Can't let frustration get to you. The loss will happen. Just have to
figure out how your body works and work with it. I'm going through
upping my carbs to find my CCLL and after 5 steady weeks of weight
loss I'm now seeing ups and downs and for the last week, a slowing. It
is frutsrating, I'd rather see the number decreasing consistently as
before, but I want to find my CCLL. I also need to prove out, to
myself, that I can lose weight just as well at my CCLL(be 30,40,50
carbs) as at 20, which is the theory.

I know one of Atkin's appeal is the whole "you don't have to count"
deal, but for retraining yourself, I think counting is very useful for
getting used to different portions and truly understanding the
composition of what goes in your mouth. After a few weeks you just
start remembering stuff and counting become a little more intuitive.
Hopefully, eventually, it will become natural to just "know".

For me it is a policing action. Last night made some spicy taco meat
with onions, jalapenos, tomatoes; ate one LC tortilla and the rest on
lettuce. Used too much and made too much. I was 0.8 carbs over for the
day--no biggie, but in my mind it put my estimates in check and told
me, I was overdoing. (Spices are a hidden carb, many ground spices
have about 1 carb per teaspoon. Herbs and leafy spices are lower.)
Without counting I think carb creep would happen too easily. And I
think I'm too early in this to just wing it.

One general tip: Online grocers nutrition info online. I use
www.peapod.com Even if you aren't going to shop there you can still
browse through the aisles from the comfort of home and find which
brands are lower carbs than other. PeaPod will sort all the items in a
group in order by price/carbs/fiber/protein/fat/etc. Sometimes quite
amazing how much diference there is from brand to brand of the same
product. It's much easier than standing around in the store aisles.
That's where counting starts for me. Buying choices that are generally
lower carbs.

DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)
350/325/Mar-315/200
Atkins since 1/12/2004

Hey Sunshyne-I'm glad I give you a chuckle and thanks for the smile. Also
it's easy be kind to nice people. :o)
The lasix is a very strong diuretic medication that I take for high blood
pressure. If I take it I shed water easily. If I don't I can feel the water
weight pile on.
Your reply to my post made my day.

<< I'll add more carbs, track what I'm eating on fitday (ok Roger you win) and
find my CCLL. >>

Way to go, Bear!

I finally moved on into OWL-- with less weight lost than you!!-- on Monday,
after exactly 2 months on Induction. It's HARD to eat the five extra carbs--
not hungry!!-- but I'm doin' it. Sticking to veggies for now, maybe next week
there will be some seeds and nuts in my life again...

Fitday is GREAT. I've totally given up on the Atkins.com journal. That website
doesn't seem to load for me anymore anyway, it's really weird...

Anyway... marching bravely onward,

Piedlourde

Call me a sucker, but I just bought the Fitday software. It's a bit
more comprehensive than the site, and for a geek-girl like me, it's
another toy to play with.

Tracking on Fitday is probably the best thing you can do for yourself,
because you can actually SEE what's going on with your plan. Don't
forget to factor in your exercise.

Paper

If it's not one thing - it's your mother.
225/224/150

Jumping to a false conclusion may be good exercise, but it doesn't
work that way.

The entire reason it is *safe* to remain on Induction for as long as
6 months is as long as you follow the rules carefully you get plenty
of nutrients from your food.  Supplementation is to overcome the
problems of modern agriculture and really apply to everyone not just
low carbers.

The reason people give themselves self inflicted stalls by staying
low is the false idea that less is more, missing the single most
important concept in the entire Atkins process.  It is obvious that
eating less carbs should lead to more loss, but it's also obvious
that you can only get fat by eating fat.  Obvious does not mean true.

The reason moving up triggers better loss is the same reason why
the 6 month limit is a safety limit.  It is the second level of
hormone blood levels.  Level 1 is inside the cell in aerobic respiration
boichemistry.  Level 2 is the insulin and glucagon in the bllod.
Level 3 is the T3 thyroid and leptin in the blood.  I suspect that
level 4 is the seratonin and melatonin in the blood but I haven't
had time to do the studies to confirm that.

Set your carbs low enough and beginning 3 weeks later, T3 thyroid
output drops causing reduced basal metabolic rate.  Bingo the self
induced stalls of staying low that are so common.  Bingo why OWL
works in the first place.  And when you through in the fact that
blood leptin levels also throttle ketosis, bingo why those few
Eskimos and Inuits who still live the traditional hunting lifestyle
aren't in ketosis and why there's that 6 month safety limit on
staying low.

It ain't the vitamins.  It's the carbs.  The single most important
concept in the entire Atkins process, that carbs are the tool not
the enemy.

You thought?

Well, thanks for trying anyway.