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Joined: Jan 2004
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I lost 50 lbs in 8 months being strictly on the Atkins diet and kept it off for 2 years. As anyone that's been on this diet knows, it's rather expensive. Long story short. I put all the weight back on. Now on my second go at the Atkins diet, I find after a month that I can not loose more than 5 lbs. I'm not exercising any more/less than I did the first time - not on medications, nor diabetic. It seems that wouldn't be possible being in moderate to heavy ketosis, but I'm stuck. Any suggestions?


Moods
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I guess my first question is, how does Atkins end up being expensive for you? If anything, Atkins should be LESS expensive than the normal American pattern of eating a lot of processed food. By cutting out all of the junk food, processed food and sugary things (sodas etc) you should be spending way LESS money. You're buying fresh fruits and veggies, fresh meats and avoiding all the expensive name-brand expensive things on the shelves. You're drinking water instead of soda. Most people I know on low carb / Atkins end up saving tons of money on groceries ...?

But OK, back to the real question. First, are you sure you're really under 20g/day right now? It's very easy after a while of low carb to get used to the "general" maintenance stage of low carb that includes nuts, whole grains, sweet potatoes, etc. But when you are in induction you cut a lot of that out so that your body is in high fat burning mode. Take a look at this list -

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art16194.asp

make sure you're not straying from that list.

Also, your metabolism may have slowed since you last did Atkins. All of us get slower and slower metabolisms as we age. So your body may need fewer calories to get through a day. Look at the portions you eat - are you sure you're stopping when you are full? Or are you clearing your plate "just because"? Try only serving yourself half a "normal" serving of each item when you eat. You can always go back for seconds, but you should never start out with a full plate. Going for seconds should be a normal part of eating, because it helps you be more aware of how much you really need to eat before you get full.

Finally, be sure you are drinking 8+ glasses of water a day, taking all your vitamins *including* essential oils. These are key to your body working properly and therefore losing weight.

If you do all of those things for two weeks and are still at a plateau, it is time to start adding a bit of exercise into the mix. If your body has little muscle in it, it has nothing that needs to burn calories. Muscles burn calories just by existing. So you need to maintain a healthy percentage of muscle in your system to burn the calories you feed it. Most people lose muscle every year as part of aging - so while you may feel you're exercising the same amount, you probably have less muscle now than you did back then. Meaning that you have to do something to develop it back again.

Let us know how you do!!


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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how does Atkins end up being expensive for you?

The cost of a variety of meats/cheeses/vitamins outweighs my usual diet which didn't consist of pop/chips/junk food, but of rice, potatoes, bread, fruits and the no-no vegies (and are much cheaper). One annoying problem I've had with Atkins is that there is nothing you can just grab and eat. It all has to be cooked or processed. Unless, you spend the outrageous amount on Atkins products at the store - like $2.50 for a candy bar, $3.75 for half a gallon of Atkins milk, Splenda vs. Sugar ... etc. It does get expensive.

As I said, I had lost my weight and kept it off for 2 years, so I know what to eat and what not to eat and how many carbs I'm consuming ... yeah, I know the drill. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm a computer dweller and it's my living. So I guess I'll have to somehow make time for more exercise.

Thanks,


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I'm a computer person too so I know how that is <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I found it critical to find other hobbies to get me out of the house. So find some people to bird with, or to go mall shopping once a week, or go dancing at a local club. It is REALLY important to get your blood going at least once a week, to keep all your blood vessels healthy! So that should be a critical to-do on your list no matter how you choose to eat.

You should always be taking vitamins, so that price shouldn't be different. You should always be eating healthy veggies. So really the difference would be that before you chose to eat vegetarian with rice/pasta/potatoes, assuming you ate no meat at all before. So now you're cutting out the rice/pasta/potatoes and eating beef/chicken/fish.

If that's the case, then yes, fish and beef can cost more than potatoes and pasta. But it doesn't have to be a lot more! Bulk chicken wings are REALLY cheap. Chicken in general is very cheap, which is amazing when you think it was not long ago that people DREAMED about "a chicken in every pot". Ground beef is great and can go far. You can eat eggs at every meal. Tunafish isn't too bad. Even with those basic frugal ingredients, you could make a different recipe every day without much work.

Also, you don't have to eat meat constantly. Have eggs for breakfast. Have a salad for lunch. Have snacks of celery and cheese. Then for dinner have say chicken wings, or a burger. I'll have to do some pages up on frugal low carbing!

As far as cooking and processing, I'm really not big on cooking, and I would have found the pasta and rice to be a royal pain! For chicken wings, you toss them in the fryer. The timer dings, you lift them out, you're done. Eggs are super easy. Any veggie is easy - steam and serve. Grilling steak or fish involves no work. Tunafish takes 2 minutes. Egg drop soup takes 5 minutes. Salads are quick and easy. Part of the appeal for me of low carb is that I really don't have to cook ANYTHING. I'm in the kitchen for 10 minutes at the most before I eat.

Sure you can CHOOSE to cook just as you can on any diet, in any eating lifestyle. You can make some amazingly tasty dishes if you want to. My boyfriend loves to cook and does so. But you don't *have* to. Because you have such fresh foods and ingredients, they taste great all on their own. You just put a dash of garlic powder or oregano or whatever on it, and relish it!

What are some of your favorite meals? We'll see if we can find easy versions of them that you enjoy <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'll also start putting together lists of "quick low carb meals" for people who want easy food.


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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Okey dokey, I have created a list of easy low carb recipes, and also a page on how to do low carb frugally. Please let me know if there are types of recipes that you enjoy that aren't on the easy list, and I'll look into it!


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
Low Carb Forum

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