Please help me.

[Dedivah]

I'm new here but I'm not new to Atkins.

In 2003 I lost 42 pounds on Atkins. I got pregnant in November of 2003 and I gained every pound back and then some. I followed my Dr's advice and came off the diet. I stayed off through breast feeding. I quit breast feeding in February and have been on Atkins since then. I've lost 13 pounds sinvc then but nothing else. I started at day 1 with induction and am still doing the 20 carbs per day but adding in different foods like stawberries and blueberries. It is normally not easy for me to loose wiehgt but I lost it pretty consistantly in 2003. What could I be doing wrong? I will admit that my life stlye has change drastically since then. I was single and living with my 11 year old son who pretty much would do alot for himself now I'm married with a 8 month old daughter in addition to my 12 year old. Where I used to be able to exercise every day at the same time it is harder for me to exercise every day. I do try to get in at the very least 3 times a week. Also work full time during the day.

I was told by a friend that I should try something else. She said that Atkins worked for her once but not again. I really would like to stick to what I know.

Can you please offer me some sort of advice.


Garamond

[sarahm19]

I'm sorry I can't offer you advice from personal weight loss experience (I am on Atkins for life for hypoglycemia) but I can try to offer some support. Its got to be really hard to work and have a family and try to lose weight all at once, but stay strong. Do try to work out at least three times a week. If you can, try to add in an extra after dinner walk with the family each night or something like that? And if you are off on weekends, get active then too. You dont have to turn into a marathon runner, but just keep your body moving. Got 10 minutes free at night maybe when the kids go to sleep? If you can sneak in just 10 minutes of some strength exercises, like push ups, sit ups and squats, it would be very helpful.
As far as diet, I do believe Atkins will continue to work for you, just stick with it. Do remember that you still have to watch calories though. Eat often during the day (little snacks) so that your metabolism keeps working to burn off that food. I eat every 3 hours. It may take time but you can do it.

[MelodyMH75]

Hi. I, too, have hypoglycemia. It was getting so bad that I would go up and down all day long. When I was up I was almost "high" and when I was was down I could hardly start awake. Plus, I was having facial tingling whenever my blood sugar dropped and some dizziness. Did your doctor reccommend Atkins for hypoglycemia? Will Atkins control it for the rest of my life?

[sarahm19]

yes, as long as you stay on it for life

[scooter]

hey ... ya had a baby ..... used up alot vitamin stores thru the pregnancy and breastfeeding .... make sure your getting everything you need nutrient wise .. drink plenty of water ... go for some nice long walks

[Dedivah]

Please tell me that my scale is playing some kind of sick joke on me.

Today's Weight: 234.5

According to my scale I have not lost one ounce last month!

Needless to say, I'm not in a very positive mood where my weight is concerned and I'm almost convinced that Atkins is no longer working for me.

I mean I feel good about everything else in my life except for my weight. What is it going to take for me? Even if it was 1 pound I could say okay. I exercise at the very least 3 times per week. Most days I am below 20 carbs. I don't use caffeine. I drink 1 diet sprite or fresca per day. I've done Atkins before and I have my calendar and it was nothing like this. There was not 1 month that I was not down at the very least 5 pounds. I've been at this since February. I've lost 9 pounds and that is it.

Right now I'm not in a very good frame of mind. I feel like, if I'm gonna be fat forever I may as well enjoy it and eat what ever the heck I want!!


Coleen

[msmoni]

Everyone has this problem. Sometimes it is our diet, we might eat the wrong things. I have lots of diets before and this one has been very hard, but rewarding. As I know it is not a diet, but a way of life. Once you get the hang of it it works and works well. U will hit stalls and walls, but once you know how to do it, it works. If you do not have the book, you should get it and follow it till you know what you can and can not have. Thats how I did it and saw that it works. Well the choice is yours, but I would give it a very good try before I stopped.

[beckwind]

Sometimes it takes a while after stopping breastfeeding for your hormone levels to come back to normal. It may be part of your problem. I would also ask your doctor to check a thyroid level as it often goes haywire after delivery. Good Luck!!

[gurlradiant]

dedivah,
i just came from where you have been i lost 17 pounds in february and only 1 pound in march the scale didnt move for five weeks. i tweeaked even did the meat and egg fast nothing. so i just went back to atkins induction and waited it out. This week, this very monday the scale started moving again, i lost 2 pounds in 5 days and obvious inches, i can tell by clothes in one week. wait it out hun, its worth it. your body needs time to adjust. also make sure you are not cheating. hidden carbs r everywher

[ldyagtchr]

Having a baby is rough on a body! Give yourself a break. Atkins will work! It's much slower for me this time after the second baby than it was after the first baby, but we're older now aren't we? The older you get the harder it is to lose weight sometimes. I'm just waiting it out. I get frustrated sometimes but I know if I hang in there the weight will come off! Good luck!
Carmen

[la.lady]

I really think you need to drop the fruit... Dr. Atkins says to eat it after you lose the weight that you want to...
Try eating clean and only eat protein and good carbs and see, if that helps get you started...LOL

[route66]

why don't you post a couple days menus and we can see if there's any trouble spots? I do agree with others' comments that sometimes you just have to wait it out. Have you measured? Sometimes you are redistributing and it'll show in your waist size, but not on the scale.

[kcduffer]

I agree with Beckwind about having your thyroid levels checked. Ask for TSH, Free T4, and Free T3 to all be checked not just TSH. It is the Free T3 that actually does the 'work'. If your body has plenty of Free T4, but it's not converting it to Free T3, it does you no good. I'm sorry to hear that your DR discouraged you from Atkins while you were breastfeeding. It's been my experience that they don't know much about either nutrition or breastfeeding.

Your carb intake sounds low. Perhaps you should add more carbs in the form of vegetables. I know that sometimes they get cut back so we can get more of our carbs from 'goodies'.

[Dedivah]

Thanks for responding!

I have a Dr appointment on the 19th and I will be asking her to get my thyroid checked.

I've decided to start inductiona again clean.

Coleen

[CarbAddict]

This seems to be "going around". There are lots of us going thru a stall and trying not to climb the wall because of it! After losing steadily for over a year on Atkins 7/03-8/04 I was not prepared for my first stall to last 6 months!!! I expected to "level off" for awhile and was okay with that for the first 2 months or so but expected that I would naturally start to lose a lb here and there if I continued to stay on plan. NOT! I did not see my digital scale (which weighs to a tenth of a lb) go down in numbers for 6 months. I kept waiting for the "woosh" I've heard so many on this board speak of after being at a standstill for so long, but it didn't happen. Finally, I caved in to my frustrations and started to indulge in a few favorite foods while my sister was here to visit for week and was shocked to learn I had gained 10 lbs back of my 73 lbs lost in 1 week. I had a terrible time getting thru the induction phase when I first started Atkins and just felt that I wasn't ready to put myself thru that again unless nothing else worked...so I came up with a modified induction plan and went on that for 2 weeks and lost all I had gained back plus 3 more lbs and am back in ketosis again.

The important thing to remember is that you are not alone in your struggle to lose weight...that is what brought all of us here to this board. Some of us have been here longer than others, some of us have tried various methods and products, some have more medical knowledge, nutritional training, etc. - but we are all fighting the same battle.

What works for one of us doesn't always work exactly the same for another...but there are so many of us here and they will give you lots of good suggestions and things to try that it is very unlikely that you won't find at least one that will work for you.

As for me, I have realized that I will not sit still for another 6 month "stall". The next time I hit the brick wall I am willing to give my body 1 month to rest or catch up or whatever but when that 30 days has passed my butt is back on induction to get kick started back into losing wt again even if I have to do that all the way to my goal wt.

Good luck to all of you who are still struggling with this...and THANK YOU to all of you who have been there to give a helping hand to those of us who are still struggling.

CarbAddict