Not losing at all, 5lbs in 4 weeks, ADVICE please?

[voodoo]

Hi, okay I'm following the book to the letter, I lost 7lbs the first week, gained the second, lost it the third & this week stayed the same.:sigh: I'm SO fed up. I had a pint of cider on Wednesday BUT I cut back on my carbs ready to allow for it. I've been busy, drinking 5+ pints of water all week and a typical day's menu is below;-

Cheese omlette (2 eggs, little butter 1oz Cheddar)
Protein shake (with water & a little cream -low carb & about 150 cals w/o cream)
pork chop/prawns or ham with lots of leafy green salad, FULL FAT mayo-2tbsp and 1/2 oz of blue cheese crumbled in it.
sometimes a sugar-free jelly with a DRIBBLE of cream.
3 cups coffee with 1tsp cream (I know I shouldn't)

Any advice would be appreciated as I'm at the stage of trying Nerys & India's low carb or South Beach (though I had more success with SB than any other low carb or even any other diet, I just got bored) as I'm so upset. I LOVE the food on Atkins & I write everything down.
So many times I've told hubby NO wine thanks (A TOTAL shock to both of us, lol!) no I don't want crisps, biscuits, a Chinese..... I am so determined this time but after 4 weeks 5lbs is not good enough,:cry: I'm 19st 4lbs surely it should be dropping off me?
xxxxxsharon

 

[Jellababy]

Oh sharon how afull to be stalled like that. I can't give advice as to what might be wrong i've only been doing this 2 weeks but i'd like to know whats stalled you. Have u been drinking enough, even if u didnt u'd think after a few weeks something would drop off anyways. Maybe reread the book it does say something about people who loose slow but can't remember what. Good luck with whatever happens and I hope it starts falling off soon

 

[viks]

hmm it does seem strange voodoo.
Have you tried replicating your first weeks food and water? It might be worth a try. You know you lost that week, so it makes sense to see if it woul work again , no?

 

[viks]

I guess you could also try, not having any alcohol ( i dont drink so not a problem for me) i dont use sauces or add salt,
i use garlic pepper or a table spoon of cream cheese to season my dishes, and all my dishes are simple, and really just consist of eggs, chicken/turkey or smoked salmon or tuna.

I dont know if that helps, but also i have a tendency to overload the portions, so try maybe 6 small meals instead of 3, you may find your not hungry for all six.

Im not sure what 5 pints is, but i get aleast 2.5 litres of water down me neck and thats just between 9am and 1230pm the rest is peppermint tea and coke zero.

Perhaps your metabolic restistance is high and you need to re read that chapter in the book

Good luck and if you canstick it out for another week at least on your original weeks food an water and see what happens

 

[Jim]

all the above really Vicky. I'd look at carb creep as well, it's easy to add in extra carbs without noticing or counting.

Oh and that pint of cider

Food Item: Pint of Cider
Food Quantity: 1 pint of cider
Carbs: 20g
Dietary Fiber: 0g
Net Carbs: 20g

 

[voodoo]

Ooooh I knew cider would be bad..... Yes I will try checking everything again, including weighing stuff. I do have bacon & mushrooms quite a bit. The first week I was quite ill & had 2 protein shakes & a tiny salad with ham/prawns (1small handful of green salad) with a little mayo-I don't think that is enough calories/fat really. I am on induction & I really expected 4+lbs for first 2 weeks & 2-3 a week for next couple of weeks though I'm aware it will slow down a lot after the first month or so.
Thanks for the advice.
xxxxxsharon

 

[Boogaloo]

Hi voodoo,

Might also be worth checking the carb content in your protein shake as some of those can be quite high.

You are just like me when I had a stall, I felt I was doing everything by the book, however as others have mentioned it is about working out what is instigating the stalls. (Besides the cider lol).

For me it was cheese. Whilst I made sure I wasn't exceeding 20g a day I wasn't losing anything. Very frustrating. I excluded everything that is know to potentially cause stalls and slowly week by week re-introduced one at a time.

Yes its frustrating and time consuming, but once you have your nemesis identified you can cut it out and start regular steady losing.

Good luck, keep your chin up and you will get there. Oh and by the way, think of it this way..... 5lb off, is 10lb better than 5lb on!

 

[Bad Jar]

Sorry to hear that Voodoo, everyones advice is pretty much spot on.

I only have the whey shakes once or twice a week if I don't have time for something proper - I find they stall me but I'm one of the lucky people who is ok with cheese (sorry folks!)

The thing I find is the toilet issue. That really doesn't help! Even with fibre supplements. (apologies again!)

There is another thread on here about fat fast - seems a bit drastic, but maybe if you only tried that for a day or two? like a kick start?

 

[viks]

Oh the protein shake, yes i would seriously re think that one, my OH has one a couple times a week to bulk up

 

[voodoo]

Thanks but the shake is instead of a meal and it is low carb, it was allowed on IPD. Dunno if I could cut cheese out, if I can't have cheese I think I'll have to try another low carb plan, cheese is my life!!! lol It has helped keep me on plan, without it I'm sure I would cheat in some way, sad I know. I can give up cakes, crisps, rice, pasta, booze even but not cheese. Hello, my name is Sharon & I'm an addict, cheese addict (no insult intended to real addicts)
xxxxxsharon

 

[abz]

hey hon. try cutting out anything with sweeteners in it. when i low-carbed last time i found that sugar free jelly etc really stalled me and i had to give it up. i would stick to real food and introduce processed things gradually.

i too am hoping that cheese will not turn out to be a problem!!

abz xx

 

[Jim]

What Laura says Sharon.