stalling during induction... help!

[chunk!]

Hi. I've been on induction for about a month now. I lost about 14 pounds during the first two weeks and have completely stalled since. I know it can't be dietary because I am being extremely strict about what I eat / drink [including during Thanksgiving] ... any ideas on how to jump-start my weight loss again?

Just so we are on the same page, my general daily diet consists of:

Lunch: 2 oz cheese, 3 oz ham or turkey
Dinner: 2 oz cheese, 6-10 oz meat or poultry, and 1 cup greens

^ or variations of this.

I am trying to drink plenty of water although I never quite get to 64 oz daily.

I am halfway tempted to throw my body's brain off by having a high-carb low-fat day, in order to "restart" my weight loss, so to speak.... but I don't want to ruin any progress I have completed thus far.

Has anyone else had this problem?
What did you do?

** I should also probably mention that I am not nearly close to my goal weight or even a weight I feel would be appropriate to begin OWL as I still have almost 30 lbs to go... so I'm fairly certain it's not just my body saying "STOP!!"

Thank you for any enlightenment.

[kate58]

Hi Chunk, and welcome to ADBB!

You did great to lose 14 pounds during your first 2 weeks, that looks like over 25% of the weight you need to lose, which is fantastic and well above average. Your body is going to need to pause to take stock of a loss like that.

Having said that, your diet does seem to be very high in protein and almost absent carbs. During induction you need to be eating a lot more veg than that, two cups of salad veg and one of other veg which should total somewhere around 12-14g of carbs daily from veg. I'd say you are only getting 5-6g carbs in total, and almost all of that from cheese.

You plain need to eat more, especially more carbs. And don't skip breakfast, you need to get three meals a day. I know it seems odd, but eating too little can be quite a staller - your body clings to what it has from fear that there is a famine on the way

Do you have the book? Reread the induction chapter and especially the veg lists. Try to eat the more nutritious veg on the lists, not just lettuce or something - you have to eat an outrageous and impossible amount of that to get 5 carbs, so it's always going to leave you short!

I think you need to first spend a week or two actually eating 3 meals a day and your full quota of veg, then move straight on to OWL. You WILL continue to lose weight on OWL, in fact a lot of people find it kick starts their losses after a pause, and it is a very important learning phase, during which you figure out a lot about how and what you can eat.

[jimmyolsenblues]

chunk good job so far, are you exercising enough, are you drinking enough water. I don't think you are eating enough. 3oz of meat is starving amount to me.
Go ahead, have a steak, have 1/2 lb of tuna fish , with MAYO. Have 1/2 a broil chicken , (yes go ahead and try it.)
Live a little, its not a diet , its a way of life
You are no longer cutting calories, you are cutting carbs out of your life.
I would cut back on the cheese , look for things in your diet that has hidden carbs, sauces, eating out too often, sugar in the processed meats, are you cooking most if not all of your meals. I know this way of life can work for you because its working for me.

[Brook]

Originally Posted by kate58

Hi Chuck, and welcome to ADBB!

You did great to lose 14 pounds during your first 2 weeks, that looks like over 25% of the weight you need to lose, which is fantastic and well above average. Your body is going to need to pause to take stock of a loss like that.

Having said that, your diet does seem to be very high in protein and almost absent carbs. During induction you need to be eating a lot more veg than that, two cups of salad veg and one of other veg which should total somewhere around 12-14g of carbs daily from veg. I'd say you are only get 5-6g carbs in total, and almost all of that from cheese.

You plain need to eat more, especially more carbs. And don't skip breakfast, you need to get three meals a day. I know it seems odd, but eating too little can be quite a staller - your body clings to what it has from fear that there is a famine on the way

Do you have the book? Reread the induction chapter and especially the veg lists. Try to eat the more nutritious veg on the lists, not just lettuce or something - you have to eat and outrageous and impossible amount of that to get 5 carbs, so it's always going to leave you short!

I think you need to first spend a week or two actually eating 3 meals a day and your full quota of veg, then move straight on to OWL. You WILL continue to lose weight on OWL, in fact a lot of people find it kick starts their losses after a pause, and it is a very important learning phase, during which you figure out a lot about how and what you can eat.

What Kate said!

Plus: A stall is not a stall until you've gone 4 weeks with no pounds OR inches lost. If you've lost 1/2 an inch from somewhere in the last 2 weeks even though you've seen nothing on the scale- you're not stalled!

Water: by your own admission you're not getting enough in. Drink up. It'll help.

Exercise: No mention of this -but it's non-negotiable. Get or something!

[Hoping]

Why don't you move onto OWL? It's helped me lose more weight. I did induction for so long I just stalled out to some extent.
Ditto on what others said. Three cups of veggies, and minimum of 64oz of water, plus 8oz for every 25lbs you need/want to lose.
Good luck and keep us posted. We'll help as much as we can.

[UWdawgfan]

Hey Chunk...When I stalled ,Ireally upped my veggies and water intake and the weight started coming off almost immediately!Started having a little celery on the side of my scrambled eggs in the morning,dipping celery with tuna for lunch,and then a nice salad for dinner.Plus hitting the gym 4 times a week really helps also...good luck.

[blue996]

Hi Chuck,

I echo what everyone has said. When I moved to OWL my losses increased greatly and you can move up the rungs at your own pace. Also, do you use fitday? It is very useful in showing if you are eating too little or too much fat/carbs/protein.

[chunk!]

you guys are wonderful, thank you.

today when i got home from work, i weighed in at .5 lbs below my "plateau," which gives me hope. nevertheless, i am enjoying a small salad [about 3 cups of iceberg with hard boiled eggs, pieces of bacon, and turkey cubes] right now. the one thing i miss the most during induction is all the vegetables i know and love.... like brussels sprouts, green beans, big salads.... mm.

anyway, thank you all for your support. i will update this in a couple of weeks if i have tried new things and still haven't lost any weight. thanks again!

[kate58]

Why are you missing sprouts and green beans? You can have both on induction, they are both allowed. If you don't devote both your cups of salad veg to lettuce you can also have a great salad.

Move on to OWL and you can have even more of these veg and others. There is no need at all to be feeling deprived of veg.

[sallyseachange]

Ditto all the advice Kate has given you in both her posts. Glad you saw the scale move again by .5 lb too.
You mentioned doing a day of high carb low fat, to restart your weight loss. I'd advise against this. It's true that some have reported that this gets things moving again, but imho it messes with your metabolism and in the long run works against you.

Keep on going. You're doing fine.