Dani_Suave's Journal, 17 January 2012

Hi! Hey, you have lost 16 pounds! That's a great start! I am still getting reaquainted with Atkins so I am no expert, but wanted to help if I could. I scanned your diet calendar and what stuck out at me was that you eat a lot of protein versus veggies and have several sweetners throughout the day. You should be eating more veggie carbs than any other. You may want to cut out some of the peanut butter and eat more veggies in place of it. Just a suggestion of course. You have to find the right balance that works for you, but sweetners can cause some people difficulty also. Keep your chin up and take it day by day. 

Hi Dani. As sierra has already said, 16 pounds is great; it's nothing to sneeze at; and though you've reached a stall point, don't give up. I was in a stall for four weeks, before the weight started coming off again. Take a look at what you've been eating, to find the hidden carbs in some of what you've been eating. Peanut butter, for example, though you eat only a tablespoon at a time, has four net carbs per serving. The jello cheesecake, sugar free or not seems to be a bit heavy on the carbs. Try adding new veggies to your diet, to aleviate any bordom with your diet. Roasted turnips, for example, are great with any grilled or roasted meat. Pan grill some zucchini, and dress it with a low carb buttermilk ranch dressing; Ken's Steakhouse, makes a very good one. One of my new favorite lunches is salad greens, topped with canned tuna, and blue cheese dressing. It may sound weird but pork rinds, as croutons, adds some crunch to it as well as an extra punch of flavor. Stay the course, get some variety, and eventually the pounds will start coming off again. Good luck!  

Oooh you guys have some good ideas. I think the jello stuff is a trigger that I'm going to have to avoid for a while. It started innocently enough but looking at it now.... its just plain gotten dirty haha.  

Ha! You know....sugar free jello is a gateway dessert! I know. Bad. But hey, it probably made ya smile!  

Dont' get discouraged you are doing great! The stall is only temporary, you will see and the weight will continue to fall off. Just stick it through. 

Dani, you are doing just fine. Try to eliminate the processed foods, and the artificial sweeteners. I know that you think the protein may be slowing you down, but I think that perhaps you aren't getting enough veggies in. Try to increase the veggies, cut back on the sweet stuff...that whipped cream, sf jello, and sf pudding can be a real loss killer, believe me I know. I think if you try that you'll find the weight will start moving again. You have still lost 2.4 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Looking back at my weight loss charts when I first started, I was averaging about 1 pound per week, after the initial loss on induction. You are doing fabulous...just hang in there, it'll move again! :) 

Sierra - yep big grin! That stuffs dangerous. I think I'm going to stick to the cream and cocoa powder mix the book offers as an alternative. But the butterscotch pudding in the cupboard is calling my name.... bad dani nono. 

ShyGuy - the tuna salad is a great meal! Minus the pork rinds. Gak. I tried those a while back and about gagged. Any other thoughts for the crunch? I was thinking making parmesan "croutons", just baking some in the bottom of a mini muffin tin till it gets crunchy? Or maybe some cheddar "chips" the same way. Have you tried anything like that? 

Thanks guys! I guess its just that I started out so strong and since I've gotten stuck its frustrating seeing it taunt me for this long. Especially when it finally budged, I really thought I was through it. Dumped a bucket of water on my enthusiasm for a moment when it was all the way back up today. I appreciate the closer look at my food stuffs - I've been so dilligent in keeping it up that it really helps for review now. I tried making my MIM with the peanut butter spread on it today instead of in the mix and my usual 2T was too much so halving the peanut butter should be easy. Staying away from the sweet stuff is just going to have to happen for a while I guess to see if it is causing a negative reaction. One cup of tea a day will need to be my limit, so that leaves me at 2 packets a day at most. Just gotta make myself get to the store and stock up on the frozen veggies to make sure they're always available at work since I'm fairly certain the fridge bandits won't make off with them. I'll give it till monday and if somethings not going by then something else will have to give! 

Dani, I know you are not going to give in....just keep on going you will break through this...just one of those things we have to deal with hard I know but you a strong woman....it will start coming off again.....you are such a great buddy...give lots of encouragement to others, so give yourself some too :) 

You'll get there.