Mary Ann's Journey

[odirish]

I'm working 12 hour shifts, so maybe it was too many calories:

B. 2 eggs/2 turkey sausages
S. 3 oz. cheese/ 16 pepperonis
L.& D. Egg and olive salad (1 cup) over a 12 hour shift
water 64 oz.
I have been getting up at 1 a.m. and going to bed at 6:30 p.m.
Yesterday was the only day that I did not have a salad. I just didn't feel like running to the store. I always make a 2 cup salad with blue cheese dressing everyday.
I have my Fitday included in my signature. I just don't want this to be "another" weightloss plan that works for a week or two. I know, it takes alot longer than 2 weeks to lose the weight. Maybe it was the excitement of seeing 5 lbs. gone in 1 week and then a sudden stop. That's probably it. Thanks for your help.

[Desertthorn]

So where is your food I don't think your eating enough

[Sunny_0ne]

Mary Ann, I don't think you are eating enough either. Eating too little will prevent you from losing, as your body tries to hang on to every calorie it can to fuel essential body processes.

Let it know that it is not starving to death, and it may surprise you by being willing to drop some weight.

[odirish]

I filled out my Fitday for today and tomorrw at work, will you take a look at it?

Mary Ann

[Desertthorn]

Fitday looked pretty good.
I am going to suggest that it might be your work schedule, which you can't do anything about. If you can,
1) make sure you eat every 6 hours while awake
2) follow the plan for another couple weeks, but relax with it. Stay off the scales and don't think about it. Get your water in and your supplements and then check your weight

[odirish]

Well my weight is back up. I'm at 168. I have been so constipated that I tokk some Dulcolax yesterday. I started eating more fiber thinking it would help. I even ate oatmeal and added flaxseed oil to it, but nothing worked. The laxitives did. I don't know if it's the cheese or what. I did my Induction, but only lost 5 lbs. with that. I'll get back on plan tomorrow. Today is dinner at my MIL's house. Should I start Induction over again? I swear if I eat one more egg, I'm going to start clucking.

Mary Ann

[Sunny_0ne]

Mary Ann, I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer your questions.

I'll write a moderator and ask them to take a look at this thread for you.

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by odirish

I filled out my Fitday for today and tomorrw at work, will you take a look at it?

Mary Ann

Hi, Mary Ann.

First of all, don't worry about the 3 lbs you've gained. You have been eating sausages, bacon, olives, blue cheese... All these foods are very high in sodium, which will cause water retention. So out of those 3 lbs you've gained, most of them are water, not fat. Being constipated doesn't help matters either. To give you an idea of what 3 lbs of fat mean... they are 10500 calories, so that's about 25 cups of chicken salad or 135 boiled eggs or 95 servings of turkey sausage. I bet you didn't eat that much!

Originally Posted by odirish

Well my weight is back up. I'm at 168. I have been so constipated that I tokk some Dulcolax yesterday. I started eating more fiber thinking it would help. I even ate oatmeal and added flaxseed oil to it, but nothing worked. The laxitives did.

The problem seems to be solved for now, but from now on it would be a good idea to take a daily fiber supplement. Dr. Atkins recommended 1 tbsp of flaxseed meal, psyllium husks or wheat bran. But for these not to have the opposite effect, you'll have to drink a lot of water with them.

Looking at your veggies, you can also improve that part a little. Mixed green salads only have about 1 g of fiber per cup. For comparison, mixed peppers (green, red and yellow) have 2.5 g per cup; celery has 2 g per cup; jicama has 6.5 g per cup. Green beans have 3.7 g of fiber per cup (measured raw), so you've made a great choice there. Simply switching (part of) your mixed salad greens for vegetables higher in fiber will help with constipation.

I did my Induction, but only lost 5 lbs. with that.

You've done excellent! Those people who lose 20 lbs have much more to lose than you do. With only 25 lbs away from goal, losing 5 lbs means losing 20% of the weight you want to lose. That's a huge step forward! Only four more steps and you'll be at goal, posting in the Atkins Low Carb Success Stories.

I'll get back on plan tomorrow. Today is dinner at my MIL's house.

Nope, nope, nope. Don't use the dinner as an excuse to delay your success. There will be plenty of dinners you'll have to handle and they are great opportunities for you to learn how to eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight for life. Either bring something to the dinner, something you cooked, or ask your MIL for some "legal" food choices, because she must have something legal in the house. I'm sure she didn't invite you and your husband to dinner just so you taste her foods -- she invited you because she wants all of you to have a nice evening together. The evening will be just as nice for her if you don't eat a potato or whatever sugary stuff, and it will be even nicer for you, because you'll be doing something good for your health and for your self-esteem.

I imagine you're a little down because of those 3 lbs you've gained, but as I've said, they are water, not fat. They will go away in a few days and you'll be back where you were or even below that weight.

Here is something Megs (not2late) wrote a while ago and I think you should really read it before you go for dinner at your MIL's house: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...-one-bite.html (Before you take that "one bite"....)

I swear if I eat one more egg, I'm going to start clucking.

If I ate so many eggs as you are, I'd be clucking too. No need to eat eggs. You can have leftovers, avocado, vegetables, etc. for any meal. Here's a nice recipe I found today while browsing through some old stuff.
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/newsletter/
As you go down the page, you'll see a recipe for jalapeno "firecrackers". I didn't try them, but they sound delicious and easy to make too! Below that recipe, there's a recipe for cheese muffins. You can make more of those and store them in the fridge for a quick snack (or take them with you at work).

Should I start Induction over again?

No. If you stop your cheating now, just continue with Induction until you get back into ketosis. You are not metabolically resistant and you don't have a lot to lose, so after you're back into ketosis you should move to OWL. Adding more vegetables during OWL Rung 1 will allow you to get more fiber in. Then, as you climb up the rungs, you'll have more varied food choices, which will decrease your chances of cheating.

By the way, don't be afraid that you'll lose slower by moving to OWL. My weight loss actually accelerated when I moved from Induction to OWL Rung 1.

If you have questions about OWL, post them here or in the OWL forum and there's always someone to help.

Lynn gave you some great advice -- you have to relax a little and don't think of this way of eating as a diet. It's not a diet, but your new lifestyle. If you want to be successful, you must think of it as a lifestyle. This is also why you have to move to OWL and progress through all the phases of Atkins. If Atkins was just Induction, it would be just another "weight loss plan", like those you are talking about in your post; the fact that it has 4 phases make it much more than that!

So as Lynn said, stay off the scale, eat what you know it's "legal" and do it by the book. You might also want to take body measurements, as they are less sensitive to fluctuations due to water retention. You've done excellent until now -- 20% of your goal is completed. If you choose Atkins as your new way of eating for life, there's no need to rush things... you've got plenty of time to work towards your goal.

Are you also exercising? Exercise will help you lose weight faster and will allow you to eat more carbohydrates while still losing weight. Not to mention its other health benefits...

Enjoy your dinner this evening, but stay on track. You are worth more than any starch or sugar your MIL has cooked.

[odirish]

Thank you for all the tips and advice. I had not been exercising, but I dug my DVDS out and I am starting tomorrow. I'm going to print your response out and carry it with me. Thanks again.

Mary Ann

[odirish]

I haven't started to exercise yet. I had been lightheaded all weekend. Not sure what was going on. I am back on plan as of today. I think the only thing that keeps me going is the success stories. just when I say the **** with it, I look up the pictures and it inspires me to keep pluggin' away at it. there is a 12 week weightloss challenge beginning next month in a neighboring town and I am going to sign up for it. I have to go back to work today. I hate my job. There's nothing any better in the plant. They all suck.

Mary Ann