I really want to cheat, very frustrated

[louann]

We're doing a weight loss contest at work. I decided to do Atkins, because in all reality I believe i'm a carb addict. It just seemed the most logical choice for ME. Anyway, I did great the first two weeks, I never fudged, not once. But this week, when I weighed in at work I had not changed at all, no loss..no gain..I know about plateaus, but geesh, not after three weeks?! I was so sad when I left work, because I have struggled and been so strict on myself, to not go over 20 carbs, and I mean not at all, not even 20.5--and for what? No loss at all. I need some experienced Atkins folks to tell me if this is normal. I went to DQ that day and somehow I managed to order a cheeseburger and a side salad and toss the bun, but it really went against my grain not to get that strawberry cheesequake blizzard. I bought a tape measure to sort of spark my go go juice again--at least if I don't lose pounds, I can measure. If I measure and lose nothing, I'm pulling my hair out Any advice or tips would be excellent. And no, I haven't been exercising. To be honest, I'm so large that I'm afraid I might just keel over with a heart attack until I get some weight off.

Thanks for your advice...

[grovemonkey]

I would be curious to know if you are actually in ketosis? I don't think it is normal to keep your carbs under 20 g and not loose weight. How much food are you eating every day? What does your normal day of eating look like? Maybe that will give the members an idea of the problem.

[Elizellen]

I am not sure from your post whether you have lost no weight at all during your whole 3 weeks on induction, or whether you did lose some weight in the first 2 weeks.

I did great the first two weeks

I second grovemonkey's suggestion of posting details of what you are eating - we have a special forum for this called 'Review my Menu'.

You also said

I haven't been exercising. To be honest, I'm so large that I'm afraid I might just keel over with a heart attack until I get some weight off.

Though I can fully appreciate you feeling this you might find you can do something to get your body moving now before you have lost enought weight to be comfortable 'exercising' for real.
When I started all I could felt I could manage in the way of getting more active was to drive down to the sea front (we live in a seaside town), park in one of the carparks and walk maybe 30 yards along the promenade (nice and level) to a bench, sit and recover my breath for 10 minutes or so then walk the 30 yards back to the car and drive home!
After a few weeks of doing this on alternate days I found I could walk further each time till after a few months I was able to walk a mile!!

Another ploy I worked out was to park further away from the shops so I had to walk a few extra yards to get there. Little by little it became easier to fit extra walking into my life till I got to the stage where I decided to join a gym and do 'real exercise'.

I do wish I had taken that step earlier in my Atkins journey, as I am sure that my body would have firmed up more than it has as yet.

[Maria Rojas]

I know it's frustrating but don't give up. I agree with posting what you have been eating so that maybe we can see if that may be part of the problem I know personally sometimes at the end of the week after doing Atkin's strictly I wouldn't loose anything or just a pound or two. Then the next couple of days I would weight again and I may have lost 3-5lbs. more. Exercising will definitely help. I know it's hard to get motivated especially when you're not loosing anything and you know have been strictly following diet. Start by doing a little bit at a time. I promise it will get better and easier. It just takes time. Patience is the key!!!!

[louann]

Thanks for your replies, I have lost 13 pounds since January 2nd, and my daily menus consist of (when I work) I run by Hardees and buy a low carb bowl which has eggs, cheese, sausage, and bacon in it, for lunch I usually have packaged tuna or a chef salad (I pick out the tomatoes even) with one envelope of ranch dressing, chicken breasts baked with lemon and pepper seasoning, supper is my most difficult challenge because I can't find a way to perk up boring veggies, so I usually have more chicken or a hamburger patty or two with broccoli and cheese or green beans with the salad-type bacon bits in it to flavor it a little. If I get a sweet tooth, which has been rare, I always keep a pack of sugar free jello in the cabinet which has 0 carbs, I know I'm not really supposed to have that, but I feel like I'd rather eat that than cave and eat a honey bun or a candy bar. Confession time: I drink ALOT of diet pepsi, in 12 hours probably 4 20 oz. bottles. I'm just being honest because I really want your help. I think I can handle the extra steps to the store and maybe even casually walking around my neighborhood, short trips to start, I did have bloodwork and an ekg run before I started Atkins, and everything was normal. I'm looking forward to your replies on this, and thanks so much for being interested in a total stranger's plight.

louann

[4myself4mykids]

First off, Congrats on losing 13 lbs!!! That's an accomplishment! Secondly, I had a 96oz/day Diet Mt Dew addiction that I have now kicked! YEA! I would suggest that you do the same with your Diet Cokes. If you can't go cold turkey, what helped me was on the first day to drink twice as much water before I could have a Diet Dew, so 32 oz water and I could have a Dew (16 oz), then another 32 water before another Dew, slowly increasing the water by 8 oz/serving per day and decreasing the Dew by 8 oz/serving so that on Day 2 it was 40 oz water, 8 oz Dew. I tried to go cold turkey, but the caffeine withdrawals and headaches were more than I could take. I had to take an excedrin (has caffeine in it) for the first 3 days of being Dew free.

And last but not least, explore some of the veggie recipes here or here: http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html (the ones with * are induction friendly)...Veggies do not have to be boring!!! Make sure you eat your 3 cups of allowed veggies!

Have you read DANDR? If not read it, and follow it to a T for 2 weeks to get yourself into ketosis, then follow up the rungs of OWL and also try to increase your exercise even if its just walking to/from the end of the hallway/driveway multiple times per day. LOL, with all this extra water I've been drinking I've been making myself use the basement bathroom and that makes me run the basement stairs about 10x's more than usual. Every little bit helps!

[Hoping]

First off, 13 pounds is great!
Secondly, there are a few things you need to change. Time for some tough love:
I was so out of shape that I would wheeze if I walked too quickly. I took it easy, took some classes at the gym (yoga, pilates, and tai chi---nothing too rigorous), that was waaaay back in July by December I was willingly walking 2 miles. The first time around I felt exhausted, but after that it just got easier and faster. If you don't get your heart going you are going to have a heart attack. Take it easy and walk for ten minutes at a semi-brisk pace, then build on that. If you feel like walking more than walk more.
I recently had surgery so I can't exercise like before, but I want to work out so I'm going to go buy a hoollahoop. It sounds silly but trying to keep a hollahoop up really gets your heart going.
I would also recommend not picking up breakfast at Hardee's. How many carbs does the breakfast bowl have? It has six carbs, no significant fiber, and 1380mg of sodium. You're probably retaining water with that much sodium in your system.
You need to check that the ranch doesn't have sugar. The pepsi also has to go. Aspartame is what may have halted your weightloss. It could also be the caffeine from the soda.
Just remember that you can do this and by falling off the wagon you're just setting yourself back. You can do this

[blue996]

Congrats on your losses so far! After reading about what you are eating here are some suggestions:

1. Cut out all diet soda. I know you know this but you are drinking ten cups a day. In my opinion diet soda = stall. You are sabotaging yourself with what you are drinking.

2. Reduce your packaged and pre-made food significantly. Even though products claim to be low-carb I believe that unless I make it myself I have no idea what is thrown in there (i.e. nitrates, sodium, sugar, etc). There could be a lot more carbs and sugar in the packaged dressings, etc than you know. Plus the sodium! As Hoping mentioned there is almost 1400 mg of sodium in the Hardee's bowl. That is almost your recommended intake for the whole day.

3. Cut out the sugar free jello. I know you don't want to cheat and find the jello helps but try cutting it out. I believe eating too many sweet things (even though they have no carbs) encourages the carb addiction.

4. Read the book and understand what Atkins is about. Atkins works when you do it right. Too many people try to alter Atkins to make it work for them (sugar free candy, diet soda, etc) and then they become frustrated when they don't lose. Why make the effort to do this without doing it exactly as Dr. Atkin's prescribed?

I know it is hard to make changes but it becomes much easier over time. Try to phase in your changes...start with the pepsi and work up to changing the other things. I wish you luck!

[louann]

Thanks so much for your replies. Hoping, I understand tough love--when I was replying earlier I thought to myself...those pepsi's have to go...I love your idea about replacing the soda with water, I drink more water, I get a "pepsi reward". I can dig it. lol I bought some ketostix at CVS and believe it or not, even tho I'm drinking the pepsi's and loaded with sodium compliments of Hardee's, according to them I am in HIGH ketosis, it never ever reads less than moderate, and most times it's in the high zones. I am going to print out my list of legal foods and keep it with me and strictly go by that from this day forward. I'll keep you guys posted, I love reading the posts here, it's just hard for me to "step up" and and actually post when I know I have a serious weight problem, and to confess how you really feel deep down to strangers is not me. I've always had the attitude that I love the person I am, no matter how fat I am, but now that i've started losing some, I've reconsidered--I don't like it and all this time I've been fooling myself.

louann

[Bettestress]

At least you realized there are reasons for what happened. Give Diet Rite sodas a try if you haven't. They are zero everything.. no caffiene, no sodium, or calories..and they are made with Splenda. Still count them as 1 carb tho, so I only have 1 a day. I love the Cherry Cola flavor of Diet Rite and just discovered the white grape flavor! It's now my favorite, taste a lot like the old Welch's grape soda I used to drink.

If you were drinking all that soda, did you find time for water?

Let us know how your revamped technique goes!