I just don't get it. I decided I wanted to lose some weight and decided to try following Atkins. I gained 6 pounds in one month on Atkins. I did not want to stay on that plan because of the fear of what would happen and because I didn't feel well.

Now, I've been dieting (basically keeping a food diary and logging calories, so low calorie and low fat and semi low carbohydrate by mainly sticking to good carbs like veggies, etc.) and exercising for 3 months and my clothes STILL feel tight. I've decided not to weigh myself because I want to wait until my clothes feel better. I just don't get it. I've half done other exercise programs and just "ate healthier" and lost more weight. I even went through a break up one time and wasn't eating much more than fish sticks and was drinking a lot and didn't even exercise and lost weight...so what gives now???? I'm really eating healthier, watching calories, sticking with exercise, and not losing?!? I'm tired of putting on my sports bra to exercise because it feels so tight now. It never felt tight before. As a matter of fact it used to be a little loose. HELP

What exactly is your "healthy" diet? What is your work out routine? Did you know that if you do a 5 min warm up, do strength training for 30 or so min and cardio for 30 min, you will burn more calories than if you just did an hour of cardio?

Well honey, how much are you eating? Atkins is great for some people, but it is still ultimately the calorie equation tha matters. If you are taking in more energy than your body burns, you will gain weight. A reasonably healthy adult taking in slightly less energy than they need? They lose weight.

Unless you have a reason to suspect a serious metabolic issue, I think you would do well to measure and calculate how much you are eating every day, then try lowering that number by about 250 calories. Stick to those totals and be rigorous for three or four weeks, if you haven't lost a pound or two by then it is time for deeper investigation. But creating a reliable, intentional calorie deficit is the only way to lose weight - for most people who are not sensitive to certain foods, the rest of the diet ins and outs are a lot of fluff. Low fat, low carb, paleo, cleanse, blood type, points, whatever - they still all function on the basic premise of modifying eating to intake less calories. The nutrient breakdown differs, but the basic mechanism that causes weight shedding does not.

Atkins is VERY easy to overeat on, because many of the foods recommended are calorically dense. Mis-estimating quantities on peanut butter, beans, or fatty fish can add up to hundreds of excess calories a ay, obliterating any burn you may have achieved and causing no progress or gain.

Reliably track your food quantities, stick to whatever you are doing for a few weeks, and make adjustments from there. There's no mystery and no need to despair, just small, long term changes to your habits that will help you get healthier and shed weight. If, after several months of faithfully, sensibly modifying your food and exercise habits, you still see no results? Then and only then is it time to start getting concerned and seek more drastic approaches and diagnostics.


Don't freak out, just keep trying and stick with it!

My healthy diet consists of mainly lean protein (e.g., chicken, fish, tuna), also eat occasional egg or egg whites, some fat free yogurt from time to time, and lots of veggies (e.g., asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower) and some fruit (e.g., apples, grapefruit, watermelon). I have food allergies so I'm unable to eat several foods that most would consider healthy, such as soy and wheat. I'm staying around 1200 calories. I'm 5'3" and last time I weighed in I had gained to 149 pounds from 143 in a month. I don't take medication or have any KNOWN health problems.

My exercise routine consists of at least 50-60 minutes of cardio and strength training combination at least 4-5 days a week. I typically jog on my treadmill and alternate speed and incline. I also do several Jillian Michaels and Denise Austin workout DVDs as well as some kickboxing to mix it up. My weights are incorporated into cardio routines and my heaviest is 8 pounds.

I'm at a loss because I feel like I'm giving more effort than I ever have and am not seeing results. I'm scared of just staying this size and never getting to a healthy weight even with healthy eating and exercise.

Oops I forgot to mention I am no longer following Atkins.

You're not eating enough. If you are burning that many calories, you need to eat some of the exercise calories back. Where did you get the 1200 from? From what I can tell, your BMR is 1400-1500 or so, depending on your age. If you need 1500 to maintain your current weight, and you're eating 1200-(300-400 exercise cals), your body will hang onto the fat because it is essentially starving.

I would recommend using spark people or calorie king, completing a profile and seeing how many calories you are supposed to be eating, then reading up about eating exercise calories back.

(In addition, your BMI would be <25 if you weighed 140, so you don't have much to lose and should expect it to be slow).

I'd recommend eating around 1400 calories with that exercise load, making sure to get enough fat in your diet. Or take a diet break and calorie cycle a week of 1600-1700 (maintenance or slightly below) with your normal amount. It sounds like changing it up and doing a refeed (google it) might be just the ticket

It sounds crazy, but they're right. While I was losing weight, things went well at first with me sticking at 1,300 calories a day, max. I was working out 5 days a week, incorporating cardio and strength training.

After a couple of months of steady losses I hit a wall and wouldn't budge. No more losses. Then I added a couple hundred calories a day to my total and it started coming off again.

Give it a try. Raise your calories and give it a couple of weeks. See what happens.

I assume you're accounting for TOM since this can easily cause bloating and/or water retention that would otherwise mask fat loss.

My guess is you are off on the number of calories you're ingesting.

If you weigh everything religiously including any oils you cook with than you need to go see a doctor.

This is the only advice I can give because based on what you're saying you ingest and your activity it should be impossible to be gaining weight and yet that is what you claim is happening (clothes fitting tighter.)

How long has it been since you stopped Atkins? it's not uncommon to regain a little weight after leaving a low carb lifestyle as the body returns to normal. It will pass and you will start to lose weight again on a calorie controlled diet.

If not, then I agree with John and you should see your doctor because there could be something more going on.

You mention your sports bra getting tight. Is it possible you are pregnant? That could explain the weight gain and swelling breasts. Just a thought

Otherwise you might try a few weeks of being very strict with your diet by weighing your food and logging the exact calories consumed. You can eyeball it later, but right now you're pinpointing the problem. There have been a lot of studies showing it's common to underestimate the calories we consume.

Please keep us updated!

Good luck

I agree with John and Suzanne that weighing and measuring everything was the key for me.

I found out much to my surprise that I was a terrible estimator. Since weighing and measuring my weight has dropped 74 pounds and my portion sizes have changed dramatically from what they used to be.

Watch your sodium intake. Too much sodium and you will retain fluids like crazy. Sodium by the way was the most difficult for me to get under control
but with perseverance and moving away from eating canned and boxed foods helped a lot. (This includes cans used as ingredients in recipes) The American Heart Association recommends no more than 1500 mg of sodium a day. Check out the sodium in the cans of soup in your cupboard and you may get a surprise. I sure did.

You can do this I did If I can you can and you are worth the effort.

Larry,