Hi Twitter. Glad you posted back again. It's hard in a short post to get all the info out there so your follow up helps give a clearer picture. I totally understand what you are saying. I was there as recently as April of this year. I was eating low carb foods, keeping them under the required total for the day and not cheating in my total carb count--but I wasn't losing either. My downfall was wine and cheeses (too much).
Sad to say it isn't just about the total carbs for the day. It is also about the foods the carbs come from. I don't know why, but I have found that for my body it is true. When I finally gave in and started doing things "by the book" the weight started coming off again. For me that meant less cheese (under 3.5 oz a day) many more veggies, and lots of plain water, and no more wine. I wish I could say that 20 carbs is the magic and the rest didn't matter but it really does for me and that may be the case for you too.
I know you are struggling with the water. I suggest starting small. Each week add one glass of water daily to your totals. Just one glass a day this week. Shoot for two a day next week, etc.
Also the fact that you really do need more veggies and more carbs from veggies is still the most likely place to be creating a stall. Many folks find that when they move to Rung one and eat more veggies they break a stall. It might even allow you to continue with your cheesecake.
Cream cheese is a stall food for me. If that is in your cheesecake recipe then you might be the same. Doesn't mean you can never have it, but maybe every couple of nights and not every night. Or have half the portion you are now having. You may want to try it with no extract one time. Add a little extra lemon for flavor instead that time.
We all want you to succeed. Some folks can do Atkins loosely and succeed. Some of us just can't. The moderators on this board who have been the most successful all pretty much did it completely by the book. They are the folks that made it to goal. Some of them are on Rung 9 now. Some, like Mitziemarie, still have to remain at a very low rung to maintain their losses. We are all different. Many of the rest of us haven't done it by the book before and that's why we are still in OWL or are here as STACers. (that's me for one).
All the little things that shouldn't make a difference really do make a difference Sometimes it is the difference between losing of not even though it seems like a tiny detail.
I hope for you it is just one or two of the details but you have to cut things out that you should or add the things (veggies, water) that you should to find out what needs to change. If you are juggling all of these things you will never find out the cause. Sooo, change one thing for the better and give it a week. If nothing happens then fix something else, until you find what it is. Conversely, you could try doing everything by the book for one week and then start adding the other things back in one at a time.
Something is stopping you and there are so many possibilities you need to find a way to isolate the culprit(s). I know this is a depressing thought because those little things make the WOE tolerable to you, but if they are halting your progress you need to find out if you want the scale to shift. I am sending a sympathetic hug your way because I so get what you are saying having just dealt with this myself a couple months ago.