Very Frustrated and Depressed So Far (Long Vent)

[FMulder]

I am a 44 y/o male on the who is a second-timer. The first time I very successfully and rather easily lost the weight I wanted only to piece by piece stray from the diet to the point that a little weight loss became a lot and the little cheating became a full-blown desertion of the diet.

After several other dieting attempts on other forms I have returned to Atkins. I am approaching my 4th week and things are very very different this time around.

I know how to do the diet and know the phases. I am not an expert as some of you are but I do know the basics to the point I feel I know what I am doing.

Anyhow, Induction began well with a 10 day loss of about 8 lbs. After my water weight settled in I ended the 2 week induction fluctutating between 8-10 lbs but feeling like I was on the right track. Since then I have kept what I would describe as a modified Induction or an early OWL rung with horrible results. I have either remained at 10lbs down (for the next 10 days) or even seen weight gain over the past 2 days.

Here are the facts as I see them:

Good:

Eggs and sausage or bacon for breakfast
Tons of Water
Tuna or Chicken salad with minor mayo for lunch
Dinner varies from some type of meat or sometimes replaced with moderate pork rinds and sour cream, almonds, or 4 oz of cheese in some combination
In Ketosis
No alcohol
Good daily exercise program

Potential Bad?

I have a horrible coffee habit but have been able to reduce my coffee to 1-2 cups in the a.m
Recently ate the Atkins Advantage bars until reading that they weren't legit so ditched them
On Anti-depressants

I can tell you if you did a raw caloric intake only I should be losing weight. I can tell you that in the first go around when I limited myself to 1-2 cups of coffee I did not stall nor gain. I can tell you that I was previously able to monitor thins like pork rinds, almonds, and cheese so it isn't like I am eating a can, a bag, or a ton of cheese.

My general feeling is that it is like the water I am drinking for dinner and early evening is not leaving my body sufficiently.

The only other random thoughts I have is to replace the almonds, pork rinds, cheese with vegetables or to simply eat MORE.

I am willing to stick with this but I need to see some postive results and certainly not the old feeling of seeing a scale creep up when you feel it is completely illogical. I honestly feel I can't do much better than I am doing at this point and am rather proud of myself for not consciously cheating at all (it has been tough at times!).

If anyone can share a similar experience or what they did to get out of this "rut" I would appreciate it.

[Swordfish]

Originally Posted by FMulder

I am a 44 y/o male on the who is a second-timer. The first time I very successfully and rather easily lost the weight I wanted only to piece by piece stray from the diet to the point that a little weight loss became a lot and the little cheating became a full-blown desertion of the diet.

After several other dieting attempts on other forms I have returned to Atkins. I am approaching my 4th week and things are very very different this time around.

I know how to do the diet and know the phases. I am not an expert as some of you are but I do know the basics to the point I feel I know what I am doing.

Anyhow, Induction began well with a 10 day loss of about 8 lbs. After my water weight settled in I ended the 2 week induction fluctutating between 8-10 lbs but feeling like I was on the right track. Since then I have kept what I would describe as a modified Induction or an early OWL rung with horrible results. I have either remained at 10lbs down (for the next 10 days) or even seen weight gain over the past 2 days.

Here are the facts as I see them:

Good:

Eggs and sausage or bacon for breakfast
Tons of Water
Tuna or Chicken salad with minor mayo for lunch
Dinner varies from some type of meat or sometimes replaced with moderate pork rinds and sour cream, almonds, or 4 oz of cheese in some combination
In Ketosis
No alcohol
Good daily exercise program

Hi FMulder

I know where your coming from, this is almost a carbon copy of myself.
Day 13 for me and the weight isn't coming off as quick as it did the last time.
Saying that, i was being a bit more physical the last time through work, and walking a good three miles a day.
And also, i think the body need's a bit of time to adjust.

Stick with my man, your not alone.

[Razzle39]

I had also done Atkins in the past and thought I knew the diet very well. Boy, was I wrong!
I strongly suggest you check out
www.fitday.com this is a free site where you can log in your food choices and hidden carbs can be revealed.
There are hidden carbs in cheese, sausage can have corn syrup in it, and sour cream can also have sugar in it. YOu have to really be careful with the labels. They may say 0 carbs and then you read the label and it says high fructose corn syrup. After using fitday I realized I was eating over my 20 grams of carbs even though I was eating foods on induction list.
You are also supposed to have some veggies in there. I have read some posts that state that people were stalled and then they ate veggies within the induction rules and began to shed pounds again.
The other thing that is helpful is to measure yourself in inches not just pounds. I went 10 days without losing any pounds. I was so disgusted but when I measured myself I had lost an inch from my waist and 2 inches from my hips. Check out this site, its not only funny its soooo true
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...dbits-tabekats-
I look forward to tracking your progress

[Razzle39]

OOPs! The link didnt post correctly. Let me try again
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...n-journey.html (Tidbits from Tabekats Induction Journey.)

[JustSheri]

I drink coffee - that never bothered me. I would limit the bacon and the sausage though as both contain sugar, especially the sausage. What kind of cheese are you eating? American cheese contains whey. Swiss cheese is a good choice. As you already found out, stay away from the atkins or any other bars, shakes, snacks, etc. Finally, if you're eating anything sugar free, that may be your problem. Both Aspartame and Splenda stall me ....

[FMulder]

The sausage patties are pure meat (no sugar) and the bacon is as well (none of tha honey or maple type that hides sugars). I will increase my veggies. I do read the labels pretty well. Occassionally I have a sugar free jello cup or two. I guess I can try to cut that out as well. The cheese I am eating is hard (cheddar).

I will check the URL posted (thanks). I guess the point is that even if I am slightly over Induction foods I certainly am within that 25-30 carb range and I have already ended Induction anyhow so that shouldn't be a problem. Maybe it is the artificial sweeteners.

My goal for the next few days is more veggies and no artificial sweets and see what happens.

Thanks for all the responses!

[ValidRouge]

From my own experience, I would make the following recommendations:

1. Limit the bacon and sausage. They are processed foods and will cause me to retain as much as 4 lbs any time I eat them. For sausage, do a search on the forums for "Scooters Farm Sausage" for a recipe to make your own sausage from scratch.
2. Limit your cheese to less than 4 ounces a day, limit the pork rinds to an "on occasion" consumption, no nuts!
3. Replace those foods with low carb veggies.

I think you'll see a quick turn around.