So this morning I weight myself and I'm at 195.3lb???? Don't get it, I gained 2lbs!! WHY??? I follow the diet pretty well, I think?! Ok I had a sip of ginger ale, but just a sip!!!! And I had two french fries from my hubby....JUST 2!!! I'm in full ketosis; moderate to large! So what's the deal!?!?!?

Is it because I don't eat enough? I realize I'm not hungry anymore, I really am not hungry, I have to think about eating and most of the time only have one meal a day.... I thought it was a good thing but I'm thinking that may be the cause of my weight gain... And I'm exercising, running my life outside! So could it be muscle weight??

I was not writing down my food intake and counting my carbs but maybe I should start... I had hoped to be out of the 190s by Sunday I will take my measurements this weekend...hopefully that will sheer me up

It could be water retention or muscle gain.

I'm not 100% up on the Atkins diet, but I think you need to have regular meals during the day. I think the idea is to eat lots of protein to feed your muscles and organs, if you don't eat enough protein your body turns carbs into sugar which turns to fat if you don't burn it off and if there are no carbs it turns muscle into fat. I'm not 100% sure of that, but I think it's along those lines.

Are you expecting your monthly friend? Are your muscles sore from exercise? Because I agree with the poster above, its most likely just water weight and nothing to be scared of.

I might stay away from the scale for a day or two, because I can see it's really getting in your head. But taking measurements is a great idea.

There's absolutely no way to know what (if anything) is going on from one weigh-in or even two or three weeks of weigh-ins. There are dozens of reasons your weight can fluctuate from one day to the next, ranging from the food you've eaten (but not yet pooped out) to water retention (and there are dozens of reasons for water retention).

Even on low-carb, it's normal for weight to fluctuate - both up and down. My weight fluctuates as much as ten pounds (I usually gain 8 lbs of water weight during TOM, no matter how closely on plan I am).

Low-carb can reduce water-weight fluctuation, but it doesn't prevent it, and two pounds isn't unreasonable even for people who are at or below a healthy weight.

If you're weighing daily, you can't compare today's weight to yesterday's because it's not enough time to be a valid comparison. Even week to week, isn't a very good comparison (because TOM happens on a monthly schedule).

I weigh daily, but I only compare today's weight with my weight one or two months before (most people probably can use a shorter comparison date, but I have insulin resistance, low-thyroid and other health issues that limit my weight loss. Even on very low-carb, I find it difficult to lose more than 2 pounds a month and with my weight fluctuating as much as 10 lbs it takes a few months to have proof of "real" weight loss).

Hang in there, and unless your weight is consistently going up and up and up, I wouldn't worry about a day or even week of weight gain or stall..

Two things I see might help...first do not skip breakfast, you should be eating within 30 minutes of waking up. Otherwise you throw your metabolism off. Secondly you could be on to something with too few calories, I am still struggling to work out some issues of my own, but one thing I found early on was that I was eating too few of calories and my body wasn't releasing any extra weight. I did a little research and found that MOST people (not all) should be taking in 1500 calories at a minimum on this diet in order for it to work properly. I did make sure to up my calories and that seemed to help...but now I am dealing with TOM issues and so it is up and down and very frustrating! Anyway, journal for about a week and see if that helps! Good luck!

I'm dealing with this too. I was down to 237.8 and now back up at 241 and freaking the heck out, lol! Of course, I had Memorial Day BBQ and I know there was an issue with that food. Hopefully we'll both be back down soon.

I don't want to freak out about 2lbs but I work so hard already to lose the pounds that 1lbs is such a big deal...'cause I have so much to lose

Oh well, I hope it's just water... I'm trying hard to have 3 meals a day now and make sure I drink my water! We'll see on Sunday.... will try not to weigh myself before that

There is no physical possible way to gain fat in a caloric deficit.

If you're gaining weight it's because you're eating too many calories, your body is retaining water, or there's some other type of body fluid/waste/issue going on making the scale register higher.

Give it some time! The scale can't tell the difference between fat and your breakfast.

Also don't weigh yourself after you drink water because that will add to it, too.

Did you try the scale a couple of times to see if it was accurate? My scale likes to scare me sometimes by saying I gained 2 or 3 lbs when I haven't! LOL

I just want to say that isn't true...I gained weight from not eating enough. When you aren't taking in the calories, you have to increase your caardio to keep your metabolism from dropping and retaining all calories as fat. Just 2 weeks of noteating enough and I went from 206 to 215 and it took me over a month to get my metabolism back and drop the weight. I have low blood sugar so I don't get hungry often and I was always told if you are fat thenyou only need to eatwhen hungry. I snack only on lean meat and veggies and get about 800 calories eating throughout the day if I don't drink milk or eat bread. My trainer told me to sel an alarm to go off every 3 hours to grab a bite to eat and it is working

Agreed Breeze, I have been having similar issues and have done a bit of research, when you aren't eating enough your body goes into "starvation mode". Basically it conserves everything so you aren't burning calories. It's quite a balance to figure out...and everyone is different!

HappyRunner- has this straighten itself out for you yet?

I'm sorry, I disagree.

You may gain weight. Glycogen stores, water retention, excess waste etc... but it's not fat. Your body cannot manufacture fat from calories that do not exist and it cannot turn muscle into fat.

This is a common misconception. "Starvation Mode" is also largely a myth. It takes some pretty extreme conditions to cause your metabolism to work in reverse. None of which a person eating a *normal* diet, in the western world, would encounter.

I'm with Valrock. If you don't eat enough calories to maintain your body, you will lose fat (and muscle). This loss can be hidden by gaining water weight, etc. as she mentioned. Starvation mode just means that your body slows down your metabolism and requires LESS calories to do its thing. It doesn't mean that if you consume very few calories that your body will somehow manufacture fat out of nothing.

Then how can someone that is eating say 1100 calories gain weight when they are active...otherwise healthy...drinking plenty of water....etc, etc....and yes I am positive on my exact calories and level of activity. There are also people that have medical reasons such as thyroid issues. Gaining/losing weight is different for everyone.

I am not arguing that they are gaining fat ...I am saying that the body conserves what it already has stored, so it slows itself down so it isn't burning the calories it normally does, therefor you can have a slight albeit temporary gain.

Diets aren't cookie cutter. Sometimes further digging is neccessary to figure out what is happening.

After being completely frustrated KNOWING I was doing everything right I dug further. I started thinking other than aging 5 years since the last time I lost weight, what was so different this time. The only answer was that I had had my gallbladder removed. I've done a lot of research and found that I really am not digesting food the same as before and found some supplements to help. I really hope this is my answer..... but the point I am making, if you know you are doing things the right way and it isn't working there might be a medical reason. Talk to your doctor, do some research, find your answer....it might not be anything you are doing wrong.... just keep going to you find your answer!