Feelin' the growlies

[AshesOfLovers]

Good morning fellow Atkinsers!

I've come for some advice over how to get over myself, pretty much. I need a pep talk!

I've been doing the Atkins thing this time around for about 2 months. And I have developed Willpower of Steel! My boyfriend is very slim and in no way needs to cut out carbs, sweets, or snacks, so we have those things around the house. (He enjoys them, they are not "poison", end of discussion please! ) Chips, brownies, and the pasta I serve him with otherwise low-carb/high-protein meals I can now walk away from with nary a thought. There's been a chocolate frosted cake my mother made sitting on our table for 2 days now and I've not even glanced at it.

BUT - I have hit a major stall point. I'm 5'10, and sitting at around 169-170 pounds on average. This has been my stopping point at every lifestyle changing attempt to lose the weight for my entire adult life. I simply haven't ever broken that barrier.

Now I strongly suspect that what I need to do (besides exercise more) is give up my beloved diet sodas and the sugar-free flavored syrups with my coffee. And it just makes me soooooo cranky to even think of it! I don't feel "deprived" in the way I eat - until I imagine cutting out those little crutches.

Up to this point, I have been 100% absolutely cheat free. So to feel like I need to give up the few things I have for treats (I mostly drink things like diet cream soda or root beer for the taste) really *does* feel awful.

So, anyone got any words of wisdom for me? Preeeetty please?

[Lyssie]

You haven't lost pounds or inches for how long?? How much have you lost in the past 2 months? I don't think it's technically considered a stall which means it could be numerous things.

1. Are you exercising? I know you said "more", but just in general
2. Are you drinking your water?
3. What rung are you currently on?

I think best thing to do is to cut out (at least) the soda. You already know this. I don't think anybody else is going to tell you differently. If you feel like you *need* to keep them, you should probably be exercising more in order to make up the difference. Nevermind the fact that your body could be reacting to the soda, is the fact that it could also be making you retain water since soda has sodium in it. Your body could be catching up with previous weight loss, and just need to "readjust" itself before losing more weight, which is why it's important to clarify whether it's a real "stall", or just a "pause". If you're not drinking enough water, it can't flush the fat out of your system as easily. Drink MORE!!! If you're still on induction, moving up the rungs can help you lose more weight (as well as help prepare you to follow the plan the rest of your life).

Also, if you're 5'10", you don't have that much more to go, which means it'll go slower... so patience really *is* a virtue here.

[garwil]

When I first started I really didn't cherish the thought of never eating certain foods again. I decided to become teetotal just before I started Atkins too, and I particularly struggled to get my head round the idea of me without a pint in my hand in a pub.

I think the thing that's helped me out the most with this, is not thinking of various food items as treats. If I want something sweet, I'll have a whey protein shake, or make some low carb peanut butter cookies, but I don't have them as a "treat," I just fit them into my food plan for the day.

I have, however, treated myself (using the money I've saved by not drinking/smoking/buying junk food) to some driving lessons, a few bits and pieces for my computer, personal training sessions at the gym, dvds etc. etc.

It sounds strange but if you stop thinking of diet soda/sugar-free syrup as a treat, you'll stop craving it so much. Have de-caf coffee with Splenda and heavy cream instead, and buy yourself something nice when (and I mean WHEN) you break through that 170lb barrier!

Having said that, you don't even need to spend any money, just start thinking about things differently. A walk in the park on a sunny day? If you think of it as a treat you'll start to crave it, it's good for you and it's free!

Congratulations on your success so far, I'm sure you're gonna break through soon!

PS: Check out http://www.43things.com and set yourself some other goals. It's a really cool web site!

[Evermind]

Yah, first of all, if something has not stalled you in the last 2 months, it's probably not stalling you now. Especially if your prior experience is stalling at this particular weight point.

So my advice is: SHUT THAT SILLY VOICE IN YOUR HEAD UP AND SAY "NO, I"M NOT GIVING UP THE DIET SODA AND SUGAR-FREE SYRUP! IT'S FINE, OK?" <g>

Now, then, having slapped that particular idea silly, let's move on to some questions:

1. How long have you been stuck at this weight?

2. Have your measurements changed?

3. Are you exercising, and if so, how much?

4. Where are you on the woe? Induction, OWL? what rung?

Answer these, and I'll be back with more fabulous advice that's worth as much as the paper this is typed on!

[AshesOfLovers]

Ah I should have been more specific.
I am just moving out of induction into the first rung of OWL and adding back more veggies. I have lost weight, I didn't weigh myself when I started, but I put my guess at around 20 lbs. I have *definitely* lost inches, pants I had to lay down in to button at the start of summer are now very loose on me. I'd say I've been stuck solidly for the last two weeks.

I've also only very recently started exercising regularly. To start out, I'm doing about 30 minutes of DDR each evening when I get home from work. No, it's not much, but it's a cut above my normal couch potato lifestyle.

I *do* drink tons of water, although I think to get up to the 150-200 oz a day I've seen recommended here, I'd need to walk around permanently attached to a hose.

Overall, I am pleased with my progress, just hedging on whether I should adjust my eating even further. :P

[Lyssie]

Ohhhh.. Ok, well. A lot of people experience a slight pause after losing a bit of weight. The body needs to catch up. 30 minutes of exercise is a good way to start out, and is definitely better than sitting around doing nothing. I'm not sure where you've seen 150-200oz recommended, but I wouldn't push myself to drink that much, and I don't think most people try to. You should be drinking 64oz plus 8oz for (i believe) ever 25lbs you want to lose. Of course, depending where you live, and what exercise you do, it varies... I drink about a gallon a day.

Just stick with the plan and your body should start losing again. And great job on the 20lbs and the pants that are no longer the painted on variety!

Edited to add: Though, I still recommend getting rid of the soda...

[Tomorrow_I'll_Be_Perfect]

You know, I find the diet soda thing weird. It's like the more you have the more you want. I used to have several of them a day, then it was one in the evening, then it was one in the evening once in a while. Now I often can't even drink a whole one even once in a while, so I drink half of it and put it back in the fridge, and it's usually still fizzy enough the next day if I feel like finishing it - or not, whatever. I think the more water I drink (and I do drink a lot - at least 96 oz per day) the less I enjoy the soda. The only time I really do is when I have a diet A&W rootbeer with heavy cream for the float affect, but even that's becoming quite rare now.

Oh the dreaded pause/stall. I'm inclined to feel like anything longer than three days without seeing the scale number move is a stall. * Oh the shame. * It's been 12 days since I've seen the scales move and although it's making me crazy, I know I'll wake up one fine morning and it will be several pounds lower, and then again maybe the next day or the day after that. Then we start the whole dance over again. I'm very used to it, but it still leaves me feeling uninspired after all the hard work. I just can't help it.

It's normal. Now, if it's been going on for a few months, that's another story....

[Evermind]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. Here's my advice:

1. IMMEDIATELY get out the tape measure and take your measurements: shoulders, chest, waist, abdomen, hips/butt, upper thigh, calf, ankle, upper arm, wrist. Record it somewhere. 14 days from now, do it again. Calculate inches lost.

2. You don't need to give up the flavored syrups and the diet soda just yet. You COULD cut back on one of them, but honestly, I don't see the need if it hasn't been a problem for you from the get-go.

3. Keep on doing what you've been doing, but up your exercise.

I think what is happening is that you have hit a plateau which is what your body NEEDS to have right now - an adjustment after a pretty big weight loss. If you only go by the scale, this could take anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months. HOWEVER (stop crying!) you will continue to lose inches. I promise you. It is not a stall.

People confuse a stall and a plateau. A stall is where, for a month or more, you neither lose inches nor pounds. It may or may not be due to natural causes and often has to do with something you are eating.

A plateau, on the other hand, is the body's natural mechanism for maintaining a certain equilibrium. Periodically during any weight-loss plan, your brain will instruct your body to just hang on to water or something for a bit. I wouldn't try to jump-start the loss again, because your body is doing some important work. And I wouldnt' sweat how long it lasts, either, for the same reason. It's really hanging onto some fluids, etc., but you will continue to shrink. This is what is happening to you - and I think so because you have frequently stopped losing pounds at this particular weight, which means it's more likely your body doing something on its own than your body being forced to do something by a food or chemical.

Now, the other thing to consider is why does your body always do it at this point? I think our bodies remember certain weight points and we plateau at those points. It MIGHT have to do with that weight point being a place where we stayed for awhile before gaining. It might be something else.

While we don't want to force the body out of something it needs, we can prepare our bodies for the next drop, and we do that by: proceding on with the woe, increasing our exercise to build up more muscle mass and increase the metabolism, and by toning the muscles that we have already built. Then, when the body is ready to start losing pounds again, it'll have a jump-start.

Hope this helps!

[BluegrassMama]

Hi Ashes--welcome! And congrats on your 20 lb loss--wow! Color me green Confession time: I never did give up coffee or diet soda, although my intake has dropped dramatically since starting Atkins. Not intentionally, but come on--a person can only consume so many fluid oz per day! I've really upped my water intake (thanks to the Drink Up Water Challenge), so it's either get up an hour earlier and go to bed an hour later to maintain my previous coffee/diet Coke habit, or have one (or two) of each and call it good. No deprivation, here

And EverMind--thank you! I didn't hit a post-induction "stall"--it was a PLATEAU! I love that word!

Good luck, Ashes!