Induction almost over....frustrated.

[shellybeth]

I have posted earlier this week that I had an unintended slip up by eating Applebee's steak.....I was hoping to shed off the water weight and get a little further by the end of induction, but as of this morning I am almost back to where I started!

I've been eating by the rules, so I am just lost. If I show a net loss for induction of like 2 pounds that would be awful. Am I going to need to stay on induction for a long time?

My sample menu:

eggs and bacon for bfast, sometimes made into an omelet with a bit of cheese, yesterday I did that with a tad of cream and avocado

meatballs with a salad and a little cheese and ranch for lunch

possible snack of hardboiled eggs dipped in mayo or string cheese

dinner options have been pork chops with asparagus, rotisserie chicken with salad or pepper

If I want a snack it's generally a meat dipped in a little mayo so that I don't go way over on carbs.

Sometimes I'll have a sprite zero or crystal light mixed into 32 ounces of water. I drink at least a few liters of water a day. I do 30 minutes of cardio or weights/resistance 4-5 times a week.

ANY IDEAS? I feel like I'm getting no where but not cheating.

[Creek]

I'd like to help you out, but I would need to know if you are you making your own food, or are you buying out? Purchased meatballs have filler (bread crumbs) and some even have sugar. The rotissere chicken could have a marinade or coating with sugar.

I believe Sprite Zero and Crystal Lite use aspartame as a sweetner, and it is not recommended for induction.

Your menu referenced three cheese servings and you referrred to them as a "bit of cheese". A cheese serving is an ounce and it counts as one carb. You might want to weigh or measure an exact ounce for a serving. It's easy to go over on the cheese.

[shellybeth]

I can answer those questions - sorry I wasn't more exact.

Each time I eat cheese it is one ounce.

The meatballs are a homemade mix of turkey and beef - no breadcrumbs, etc. Just spices.

I thought the drinks were splenda-sweetened, but I could be wrong. I will check.

I mostly cook at home. The rotisserie chicken I did check and I make sure not to get the kind with a sugary marinade/bbq/etc. Just rotisserie.

[Creek]

According to the Kraft website, Crystal Light is sweetned with aspartame. Maybe if you eliminated that and the soda you'd continue the weight loss.

I'm glad the meatballs were homemade! Good job! About the chicken, if you checked the ingredients, that's great. I've become a real pain when purchasing any ready made product, or eating out. I am not afraid to ask how something is prepared, or ask for ingredients, if they are not supplied by the store. Speaking of store bought, I make my own roast beef and slice it because the commercial type has sugar in it. Why would anyone put sugar on roast beef?

[jsj0305]

Definately might be the aspertame..some folks do stall b/c of it.

Two other things I can think of are the fact that TOM might be around the corner... everytime I have restarted I noticed a gain of a few pounds right after the first week or 2 and sure enough, TOM came early.

Also, when did you start exercising? I started the day I restarted Atkins and while the scale is moving slightly...it does tend to bounce around a LOT more, but my measurements are absolutely showing the difference. Have you taken your measurements since you started??

I hope this helps and weigh to go with the exercise. So many forget that exercise is absolutely necessary, and good for you for doing this right!!

[shellybeth]

thanks for the response, jsj.

I have always exercised (and yet I'm overweight...). I can't go without exercise.

I will cut out the aspertame...

and the weird thing is, I am on the down hill of TOM, and was when I started to gain....weird.

[elsy]

Hi SHelly, I'm gonna give you my 2 cents worth as well. You mentioned that you eat pork chops and rotessorie chicken. How much of that are you eating? Many times when you have too much protein, you won't lose weight. Trust me, it happens to me all the time. Aside from the sweetners, I would check on that too. I know the book says to eat liberal amounts of pork, fish, beef, chicken and so on when on Induction. Well, I've tried that and I DON"T LOSE. I really gotta check my protein intake. I restarted induction last Monday and already lost 6 pounds by watching this closely. I'm staying away from bacon, too much cheese and too many eggs. Oh, and I'm driking about 168 oz - 200 oz daily. All this is helping move things right along. Good luck!

[joee5]

I'd say stay on extended induction once you cut out the above mentioned. Hang in there. Keep us updated. God Bless, Joe

[TheDogAteMyName]

I'd kick the Crystal Light. I remember using that years ago and it stalled me out for the longest time. I never knew that was the culprit. Also, make sure you don't go over 3-4 ounces of cheese daily.

[Elizellen]

I would suggest NOT staying on induction after your 14 days are over.

With a total of about 30 pounds to lose I dont hink you will benefit from keeping your food choices so limited. Many members who did do a long induction found that once they moved to OWL it seemed to kickstart previously slowing losses.