3 Day Stall?

[Soon2BSkinny]

Hi everyone, I was losing steadily the first 6 days, but now have experienced a 3 day stall where I gained 2 lbs and the scale hasn't budged!

I altered my menu the first day, ate some more, and haven't ate a lot the last 2 days trying to get the scale to move.

My menu yesterday:

Breakfast: 4 oz tilapia fish

Lunch: 4 oz chicken breast, 1 cup lettuce

Dinner: 3 oz ground beef, 1/2 cup cucumber

8 glasses of water

Is this normal? It's so discouraging, but I need to see the numbers on the scale each morning.

[OzLover]

Welcome to ADBB. You will find a weath of knowledge & support here. Do you have a copy of Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution~2002 version? If not do yourself a favor & get a copy to read & refer to.

You are not eating enough veggies. You should be eating 3 cups of veggies. 2 cups from the Salad Veggie list & 1 cup from the other veggie list.
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...induction.html (What foods can be eaten on Induction?)

Dr. Atkins also talks about weighing yourself every day. Weight flucuates on a daily basis for a host of reasons. Good info in the book & here on the board.

A stall per Dr. Atkins is 4 weeks of no weight loss & no inches lost. If you can stay off the scale. Also take your measurements so you can keep track of inches lost.

Go to the Induction Forum & read all the sticky notes there. Lots of helpful information.

Good luck on your journey!

[Nancy Mo]

The EXACT same thing happened to me!! I'm so disappointed. I'll usually lose a lb a day, but this time after day 6 or 7 it stopped and I actually gained 2 or 3 pounds.

Then on Thursday, my mother-in-law broke her hip and I've been going back and forth with my two toddlers, work, and hospital, so Saturday and Sunday I did not stay on program. Had I continued to lose weight, I would have stayed on program faithfully. (now I'm just venting here)

I don't understand it either.

[Evansmom49]

I agree with with everything Glenda said. Also, where are your fats? Atkins is a high fat, moderate protein, low carb plan (65%/30%/5%). You need fat in order to burn fat.

Hang in there and stay on plan - you'll see results!

[ShannonK]

You are not eating enough to lose. Once I started OWL, it started coming off again.

[Georgiana]

This should explain it: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ot-linear.html (Weight loss is not linear)

Stop worrying about the scale and be patient. If you eat correctly, the weight will come off.

[Soon2BSkinny]

Thank you everyone for the fast responses. I get discouraged very easily when that darn scale doesn't move! It was so easy to stay on plan when I saw the scale moving on a daily basis, now I get evil thoughts telling me I could lose a lot more on a low cal diet. (As you can tell, I don't eat a whole lot, and would be more than satisfied with 2 pieces of bread a day).

I've stayed on program, but mentally, I can't bring myself to eat more when I'm not losing. Does anyone else have this problem? In the past, diet has always meant 'cut back', my doctor even recommended an 800 calorie a day diet. So this is a mental thing I have to work through.

I'd be fine eating more fats if I were still losing. I added some fat in 2 days ago to see if the scale would move and it hasn't. I will try to add some in today, and see what happens. I REALLY want to drop 30 lbs. by the end of the month. Is more fat the key?

[Soon2BSkinny]

Forgot to add, I have replaced my dressing with balsamic as one of the ingredients (.5 gm of sugar per 2 tbsp) with a homemade oil and vinegar (no sugar) for the past 3 days and have sworn off cheese in case it's stalling me. I also don't consume caffeine or sweeteners.

[imagood1]

Glenda and Georgiana already said it: eat more - get your veggies and fats in .... stay off the scale and you'll start loosing again.

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by Soon2BSkinny

Thank you everyone for the fast responses. I get discouraged very easily when that darn scale doesn't move! It was so easy to stay on plan when I saw the scale moving on a daily basis, now I get evil thoughts telling me I could lose a lot more on a low cal diet. (As you can tell, I don't eat a whole lot, and would be more than satisfied with 2 pieces of bread a day).

Maybe you could live on two pieces of bread a day, but they'd either have to be two huge pieces or/and you wouldn't be able to follow the "bread diet" for life. I doubt any of us gained weight by living on only two pieces of bread per day. For losing weight and maintaining your lower weight, you need a plan you can stick to for life, not fad diets.

I've stayed on program, but mentally, I can't bring myself to eat more when I'm not losing. Does anyone else have this problem? In the past, diet has always meant 'cut back', my doctor even recommended an 800 calorie a day diet. So this is a mental thing I have to work through.

Did you read DANDR? If you did, I would recommend a second read. In order to stick to any diet, hence to be successful on it, you need to understand why it works and how to make it work. You cannot apply the principles of one diet to another one and make a stew out of them. Atkins works. But you have to believe this yourself and for this you need to read the book.

I'd be fine eating more fats if I were still losing. I added some fat in 2 days ago to see if the scale would move and it hasn't. I will try to add some in today, and see what happens.

It's not realistic to add fat today and expect to see some weight loss tomorrow. When you gained weight, I bet you didn't gain 1-2 lbs daily. You definitely had some days when you gained no weight or even days when you lost some. Similarly, when you try to lose weight, you will have some days when you'll lose no weight and even days when you'll gain some weight. It's perfectly normal. If the number on the scale upsets you (and it clearly does), choose different goals. Instead of aiming for X lbs lost every day/week, your aim can be to exercise 15 min more every week. Or to walk longer or faster. Or to try new low carb recipes every week.

Also, as you were advised before, take body measurements --- they are a better indicator of fat (not water!) loss/gain.

I REALLY want to drop 30 lbs. by the end of the month. Is more fat the key?

You want to drop 30 lbs in the next... 27 days? I'm afraid that's not realistic. It means more than a pound per day for a whole month. Or about 30% of the weight you need to lose. It could happen, but is very unlikely. By setting unrealistic goals, you are only setting yourself up for disappointment and, consequently, for failure.

Try not to evaluate your Atkins results only in terms of weight loss. By obsessing about the number on the scale, you become less aware of your body. Do you feel better when following Atkins? Do you have more energy? Is your appetite under control? Are your clothes fitting better?

Commit to Induction for 2 weeks. Follow all the rules in the book and only evaluate your results on day 15. And please read DANDR 2002!

You asked about fat. As Evansmom wrote, you should aim for 65% fat, 5% carbs, 30% protein. Not eating enough fat will make getting into ketosis difficult (if not impossible) and will slow down your weight loss. Use FitDay to track your foods and make sure you are eating all your veggies.

Also take a multivitamin and don't "forget" to exercise.