Serenity, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Those kinds of losses are so difficult because they seem to come out of nowhere. I completely understand the compulsion to eat...especially ice cream. That's how I gained 14 pounds in about three months. The best way for me to stop the compulsive food thoughts isn't original or exciting; it's DO something. Anything, go outside and sweep your steps, call somebody, clean out your junk drawer, rearrange your closet, go for a ride. There's some research about compulsive thoughts only lasting about four minutes if you divert yourself. I'm thinking of you.

Luckylindy, good for you. Even if I eat too much, I feel better if I'm eating Atkins' food. Until I can get myself under control, that's still much better than eating off plan. The good news is if you stay on plan for a while, how long varies, your appetite drops and it's not even interesting to eat a half pound of anything. So go with it; just stay on plan and you'll be fine.

Congratulations on getting your job. You're so cute, you'll make lots of $$ in tips! I used to bartend in the summer - excellent $$$!!!

These tips are from Aug. 8 "Hungry Girl" e-mail newsletter. I need to tatoo them on my hands! Evening snacking is probably my worst eating behavior.

Try doing an activity that'll keep your hands busy. Take up knitting, paint your nails... anything! Better yet, get out of the house; go someplace where a pantry full of food won't be staring at you. Take a walk with a pal, go window-shopping at the mall (but stay out of the food court!), or hit the park with that book you've been meaning to read.
Brush your teeth, rinse with mouthwash, or pop a piece of sugar-free mint gum. Those chips and cookies will be a lot less appealing when you've got a minty-fresh mouth!
Quench your thirst. Sipping on something could distract you from feeling like you wanna eat. Go for sugar-free iced tea, an iced coffee (stick with guilt-free add-ins!), or plain old H2O... with lots of crushed ice!
Gotta chomp on something? Sugar-free hard candies and lollipops will keep your mouth busy for a while without racking up too many calories. If you want something more "snacky," 94% fat-free popcorn is a good choice, with just about 20 calories per cup. And keep cut veggies and salsa in the fridge at all times.
Don't keep your trigger foods on hand. If you know that certain foods are triggers for you, meaning they typically send you into an eating frenzy, try to avoid buying them in the first place -- out of sight, out of mind (and mouth). At the very least, look for pre-portioned options. It's a lot easier to stop after one 100-calorie pack of cookies than it is to stop when you eat straight from a big box or bag.
Last but not least? Keep a food journal. If you hold yourself accountable for all that extra snacking, you might become a lot less likely to mindlessly munch.

Sandy - thanks for the compliment. :-D and even more so, thanks for the tricks. I think I will have to really work on brushing my teeth 200 times a day, lol. I seriously NEVER want to eat if I brush my teeth, I just like the way my mouth feels and hate the way everything else taste thereafter, so that will be something I try this weekend...and in the meantime....get sparkly white teeth. :-)

Oh Serenity I'm so sorry to hear of the loss your friend ....way too young ...

Lindy I've been brushing my teeth a lot this week too... Last night was because my dinner was so yummy I wanted more even though I was full. So I kept going in and brushing lol.

I'm stuck and frustrated ... Which is why I haven't posted much - I'm cranky

Lost another 2 pounds this week. I am so excited I have reached ONEDERLAND!! My original goal was to lose 10 pounds by Labor Day,
I have now changed it to 15.

Oh YAY. We did. It the same day! you have to change the number in your profile - that was so satisfying for me!

Serenity, I am so sorry for your loss That's way too young.

Congratulations Rho and ConHop!!!!! Awesome guys!

Congratulations, Rho and Conhop! Onederland is huge progress. I'm excited for you guys!

I'm not going to make the Labor Day Challenge. No how, no way. Too much cheese, too little water, too much Splenda. I weigh tomorrow, but I don't expect a loss. I sure don't feel lighter.

On a much more positive note, I'm not giving up; I'm going to continue to work on living the Atkins' plan. And I met my exercise goals this week; Wednesday and Thursday were water aerobics days, and Friday, Saturday and today I've walked Puddin' and myself twice each day. They're short walks (15-20 min.) but it's better than doing nothing. I'll increase the time as I'm able and the weather gets a little cooler and less humid.

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone.

Thanks - now if I can get it back to stick right now it's doing the up a couple ounces down a couple ounces thing now so I hover .. But the next drop will get me out of that hovering range ... I know the way it works .. Lose - hover up and down for awhile lose - hover up and down lose ... So I'm only a little annoyed that it goes up and down right now..

I started a 1,000 day exercise challenge for myself with the only stipulation being that I must do 10 minutes of whatever I'm doing that day... I can't wait for it to get cooler so I can get back to the rec. center to use the indoor track and walk again in addition to my hooping (main choice now) ... So far I've done it everyday .. Even though sometimes I'm doing it at 11:45 at night .. The heat has been brutal and that's when the house is a little cooler ..

Adjust your goal down to what you think you will make so you still have something to shoot for ... We are pretty easy in here - the main thing isthe encouragement ... Making the goal for challenges slightly challenging yet attainable is what I do - if I have a great month I can add to it or I can let it go by and show how much over I went ... I know I average out to about 5 lbs a month (normally) so that is about what I shoot for as an example ...

Good afternoon chickadees!

COngrats Rohn and Con on your weight loss! Did you stick to the plan 100% in order to see those number drops?

Sandy...why dont you just modify your goal, maybe 5 pounds by labor day? That seems reasonable with 3 and a half weeks left? Its great that you are at least getting in the exercise!

An update on my progress, I didnt lose any weight this week. My weigh in date is on Saturday's and my weight on Saturday was still 186. I weighed in today and I was up 2 pounds....188 but I'm not recording it because it is likely water weight and its not an official way in day. I felt bloated so I felt the need to check on myself. I also cheated yesterday. :-( On a "normal" diet, cheating can be forgiven, on Atkins, I throw my body out of ketosis and it takes DAYS to get back to ketosis so Im really frustrated with myself over that. Nothing I can do about it except keep watching what I am eating.

Feeling tired and lethargic, likely from the sugar high I had yesterday, so I just want to get through this day and go home and relax.

Let me ask you all - when you do "slip up" on Atkins does it reflect your weight loss for that week? Meaning...should I not expect to see the scale change at all on Saturday or do you think I have time to rebound to my "ooops". I know everyone is not the same, I am just trying to get feelers on what I might expect.

luckylindy, I find it varies. Sometimes I bounce back super fast but other times one slip can be really hard to recover from. Keep a close eye on your carbs for a few days and that should really help. Bear in mind that where you are in the month could make it harder/easier.

So, I finally updated my stats. Stress before my trip, my trip and then being unable to reign myself in again for a few weeks and I gained about 13 pounds in 2 months. And people say you gained slow so you'll lose slow, agh, no, I can gain so fast! Stupid insulin resistance, stupid pcos. But it's so hard to eat gluten free when travelling with no refrigerator so I'm not completely annoyed with choices I made, but I didn't need to lay into the sugar as I did. And I should've eaten better sooner after I got home.

I've also adjusted my goal weight because I had a DEXA scan and it was really interesting, I have a lot of lean body mass (and plenty of fat, lol!). He used the numbers to work out what I should weigh and adding on the healthy fat percentages, he thought I should be looking at a weight of 150-160 rather than 130. We played around with the numbers a bit after I told him I used to be 130 (and was around 138 right up until I started gaining weight aged 23) and he said my lean body mass was probably way low in those days and he wouldn't recommend me losing body mass to get back there. So I'm curious now as to what I'll look like at 160 and go from there.

Back in ketosis now and work feeling so much more clear headed than I have been. It's nice feeling the health aspects of this way of life.

Morning all ... How about we all just check in with how we feel we are doing with our challenges - and maybe re-adjust some of them if needed.. I want everyone to feel good about themselves at the end of a challenge not that they have fallen short of a goal they made .. Our bodies don't work like machines and we slow up occasionally despite doing everything right and sometimes life jumps up and throws us a curve and sometimes we are just human ...

I'm doing pretty good on my challenges ... The one I'm most proud of is I'm on day 12 of my 1,000 day of exercise challenge and have done my minimum every day.. I'm good on my water challenge (probably because it has been so stinkin hot) and the beginning wasn't so good on my vitamins but now I'm doing much better - I THINK I will make my weight goal.. Had a long stuck in there but now the numbers are going down ever so slowly when they go down but it may happen.

Yesterday got up at 2 am left with hubs at 2:30 to get him to airport for his trip .... As I've mentioned he is a competitive shooter and is out at an international shoot in Illinois .. Well the stress of the day - other than the early morning - was the guns didn't get on the plane .. Were sent later in the day to Chicago and were to be delivered to the hotel by 12:30 last night - got a notice that they were delivered at 9:30 - ummm no they weren't ... Finally delivered at 1:45am Chicago time ... The weird thing for me was instead of going into full force eating mode from stress I couldn't eat .. Managed a hamburger with chopped up cooked bacon mixed into it and a 1/4 of a sliced tomato and half an avocado sliced (trying to up the fat at least).

Lindy - I bet some of your weight this week is from your body adjusting to you being on your feet more and a change in water consumptions along with the little Off plan food ... Just work to make it thru a day or an hour or a minute on plan if you have to and just hang in it will catch up and happen...

I think the whole of the year I've been doing this I may have checked my ketosis maybe 4 times - I have never seen more than a trace on the little sticks ... My advice to people is don't stress about the color of the strips just try to do one day at a time on Plan and it will work ... You will hit slowdowns and stucks but just keep working it ... if we go off plan because of life or because of stress or because we are human just take it one day at a time and get back in the groove..

I do track my food using Lose It and can check my carbs for the day and know about how much I'm usually eating when I'm losing .. I've tried shaking things up during my stuck .... Eating the same carbs but upping my fat and calories on purpose for a few days during the week .. It seems to have helped a little to get things going again....

I really want this to be a plan that will be doable and natural when I get to whatever my end goal is - it's subject to change ... It's set for 140's now but I'm trying to be realistic and do realize I'm older now and it may not be realistic to go for what I was in my 20's... thanks AnaBee for the reminder of that... I will see what my body decides .... If it is higher I will change it - but I do admit my plan is to maintain at whatever number my set point seems to be for awhile then try to lose a little bit more after maintaining for 6 months or a year... Just to see if I can get it lower than it was ...

So looks like I wrote another book - sorry ...

Anabee and Rho, thank you for your words of encouragement. Its a bad day for me. I hopped on the scale again, I know...I know, stay off the scale daily...but I am SO afraid to see that number go higher (in the realm of 5 + pounds, that I feel the need to control it. Anyway, I am still 2 pounds up, which means....I am at a 8 pound weight loss and NOT happy. I am so "by the book" with this diet, with the exception on Sunday's slip up and I drink an excess of water, AND exercise, I just dont get it. :-(

Ok, pitty party over for the day, I just needed to vent. So how is everyone else doing this week?

@Rho- How exciting that your DH is a competitive shooter! Do you like going to the range too?
It looks like I will hit my goal of 240 if all goes well, but if it doesn't I will be thankful for what I have lost so far (16 pounds)! Thanks for this challenge, it is a fun thread!

@Lindy- don't let the poundage get you down. Are you measuring? Maybe you're losing inches. My weight tends to fluctuate by 2 pounds or so, even more around my TOM (maybe that is what is going on?)

@Sandy-don't give up hope, just readjust your goal and work towards it WTG on keeping up with the walks with Puddin'

Hello, just checking in.

We're on vacation, and I have only lost 5 lbs since the beginning of the challenge, but I haven't gained and I've been pretty good about getting to the gym, so I feel like a success.

Added a before/after picture of me and my husband (and baby) to my profile - between us we've lost 120lbs so far! (Our son has gained about four.)