Hubby has been doing IP for about 8 weeks and only has lost 10 lbs! To read of all the weekly big weight losses here is quite depressing....LOL. I have not lost much more than him. Has this happened to anyone out there and wondering what the cause might be? Both of our weight losses have been way below the average for women and men. It is quite an expensive program to be on, buying food and only losing 1+ lbs per week and even less than that some weeks! WE ARE 100% FOLLOWING PROTOCOL! We have shocked ourselves, having NO diet soda, No fruit, No carbs, NO alcohol, NOTHING..... not even a lick! Any suggestions on what could be hindering weight loss? Yes, we have just had thyroid checked out and will see what those results say. It is just very discouraging and depressing. We were figuring after 2 months on plan, we would be much further along than we are and others are. I know all people are different, but it still seems like we are just not losing period. Any thoughts or shares are welcome.

Just to review
You are getting all of your
water
salt
oil (added directly to food)

Are you exercising? It can slow losses on the scale but help them with the tape measure.

Any constipation issues?

Even tho its not required, are you eating 2 salads/day? Some people get better losses with salads.

One of the biggest questions of all: how much weight do you have to lose?
How are you sleeping?
What is your stress level?

What ideas has your coach given you?

Everything that Lisa said and I would also ask your coach to look at your food logs maybe he/she will see something you are missing.

You don't say how much you're trying to lose or your heights and current weights. Are you tring to lose a lot or are you in the range for your height and weight already? We're you dieting previously ?.. And now only trying to get lower? We who have had great results almost consistently find things are usually more difficult and V-E-R-Y slow at the end.

Thx for all your comments/suggestions. Hubby is 6-4, weighing 300 lbs, needs to get to about 240. Has not dieted previously, no exercise, yes salt and water is the only problem area. That has been a challenge to get in. Any suggestions, substitutions like iced tea, to share? Could simply water keep you out of ketosis and limit weight loss to such a minimum? Coach has been perplexed as well. Said most men his size, starting would lose at least 4-5 lbs a week. Other measures of success are lowered dose and type of bp meds and off all metformin, with sugar readings normal! So there is good going on......just not on scale. Fancy scale shows fat mass going down, but actual weight loss is low. Will continue and see what adding more water does...... thx again.

The most likely answer is that your husband is not following the plan.

If he is following the plan than he is retaining water like crazy or he should go on survivor because he can live on less food than 99.99% of the human population.

I'm not trying to be snarky. The simple fact is that on a diet of 700-900 calories a day a 6'4" male weighing 300 lbs should be losing weight FAR faster than he is. So he is either not actually following the plan, he is retaining a lot of water, or he is a genetic freak.

JohnP: I always love your posts!

Dismee: My DH started his own version of IP when I did. He virtually eliminated Diet Coke, which he drank to excess every day. He still has one very rarely. He eats more protein than I do, allows himself treats when we go out; like buttered popcorn at the movie last night, 2 pieces of wedding cake at a recent family wedding, a skotcharoo at the races the other night, regular salad dressings every day, ice cream and pastry at out grandson's birthday dinner 2 days ago! I can go on & on....It makes me crazy!!!! Oh, he also keeps a big container of cut up fruit; usually watermelon, in the fridge to munch on when he is hungry and he eats several protein (restricted) bars per day. My DH is 6'1 and weighed 286 on May 13th. He is down 42 lbs. He does not exercise, but does work as a carpenter, and not full time...semi-retired. He drinks a "ton" of water though, but doesn't get the salt that I am always trying to push on him.

Hang in there both of you !! It is worth it !

Plain water was dull after a while so with the advices of my coach, I included water enhancers such as MIO or any alternates, NUUN (electrolytes), Mangosteen (from IP)... as long as it has zero calories - 0 fat - 0 sugars and 0 carbs !!

I have a thyroid problem myself and it took 2 years to finally found the correct dosage for my pills - I have Hashimoto disease - This is my third week on the program since 07/15 and I have lost at least 14 Ibs.. Getting weigh in Monday morning !!

Review everything you eat - write it down and DON'T CHEAT and have your coach review it !

Good luck to both of you

Just a few thoughts...

Have you and your husband been following a strict phase I with no restricted packets until Ketosis sets in?

Have you had the headaches that indicated that "you have lifted off"?

How is your husband tackling hunger as that is sure to be an issue... does he have OP snacks (celery, dill pickles, cucumbers, etc.)?

Is he having an extra packet per day when needed?

Is he taking all of his vitamins? Are you both taking the omega III's and digestive enzymes?

The water is very important. You can use a program like Fitday.com or Myfitnesspal.com to log your food and water intake and track your progress. These programs also project what your weight will be like in 5 weeks if every day were like today and that helps motivate me so much! When I input my data in there, I can see that less water does make a difference.

I have regular water, mineral water, flavored mineral water (lemon mostly), Mio, Crystal Light or Dasani flavor drops (sometimes, I put them into the mineral water and pretend it's a sweet soft drink).

I've also really been enjoying tea and herbal teas (peppermint is a favorite).

What are you using for salad dressings? Are you making your own (example: olive oil, vinegar, lemon, mustard, herbs, cayenne, salt & pepper) or buying WF?

Good luck to you both! My hubby and I are doing this together too!

JohnP: Oh my gosh! I remember you from my first time around here! You're still very direct, I see. I hope that all is well.

This covers all the issues why people lose slowly. The common sense approach seems to be cut something out but in fact the biggest problem is that people are not getting everything in. The suggestion about the two large salads a day is one my coach really stressed. She said the more salad greens people eat the more they lose especially if the oil allottement is used directly on the salad.

Getting the oil in and LOTS of water are very important! My weight loss slowed a lot when I wasn't getting a lot of water in, I upped it and it got a LOT better!

Oil... once I made sure I was getting the required oil in (not just cooking in it) it helped too.

As long as you are 100% OP and make sure you are getting in everything you should it should work. If you aren't keeping a journal do that, my office doesn't require it UNTIL something changed or we weren't losing as much as we should be.

While everyone is being very helpful in their own way you're all over complicating this issue. You're all making great suggestions for fine tuning fat loss. This isn't a fine tuning issue.

"Hubby", if following the plan, is in a 2,000 daily caloric deficit minimum based on his height and weight. This should be resulting in an aproximate weekly fat loss of 4 lbs of fat. Over the course of 8 weeks he should be down around 30 lbs. This does not account for the fact that since he was not previously dieting at his size he would easily see a 5lb drop in water weight.

He should be down around 35 lbs give or take 5 lbs. He is down 10.

It is possible he is holding onto 20+ lbs of water. It is possible he has genetics unlike a normal human.

Is it possible he has been following the plan and have these results? Yes. We have put people on the moon, build dams thick as a football field, and have devices in our pockets that allow us to video chat with someone across the planet. It is possible. Is it probable? No.

Conclusion: "Hubby" is not following the plan. He is eating off plan. Probably to the tune of 1,000 calories a day.

I agree with JohnP if he is following he should be losing.

if his thyroid checks out? then maybe there is something causing the problem...certainly your PCP should be the person to assist figure out why he is not losing if he is truly being 100% OP....people can retain large amounts of water with certain illnesses and not know it.