1 week on Induction and gained 1 lb.

[ilitz]

I know I should stay away from the scale but I could not help myself. I have gained 1 lb. Is this normal? Is this water weight because I am drinking so much water? I was in ketosis earlier in the week but I am not today.

Maybe someone could read my Fitday journal and offer guidance. I would really appreciate it!

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Ow ner=ilitz

[Brook]

Hi

The food you're eating looks just fine.

Nitpicky stuff that pops out at me : coffee, soda AND more than 3 packets of sweetener puts you well over the top of your 3 servings of sweetener a day. The olives, beef sticks, and some dressings with a high sodium content will definitely cause water retention. You should also be drinking quite a bit more water.

You're eating between 1800-2300 calories a day in total and for a woman your size, that's quite a bit of food. It wouldn't be so bad if you were following the EXERCISE IS NON-NEGOTIABLE portion of your Atkins, but you haven't logged any exercise, so I'm going to assume you haven't been doing it.

Normally we tell newbies not to stress about the calories, but yours are pretty high and your activity level is low. Reduce one by a bit or increase the other

HTHS
~Brook

[sunflowergrl]

I thought maybe more veggies?? Are you getting three cups in? Also, coffee and heavy cream can slow weight loss. I have given up my coffee, and I lost 10 pounds in my first week in Induction. Maybe you could try to slowly cut down. That is what I did. Good luck, you can do it!

[wannabethintoo]

I agree with Brook. Your calories are high for your weight.

[ilitz]

Thank you all very much! No, I haven't been excercising. I will start using my treadmill in the morning. I will try to drink more water and reduce my coffee. I just made a second cup of coffee so I am now dumping it in the sink. I know my calorie intake can get high but didn't think that was a big problem as long as I stayed away from the carbs. I LOVE to eat!!! I will try to reduce the calorie intake. What should the calorie intake be per day?

[Brook]

Ilene - Know that when you begin exercising your muscles are going to retain water and this will show on the scale. IGNORE IT!!! Your muscles are going to view the new strain of exercise as being a state of emergency and they will hyperhydrate to protect themselves from the goof that's putting them through these new paces! LOL It's TRANSIENT! Your muscles will let go of the water and your body will adjust once it figures out that the exercise is the NORM. Know that while you're doing this you will be burning fat and toning those beautiful muscles

If the scale freaks you out, stay away from that sucker. It's the least accurate gauge of your progress and success. Make friends with your tape measure!

Dr. Atkins NEVER said calories don't count, he said don't worry about counting calories. He also made sure to tell us to eat enough to satisfy our appetites. That doesn't mean eat until you're full, stuffed, what-not. It means eat until you're no longer hungry! This is a really tough thing for a lot of us to learn to do, but it gets easier and easier, I promise you! You'll have times where you do eat too much and that's okay- so long as you're working to make it the exception and not the rule.

We all love to eat! That's why our butts got big

Honestly, I wouldn't stress too much about the calorie intake. Worry about learning to satisfy your appetite. You should NEVER walk around hungry! If you need to eat 1800 calories today to make sure you're not, then that's what you should do. Tomorrow you may find that you only eat 1100 calories and you're satisified. It evens out.

Generally speaking I try to stay around 10-12x my goal weight in calories when I'm actively in weight loss mode. I didn't have to watch my calories at all for the first several months - but then I also started out with over 90lbs of fat to lose. As I neared my goal (within about 30lbs of it) I had to start watching them a bit- but I didn't do that so much as I started just keeping a real eye on my portions and concentrating on eating until I was satisfied. The calorie control was a natural by-product.

I hope some of this makes sense! Keep on keepin' on!!
~Brook

[ilitz]

Thank you Brook! That makes a lot of sense! I usually do eat until I'm ready to bust and think it's ok... it's just steak it doesn't have any carbs. I will try and eat until I am only satisfied and not ready to explode. I appreciate all the advice!!!!!!!!

[not2late]

DANDR 2002, Chapter 11 Frequently Asked Questions

Although there is no need to count calories, they do matter. Gaining weight results from taking in more calories than you expend through exercise, thermogensis (the body's own heat production) and other metabolic functions. Research has shown that on a controlled carbohydrate program more calories are burned than in a low fat/high carb diet, so there is a certain metabolic advantage to the controlled carb approach. But understand that this does not give you a license to gorge.

Don't eat the amount of food you think you will need to tie you over until your next meal. Remember, it's okay to snack on Atkins.

The chances are ketosis is suppressing your appetite between meals. However, if you lose control of your appetite during meals or if you do not know when to stop eating, then controlling your portions may be useful. If you need help on your portion control, only put 3 or 4 ounces of protein on your plate, along side your vegetables and only use 1 tablespoon of olive dressing/mayonnaise/butter per meal. If you are still hungry an hour or two after your meal, go ahead and eat a high fat snack, like a boiled egg, an ounce of cheese, etc.

[cleochatra]

I agree with megs, wanna and Brook: controlling portions via keeping track of caloric intake is what has really helped me the most on this way of eating, especially when I wasn't losing as I should have been.

[tabekat]

Its only been one week. It may be that you are not doing anything wrong at all, but simply that your body needs more time to adjust.

Weight fluctuation, up and down, is normal. It is better to stay away from the scale and not draw any conclusions from it.

Stay on Atkins for at least 3 months before coming to any conclusions. Theres alot happening in your body that first week. Give it time to adjust. Never use the scale as a measure of your progress. Use your tape measure. Please re-read all the stickys at the top of this forum. I cannot emphasize enough that you can lose complete sizes on Atkins without showing any movement on the scale. Keep going!

I, personally, never counted calories, only carbs. This is not a low fat diet. Eat LIBERAL amounts of meat, fish, eggs, no more than 4 ounces of cheese and 3 cups of veggies each day. Eat until you are full, not stuffed, and never go hungry.

If it is a choice between eating more food, in order to feed that compulsive voice in your head, or going off of Atkins, then by all means eat more meat and fish and eggs. Do whatever it takes to make you stick. Once you have been in ketosis a couple of weeks, your appetite will naturally decrease.

In the beginning I ate some great meat and fish choices, liberal portions, at home buffet several times when I felt tempted to cheat. I'm sure I did exceed the calorie range, but so what? I didn't go back to chomping carbola.

Keep in mind that this is just my personal experience. I'm the first to admit that I'm not always politically correct.

But I was a compulsive eater and I was totally addicted to junk food. In the beginning my appetite was out of control.

I had to take it Atkins on faith for awhile and eating alot of meat and and fish helped me do that. It took me 3 inductions to get completely squeaky clean straight.
Ketosis helped me do that. Ketosis was a life saver.