins might make your scale move to at least show you what you've already lost.
I wouldn't go with the fat fast. I think those things are essentially useless. I've done them a time or two and yeah, you may lose a little, but it comes back just as fast as it goes. Then you have the frustration of having done that to yourself with no real lasting result.
What I would do is check your calories, and I would also check how often you eat. If you eat smaller meals more often you may find that you lose better. Or if you are eating too many, you could be preventing weight loss or too few calories and you could be slowing your metabolism.
How do you determine if it is too many or too few? I think for me it gets to "too few" when I don't have much hunger at all even if I haven't eaten for hours. Sometimes you need to force yourself to eat if that is the case. I have a hard time doing that, but by exercising more I find that I can rev my metabolism up some.
For some of us our bodies are just very efficient at keeping on the weight. We make them more efficient by trying too hard, by stressing over it etc.
This will sound crazy to most people, but I honestly believe that how you breathe has a bearing on your weight loss too. A few years ago I could not figure out why I couldn't lose any weight with all the hard trying I was doing. At the same time I was looking for a way to help my daughter with her asthma. At that time I learned about a practice called "Buteyko". It is an idea developed by a Russian man. He believes that our state of health is related to how well we breathe.
In America we always seem to think that "more is better" and that goes for our breathing too. His idea is that less is better. Proper breathing is done only through the nose, it pulls air deep into the stomach so that when you breathe in and are breathing properly you should have your stomach go OUT on an in breath, and your chest should remain essentially still. Many many people do it the opposite way. They are chest breathers, their tummy goes IN when they breathe in and their chest goes out. This is improper breathing and it puts your whole body under stress. When under stress we tend to hang onto weight.
I wound up joining this group of people who practice Buteyko, and a bunch of them told me that once they began to change their habits they lost weight without even trying. I was kind of amazed at that. It never happened to me, but I do think I've managed to correct whatever it was that was preventing me from losing when I was trying so hard.
This article: http://www.buteyko.com/media/healthy_breathing.html was published in an Australian magazine. It talks about certain aspects of health and how breathing affects your whole body. You might want to read it, some of it was pretty interesting. I'm no expert, so how it would apply in your case or others I couldn't say. I know my daughter was helped by retraining herself to breathe more properly, and I believe I was too.
I agree....trust the proof. How long is the "stall" been? And remember to take your measurements. I also would try increasing the carb--good ones. Maybe add a few nuts or berries.
Sherry - I see what you mean.. I also understand the breathing aspect. I do Yoga in the mornings, and breathing is one of the biggest parts of the practice. I also meditate and again, the breathing is a huge factor. I'll check out the link!
Brenda -It's been nearly 3 weeks, and the stall before that was for 3 weeks as well. So we're talking 5 pounds down in 6 weeks. No I haven't measured, but I would expect the pounds to move at some point. I'll look at the carb factor and maybe add some walnuts, since I have those in the pantry. I am just at my wits end.. I should trust it, I know, but I seem to really be showing a resistance, even though i'm doing everything right.
Thanks ladies. I'll still mull it over, and see what other options there are.
Falon, I don't have much advice as I am so new to this, but I just wanted to say that I really hope that this stall will pass for you soon. I HATE weight-loss stalls. They are so frustrating!
I think they are just natural. 3 weeks sounds like a long time, but it really isn't. Some of us just lose in fits and starts. The body fights us, but it can't keep up the fight forever. It still needs energy to survive. So it replaces (temporarily) our fat with water. Then it realizes we are smaller now, so we don't need that much water and dumps it. That is why we go for spells of no weight loss and then suddenly we get some. 5 pounds in 6 weeks is like .83 pounds a week averaged. Of course when you figure in that you probably went 3 weeks lost some and then have gone another 3 weeks (and maybe haven't dropped that next part yet) it is really even a better average than that. You are probably about to have a whoosh. Hang in there and wait for it.
Have you been exercising a lot? Sometimes when we use muscles we don't normally use a lot, we can store extra water for those muscles too. Or we could be building muscle. Most body builders tell you that you can't build muscle and lose fat at the same time. They do both a "building" and a "cutting" phase. If you are doing extra exercise you may be in your building phase.
I went all through February with only 4 pounds lost and 2 of them kept coming back. March came though and I dropped about 4 pounds all at once. It averages out.
Falon, I've done the fat fast numerous times to get a jump start. I usually stick to just the macademia nuts since that's the only thing I like. I usually lose anywhere from 5-11 lbs and it stays off. But I don't do more than 3 days.
Another thing is are you eating enough calories? Do you watch them? I never did -- I ate. And ate. And ate. I was always snacking. I'd eat 3 or 4 hamburgers if I was hungry. Or a 20 oz steak for dinner. Or multiple chicken breasts. And I still lost weight. Don't starve yourself -- it won't work.
Good luck and keep us up to date on how you are doing.
Sherry made all excellent points!
I've stalled for three weeks 3 times now (I think) and it SUCKS!!! How much have you been exercising, you can try to step that up a little, also, try eating like you've been doing but at supper have a protein shake instead, this really does the trick for me.
Are you getting your required water? taking a multivitamin?
When I've been at the bottom of despair about the weight just STAYING there I have eaten just eggs for 2 days (boiled, scrambled, egg salad) and it has always made the scales budge so at least I knew that I could do it. HANG IN THERE, it WILL come off!!!! I wouldn't ever recommend going off plan either, that's just no good for the body (IMO).
Lacey
I'm still on program, and won't go off, but i'm still frustrated non-the-less.
Before the kids came down sick, I was walking 4 miles 5x a week. Calorie counting is against my religion (giggles), and I eat when i'm hungry. There are plenty of times when i'm not hungry, but I try to get something in me between meals even if it's a few pork rinds. I did cut back on the salad. Instead of 3 cups for the day, i'll have 1. Last night instead of salad with my steak I had a few asperagus spears. So basically i'm focusing on high protien (with the fat) and still feel i'm getting nowhere. I need to get back to the gym and think I might be able to today. The kids are ok enough, and my mom's home.. so I can probably sneak away.
Susan - when you say you do the nuts for 3 days, do you mean you eat 200 calories worth for breakfast, again for lunch and dinner, for 3 days in a row? I could probably do that.. but what about when you are in ketosis? Does is still gelp or is it if you need to get back into ketosis...
Thanks guys. You are all so much help, and I thank my lucky stars every day that I found this place!
Falon, from what I understand in Dr. Atkins book, the more fat you consume, the more weight you will lose.
When I did the fat fast, I ate the 200 calories of macademia nuts for breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc. -- I think you are supposed to have 4 servings -- I don't have the book with me to look it up. I thought it was 800 or 1200 calories a day???
Do you keep a food diary to log what you eat? Maybe that would help pinpoint issues.
The book stated 5 meals of 200 cal. each (1000 cal a day). WOW I can't imagine eating only nuts...but the results sound AWESOME!! Maybe I should switch to nuts only.
Is there a reason for the 3 day only fast you do Susan? Just curious as it stated 4-5 days in the book. This inquiring mind wants to know
Maybe I have an older book, but my book calls it a 3 day fat fast and says to do it for 3 days. Plus I'm not sure I could do it longer.
Believe it or not, with the nuts I was full. I tried the deviled eggs and I hated them. I tried the chicken salad with the huge amount of mayo and it made me want to throw up -- I don't like mayo. I tried the heavy whipping cream with the sugar free maple syrup and it was yuck. I did like the Brie cheese but it was too much. I tried to make chicken liver pate as I like liver and made a huge mess. The nuts were just simpler.
I've discovered my system doesn't like nuts. I'm not going to go into what happens..let's just say I've noticed that nuts don't agree with me. Dang, I love nuts!! Yes, even macadamia nuts have the same effect I've discovered. ARGH!!! So looks like I'll stick to the eggs and chicken salad. I don't like tuna salad. BLECH!
Fat Fast or Other Option... Bad Stall!
