19Sep/1025
Atkins Diet: What to do about a stall?
In this the second half of the stall series, I deal with what should be the reaction of those who aren't losing inches or pounds for more than 4 weeks. Note: these are not for those that had a bad week or didn't lose in the last two week. Here's a synopsis on what to try: 1. Take your measurements (make sure you are in a stall) 2. Start a food diary (Fitday, SparkPeople) 3. Evaluate what you are eating 4. Tweak exercise - "try 5" 5. Cut out certain groups (dairy, aspartame, caffiene, newly tried food groups) 6. Post your menu's at online support group sites 7. Fasting diet (Fat Fast or Stillman's Diet) for those with extreme metabolically resistance
May 24th, 2008 - 00:30
i tried the atkins diet but i didn’t defecate for a hole week so i stopped(i was eating a lot of food)
May 24th, 2008 - 00:54
Dr. A prescribes 1-2 TBS per day of psyllium husks or ground flax seed for constipation. You might also consider cutting back cheese intake.
June 19th, 2008 - 14:47
Use the web site SPARKPEOPLE dotcom to log your food and exercise as it is really the best site and it is FREE.
July 10th, 2008 - 23:27
Atkins related that one of the best ways to break weight loss stall is to do the “reverse diet” for 3 days, where you just eat carbs and almost no fat , I heard that this works to break stalls.
July 11th, 2008 - 00:22
Sure you can carb cycle, but why would you want to put yourself through that — the renewed cravings, the Induction flu again. Plus how sustainable is that long term weight loss. There are some people that this may jumpstart a weight loss, but IMO this is more likely to be the “kiss of death” to others.
July 21st, 2008 - 16:38
That seems like an excessive amount of water to be drinking. I have researched drinking high amounts of water and I have learned that you can actually wear out your kidneys. 8 8oz glasses of water a day is plenty.
July 21st, 2008 - 17:18
The research I have read is that the kidneys are built to handle about 6 gallons daily. Every hour, healthy kidneys can excrete approximately .25 gallons of water. So while drinking too much water to quick may mess with your electrolytes, the overall volume should not be an issue.
December 14th, 2008 - 05:37
If you still tempted with junk foods, then it could be that you’re not getting enough of some minerals.
December 14th, 2008 - 05:38
I’ve been on a plateau in the last two weeks. When I’ve found out how to break loose, I’ll tell you how I did it.
December 14th, 2008 - 20:27
Sounds good.. I wish you much luck. Just be sure you keep measuring your body to check for other losses not just losses on the scale.
May 2nd, 2009 - 12:14
atkin if i lose my weight from bicycle riding and lifting weight shopuld i be able to lose my stretch marks n loose skin im 14 n 5 foot 7 n a should be getting taller and i eat my normal 3 meals a day
May 2nd, 2009 - 13:50
Being young and exercising certainly will help a lot. Just make sure you combine that with adequate nutrition like the Atkins Diet. If you go too low, your body can’t repair itself.
May 2nd, 2009 - 23:45
what you mean if i go to low and adequate nutriton? sorry about asking but i just wanna lose this weight and stretch marks but i eat yogourt fruits and stuff my dads friend said i look like im losing weight and im losing it just from eat healthy and eating my noral 3 meals
May 14th, 2009 - 05:55
If you go on a low-calorie diet, make sure you eat a variety of good food that will bring you the adequate amount of vitamins and minerals.
June 28th, 2009 - 12:07
Can you be in a stall if you’re still in ketosis? I can see when I overdo it when my keto strips get lighter, but so far I have never left ketosis (3 weeks). I feel like I’m gaining weight though instead of losing.
June 28th, 2009 - 12:09
cont’d…. I’ve only ate once every 24 hours for the last 10 years, so starvation mode is a good bet. I never really ate more than 1000 calories a day, 1/4 from soda and the rest all carbs, so it’s easy to see why I got into ketosis so easily. But giving up soda, mac & cheese and mcdonalds should have made a bigger difference by now! Anyway, eating 1 meal a day makes me feel bloated and like I gained weight, so I don’t want to eat more times a day (and gain 20 pounds like I did on the Zone).
June 28th, 2009 - 12:09
cont’d… Any idea how to get out of a 10+ year starvation mode without gaining more weight???
June 29th, 2009 - 03:31
My suggestion would be up your Caloric intake for two weeks, ignore the scale completely, and then as the energy starts returning, start exercising or just moving a bit more per day. The point we want to to encourage the metabolism to start back up. You need to encourage it with more energy and the very gradual start of exercising. The point is not to burn a lot Calories on exercise, but to get the body exerting itself.
June 29th, 2009 - 03:34
Absolutely — check out the first half of this video called “Why am I not losing?” for lots of reasons why even in ketosis that you might not lose — too few carbs, starvation mode, food senstivities, not enough water, etc. You can even over-indulge with fat, but given your Caloric intake that isn’t the case.
March 12th, 2010 - 15:07
Ok, so I’ve been on and off (more on than off) atkins for 4 yrs and this is the first time I’ve stalled. I havent lost any inches or weight for 6 weeks – restarted induction past 2 wks, still nothing. Maybe I’m in starvation mode is what I can think of, so I’ll try to eat more fat. I do drink 1 diet soda a day, but never effected me B4.
August 21st, 2010 - 02:20
Kent I have been on Atkins for the past 9 months (7 months diet + 2 off) and in between i took 2 months off thinking that my body had grown accustomed to it as i had stopped loosing weight when i restarted i lost a couple of pounds and stopped loosing again and i have been stuck ever since. nothing has changed on my diet and i keep my daily carbs at 15 so if i missed anything i don’t go over. i don’t drink caffeine and i only use splenda. What do you suggest i can do? Thank you
August 21st, 2010 - 18:59
@andyy25 So have you followed the steps at the top like #2 the online food journal. Send me a message with it.
It might be what you are eating or the amounts of the legal food (like cheese or cream or Splenda) than a simple number of carbs per day question.
You might also want to check out the video — “why am I not losing?” video.
September 13th, 2010 - 16:06
I feel that I have to force myself to eat lately…I’m only hungry for maybe one meal per day….not usual for me. Is it time to up the carbs? Maybe add some berries, nuts?
September 13th, 2010 - 17:20
@wcwify Yep, if you are starting to get bored with your choices or to potentially stimulate hunger, start the OWL phase of the diet journey. You don’t necessarily have to go all out, but increase it by 5g and add one of the rungs.
September 13th, 2010 - 21:17
Thanks so much for your time and advice….will do.