Discouraged

[pep30123]

Day 9 of induction I have lost only 3 pounds most of which I know is water and even worse no inches. Very discouraging. How can I improve on this? Any advice? Below are some specifics.


Exercise:

I know my exercise intensity could be improved upon. It is limited due to most of the usual suspects, laziness, schedule, injury (recovering ankle fractures) etc. I walk 20 minutes every other day. 4 days out of the last 7 I did 3-4 hours raking/bagging/digging and planting beds (we are overhauling the foundation plantings this year.)



Food:

I weigh/track almost everything particularly cheese/vegetables. For my vegetable the first 3 or 4 days I had 3 -4 heaping cups of spinach with 1tbsp vinegar and 2 tbsp oil at one meal. After reading this board I cut back the salad to 1 - 1.5 cups and added +1/2 cup broccoli. (I am afraid I will over do the veggies).



Sample day’s menu Breakfast: 2 eggs fried, 1 oz Muenster cheese

Snack: 2 oz roast beef (homemade)
Lunch: 6 oz can tuna w/cayenne pepper, ½ cup broccoli w/2 tbsp olive oil
Snack: 2 oz Muenster cheese

Supper: 5 oz roast beef, 1 cup raw spinach vinegar ½ tbsp/oil 1 tbsp

Beverage: 8 – 10 glasses of water, 2 – 3 cups of decaf green tea



Another day: Breakfast: 3 oz chicken thigh

Snack: 2 oz Muenster cheese

Lunch: 4 oz chicken breast

Snack: 2 oz muenster cheese

Supper: 6oz canned wild salmon (fabulous –Costco, infinitely better tasting than canned albacore tuna same fat/calories)

Beverage: 8 – 10 glasses of water, 2 – 3 cups of decaf green tea



I feel adequately full most of the time but still have that oddly unsatisfied feeling – is that mental or cravings or what?. My energy level is picking up. Most of all I miss coffee, in lieu I have found a tolerable decaf green tea.



I started at 165lbs (size 16) in August walking, portion control, upping protein and lowering carbs –eliminating sugar and refined grains, by March I got to (size 12/10) 135lbs and hit a plateau. I tried Atkins twice unsuccessfully only to be derailed in the 2nd week. This is my third try I am determined to follow through.



Some things that derailed me in the past.

Costco rotisserie chicken is injected modified starch and dextrose. - major downfall

Ditto for their hot dogs.

Read, read, read all labels they sneak sugar into so many prepared meats.
Coffee




165lbs August 2006

135/132/115

Start 2 May 2007

F/43/5’3

[ConfusedAndNeedHelp]

Another day: Breakfast: 3 oz chicken thigh

Snack: 2 oz Muenster cheese

Lunch: 4 oz chicken breast

Snack: 2 oz muenster cheese

Supper: 6oz canned wild salmon (fabulous –Costco, infinitely better tasting than canned albacore tuna same fat/calories)

Beverage: 8 – 10 glasses of water, 2 – 3 cups of decaf green tea


No veggies? You have to try your best to have veggies throughout the day, not just one meal and it's not good to go without. I'd also skip the tea. Even decaf has caffiene and it stalls some people.

[not2late]

Chapter 11, DANDR 2002

On any weight loss program, the first weight lost is water weight. Atkins is a particularly efffective diuretic, so the water weight tends to come off fast on my program. But be assured that after four to five days, the pounds that come off are primarily fat.

Also, we can expect to lose 5-10% of the weight we need to lose during induction. For a person with a 10 pound weight loss goal, he/she can expect to lose 1/2 to 1 pound. For a person with a 100 pound weight loss goal, he/she can expect to lose 5 to 10 pounds.

From your stats you have a 20 pound weight loss goal. You've already lost 3, that's about 15% of the total weight you need to lose. So you've done exceedingly well for only 9 days of this diet.

[TabulaRosa84]

Ok, im definately no pro, and someone please correct me if im wrong, but just taking a glance at your sample menu's you seem to be missing something very key. Veggies. Your 2nd menu you put up has no vegetables at all on it. Although one can survive on chicken and meunster cheese alone(i love both), you need to start inputting more salads and such into it. That could be part of the problem, or that you eat the same thing almost everyday, stagger it out so you eat different things each day because if you stay on the track your on now, you will most likely get bored or sick of it and quit. Variety variety.

[speedygt03]

I think the unsatisfied feeling you are having is mental! I am the same way. You're probably used to eating alot more and stuffing yourself and now that you are on this plan you eat the correct portions and SHOULD be content but you still feel as though you should go down the street and eat a cow! lol but I promise that will go away. If you stick to it, your going to have a day where it hits you and you realize that you havent even been thinking about food, and you realize that your (((all together now)) eating to live, not living to eat! Hang in there

But it looks like your having more cheese than actual meat, try changing that up maybe?

[pep30123]

Thanks all, for your comments and suggestions they were all great pointers. The decaf green tea is gone and I will definitely up the vegetables and vary my menus more.

Now that I look at it the 2nd menu I put up was a poor choice on my part as it was an atypical day. So far that was the only day I missed my veggies. I unexpectedly ended up being out all day and had limited access to legal food.

Portion control is an ongoing issue for me and I love vegetables so I have been cautious with them. I fear that I may measure incorrectly and overfill the cup or pack it too tight etc. and blow my net carb allowance.

On the topic of vegetables, even though I read the sticky posts and did a search I am still confused about them. I am not even sure how to articulate my question. Here goes. The rules say:

Eat no more than 20 grams a day of carbohydrate, at least 12 – 15 grams of which must come in the form of salad greens and other vegetables.

If for example on a given day you use 8 of your 20 grams carbs for cheese & eggs and miscellaneous things. The remaining 12 grams are to be allotted to salad greens and vegetables.

Of your 12 grams allotted to vegetables say you have 1 cup steamed cauliflower (approx 6 grams) that leaves you with 6 grams of carbohydrate for the salad. Setting aside 3 grams for dressing, if 1 cup spinach = 30 g = 1.1 oz = 1 gram carb. 3 cups spinach= 3 grams. Can you safely add a third cup of spinach if it does not exceed the 12-15 grams allotted to vegetable/salad? Also on a day that you don’t do salad can you safely add a second cup of vegetables in lieu of 2 cups of salad as long as it stays within the 12-15 grams carb allotted to vegetables?




165lbs August 2006

135/132/115
Start 2 May 2007
F/43/5’3

[not2late]

Actually, the book says the majority of your daily carbs should be from vegetables. 20 net carbs is the limit of carbs you can have daily during Induction.

Spinach is listed in the "other vegetable" list in Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution 2002 ed. It's not listed in the "salad" list. I think in the Atkins books published after Dr. A's death, spinach was moved to the salad list as were tomatoes (for some illogical reason!)

Most of us during Induction averaged 10-15 net carbs daily. If you plan your vegetables wisely, at least 10 of those 15 net carbs are from the vegetables, so it fits with what the book recommended of the "majority" of the daily carbs.