Hello everyone!

I did something dumb this week. I ate too much salty food on Friday & Saturday, mostly almonds. I apparently lack self-control when it comes to nut portions, argh!

As a member of Stickk.com, I am also required to weigh in weekly on Sunday. If needed, there is an additional 48-hour window to file your report... So until midnight EST on Tuesday for me.

Because of my cursed water weight gain, I am now up to 253.2. I need to meet a weekly goal of 251.09 on Stickk, or I forfeit $100 to a group I can't stand.

My question is, disregarding the use of unhealthy water pills or laxatives, what do you think my best weight loss strategy would be?

Do you think the Atkins' Fat Fast would drop off 2.11 pounds by Tuesday morning? Or would pure fasting (except for water) be more effective?

I know this is not a great way to go about losing weight, but it's a learning experience, ha! One I intend to NOT repeat!

I see that the Fat Fast is laid out here... and I did just eat 2 oz. of cream cheese as a "meal". The only other thing I have had today is a cup of coffee with 1 Splenda packet and 2 Tb. half & half.

Any advice to fix my almond-induced puffiness would be appreciated Thank you!

I know you just want to use this as an emergency quick fix, but I did notice in that link to the fat fast that it said unless a person is genuinely metabolically resistant, it can be dangerous. That sounds a little scary.

You aren't metabolically resistant are you? Just got a little carried away with salty things? Maybe just drink a lot of water between now and then, eat healthy and see if the few pounds come off by Tuesday.

Of course, I am speaking as one who doesn't have $100 on the line, so...

Good luck whatever you decide!

The Atkins induction has a diuretic effect, but I'm not sure it would kick in that fast...generally it kicks in within the first week but maybe not for a couple of days...I just don't know, to be honest with you. I read once that parsley is a natural diuretic, maybe some homemade "tea" made with lemon and parsley would help flush out the extra water weight. Best of luck to you!

Well, just to give you all a little update... I'm down to 251.8 this morning from 253.2, so it's definitely kicked in.

Not that I would recommend this as a normal way to lose weight! It's pretty weird - not to mention deficient in protein and vitamins and minerals - to eat "meals" of cream cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and bacon.

I plan to stop Tuesday morning, go back to normal Atkins Induction, and stay far away from unlimited nuts for a long time, heh!

But I noticed last night, after being on it for a day, that my mouth felt dry even though I was drinking a lot of water... and my feet got cramps in them, which to me is a sign of unusual water and electrolyte loss. I made sure to take some vitamins and calcium/magnesium last night too

I would not be doing this except for my $100 possible punishment, heh! I prefer slow and steady, not swings high and low from one extreme to the other

Thank you both for writing in - I appreciate it!

Update:

SUCCESS!

Needed 251.09

Actual 249.6

But I will not be repeating my salted almond abuse or relying on the Fat Fast to fix my mistakes in the future! Cream cheese dinner

$100 saved, phew... and now I will make myself a normal Induction breakfast, yum!

I was thinking of you last night and wondering how you fared! I'm glad to hear you made it under the penalty weight (and how!) and saved yourself $100. That's a lot of money.

I have been thinking about the Fat Fast because I'm starting to worry that I'm one of those poor 'severely metabolically resistant' saps for which it was meant, but the idea of cream cheese as a meal makes me nauseous. Then again, maybe that's the idea to get me to stop eating.

Good for you, BerkshireGrl! I was hoping you would lose the water weight in time!

Caroline, I think one thing we need to have on this diet (maybe on any diet) is patience and trust in our bodies. Sometimes it just takes a little while for the weight to come off, but it will come off! Please don't do anything extreme just yet. I'm not saying the fat fast is dangerous or anything, but maybe the regular Atkins diet just needs to be given another couple of weeks to start working.

The scale is bouncing back up for me, but I know it's water weight. Because my blood pressure has gone back into the normal category, I have stopped use of my diuretics that were prescribed to me to try to help my blood pressure be lower. I am keeping a close eye on blood pressure, and so far (two days off the meds) it is still in the normal range. Of course if it goes too far up, I will resume the diuretics, but I am having signs of being dehydrated now (light-headed when I climb stairs, very dry mouth in the morning, faster than normal resting heart rate) so it seemed like the sensible thing to do. But, that means I have gained three pounds back of water weight.

Yeah, I guess I should be horrified, but I'm not. But I'm not changing my ticker because I know it's only water weight, LOL! I have been keeping both my carbs and my calories low. Is it cheating not to change my ticker to the higher weight, when I gain some water weight? I dunno....I just don't feel like the water weight is "real" weight or anything to be concerned about.

I know people will read this post and say, "aha, the diet isn't working, she gained 3 pounds back overnight (literally) - and besides, she felt light-headed so the diet must be dangerous..." Well, I needed to gain those 3 lbs. of water apparently for my body to be happy. And as far as the diet being dangerous - Atkins has a powerful diuretic effect on the body. That combined with prescription diuretics might have been just a little too much for my body. One or the other had to go. And for me the choice was to let go of the prescription diuretic and see how my body does on that.

Again, I'm checking blood pressure daily and if it goes too high or if I experience any continuing symptoms of dehydration or any symptoms that worry me, I'll go to my doc.

I have free healthcare, being a military spouse, so it's not like it's hard to go to the doc. But the military doctors are really overworked/overloaded so I don't go unless I believe I truly NEED to see a doctor. I do my best to manage my own health to the degree that I can, and then when it's beyond my abilities, I go to the doctor to get fixed.

It's interesting. I've been reading around the internet, and have found that there have been others who have been able to stop blood pressure meds, etc. after starting on the Atkins plan. I really do believe that eating the way the cavemen used to eat, is a healthy way. It just seems to be the way our bodies were meant to eat. For sure our bodies weren't set up to handle large quantities of sugar and HFCS because those foods were only in abundant supply for maybe a couple hundred years if that. So our bodies haven't had very much time at all to adjust to this new diet of lots of sugar.

I'm thinking of trying the fat fast, as I've only lost 2.8 lbs in 3.5 weeks of induction. I'm following induction to the letter, have cut off coffee completely, no aspartame, and cheese as well and the scale hasn't budged in over a week. I'm just getting so frustrated that I don't know what else to do.

Trust me when I say that I do not have the fortitude to do the fat fast! Even if I wanted to (I don't, I would be miserable without salad) I probably couldn't handle it. I really am trying to be patient, I swear!

No, it is not.

Thanks, Caroline!

I know it's so hard to be patient. Especially when you are just starting out on the diet and the hungries haven't gone away just yet. The first couple of weeks are rough, and that's no lie.

If you can make it through the 2 weeks, the hunger should go away and the diet will be much easier, and then it will also be easier to be patient.

Shantroy, I have something I would like you to do. It looks like you are losing roughly 1 1/2 pounds per week, which is a very good rate of weight loss. Most women struggle to lose even 1 pound per week, especially as they get closer to a healthy BMI. What I'd like you to do is mark a date on the calendar. Let's say the 1st of July, just for the heck of it. That's when the really hot weather of summer really starts kicking in and you'll want to go swimming and wear shorts and all of that.

If you lose on average 1 1/2 pounds per week on this diet, and continue the diet until the 1st of July, what weight will you be on that date?

Please post back with the answer! (I'd figure it out but I was never much good at math....)

Lori, unfortunately I'm loosing less than a pound per week. At 2.8 pounds in almost 4 week (it will be 4 weeks on Friday). We'll say I'll be down .2 more lbs by Friday which means in 4 weeks I'll have lost 3 lbs. An average of .7 per week. Which I know is ridiculously low for the induction phase of Atkins. I didn't expect mega weight loss as I only had about 30some odd pounds to loose, but I did expect more than .7 per week.

At an average of .7 per week I'll be down 15lbs by July 1st. Which is nothing to sneer at, but certainly slower than I expected as I said above. Unfortunately, my best friend is getting married on July 16th. She bought the bridesmaid dress in Japan and I need to be down at least 25lbs to fit into it by the wedding. Apparently, they don't make dresses in my current size in Japan! If I was lucky enough to get my weekly average up to 1.5 per week then I'd be at goal by the wedding, but right now 1.5 doesn't seem likely......

Hmm...well, I know for most people, the appetite reducing properties of the Atkins diet don't kick in for a couple of weeks. When that happens, most people eat less food and end up taking in fewer calories overall. That, combined with the metabolic advantage of this WOE, combined with regular exercise, should lead to good weight loss over the weeks leading to the wedding.

Sorry I figured it out wrong, LOL - told you I was lousy at math! Well, I still truly believe this is the easiest and best way to diet. But maybe it varies from person to person. For sure it's the best way for me to diet, because it's the only diet I've ever been on that keeps me satisfied instead of always hungry.

When you are eating fewer calories per day, the weight loss should be showing up. It will probably be in a series of fits and starts - stalls and then whooshes - but it should come off over time.

Best of luck to you. You can do it, keep going! If you still aren't losing any weight after another week or two, please post your daily menu and exercise regime, and we will try to see if there might be anything that could be stalling you.

I know I'm going to have stalls along the way, and water weight regain, and this and that, but I just keep plugging away. I figure if I keep it to 1,200 calories a day, 30 carbs a day or fewer (OWL, not induction anymore) and exercise most days of the week, I should see decent weight loss over the next six months to one year. I'm being patient and letting my body lose fat as it sees fit, because I know what I am doing will work in the long run.

I'm just trying to figure this out, Shantroy...and I'm puzzled. Just curious, how long did it take you to lose the 17 pounds you have already lost, and how did you do it?

I do know that almost 100% of Atkins dieters stall in weeks 3 and 4 before getting another whoosh. So that could be what has happened to you, as your body adjusts to the diet. Or it could be the calories need to be adjusted, or the exercise needs to be adjusted. I dunno. Then there are always other factors like thyroid disease or other medical problems...it's a complicated thing....

I lost those pounds over about 7 months, by doing a modified low carb diet (basically nothing white - no flour, pasta, bread etc with a heavy focus on fruit and yogurt). I probably could have done better, but I cheated a fair bit. So I was averaging about 2 lbs a month but kinda sorta watching what I eat. Since I was already staying away from most carbs I thought I'd try atkins, but I was still hungry most of the time and wasn't really being strict with myself.