Ok, so here's the story. Began low carb eating six weeks ago. Have not been doing Atkins, just got rid of starchy carbs like bread, potatoes, rice and pasta. I have felt good, energised and never hungry. First week I lost 3lbs, second 5lbs, 3rd week 3 lbs, 4th week 3lbs, fifth week 7lbs. This week so far - nothing . I am confused. I have cycled over a 1000 calories a day, eating exactly on plan, and no weight lost at all this week. Is it because of last weeks bigger loss? Any ideas when it will start shifting again? I don't usually weigh every day for this very reason, but some force took over me this week as I was excited to see bigger results as I have been so "good" and done soooo much exercise.
Just feeling demoralised, and would like to understand!!
Thanks for any advice
Sam
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Hi Starbite - congrats on your great weight loss.

I don't know alot about low carb diets. There's a forum dedicated to low carbing. Folks there might have also have answers.

Good Luck!

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/carb-counters-117/

From what I have understood from reading you are at a plateau and you need to maybe do different exercises and up your calories a bit and it should make it happen again. Change it up a bit. I am no expert by any means but I have been where you are and I was very discouraged and upset, I upped my calories and added weight lifting to my routine and my scale finally started moving again.

Everyone is different, but I am one of those people for whom the more I do, the less the scale cooperates!! BUT, take heart, because I drop inches while the scale stays still. That's ok with me most of the time, but some of my stalls do get me in the dumps after a while.

With such amazing results as you are reporting, I would not be at all surprised if all of the sudden you've hit a wall while your body readjusts itself.

Please make sure you are getting lots of veggie carbs. Your plan sounds very similar to South Beach which is a diet that stresses low fat and veggie carbs. It's more like a "restricted carb" diet, not actually "low carb" like Atkins. Your calories (1000) is awfully low. Most recommend no lower than 1200. You need to make sure every bite eaten is quality stuff.

Other than that, you're doing great!! Try not to get discouraged. I was obsessing about the scale too and actually have found that daily weighing gives me peace of mind. Most days I can laugh or just roll my eyes at a one pound gain. I know it's just water. Seeing that same one pound gain from week to week drives me batty. I have a tendency to dream up miracle losses over the course of the week and am extremely disappointed when the 15 pounds I deserve to lose in a week does not materialize.

Sometimes your body just needs some time to adjust. It could be any number of things... water, hormones, stress, etc.

So long as you are sticking to your plan, and you have a calorie deficit, you should continue to see weight loss. Keep in mind that on any plan, but especially on low-carb, and at a higher starting weight, you'll see dramatic losses in the first few weeks before you settle into your own pattern for the long haul.

I found that I got too caught up in the scale number. I've begun weighing/measuring once a month. But I'm not worried (too much!) because I feel much more energetic, my glucose numbers are good, I'm on plan every day (I calorie-count and do moderate/low carbs), and my clothes are feeling looser.

Just keep in mind that physics dictates that it is pretty much physically impossible for the human body to lose more than 2-2.5 lbs of FAT a week. What you were likely experiencing with so much weight loss so quickly was water weight, not fat weight. While that may not be exactly what you wanted to hear, it's the truth, and doesn't mean that you aren't succeeding - because obviously you are! And you are LEARNING something about YOUR body and how it reacts to the things YOU DO (or don't do).

Also try to remind yourself that plateaus are a normal part of the weight loss regimen -everyone hits one from time to time, and if you can keep that in mind during all times of your dieting phase, you will more likely burst thru the plateaus with much less aggravation and disappointment.

You are doing GREAT! - Just keep up the good work and remember... you didn't gain it overnight, you won't lose it overnight. Take care of you!

Thanks everyone. I am maybe just anxious to succeed and want to see better results. The calories I mentioned in the original post are calories burnt not taken in, I eat around 1300 calories a day. It's hard when you have lost it all before, you just want it to go quicker.
I really appreciate the advice - tomorrow is my birthday so won't be standing on the scales, just enjoying being surrounded by my loved ones.
You people are awesome, always something positive to say. Thanks for being so nice
Have a beautiful weekend
Sam
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Beach Patrol, do you happen to have any links to this research or these principles? I was doing a search online and was having a horrible time finding it.

Starbrite, hang in there! It doesn't mean you are necessarily doing anything wrong. I think we all have these little setbacks. If you have been having success then I would suggest just sticking to your plan and begin to worry if after a longer time (month, etc) you aren't seeing any body changes.

Thanks Renwomin - Will do

One week is not a plateau. Weight loss isn't always linear. I know the "common wisdom" is to weigh less frequently, but the opposite advice helped me (I only recommend it, if you can do so without getting wigged out when the scale doesn't read what you want it to).

I went through a period when I not just weighed daily, sometimes I weighed five or six times day - but I swore not to get "upset" with the scale and just watch. I started writing down my morning weight every day, but only "counting" the Mondays.

This experiment (several months of it) taught me a lot about weight fluctuations and why they occur (for me. This is an experiment that can only tell me about me, not about anyone else).

Water, fiber, TOM hormones, bathroom habits... they all change how I lose wieght. If I eat more low-carb fruits and vegetables, they can register temporarily as weight gain (especially since with IBS, my bathroom habits aren't always "regular"). If I eat a little more salt than usual, it can register temporarily as weight gain (or less loss than usual).

There are many variables that can affect the weekly (and for that matter, daily and even monthly) weight loss. Don't read too much into any one weigh in. It's the trends that matter, not the individual event.

I wouldn't start to worry about plateaus until you stop losing for several weeks, not just one, two, or even three.

Just my opinion here, of course, but your weight and height look to me like you should be eating more. Lots of people start with a BMR calculation...you can google it...which will make a recommendation for you and then work from there. I would guess you could eat as much as 1800-2000 to start wiht and still lose weight in a healthy way. The bottom line is always that you have to use more than you will eat and over the long run, you will lose weight if you do that. It isn't linear, though, and you might lose more one week, none the next then the same for a couple and so on...as long as you are losing overall, that is what you should aim for. Usually it is considered healthy to lose 1-2 lbs a week. I've done a little better than that, but really increased my activity level. I eat 1300-1800 cals a day. Usually averaging around 1500-1600 over a week's worth of time.

Barb

You can typically expect to lose anywhere from 1-2% of your body weight per week... so with the OP's weight she could lose 2.8-5.6 lbs per week and be just fine!

I'm sure that it will pick up... you might have eaten some hidden sodium or be getting ready for that TOM.

I highly disagree with the above statement and agree completely with this statement:

And I also agree that weight loss is not linear and that you are not on a *plateau*.

You could replicate the same activity/food eaten behaviors 8 weeks in a row and most likely get 8 different results. That's just the way it is. We're not machines and can't be expected to perform like one.

Stick with what you're doing, being open to tweak it if need be, and that weight will have no choice but to come off - eventually.

Congrats on your great start. I look forward to hearing of your continued progress.