I'm nearly a week in on the induction phase (I'm on the sixth day). I think I've done really well with following the plan but I'm frustrated and impatient to lose something. I've actually gained a little, and I'm afraid this is going to be my third gain in a row when I attend my weekly TOPS meeting tomorrow.

So I was just wondering, is gaining a little within the first week normal? I'm sticking with the induction foods, staying under 20 grams of carbs each day, drinking plenty of water, and exercising as much as I normally have.

I've lost 35 pounds this summer (for a total of 110 pounds lost overall) by eating healthier and watching calories, but haven't been able to lose much of anything since December when I started getting horrible cravings and began sneaking sugar back in (cookies, candy bars, etc.). I was hoping that trying Atkins would be the answer for me . . . am I just being too impatient? I don't mean to be whiny but I'm stuck at the weight my body has stalled at several times in my life and I'm thinking my body won't budge below it without drastic measures.

This is really a tough thing. Stalls are awful. It sounds like you are in a stall, and there might be weight gain going on as far as adding muscle. Or it might be that time of month. It's so hard to know exactly how our bodies are doing as far as burning fat goes, because of water weight fluctuations.

Hopefully you are training your body to burn fat for fuel instead of carbs, and hopefully the cravings for carbs will go away soon. Once you have done that, the diet becomes easier, although the weight loss will still be in fits and starts from what I've read.

Hang in there, hopefully it will get better soon.

Maybe you are eating a lot or too little? I know Atkins isn't about counting calories but you might want to figure out what you are eating caloriewise over the next few days to see if you possibly might be eating too much or too little.

When I started low carb I had a decent drop the first week and then NOTHING for the next 3 weeks, then slow drops more weeks than not since then. Sometimes during no-drop periods I notice clothes getting looser - I do think sometimes you just need to stick it out on any diet, low carb included.

Since you were dieting for a long time before you switched to the low carb diet, I doubt you'll get the same dramatic reductions in the first weeks that some people seem to enjoy, because your body probably already feels somewhat under attack & because you had probably already cut the carbs back significantly on a weight loss diet (even one that is not specifically low carb often has you measuring things like rice and not just going to town on all things carb).

My advice is to hang in there & wait it out a few more weeks.