BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Plateau - Help

I have been on the lowcarb diet for about two months now. The first two weeks I lost 8 pounds. After the two week induction period I went to phase two and I have not lost or gained I am just maintaining. I have another 12 pounds I still need to lose. I have been at a stand still for the past six weeks. Do I need to stay on the induction phase until I lose all my weight. I thought in phase two you were suppose to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week? What am I doing wrong?

Hi there. Which LC plan are you following? If Atkins, when you say you have gone to phase two, do you mean that you have increased your carbs to 25g a day from 20g? Also, where are you getting your carbs from? What I mean is, are you eating LC products? Some people find they can cause a stall.

Also, are you drinking enough water?

If you post a typical days' menu, I'm sure someone will be able to help you. I am new to this forum but have been low carbing for a while and am happy to help you if I can.

Best wishes

karen xx

Welcome! I am also fairly new to this forum. I have been on low carb for about a year now, and have lost all excess weight. I still eat low carb, however.

I stayed on the induction phase for several weeks, not rushing into the next phase. I had a rather sluggish metabolism and it didn't come off as quickly as some. I had lost much of my weight before I added any carbs back, and then it was only complex carbs, low on the glycemic scale. I still don't eat much that isn't allowed, really, there's hardly any need, with all the good products out there. I think it has developed into a habit and a life change for me, which is really great.

Keep posting, and let us know how you're doing. I hope you've got good guidelines, in the form of the Atkin's book, or something, and are not just doing your own concept of the low carb diet. There's much to be learned and many good tips in that book. It can be the difference between success and failure.

Good luck!

Here is a good website with some info on it. Read 'The Basics' and click on foods 'Not Allowed'.


If you familiarize yourself with all the good things that are allowed, and all the restricted foods (for later phases) you will have much more success. A good low carb recipe site or book is a big help, too, to help you see what all the possibilities are.

http://wilstar.com/lowcarb/index.html

that website is great - they actually have a page dedicated to what to do if you reach a plateau - here's the link to that page.

http://wilstar.com/lowcarb/resistance.htm

Isn't that a wonderful website? At last, some sensible and honest, easy to understand info regarding low carb and also the proper diet for diabetics, insulin-resistant people and anyone who wants to be healthier and lose weight. There's just a wealth of info on there, I hope everyone takes some time to browse around there.
Here it is again:

http://wilstar.com/lowcarb/resistance.htm

LOL you know I do actually have that information on my low carb site too, the site that goes with this forum <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I think linking to someone else's site once was enough, you didn't have to do it 3 times in a row ...

Plateaus are very normal and it means that the energy you are burning is matching what you take in. So you have two choices. Either you look at the carbs you're at and cut back a bit - or you exercise more to increase your metabolism.

When you go out of induction on Atkins the system clearly says to start SLOWLY increasing your carb count by about 5g a week - and that it should be clear when you reach your personal "balance point". You can then go back down by 5g lower, to therefore be losing weight slowly but surely. If you somehow lept from a carb count that let you lose weight to a new carb count that has you in equilibrium, it doesn't sound like you did that ...? Or did you really go up only 5g and at that point you stopped losing weight?

actually ajaye only posted the website twice and I posted a link in between ajaye's to a specific plateau page. sorry Lisa I didn't think you would mind people accessing any info they can get. I personally enjoy the info you provide too.

There's a line there somewhere - one post is fine, three in a row starts to tread on spam <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm sorry, too, lisa. I didn't mean to be offensive or divert people from your website. I always appreciated any and all info I could get on the subject, and still feel it's important to do this diet correctly. For me, it concerns my very life, and I wouldn't confine myself to only one source of information. This is a helpful, supportive website (I thought) and I was under the impression it was OK to post links to reputable sources (certainly not SPAM). I didn't realize you intended this to be a primary source of info. I see links posted all the time by you & others. Frankly, this website was getting a little inactive, but seems to be picking up now, with legitimate low carb comments and questions. I really enjoy your comments and helpful advice, but please clarify if this is a support website, or if we're to refrain from sharing if it involves any other source of info. Thanks.