I've been gaining weight! And no, it's not water retention, because my period ended last week.

Why is this happening? Is it normal to gain 5 pounds over night? Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Here's an example of what I'll eat in a typical day:

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs + decaf coffee with full fat cream and 1 sweetner
Lunch: 3 pepperettes + salad with white vinegar + water
Dinner: 3 sausages + water

Everyday I'm on the treadmill for 30 minutes at 3km/h. And I drink plenty of water before, during, and after.

Please, if I'm doing something wrong, let me know.

I'm not sure I'm going to be a LOT of help with the diet as I don't know what pepperettes are and while I know what sausage is I have a feeling sausages there are probably different than here.

What I do see from the diet is a lack of fruits and veggies overall though and probably too few snacks per day. I would try eating smaller meals and eat more times per day. Aim for 4-6.

3k/hr is pretty slow as far as walking goes, anyway you could try building yourself up to a faster pace? You really need to push yourself everyday to workout a little harder and a little harder, get that heart rate pumping as much as possible.

I don't think your eating enough calories and your body is in starvation mode.

Try increasing calories by 250-500 (healthy cals) and see what happens

Pepperettes are pretty much like thin sticks of pepperoni. Yum.

I don't know of any carb-free fruits, but I'll try eating more veggies and snacks. It looks like I'm going shopping tonight.

3km/h is slow? After the first ten minutes have gone by, I'm violently sweating and gasping for air. ;P Unless I'm using the wrong unit of measurement here, I must be horribly out of shape! ;P

EDIT: I just remembered that I go at 3.8km/h. >_< Rythm, you idiot. If that's still slow... Then I guess I suck. ;P

Hmmm. Maybe I'm converting wrong... There are about 3.1 miles in 5k right? At 3k/hr you're looking at just under two hours for a 5k? Am I totally off base on my calculations?

I noticed after I posted that this was in the atkins forum so figured fruits would end up being off limits to you.

Maybe try switching the meats out for healthier meats. While I know atkins is pretty lenient on where you get your proteins from as long as you steer clear of carbs pepperoni and sausage is for the most part far from healthy. Why not have a chicken breast instead? Or some shredded pork? A lean steak?

Haha, I have no clue. Math was never my thing. ;P Oh well, as long as whatever I'm doing requires me to push myself, it should be alright.

I'm adding chicken and fish to the list. My mom gets final say though, since in the end she pays for the groceries. ;P But she's been supporting me all along so it probably won't be a problem.

Sausages are high in sodium,you will retain water.Plus I don't think you are getting enough calories.

Oh sh*t. I think pepperettes are too! I mean, it's dried meat afterall.

Man, I had no idea that sodium made people retain water. I'm feeling a lot better about this.

Why do people have the misconception fruits are off limits on Atkins??? While fruits are off limits during the Induction phase (first 2 weeks), fruit is not permanantly off limits on Atkins by any means.


Atkins is a low carb eating plan, it is not a no carb eating plan. Processed foods are discouraged on Atkins so, you may want to reconsider the pepperoni & the sausage.
Getting plently of low carb veggies and salads is extremely important on Atkins. They are listed on the acceptable foods list in the book.

Um... except for salad at lunch, I don't see any veggies here? try putting some diced peppers in your eggs w. melted cheese on top & I would switch the pepperettes (lots of salt = water retention, as said earlier) to chicken or meatballs or ground beef taco salad (without the taco!) - it also doesn't look like you're eating enough 'good' fats (olive oil, ranch dressing or even cheeses).

Keep drinking your water too - you'll need it to flush out the hidden sodium

p.s. I know you're in Canada, so I'm gonna say something .... the treadmills at my gym are in MPH not km - check yours out at any rate, keep up the good work, if you're heart-rate is up & you're sweating, then you're a-ok

/cheryl

You're absolutely right, as long as you're pushing yourself the exercise should be working for you.

I agree with everyone, that you might be in starvation mode and that the sodium might also be making you retain a whole lot of water.

Please don't be afraid of fat. People on the typical low-fat, high-carb diet are taught to eat only the leanest of meats such as chicken breast without the skin, etc. but on Atkins, most of the calories should actually come from fats. And since it's now been shown that butter and saturated fat is NOT bad for the heart (butter actually lowers lipid levels in the blood better than olive oil does!) there is really no reason to deny yourself that steak if you want it or the hamburger if you want that.

I just got the book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes and find it fascinating as it really looks at the science behind weight gain, weight loss, etc. I have to say reading that book along with the books by Dr. Atkins makes me see red whenever I think about the high-carb, low-fat way of eating that has been pushed on us here in the U.S. for the past thirty years. It is making us fat, diabetic, and sick in so many ways! And it's not like there isn't research showing that carbs are evil, especially simple carbs...grrrrr...

Keep up the good work on your daily workout, and drink lots of water, get some more veggies, maybe some more fat in your diet too. Hopefully you will be seeing inches lost and pounds lost!

I was speaking "in general" as the carbs were not the point, but rather the unhealthy nature of the choice in meats. Thanks for the correction.

You have lots of good advice here, so I'll second all that. But, also, I don't think that anyone said that gaining 5 pounds overnight is not out of the realm of possibilities. I've seen several threads on it and started one myself when it happened to me. In my case, it was probably sodium related and the pounds dropped off within a week or so.

This is technically my last day of induction, but I've decided to stay on it for another 2 months or so. I figure it won't hurt, since my mother's been on it for over a year and she's still kicking. I don't think I'd ever take it that far, though.

Sounds good. Especially the taco salad.

I totally had this messed up. Mine is set at MPH too. And I was going at 2.8 MPH rather than 3.8 (which would kill me). Today I moved it up to 3.2, and to my amazement I stayed on there straight to the end.

Well, at least it's something I can fix. Bring on the water and snacks! ;P

You're totally right. I'm just kind of turned off by it from what I've been told for years and years. I have to get my head around fat being good.