Another newbie, and stalled for 3 weeks. HELP!

[HappyCat]

Wow - am I thrilled to find y'all!
I'm just into my 4th week on Induction, and it has not been nearly as productive as I would have hoped. I lost a very encouraging 5 lbs in Week 1, but nothing since.

What I am doing right - I have really not had any problem ditching the carbs. My boyfriend also started with me, and we are having fun cooking recipies from the Atkins.com website and other places. If anything, I may need to eat more carbs, since I have been strict in limiting my intake to the 3 cups salad and 1 cup veggies (the acceptable ones) daily, and sometimes don't eat all of that.

What I know I am not doing right... I really struggle with drinking the full 8 glasses of water a day. I was drinking Crystal Light too which mixed it up and made it easier, but then we read that even though there are no sugars or carbs, Cirtic Acid slows induction. So - it was fully back to H2O only. Still - I'm on a big honkin' plateau.

I had read that coffee with 1/2 & 1/2 and 1 Splenda was ok, but is it really? Please say it is.

And, to top it off, I had a full blood workup when starting Induction to see my levels, and lo and behold - I have Hypothyroidism. Good news for weight loss, no? But here it is my 2nd week on Synthroid, my 4th week on Atkins, and I am holding at the same 4 - 5 lbs loss from week 1.

Sorry to be all over the place - but I am just not sure what to do.
HELP!

[carlybee]

Hi! I'm in a bit of the same boat. I'm going into my 3rd week but have lost 11 lbs...now stalled out a bit. I am also on Synthroid...had a total thyroidectomy in June and immediately started gaining weight.

Have you posted your menu in that forum? It may help to see exactly what you are eating. I also drink a cup of coffee every morning, but use 2 tbsp of heavy cream instead of half & half. It hasnt seemed to hurt me much. The main thing I notice that seems to stall me out is too much cheese. I seem to do better eating several times a day throughout the day rather than just 3 x a day.

Check the FAQ page...it has a lot of helpful hints.

Are your clothes getting looser? I have read not to go too much by what the scale says.

[HappyCat]

Clothes are fitting the same. I think I will try cutting down on the cheese too and see what happens.

OK - more water, less cheese.

And I didn't realize that there is a forum for thyroid. Thanks!

Any other suggestions?

[Danielle2842]

Hi HappyCat,

It's so ironic that you posted this because I'm in the exact same situation. I'm going on my 5th week of Induction and have only lost 6 lbs.-- yeah, everyone will say a 7 pound loss is GREAT- it's better than nothing!, but come on... it's really discouraging to see everyone else posting about their 7 lbs. lost in 7 days. My husband and I are doing this together and we're not cheating at all, we're doing it by the book! My KetoStix say that I'm in constant ketosis, but I've not lost any weight worth mentioning (I'll lose 2 lbs, gain one, lose .5, gain 2) in 3 weeks!

All I can say is to keep up your exercise, take all the tips and advice these kind people are willing to share and KEEP AT IT. Though I'm discouraged, I'm going to stick to this for a little while longer to see if things perk up.

Good luck and I hope that you see a nice loss soon. It doesn't seem fair that we're trying so hard and sticking to it and not seeing the results we deserve. I feel for ya!!

[HappyCat]

Per-zactly, Danielle! And my loss/gain/loss is eerily similar to yours. Still - we will do this and it will work... eventually. Right?

A friend of mine who has been doing Atkins for a long time with great results said that maybe I need to jump-start it again by having a carbolicious meal. He said that when he plateaus, he'll bump up the carbs for dinner one night, and the weight loss seems to improve after that.

Anyone else try this method, or have any success doing it?

[frankenspine]

Although I do not have thyroid issues, I"m extremely metabolically challenged. Here's what I've learned after 30 days on induction.

1. No more than 3 oz of cheese. Watch the shredded cheese, some contain potato starch to prevent sticking.
2. Drink half your total body weight in ounces of water every day; for example, I weight 244 lbs and drink 130 oz of water every day.
3. No lemon juice!
4. Absolutely NO CAFFEINE!!
5, Eat the recommended daily salad veggies.
6. Eat equal ratios of fat to protein.
7. Avoid Sugar in all of forms (dextrose, HFCS, etc). Don't guess or assume, read the ingredients.
8. Walk two miles per day minimum

[GottaBme]

Not half&half, rather just totally 0 carb pure good old creme (in the grocery store, it's called whipping creme). Half & half has milk in it, and milk contains sugar.

Also, it's either 3 cups salad veggies only, or you can have 2 cups salad veggies and 1 cup of the "other veggies."

And yes, when I don't drink all the water I'm supposed to, my weight loss stalls.

The other thing that slows/stalled me in the past was slacking off on my daily exercise.

Good luck, and keep on keepin on.
GBM

[HappyCat]

Frankenspine - I think you nailed it!

Here it is - just into my 5th week, and I am still barely in ketosis, although I am following everything , or so I thought, to a T.

And, I am close to my starting weight again – but I only really went down about 5 lbs since the start, so that is not so shocking.

I figure my hang-ups are just what you said - I have been eating too much cheese, not drinking enough water, not exercising enough, and have been allowing myself caffeine. No more.

So - hopefully in about 2 weeks, I will be one very happy HappyCat.

Thanks so much guys - this diet has some inconsistencies for everyone, so it is great to hear from people who know the ins and outs, or can at least relate.

[frankenspine]

That's the spirit! You can do it.