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Attention: Veteran Atkiners -- Can you help me, please? I am wondering when I should go to OWL. Here's my situation -- I am stuck. About 2-3 weeks ago I decided to drop my carbs back some more - focusing only on carbs (@20) not so much net carbs. I lost four to five pounds shortly thereafter; but I feel it could've been more due to my "miracle fat-burning soup" I ate those days rather than the reduction in carbs...(smile) Later, I had the fiasco with the Mrs. Butterworth's sugar-free syrup and said "adios" to that, thinking it was causing me to stall. Now, I'm stuck again - simply fluctuating up and down one pound. I cannot seem to pass the 287 mark.
Here's my dilemma - I wonder if I am not getting enough calories - I've been eating considerably less than my RDI suggests since making the move to reduce my carb intake. Should I go back up and eat more calories, closer to my RDI - could I have worked myself into starvation mode? [I've read whyguy's thread on Atkins.com re. starvation mode and sticking points...] I honestly believe everything I have been eating has been within range of a good clean Induction. Furthermore, I know I am drinking more than enough water...
Could ya'll help me? Can some of you look at my diet calendar and suggest something I might be able to change? Or should I boost my carbs and calories back up? Or, do you think I should move on to OWL? (I am just scared to death if I move up a level then I will totally bomb out and stop losing weight altogether.)
I guess I feel this sense of urgency due to the fact that I am still pretty heavy and the weight should be coming off a whole lot faster than it is. I am nowhere near my ultimate ideal goal weight, which is 140-150.) Any help you veteran Atkiners can offer will be greatly appreciated!
Diet Calendar Entry for 16 February 2011:
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2069 kcal
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Fat: 136.54g | Prot: 130.02g | Carb: 25.79g.
Breakfast: water, Carbmaster Yogurt Strawberry, Egg & Sausage Casserole w/ Veggies. Lunch: cheddar cheese, tap water, Deviled Eggs - Low Carb, My Vegetable Beef Soup. Dinner: cheddar cheese, water, Rotisserie Chicken, water, chunky bleu cheese, lettuce, Turkey and Vegetable Casserole. Snacks/Other: water, Deviled Eggs - Low Carb. more...
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1 to 20 of 24
 Comments
By the way, I've been in Induction now for over going on five months.
16 Feb 11 by member: Evie1010
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I am sorry to ask you this question but - what is your exercise level? I am not a successful Atkins-er now but have been in the past. As you know, I am a slow loser. I do know that 'for me' the exercise is much more the key to weight loss than is the WOE. I also know that in my past, I have had long time stalls that were only broken by exercise. If I was stalled and increased my carbs - I put on weight. Slowly - as with the weight loss - but I did put it back on. Honestly, once you let yourself have more carbs, it is really hard to go back down. I know you are successful and very determined but if you do add the carbs, be careful. Just my opinion.
16 Feb 11 by member: esimnons
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Hi Elizabeth, I walk 2 miles 3 to 4 days a week or more. THANKS for your input. (btw, I sometimes forget to log my activity on FS, but I do always log my food daily...)
16 Feb 11 by member: Evie1010
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Slow loser here too, remember your fat and protein ratio. more fat may be needed, but then you still have to watch the calories.
16 Feb 11 by member: metoo2
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Sorry just read your food diary, and it looks like too much food. leave off the yogurt for awhile and limit te cheese.
16 Feb 11 by member: metoo2
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Well maybe I will not be much help. I have never found a cure for the dreaded stall. I think they are our bodies way of catching up to us. I know that I stall even when I am gaining weight.
I did look at your food diary a little. I may be wrong and probably am to be honest but it looks to me like you get an awfully large amount of veggies in a day to be having such a low carb count. Is it possible that you are miscalculating the serving sizes? I doubt that you are because I know you work really hard at this but it just seems that I am over 20 carbs by eating many fewer veggies that you apparently are eating. Maybe it is carb envy or something like that :)
16 Feb 11 by member: esimnons
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metoo, my fat/protein/carb ratio has been right where it is supposed to be according to Atkins. (carbs 5-7%/ protein 30-35% and fats around 60-65%) I typically only eat the carbmaster yogurt once a week - rarely ever twice in a week.
16 Feb 11 by member: Evie1010
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btw, it cannot be too much food as I have been eating 500-800 calories below my recommended RDI...since lowering my carb intake due to metabolic syndrome. Thanks anyway for chiming in...
16 Feb 11 by member: Evie1010
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I'm not sure you have a problem, Evie. I know it feels like one but consider this...you were 293 on 1/20 and 287 now. That's a 6-pound loss in about 4 weeks, give or take. Yes, I know you were 293 back on Christmas Eve too, but I think any "problem" you had occurred between then, 12/24, and 1/20, not in this last month. In fact, in view of your recorded measurement changes as well as this 6-pound loss, I'd say you're doing very, very well. Your average calories in January were 1628 and you're running 1609 right now, so pretty close. Your previous months were too spotty to see any trend. You could certainly go on to OWL. Yes, even the Atkins book cautions that weight loss will slow down in OWL, but at some point you need to feel comfortable eating other foods and seeing what your body can and cannot handle. But you're certainly fine staying in Induction if that's what you'd prefer, food-wise and speed-of-weight-loss-wise.
16 Feb 11 by member: Sandy701
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Sandy it is so apparent that you put some real consideration and effort into analyzing my track record -- for that I am utterly grateful. :) I will be mindful of your input, for sure. It could very well be that I am being too impatient with myself. I wholeheartedly agree with you that a problem/sticking point did exist back in January, and I do feel I got a handle on that, learning, over time, how the sugar alcohols in my favorite sweetner were affecting me. I reverted back to Stevia and sucralose and did much better. THANK YOU - I can't tell you enough how much I love you and appreciate your help and awesome support. SO fortunate that you are my buddy!
16 Feb 11 by member: Evie1010
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Evie, One other non-atkins suggestion. You mentioned above that you are "I walk 2 miles 3 to 4 days a week or more". The last time I stalled while doing very well with my eating it took mixing up my exercise, either adding more, picking up the pace (even for a minute or two here and there), walking with 1-2lb weights or completely adding something new. I found that this helped break the stall for me. Your body has probably adapted to what you're doing and you need to challenge it more physically. How you choose to do that is up to you. Best wishes, whichever road you choose. You CAN certainly do this!!!!
16 Feb 11 by member: vackerman
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Evie, it looks to me like you're doing pretty well. I checked your daily food intake and the only thing that jumped out at me is that on most days, you're not even getting close to the 12-15 net carbs in foundation vegetables recommended on Atkins. I know that's easier said than done because I struggle with it too. I'm trying to deliberately select some of the higher carb foundation veggies to get my total up each day, but it's still a battle. Sometimes I feel like broccoli and cauliflower must be coming out my ears by now! Anyway, hang in there. Overall, I think you're doing well.
16 Feb 11 by member: Urelle55
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Looking at the other posts I stand by my private message... I don't think you're eating enough... I weigh 237 right now and am VERY sedentary with my back injury and am eating from 1700-2200 calories a day depending on how hungry I am and how naughty I've been. When I was at your weight my RDI was 2300 I think and I ate about 2600 calories a day to lose. When I was working 2-4 days a week at a semi active job I found I was burning about 3,000-6,000 calories a day depending on my activity level. As whyguy says we must log our activity to judge how much we should be eating. Our RDI is what we would eat to maintain our weight just laying in bed all day long!
If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask again!
16 Feb 11 by member: Myree67
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Hi Evie, I can't really offer advice, as I am newer to this WOE than you...so I consider you the expert...honestly, Evie, you are doing so well. I think you may just be a little impatient with your body..you are losing inches like crazy...I don't think you are being fair to yourself using that dreaded silver box...as a measure of your success. Keep at it, slow and steady wins the race....Much Love and Hugs.
16 Feb 11 by member: Raven46
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Myree67 does make a good point. The recommended daily calorie intake for women is 1500 to 1800 a day. You're coming close on many days, but are seldom in the upper part of the range. I haven't been on Atkins that long, but I have already started to notice than when I eat more, I lose more. Go figure!
16 Feb 11 by member: Urelle55
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Thanks Deborah! Will keep that in mind! Myree, and others, I think I am going to go back to what I was doing before to get my calories up because the only reason I've not been hitting the higher caloric amount the last couple of week is due to the fact that I reduced my carbs down to 20 (total; not net). For this reason I was not getting near the 2000 plus cals I am supposed to be getting daily - (it needs to be a minimum of 1500 for women) but due to my activity level and starting weight, it needs to be higher. I trust Myree's advice because she and I also started at the same beginning weight and we've both been really successful on this WoE. Plus, while PCOS slows my WL down some, she also faces a separate yet similar deterant to quick WL but LOOK AT HER GO! SO, I began this experiment today. Let's see how it goes!
16 Feb 11 by member: Evie1010
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Hi Sis...you have lots and lots of buddies giving you advice. Please be patient with yourself and I know that with some mixing things up that you will be kicking that scale gremlins butt. Love ya!
17 Feb 11 by member: Cindy Thompson
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I found this artical from Collette H, Nutritionist for Atkins, extremely informative. Thought I'd share...
http://community.atkins.com/ugc/blog/viewBlogPost/p/blogPostId/5394035/_Don_t_Get_Hung_Up_on_Induction.htm?campusId=700
17 Feb 11 by member: Evie1010
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Evie can you copy and paste into a thread in the forums...like today's happenings or something...
17 Feb 11 by member: jsfantome
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Hey, you didn't go to sleep w/ my last email did ya? Just checking? LOL!
17 Feb 11 by member: jsfantome
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