Really down over here. Having a very hard time.

[Houston]

I'm not losing weight. How can that be? I've been working so hard, following the rules, not one cheat, not one mess up, and nothing. My clothes actually feel tighter with all of the water I've been consuming. Atkins is working nicely for my good friend "V". She and I started on the same day, have prepared our menus together, and exercise daily together. In fact, if anything, I've been stricter than V has. We're on Day 12 of Induction. As of this morning, she has lost 7 lbs and I've lost only half a pound. We've been staying off the scales, but broke down the last two days and decided to check our progress. Of course V is thrilled. I'm shocked and sad.

I'm not keeping a FitDay journal, but instead have opted to write it all down in the Atkins Journal so I can carry it around with me. Below are some details of my menu so that you can get an idea of what I'm eating. I've had a minimum of 64 oz. of water each day, 3 cups of veggies only (from the right lists), daily exercise, no aspartame, no alcohol, dark pink Ketostix ...everything. I've been so disciplined. I've searched to make sure there were no hidden sugars in my food. I was SO hopeful this would work. If I can't lose weight during the strict Induction phase, then I'm at a loss as to what to do now. I'm so upset. Any advice you have would be very appreciated and welcome. I'm willing to do anything, including chunking my menu entirely and trying a menu that has worked for any of you. Please help me!

MENU #1
BREAKFAST
3 eggs scrambled (no butter or cream)
iced tea w/ one Splenda

LUNCH
5 oz. hamburger patty
1 oz. cheddar cheese
tomato and onion (very thin slice)
2 tbls. mayo

DINNER
4 oz. turkey breast
2 oz. Muenster cheese
1.5 c. iceberg lettuce
1/2 of a small tomato

SNACK
5 short celery sticks

MENU #2
BREAKFAST
same as above

LUNCH
5 oz. hamburger patty
1 oz. cheddar cheese
tomato and onion (very thin slice)
2 c. lettuce
1 tbl. mayo

DINNER
5 oz. hamburger patty
1 oz. cheddar cheese
2 tbls. mayo

SNACK
3 slices bacon
1/2 of a small avocado

MENU #3
BREAKFAST
same as above

LUNCH
1.5 c. iceberg lettuce
3 oz. ham
2 oz. Muenster cheese

DINNER
3 oz. beef fajita meat
1 tbl. guacamole (all approved contents)
2 large slices onions

SNACK
6 slices bacon
1 c. celery sticks
1 oz. cream cheese

Thank you so much.
Kristen

[melimeli]

ok, it takes some of us longer to get out of the insulin resistance phase.. I have pcos.. and I am insullin resistant. I have noticed that anything sweet in the morning spikes my glucose level ( found this out through gestational diabetes) I found that avacado stalled me. Many bacons and hams have sugar (check the ingredient list) and if all is good just stick with it... Sometimes I will see nothing and then all of a sudden bam... 3lbs down in a day. Another thing check your sodium. Drinking water should make you retain less (I know sounds weird but it is true) the more you drink the less you retain. So if you sodium is up you may need to cut back on that because if atkins does one thing for me it is it helps me not to reatain water. All my rings feel looser even after 2 days on atkins. ok last thing. Measure yourself!!! do your waist, abdomen, hips, upper thigh, and upper arm. and then measure yourself a month later. You can really see it in the measurements at times when you can´t in the scale. Just because your pants aren´t looser doesn´t mean you aren´t loosing it elsewhere. **** I would love for all my weight to come off of my belly but unfortunately I can´t choose where it comes off of. So just keep at it. It will come. Believe me. I am someone who thought that I would NEVER loose weight and in 2004 I went from a size 28 to a 14. It will come just give it some time

[Houston]

Thanks so much for replying. I've measured too and no changes. That said, I'm going to stick with it for at least another week. If after 3 weeks I see zero progress, I'll reevaluate. I've been trying to take a hard look at my food intake. I think I'll drop all avocado (although I've only had it twice, and in very small amounts). Ham is processed (at least a little) so I'll drop that too. I feel good about my bacon (searched far and wide for one not cured in sugar), but I'll make sure not to eat bacon other than from my kitchen. Interesting what you said about sweet early in the morning. I'm going to eliminate the one packet of Splenda I have in my morning tea.

Another thing I've been wondering about that I'm going to change in my diet over the next week is whether the veggies I'm eating aren't nutritious enough (in other words, very little carbs, but empty in terms of nutrients). I'm getting 3 cups of veggies, but generally I eat a lot of iceberg lettuce. I'm thinking of switching to 1 cup of green beans everyday and limit my lettuce to 1 cup max and then have my last cup split between maybe cucumbers and celery.

You mentioned checking my sodium. Great idea. How would I do that? Thanks so much for your reply. It's a relief not feeling alone.

Kristen

[momtomany1]

Just a though since you post you don't add butter or cream to your breakfast eggs. Why not try doing so? I get a good bit of my daily fat in my breakfast, in the form of both butter and cream, and definitely having no trouble losing.

Question, though, if you didn't know you had not lost weight, how would you feel? Have you reaped ANY rewards in terms of stabilized blood sugar or increased energy?

[not2late]

What are your stats? Particularly your current weight, your height and the amount of weight you want to lose?

[misplaced southerner]

hey! i know you are terribly frustrated. at first glance i might say that you are short on veggies. i think onions are high carb and lettuce is pretty worthless...stick to darker greens for your salad (2 cups!) and add a cup of a really good extra veggie....cut out the cream maybe. cheese can be s stickler for some folks.

i lose SLOWLY........i know it is tough. clean things up nice and tight and give it two good weeks of quality atkins induction. let us know how it goes. your body will thank you!

[susan423]

A couple of things stood out at me. Doesn't look like you are adding enough fat. Also how much wieght do you need to lose compared to your friend? The more weight you have to lose the more weight you will lose doring induction.

[heavenly rose08]

hey houston i know that what you are going through is very frustrating believe me i've been there ,but you have to give you body some time to allow itself to get use to this new way of life!a friend of mine also started doing atkins the same time i did and after 14 days i lost12 pounds and she only lost 4 , she was also a little upset ,but it's been six weeks now since we have started and she has lost 23 pounds and i only lost 17 so there this is a perfectly good example of letting you know that you have to be a little patient! and that atkin's does work good luck and keep us posted on your progress

[livelaughlove08]

From experience you can't rely on your body to do the same thing your friends is doing. Everyone is different... some people could follow the same menu/ exercise the same/ etc. but one could lose 10 pounds in a week and another could lose 1 pound... it just depends on your current weight , how your metabolism is etc. Just don't get discouraged. If you follow Atkins the right way ... you will lose weight.. you didn't put the weight on overnight so don't expect to lose it overnight... and to lose half a pound is much better than gaining half a pound so be happy and just keep on keepin on GOOD LUCK!

[FLdoodette]

Hi, Kristin! While everyone is throwing in their 2 cents worth: Looks like you need some dark, leafy greens ... romaine lettuce, baby spinach ... that kind of thing, with a nice olive oil dressing Maybe the cheese is slowing you down, too ... some folks are sensitive to dairy. Definitely put some butter in those morning eggs! Or fry 'em in coconut oil ... I hear good buzz about it speeding up weight loss (I'm trying it myself; will let you know!). Just don't give up! I've been losing slowly, so I feel your pain!