I gained three pounds after 2 weeks of induction... what am I doing wrong?

[Ben_1981]

After thinking I was doing so well, I'm now very discouraged. According to a hospital scale, I went from 443 pounds to 446 pounds after 14 days on induction. Keep in mind that was coming off a week of a 500 calorie a dayliquid diet where I went from 447 to 443 (so I guess I lost a pound in three weeks of dieting.) A daily menu for me usually looks about like this:

b: 2-3 eggs,some sort of meat (2-4 bacon, 2 sausage etc, 1 fish), and less than 1 oz cheese

s: 1 string cheese

l: 2-4 cups salad, 1oz cheese, 1-2 cup non starchy veggies, lots of Kraft Carbwell ranch dressing (anywhere from 4-10tbls), 10 olives, and 2 tbls ground flax seeds, 1/2-1 cup sliced chicken cooked with olive oil

d: 11oz can of tuna fish and 1/4 cup or so of regular Mayo (or about that much salmon, beef, or chicken)

I've also had approximately 36oz of pork rinds total spread out across those 14 days. I'd use 6oz pork rinds as a meal replacement on some days (or about half that as a snack).

I only went out to eat one time where I had one bite of loose meat that had taco seasoning, 1 ground beef steak patty that was a mystery as to what it was marinated with (soy sause and steak juice?), and 2 pieces of chicken that were lightly marinated in teriyaki (so little I didn't notice the sugary flavor until the last piece, it was almost plain). This is the only day where I *might* have gone over 20 net carbs (but ketostix says I didn't go out of ketosis). Every other day has been at or well below 20.

I've been walking 1 mile a day and I'm deep into Ketosis as indicated by my ketostix. I don't feel hungry in the morning, I don't feel hungry in the evening, but I feel starved at night which makes it hard to control my portions when I get home from work and want to relax.

My work is sit on your butt work so I don't get much exercise away from my morning walk. On work days I usually eat breakfast at noon, snack at 4pm lunch at 9pm, and dinner at 1am and then go to sleep at 3-4am. I work 4pm to 1am and my lunch break is at 9pm to 10pm. On my days off it's more varied but similar in ways.

According to FitDay, I average about 2000-3000 calories, 20 net carbs or less, 150-250 fat (50% sat, 30% mono, 20% poly), and 150-250 protein. I drink 200-250oz water a day with NO soda, not even diet. I don't use any sweeteners (other than what was in my sausage, which I don't eat now), I don't drink Coffee or Tea, I don't drink alchohol, and I don't even smoke.

What can I do to actually *lose* weight? I figure it's just the high calories and protein that are keeping me from losing weight. If I wanted to count calories though, I'd try Weight Watchers. I'm doing Atkins because I don't want to go hungry. I was under the impressing cutting carbs alone would result in weight loss. Obviously, there's more to it.

[Matt]

man im sorry, i cant believe you didnt lose any on induction. I would say that you are eating too many calories is my guess. Are you on any medications? Some medicines, espically anti-depressents, wont allow you to lose weight. If you are on any SSRI inhibitors you might have to stop taking them before you lose any weight. I know a lot of people still lose while taking them, but i know several who cant as well. Dont get discouraged, just keep up with what you are doing and hopefully it will start to work. Good luck!

[susies1955]

It could be too many calories as you said in your message. You are eating more calories just in your Ranch Dressing than some people eat in an entire day.
Most of the beginning weight you lose is water weight and you may have already done that when you did that liquid diet.
Hope you figure it out. Best of luck to you.
I would keep at it,
Susie

[Diana]

11oz of Tuna??? why so much?

That's a ton of Protein... Cut back on that and add Butters and Mayo, olive oils etc. Excess protein can convert to Gluclose and get stored

[jhmart]

I hope the nutritrionist answers for you. Here is my one lil thought. Since you only have 2 weigh ins (beginning and 2 weeks later), it is posssible that you just ate something the day before your second weigh in that caused a gain. I know if I eat MSG I can gain anywhere from 2-7 (yes 7) pounds. I am very intolerant. If the day you went out was that day before the weigh in I'm sure you had MSG that day, taco meat and steak seasoning are loaded. Really you shouldnt have to count anything except carbs on induction and you should lose. Hopefully the expert can give you more advice. One more question how are you feeling? Sometimes I notice the scale is stuck but I am losing inches and my clothes are looser. That means you are losing fat but your body is just retianing water. It will let go of the water if this is the case. Don't get discouraged. I hope you can stick it out.

Jeni

[LindaSue]

The things that jump out at me are the amount of ranch dressing and mayonnaise. Even 4 tablespoons for a salad sounds a bit excessive, let alone 10 tablespoons. That would be nearly a whole bottle on one salad! I would start with cutting back on those two things. Add the dressing and mayo in small amounts just until the salad or tuna are moistened enough to be palatable. You'll be surprised at how little you can get by with. I find that even 2 tablespoons salad dressing makes for a very wet salad. For your salad, rather than pouring dressing all over it, try putting in a tablespoon or two and toss it all together. It goes much further that way.

It does sound like you're eating a lot of protein, but the total amount of food doesn't seem like too much for someone your size. Something you might try, especially at breakfast, is to cook up the amount of meat you'd normally have with your eggs, but don't put it all on your plate. Skip the cheese for now and only make 2 eggs. Eat a couple eggs and maybe a couple pieces of bacon, or whatever, very slowly and see if you're truly still hungry. If you are, add in one more thing and so on until you feel satisfied. I think that just having all that food on your plate at once makes it too easy to eat it just because it's there. If you really do need to eat more, make one more egg or add in that piece of cheese, but only if absolutely necessary. There might be some days when you really do need to eat that much, but other days when you don't. Give your body chance to find out how much it really needs to be satisfied. You always have the option to eat a little more if needed.

Perhaps since you do require more food than someone of a much smaller size, you will need to eat at induction levels for a longer period of time until your body and mind adapt to eating less. It might be a more gradual process for you than for other people.

You might want to watch your use of salt too. We can't tell how much of that you use by looking at your menu other than that you eat bacon and pork rinds, etc. One thing I've noticed of people who are quite overweight is the amount of salt the add to their food. I have no idea why that is, but I've seen it over and over. Maybe try using more spices and only a little salt for flavoring. If you like spicy foods, I've got a copycat version of Emeril's Essence on my site that's very good on most anything. It's easy to mix up a batch and you could use a bit less salt in it to help you cut back, if salt is indeed a problem for you. Here's the link to the recipe: Spicy Seasoning Salt

Don't give up. Even if you stick with it for a month or two months with little results, what are two months in the grand scheme of things? It will go by quickly and it may take that long for things to kick in for you. Hang in there and give it a fair chance.

[goodcelt]

Ben, I just started over the weekend, so, I'm all gung ho, too. I'm sorry you did't show a loss, but just hang in there. Keep doing it.

Here are just a couple of suggestions: maybe you should use a different kind of dressing; make sure your mayo has no sugar. It's really weird but some of the special low carb foods have hidden sugar in them -- not like the sugar that is in milk but stuff like corn syrup, etc. I know when I did this before, there was sugar in the so-called sugar-free low carb ice cream. No wonder I wasn't losing. If you go out to eat, just order a steak or chicken or fish w/o sauces on it. I once went to Ruby Tuesdays when they started their new low carb thing and ordered their new low carb dinner. It was ok but I could have done better just ordering a steak or burger and going for the salad bar. The salad dressing that I would have used up there had no sugar and not much carb in it at all. Would have been better for me in the long run.

I also have been taking advantage of Fit Day. That thing is great. Lets you really SEE what you're doing, so long as you enter everything in there that goes in your mouth, or, what might be going into your mouth. I made a beef strogonoff last night and I wanted to have a little of my garden tomatoes with it and mushrooms. I picked out a small tomato and hald half a cup of mushrooms. Otherwise, I would have gone over my 20.

Just hang in there. You can do this. And keep coming back onto this forum. I love this thing.

[melantine]

Ben, Please don't give this up just yet! I know it can be discouraging to not have the scale move but you are making healthier choices. I remember your first post and have been cheering you on all the way. Please give it 2 more weeks following induction, sometimes we lose inches before the scale starts to move. YOU CAN DO THIS!!

[Ben_1981]

Originally posted by LowCarb4Life
man im sorry, i cant believe you didnt lose any on induction. I would say that you are eating too many calories is my guess. Are you on any medications? Some medicines, espically anti-depressents, wont allow you to lose weight. If you are on any SSRI inhibitors you might have to stop taking them before you lose any weight. I know a lot of people still lose while taking them, but i know several who cant as well. Dont get discouraged, just keep up with what you are doing and hopefully it will start to work. Good luck!

I don't take any medication at all other than a multivitamin.

[Ben_1981]

Originally posted by susies1955
It could be too many calories as you said in your message. You are eating more calories just in your Ranch Dressing than some people eat in an entire day.
Most of the beginning weight you lose is water weight and you may have already done that when you did that liquid diet.
Hope you figure it out. Best of luck to you.
I would keep at it,
Susie

10tlbs ranch is only 550 calories. I usually don't use that much though. Overall, I still only get 2000-3000 a day. The Atkins book said you could still lose in that range.

[Ben_1981]

Originally posted by DianaO
11oz of Tuna??? why so much?

That's a ton of Protein... Cut back on that and add Butters and Mayo, olive oils etc. Excess protein can convert to Gluclose and get stored

Because I'm hungry. 11oz of tuna for me is not much. It's just one large can (not the family can or 60oz Sams can). For me, tuna is not very filling.

[Ben_1981]

Originally posted by jhmart
I hope the nutritrionist answers for you. Here is my one lil thought. Since you only have 2 weigh ins (beginning and 2 weeks later), it is posssible that you just ate something the day before your second weigh in that caused a gain. I know if I eat MSG I can gain anywhere from 2-7 (yes 7) pounds. I am very intolerant. If the day you went out was that day before the weigh in I'm sure you had MSG that day, taco meat and steak seasoning are loaded. Really you shouldnt have to count anything except carbs on induction and you should lose. Hopefully the expert can give you more advice. One more question how are you feeling? Sometimes I notice the scale is stuck but I am losing inches and my clothes are looser. That means you are losing fat but your body is just retianing water. It will let go of the water if this is the case. Don't get discouraged. I hope you can stick it out.

Jeni

At first I felt great but I don't anymore. I'm often tired and sluggish. My clothes don't feel any loser.

I will keep going though, I'm discouraged but I'm not giving up.

[Ben_1981]

Originally posted by LindaSue
The things that jump out at me are the amount of ranch dressing and mayonnaise. Even 4 tablespoons for a salad sounds a bit excessive, let alone 10 tablespoons. That would be nearly a whole bottle on one salad! I would start with cutting back on those two things. Add the dressing and mayo in small amounts just until the salad or tuna are moistened enough to be palatable. You'll be surprised at how little you can get by with. I find that even 2 tablespoons salad dressing makes for a very wet salad. For your salad, rather than pouring dressing all over it, try putting in a tablespoon or two and toss it all together. It goes much further that way.

It does sound like you're eating a lot of protein, but the total amount of food doesn't seem like too much for someone your size. Something you might try, especially at breakfast, is to cook up the amount of meat you'd normally have with your eggs, but don't put it all on your plate. Skip the cheese for now and only make 2 eggs. Eat a couple eggs and maybe a couple pieces of bacon, or whatever, very slowly and see if you're truly still hungry. If you are, add in one more thing and so on until you feel satisfied. I think that just having all that food on your plate at once makes it too easy to eat it just because it's there. If you really do need to eat more, make one more egg or add in that piece of cheese, but only if absolutely necessary. There might be some days when you really do need to eat that much, but other days when you don't. Give your body chance to find out how much it really needs to be satisfied. You always have the option to eat a little more if needed.

Perhaps since you do require more food than someone of a much smaller size, you will need to eat at induction levels for a longer period of time until your body and mind adapt to eating less. It might be a more gradual process for you than for other people.

You might want to watch your use of salt too. We can't tell how much of that you use by looking at your menu other than that you eat bacon and pork rinds, etc. One thing I've noticed of people who are quite overweight is the amount of salt the add to their food. I have no idea why that is, but I've seen it over and over. Maybe try using more spices and only a little salt for flavoring. If you like spicy foods, I've got a copycat version of Emeril's Essence on my site that's very good on most anything. It's easy to mix up a batch and you could use a bit less salt in it to help you cut back, if salt is indeed a problem for you. Here's the link to the recipe: Spicy Seasoning Salt

Don't give up. Even if you stick with it for a month or two months with little results, what are two months in the grand scheme of things? It will go by quickly and it may take that long for things to kick in for you. Hang in there and give it a fair chance.

I considered switching to olive oil and vinegar for my dressing, however 1tbs olive oil is 119 calories whereas my low carb ranch is only 55 calories. Quite a difference. If calories are what is killing me, olive oil won't help. I already use olive in all of my cooking, so I doubt I need much more.

I also hardly ever use any seasonings, much less salt. If I'm retaining water, it would have to be due to the bacon/pork rinds you mentioned.

[susies1955]

Originally posted by Ben_1981
10tlbs ranch is only 550 calories. I usually don't use that much though. Overall, I still only get 2000-3000 a day. The Atkins book said you could still lose in that range.

I see.
I didn't think there was a low carb or no carb ranch that was that low in calories per tablespoon.
That still is a lot of calories just to dress a salad.
I hope you get it figured out.
As long as you know you are figuring 'everything' in Fitday then hopefully it will kick in soon.
I would keep the calories more toward the 2000 mark but that is something you will have to decide.
The very best to you.........don't give up.
In my mind there is no better eating plan,
Susie

[goodcelt]

Ben, I just thought of something else. If you go out for seafood, like crab legs, for example, make sure that they bring you real butter to dip them in. If you don't ask for the real thing, they just may bring you a special blend that lots of restaurants use. I ate steamed crabs on my first day (Sat) and happened to remember that.

I don't count calories but I do read labels. It's amazing...

[Ben_1981]

Originally posted by goodcelt
Ben, I just thought of something else. If you go out for seafood, like crab legs, for example, make sure that they bring you real butter to dip them in. If you don't ask for the real thing, they just may bring you a special blend that lots of restaurants use. I ate steamed crabs on my first day (Sat) and happened to remember that.

I don't count calories but I do read labels. It's amazing...

The problem is, I only ate out once and that was a few days ago. At this point, I'm not going to eat anything unless I know 100% what is in it. I check labels on everything. Did you know they put dextrose to just about every single pork product at most grocery stores? Even raw pork chops have dextrose. I also noticed raw chicken at Sams has salt and other stuff in it. I'm very careful about these things and keep everything logged into FitDay. The only place I can buy pure, whole foods is at a nutrional store were I end up paying three times as much for the same thing.

[goodcelt]

I shop at regular grocery stores. Certainly, there are some things that you can find in nutritional stores that you can't find elsewhere but I haven't gotten into that predicament yet. And yes, bacon has sugar in it. The Canadian bacon I eat does not. I don't know about dextrose in the porkchops; never seen it.

Hang in there...reread induction. Good Luck, Ben.

[LindaSue]

Yikes! I never noticed that about pork. I'll have to read the labels from now on.

[Diana]

I hope you can figure it out.

[Ben_1981]

This is today's menu:

lazy breakfast: 3oz pork rinds (480 calories)

snack: 4 broccoli flowerets with 1/4 tbs red wine vinegar and olive oil mixture

lunch: 2-3 cups lettuce, 1 cup raw mushrooms, 8oz shredded chicken, 1 tbs red wine vinegar, 1 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs flax seeds, 1 oz cheese

snack: 1oz cheese

dinner: 6.5oz can of tuna with 2tbs mayo

Totals: 1746 calories, 108 fat, 19 total carb (not net), 170 protein, 1 hard boiled egg

I'm going to try to stay under 2000 calories and 20 total carbs, and 200 protein for 2 weeks and see if there's any loss. If so, I'll keep going. If not, I'll look for a new diet.

[funnygma]

Hang in there Ben. I would make bets this is because of your extreme diet change. That is a lot for your body to adjust to. You can do this!

The other thing is...you started walking so that maybe making a difference for you too. When I really bumped up my exercise...I did not lose anything for weeks.

It will happen!

[missbit]

Ben-

Your menu looks pretty good overall, but it might be helpful to tweek it a bit.

With 4-10 T of dressing, 2 T flax seeds, and 1/4 c. mayo, in addition to your salad + non-starchy vegies and 3 oz of cheese, I am wondering if you might be going over on carbs. I wouldn't nix the vegies or cheese, but I might suggest reducing the dressing (2-3 T is enough to give flavor without making your meal "dressing with a little bit of lettuce") and maybe the flax seeds. Not only would you reduce the carbs, but you would reduce some calories.

True, with Atkins you do not need to religiously count calories as one would with other programs, but calories do still matter. You stated the salad dressing was about 500 calories, but over the course of a week it is more like 3500 calories - which is the calorie equivalent of one pound of fat. By reducing the dressing alone, you could make a difference in your overall calorie consumption and assist your loss.

It seems to me that a lot of your carbs are being eaten at one meal: lunch. Maybe it might be helpful to spread the carbs out a little bit to help keep your blood sugar from spiking. Maybe have the salad w/ protein for lunch and the non-starchy vegies with your tuna or other protein for dinner? Personally, I find it more satisfying to spread things out - it helps to reduce cravings and the desire to snack - even if I am snacking on legal foods.

Also, you did mention that you had just come off of a week long 500 calorie liquid protein diet. It may be that your body is adjusting to the recent changes in your diet. Or, you may have a resistent metabolism.

Other than the comments I listed above, I am not quite sure why you are having the results that you reported. Maybe the nutritionist will have some other suggestions for you. My only suggestion at this point is to be patient and work the plan. You are working hard to make good choices, and your efforts will show. Give your body some time to adjust. You stated that your hunger has been suppressed, which is a good start. Now, you can work on finding a calorie range that will be both satisfying to you and facilitate weight loss.

Keep up the good work, and I am glad that you came to the boards for support.

[Atkins_Nutritionist]

I think there is a simple solution/explanation to your 3#weight gain. The answer is fluid retention. You have not gained fat.

You are eating too much salt/sodium:

b: (2-4 bacon, 2 sausage etc, ), and less than 1 oz cheese

s: 1 string cheese

l: 1oz cheese,
lots of Kraft Carbwell ranch dressing (anywhere from 4-10tbls) not sure if it has lots of salt but you may want to use olive oil and lemon juice instead, 10 olives,

d: 11oz can of tuna fish (canned foods are high in sodium)

I've also had approximately 36oz of pork rinds total spread out across those 14 days. I'd use 6oz pork rinds as a meal replacement on some days (or about half that as a snack).

marinated with (soy sause in teriyaki (salt)

As far as too many carbs: sausage/bacon, ranch dressing may have hidden carbs.

"I've been walking 1 mile a day and I'm deep into Ketosis as indicated by my ketostix. " Many people who exercise lose inches. The scale measures fluid and other factors that effect weight. I'm not sure you have not been losing fat, despit what the scale shows.

"I don't feel hungry in the morning, I don't feel hungry in the evening, but I feel starved at night which makes it hard to control my portions when I get home from work and want to relax." You need to eat befor you get to the point of starvation. This way you will remain in control of what you are eating. You are currently eating 4 times/day, you may want to eat another snack before dinner.

"According to FitDay, I average about 2000-3000 calories, 20 net carbs or less, 150-250 fat (50% sat, 30% mono, 20% poly), and 150-250 protein. " I would like to see your ratio of fats change to 37% monounsat, 30% sat.fat and 33% polyunsat.fat. Decreasing the amount of pork rinds and increasing olive oil (on salads) will help you achieve this.


I think you will find that sticking to the program will get you the results you desire if you cut back on the high amounts of salt you are eating.

Please keep us updated on your progress!

[nobimbo]

In addition to the sodium issue, I really think a big part of the problem is the adjustment from a 500 calorie a day diet. Years ago I went to a weight loss clinic, where I was supervised daily on a 500 calorie/high protein diet. I lost about 100 pounds in 6 months or so, then I stalled. The nurse suggested I take a "vacation", upping my calories to 1000 a day for a couple of weeks. I gained about 8 pounds during that time! Of course, your body was only in starvation for a week, but it can still be a shock to your system. There is evidence that the thyroid can slow down after just 24 hours on a very low calorie diet. Stick with it, and eventually your body won't be wanting to hoard every calorie you take in as fat, and it will begin to trust that you are going to keep feeding it and eventually let go of the fat.

Linda

[Ben_1981]

Originally posted by Atkins_Nutritionist
I think there is a simple solution/explanation to your 3#weight gain. The answer is fluid retention. You have not gained fat.

You are eating too much salt/sodium:

b: (2-4 bacon, 2 sausage etc, ), and less than 1 oz cheese

s: 1 string cheese

l: 1oz cheese,
lots of Kraft Carbwell ranch dressing (anywhere from 4-10tbls) not sure if it has lots of salt but you may want to use olive oil and lemon juice instead, 10 olives,

d: 11oz can of tuna fish (canned foods are high in sodium)

I've also had approximately 36oz of pork rinds total spread out across those 14 days. I'd use 6oz pork rinds as a meal replacement on some days (or about half that as a snack).

marinated with (soy sause in teriyaki (salt)

As far as too many carbs: sausage/bacon, ranch dressing may have hidden carbs.

"I've been walking 1 mile a day and I'm deep into Ketosis as indicated by my ketostix. " Many people who exercise lose inches. The scale measures fluid and other factors that effect weight. I'm not sure you have not been losing fat, despit what the scale shows.

"I don't feel hungry in the morning, I don't feel hungry in the evening, but I feel starved at night which makes it hard to control my portions when I get home from work and want to relax." You need to eat befor you get to the point of starvation. This way you will remain in control of what you are eating. You are currently eating 4 times/day, you may want to eat another snack before dinner.

"According to FitDay, I average about 2000-3000 calories, 20 net carbs or less, 150-250 fat (50% sat, 30% mono, 20% poly), and 150-250 protein. " I would like to see your ratio of fats change to 37% monounsat, 30% sat.fat and 33% polyunsat.fat. Decreasing the amount of pork rinds and increasing olive oil (on salads) will help you achieve this.


I think you will find that sticking to the program will get you the results you desire if you cut back on the high amounts of salt you are eating.

Please keep us updated on your progress!

I appreciate the response. It will take some work but I'll try and get the fat ratios changed. I'm going to ditch the Carbwell ranch completely (it's sweetened with sucralose). That will be hard though because I don't really like the taste of olive oil and vinegar for dressing. I'll experiment though and try to find something I can live with.

Are you not the least bit concerned about my calorie or protein intake? Is 3000 calories and 300 protein a day on some days not considered bad?