POST INDUCTION STALL ANYONE?

[jamistar77]

I got this from another low carb site. PISS (post induction stall syndrome) is NO REASON TO QUIT
After I read this it really gave me encouragment.

(1) When you start Atkins induction, your body dumps a lot of water
along with the stored glycogen, and there are other hormonal things going on
that promote water loss. So you lose several pounds of water, sometimes
more. You may even get slightly dehydrated at first. (2) As you continue on
induction, your body begins to adapt to the reduced carb intake. Water
retention is gradually normalized, so that you are no longer dehydrated. A
pound to several pounds of water weight may gradually return. (3) As the
small amount of water weight gradually returns, you're also gradually
burning fat. The water weight increase is offset by the fat loss, showing a
net slowdown or even "stall" on the scale, sometimes even a small increase
on the scale. (4) As you continue low-carbing, the gradual loss of weight in
the form of body fat will finally start showing up, and you'll start seeing
the scale moving down again. This whole process may encompass a period of a
month or more. Seeing the scale stop changing, or even a small increase in
weight is therefore pretty normal for many Atkins dieters, and is not a
reason to drastically change the diet or start doing a radically hypocaloric
thing. It is always a good idea, at any stage, to be careful about your carb
intake, to make sure you're correctly charting your carb intake.

If, after four weeks past induction, you are not seeing the scale start to
move, then you probably want to look at ways to get past the stall. A true
stall is not diagnosed, by the way, unless you've gone 6 weeks without loss
on the scale or in inches. Methods such as counting calories, stepping up
exercise, increasing or decreasing carb intake, cutting out certain types of
foods can be tried, preferably not all at one time (so you know what is
working and what isn't). Also be aware that on low-carb diets, many people
(not just women) seem to lose weight intermittently, rather than gradually.
They will go along sometimes for several weeks with nothing showing up on
the scale, and then all of a sudden, in one day or over a couple days, lose
several pounds. Nobody seems to know why, but this seems particularly common
to low-carb dieting. Patience is a good trait for low-carb dieters to work
on.

[Minerva]

Dr A's definition of a stall (plateau):

"You have experienced no weight loss or loss of inches for at least four weeks." p 182 DANDR 2003(My emphasis.)

[junkfoodmonkey]

I call this the "Holy crap, this is for real! Adjustment." Our bodies are so used to the "Start on Monday, off by Friday" diets that when we actually stick on one and start losing weight and keep going our bodies are naturally taken by suprise by this new state of affairs and need to take some time to adjust and settle in for the long haul.

After all, we change the whole way our bodies fuel themselves when we do a ketogenic diet. That's a heck of a change!

[2big4mysize]

it isn't just on Atkins

this slight hesitation in scale weight loss will occur on any weight loss program. Check your inches cause as the OP stated you are shifting body fat loss with a fluid weight gain and fluid is denser then body fat so you can clearly see the inches of body fat being burned off while you are working both the exercise and eating parts of your atkins even when the scales don't validate your hard work.

those pounds coming off overnight are the result of the low carbers body kicking thoise fluid pounds to the curb cause the fluid was interfering with biochem processes inside the body.

then the no scale moving inches gone sudden over night pounds lost cycle will strat all over again and continue all the way to goal weight.

[milmndude]

This explains so much...thank you!

[CherylB]

Thanks; I needed that. I have been concerned over being "stuck" at 223.6 for one week. I think I will try being more selective about which carbs I take in, as you suggested above. I love onions, and know that they, like any other allowable carb, must be consumed in moderation. So, I will, starting tomorrow, (already had some today) lay off the onions and see if this helps. I won't make any other changes, so I can see how this one change affects me.

I am broke right now and don't even have a tape measure (had one, and tore the house up looking for it, but alas...) I do feel much better; going up and down stairs is less of a strain on my knees. I feel my face slimming down, and even think I notice my arms shrinking a bit.

I will try not to weigh so much. Maybe once a week only. There is one thread regarding "daily weighers" and I read it. It's depressing! Why put yourself through that? It's better to just trust the process and focus on getting it right.

By the way; has anyone noticed that their plataeu resolved more quickly by adding exercise? I haven't begun to exercise yet. I told myself I would when I got under 200 lbs. Is it a mistake to wait?

[2big4mysize]

Yep mistake. Dr Atkins says if you are not exercising you are not doing his program in chapter 15 of DANDR 2002. exercise both aerobic and resistance are mandatory!

Since you can't find your tape measure cheat and use a thread or string. tie a knot where you are today and next week remeasure and add a new knot to mark your shrining body. Label them with tape so you don't use your chest string to measure your waist and get excited about how little you got and then think your chest grew cause your waist string says the knot is bigger this week.

[Nitebreez]

Label them with tape so you don't use your chest string to measure your waist and get excited about how little you got and then think your chest grew cause your waist string says the knot is bigger this week.

[CherylB]

Chest growing??? God forbid! Ok; ((sigh)) I will start working out. Bummer.

[ready to live life]

Thanks very helpful and encouraging, trying to stick with it even though things have really slowed down.

[peanutte]

I have yet to experience a stall, but the only time I had a mini-stall was in the fifth, sixth and seventh weeks after starting Atkins; I stayed exactly at 175.2 for three weeks straight, and then that eighth week I dropped to 172.2 after doing nothing differently EXCEPT switching from coffee to decaf.