Trying not to get discouraged...

[albs75]

Today is day 4 and I haven't dropped even a 10th of a pound. I feel horrible (all swollen and my joints ach).

I'm sticking with it but I really wish I would start to feel some benefit...

[sadie147]

Maybe you could post a menu so we can review it? maybe there is something causing the bloat that you don't realize. You should post your stats as well, height current weight etc.

4 days also isn't very long, everyone loses at a different pace. you are also probably suffering from the 'induction flu' which does pass, usually it hits most people around day 3/4.

[albs75]

Here is is yesterday's menue:

B'fast: 2 eggs cooked in butter, 1 slice bacon, 1 small tomato
Lunch: I wasn't hungry at all but make myself eat something. Ate 1/2 chicken breast (parm crusted), mayo and 4 small olives.
Afternoon Snack: 4 oz fresh mozz cheese with olive oil and vin. 16 small olives
Dinner: Hamburger patty, I slice cheese, 2 cups broccoli,
After dinner: I cup herbal raspberry tea.

I realize that I went over on my cheese allowance...maybe that's it. I also know that 2 cups of Broccoli has 13.2 grams of carbs but I didn't eat any veg's during the day so I thought it was OK...that was probably wrong too.

Drank 3 liters of water.
I'm craving salt like crazy.

I'm 5'7 and cw is 190.

[angelcakes]

what kind of broccolli are you eating that has 13 carbs for two cups? i ask because the broccolli i use is frozen broccolli florets that i buy from whole foods market. it has 2 grams of carbs per 3/4 cup serving...which would be between 5-6 grams of carbs for 2 cups.

its more expensive, but i find buying organic foods really keeps the carbs down - i can get cold cuts and frozen sausage without any added sugars or nitrates. i don't know if you have whole foods where you are, but more and more grocery stores offer some organic/natural foods these days.

the only other thing that jumps out at me is the olives. i know alot of people don't eat olives until after induction.

you mention you are swollen, so you could be retaining water.

all in all, the thing you have to remember is that there is a reason that so many will tell you not to weigh yourself until after induction. i know its hard, but sometimes the weight loss just doesn't show up overnight. you are only on day four! you have plenty of time to see induction results. when you are through with induction, i know you will see and feel a difference!

[albs75]

I ONLY shop at Whole Foods! I agree that organic is best. The broccoli that I ate was fresh organic that I roasted. I got my carb count from the carb gram counter in the beginning of my Atkins book. I just looked at it again and saw that it says 3.9 grams for a half a cup. In that case, 2 cups would add up to 15.6 grams. However, I looked in the back of the book and the net carbs are listed as 1.7 grams per half cup. In that case, my two cups would add up to 6.8.

This brings me to another point of confusion for me. Atkins writes that you can have three cups of salad greens or two cups of greens plus one cup of veg's. This adds up to way less than 20 grams of carbs (especially if you are counting net carbs). I want to do it the correct way but I'm not sure what my starting point should be.

Thanks for the help!

[kate58]

way less than 20 grams of carbs

Most, not all, of your carbs should come from veg. But there are also carbs in eggs, cheese, olives, cream, splenda and other foods. For example your olives about account for about 2.5 carbs, and 4 oz of cheese would be about 1.5 carbs

On induction you should be getting somewhere around 10-12 carbs from veg, the rest from other foods and many people find they don't eat up to the full 20 but average out at around 16-18 per day.

[angelcakes]

Whole Foods is the best! maybe the frozen broccolli i get there has less carbs because its only the florets, most of the stalks are chopped off? i don't know if that would make that much of a difference. i don't think anyone ever got fat from eating too much broccolli so i wouldn't worry too much about that. like i said before, the only thing i noticed were that you had a lot of olives, and you had mentioned eating a lot of cheese. so if you are going to retool your menus, i would lay off the olives until OWL and make sure you are within the allowed amounts of cheese.

anyway, i too have been a little confused about where the 20 grams of carbs come from if you are only have the salad greens and limited veggies! cheese has some, but if you are limiting yourself to 3 or 4 oz, that's only going to be about 4 grams of carbs. if you cook with cream, obviously that would add some too.

howevever, i don't think its necessarily bad if you have less than 20 grams of carbs, especially on induction. from the menu you posted, it seems like youare eating enough, and you are eating plenty of protein.

once you move on to OWL, you will definitely get more carbs by adding more veggies, nuts, olives, peanut butter, etc.

[deb79fl]

I agree with the other posters... Olives are so high in sodium, either eliminate for now or have just a few. Tomatos can be high in carbs too, so maybe 1/2 would be better.

Also, if TOM is close, that can make you crazy with cravings and water retention.

I ate every 2-3 hours- small amount and it really helped me when I did induction. Lots less of the "flu" symptoms.

It will get easier and you'll feel great in two weeks!

[albs75]

Thank you everyone. I'm going to tweek my menues based upon your feedback.

[spazzyhilo]

Try not to get discouraged. The first time I had done atkins I actually had gained a pound but I lost a bunch of inches and i FELT better. This more than anything kept me with it. After a 3rd week of induction I was really starting to lose weight.

Everyone loses differently so don't lose hope. Also just be patient. You didn't gain the weight overnight - you wont lose it overnight. You can do this!!