New here and need help!

[charks1]

Hi,
I'm Charlene but everyone calls me Char...I'm not new to Atkins it's my way of life-->>but <<--I hate the buts I've been putting weight on this past year because I can't seem to eat enough!
I like eggs, bacon..all types of meat, salad ,veggies ...I'm kinda lost though.I try and nothing happens....I've read that the second time around is harder. I excersize daily,with my job I walk all day and then I treadmill up to 2 miles every night.But things just keep getting tighter.I need help!!!
I'm gonna try again fresh monday I need advice and how much to eat Please!!!
eggs bacon breakfast but how much is the right amount
tuna or lunchmeat and cheese for lunch or salad(mixed veg.bagged salad)ranch dressing
dinner -meat and veggies
I don't ever eat more that maybe 10 carbs daily so maybe thats it..my body is so used to me not eating carbs
I drink 1 coffee in the morning (my 1 weakness), with coffee creamer and 1 splenda
at lunch I have a decaf
then water the rest of the day..maybe not enough though.I'm sorry this is so long and I'm sure you've answered all these questions over and over.
I appreciate any help!!!!
Char

[liv]

Hi Charks,
Nice to meet you. I sure others will have lots of advice for you but my thought reading your post was to wonder if you had had a doctor's check-up lately. Maybe your thyroid is out of sync (Mine is but I take meds)

[sallyseachange]

Hello there Charks... welcome aboard!
Sorry to hear you're having difficulties.

Perhaps you could give us some quantities in your menu... you could be eating too much or too little. You exercise a lot, so maybe you're on the low side.
Lower than ten g carbs per day is not enough... you need all your veggies for induction carbs (two cups salad - preferably with other things, not just lettuce - and one cup from the induction "other" veggie list; or three cups salad). Try to eat nearer your 20 grams per day... lots of people seem to eat around 15-20 and do well at that range.

Conversely, if you eat beyond your hunger, you will of course gain. And... if you eat too little, your body will go into starvation mode and you will stall too. Enough to make you dizzy, isn't it?
You need to find a happy balance... eating to satisfy your hunger and get enough of your daily carbs in too (within the allowance). Also, and very important...you need to eat plenty of fat. It helps with cravings and fills you up too. Fat is your friend on Atkins. A low fat version of Atkins does not work.

Try to get plenty of water in... it helps greatly in weight loss.

You should be aware of possible issues with candida, thyroid and medications. Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution (2002 edition) deals with these issues in detail, so you'd do well to read this, if you haven't already. You can also visit the forums for these conditions on the board and read the stickies there.

Hang in there and don't give up... we'll get to the bottom of your slowdown, I'm sure.

[charks1]

Thank you both for replying!! I've done atkins for about 3 years almost 4 and I've heard it all .... all the crap about how bad it is for you.. it's only fat your eating blah blah blah..everyone at work picked on me,I didn't care it's my way of life!! I tried to tell them not everyone needs to eat potato and bread every night.I have high cholesterol and my Dr. said it runs in the family so no matter what I do it's there so we control it,she put me on fish oil and fiber 3 times a day, other than a few other vitamins no precription med.
For me I know I don't eat enough food..somehow the old if you don't eat you'll lose weight creeps in every so often...I was raised like that...I'm 47 years old..and 5'8....when I went on atkins the first time I weighed 164 from my usual 125 that was alot for me... alot going on in my life... my husband passed..he was 37 and my life as I knew it was over...then I quit smoking with major amount of stress. My boy came first so I gained almost 40 pds. but that was in 2000...I've been smoke free and on july 8th this year it will make 8 years!! my boy is 20 now...he's a good kid and my life is great..re married and I got my hubby on atkins and he lost almost 20 pds...while I gain..lol!!I now weigh 150...and I would like to get back down to at least 138....having support will be great I never knew so many atkins people were out there...thank goodness!!!!
todays a new day..I had 3 scrambled eggs with 1 slice of single serve american cheese mixed in.
I'll have a salad for lunch with cucumbers in it a little ranch dressing and a pickle.I'll measure it out so I know I have enough -2 cups!!
then dinner we go out on saturdays but it's usually a rib eye (some type of meat)and broccoli an a side salad with alot of extra veggies to choose from.
if I stick to this !!!! I'm hoping...
I'm out of the house and at work by 6:15 everday so it gets hard....I don't want to eat in the morning..so I'll start making some things for breakfast everynight..I know this was long I'm sorry...wishing everyone a happy weekend!!
Char

[kate58]

I can understand your frustration, but hang in there, it'll come right.

There are a couple of things in your first post that I'd check on - the bacon and the lunchmeat, check them for sugars.

But, I really think you have been starving your body for so long that that is probably your problem. A quick tot of the food you say you are eating to-day gives me under 1000 calories - well under unless you are eating a truly ginormous steak! If you calculate the BMR for someone of your weight and height it comes out at over 1400 calories per day - that's what you need for your body to just tick over, what you would use if you lay in bed all day and didn't move at all.

Given the amount of exercise you are doing, it really does not seem like you are eating enough. On Atkins, to lose weight, most people find they need to eat at least up to their BMR everyday, or their body holds on to every pound it can. I honestly doubt you will lose more while you continue to eat so little, your body will be hanging on to what it has for dear life.

Another problem I see is that although you say you have been doing Atkins for years, you haven't really. You've been doing induction - which isn't Atkins. And at that you are not even eating up to your carb level for induction. Although Dr A did say it was safe to extend induction for a while, he certainly did not mean extending it for years - and it was for people who had significant amounts of weight to lose, which you don't. In dact he warns a number of times against not carefully doing all phases.

You don't have a great deal to lose, and are already well within the normal BMI range for your height, so you can only expect slow losses at best at this point. But for even those to happen your body needs to be well nourished, and I honestly wonder if it is if you have been eating this restricted a diet for so long.

I know this will seem a scary prospect, and it may even cause a temporary weight gain in the short term while your body adjusts to being well fed, but I would start climbing the OWL ladder, gradually increasing your carbs and your calories over the next 6-8 weeks. Adding souces of good carbs like extra veg, berries, even nuts and seeds will provide your body with lots of good nutrients and I really believe that once you start to feed your body it will let go of the weight in a slow but steady manner.

[charks1]

Thank you Kate!!
You are absolutely right...I never really went up the ladder, pretty much induction the whole time.I need to force myself to eat more !!! I know I don't have alot to lose but for me it's a lot from what I used to weigh..and I hate everything feeling tight all he time it all seems to gather right around the waste line which really bites..I look in the mirror and it's like where the heck did that come from!!! lol
Its hard, I have the books I've read them I get really positive then......somewhere along the way...I stumble ..alot
I don't want to starve my body I dont want the fat the tight jeans the wearing big shirts to cover up!!

[nursegal]

One thing you should know that eating too much protein without sufficient carbs (good ones) will have your body turn the protein into GLUCOSE!!

After digestion and breakdown of protein, the various free amino acids can be activated for muscle synthesis by their specific enzymes plus one of the energizing phosphate compounds - either ATP [adenosine triphosphate] or AMP [adenosine monophosphate].
If not needed for muscle synthesis, the process of deamination in the liver will remove nitrogen from the amino acid turning it into a keto-acid which makes it available for other body functions. These keto-acids can be either glycogenic [carbohydrate forming] or ketogenic [fat forming]. The majority of amino acids, if not used for muscle or other body protein synthesis, become glycogenic.

So, if your consume 40 grams of a "quick" protein like whey, and your body can only use 30 grams for muscle and other body protein synthesis at that particular time, some of the "extra" grams of protein can be turned into carbs by your body which will then convert to glucose.

[Porcelain]

You should probably go to Fitday.com and start logging in everything you do and you can have someone look it over for you. A lot of people who think they were doing it right, really weren't. Did you count a carb for the coffee and a carb for the splenda? Something could be up to 0.9 g of carb and be claimed as zero carbs because it is under the number 1. Also, you are only allowed three splenda a day. You could have several very minute factors adding up to this. If you start meticulously logging it down, you (or someone else) might be able to see the trend.

Good luck!

[charks1]

Thanks nursegal...you gave me alot of info and alot to look into,I appreciate it very much.I'm doing alot better...I think..lol..you look great by the way!
Also to you to Porcelain..I did go to fitday.com and I've been keeping track of every bite,every splenda I use only 2 a day..and every tablespoon of mayo oil etc...for the last week.also writing in the journal and keeping track of my workouts.yeah!!! first time for any of this
I actually am in the Feb.Miles Challenge and also the Feb. Water challenge so I think I'm off to a pretty good start.
I started using my treadmill and elliptical faithfully since the beginning of January was 5 nights a week now 6 nights with 1 night off...it's a start but the motivation is really there thanks to the board and all the really wonderful people here.I wish I knew this was here 4 years ago when I started atkins. I'm sure I be better informed and maybe at a better place with my body;( but it's a new day!!!
Thanks again
Char

[nursegal]

anytime!!