The body loses weight very easily the first 6 weeks on Atkins program. The body readjusts for up to 2 weeks at this point, which freaks a lot of people out. They make the mistake of cutting calories (which slows metabolism) or quitting. I assumed my body had lost all it was going to lose. (I never thought I could lose weight & wasn’t even trying, I just had to quit gaining weight. I was scared of low calories so forced an extra 1000 calories a day & still lost massive amounts of weight.) So I increased my calories & carbs another 5g and a few days later "poof" I lost 10# overnight. I didn’t think that was even physically possible, but the weight lost continued albeit, much slower thereafter.
Lowering calories has the body in full conversion mode to slow metabolic process & preserve the fat stores while "releasing" lean tissues (which become extraneous). Low carb works by "releasing" excess fat stores, while low calorie works by catabolizing the body’s lean tissues & fat stores. So the body adjusts occasionally, makes sure there is plenty of food & sees there is no reason to continue holding onto excess fat stores. People think low carb is for weight loss, when in fact it is for normalizing a body & excess fat stores are not normal. Carbs force fat storage with a high carb diet & that is not normal either.
It takes the body a full 6 weeks to become fat adapted. The brain uses glucose & it takes 6 weeks for it to fully convert from being fueled by glucose to being fueled by fats. So during this (I believe, once in a lifetime) period your body is using glucose & converting excess protein to glucose. After the conversion, the body has a choice to either lower metabolic functions or release excess fat stores & your diet dictates which direction the body will go.
I lost lots of weight the first few month & then weight loss stopped. It didn’t matter what I did, the body wouldn’t release any more fat stores. Since I never planned to lose weight in the first place, I was glad to just maintain this weight loss. I continued on with low carbing for the health benefits for several years with no change in weight. I finally quit weighing altogether. I started on thyroid meds & was shocked to find that I lost 60# in the next 2 years. I didn’t even notice til someone I hadn’t seen in a year mentioned that I had lost so much weight. I didn’t think it was possible with what I thought was maintenance level carbs (& quite a few cheats).
It’s been almost 7 years now & every year I’m smaller than I was the year before & much smaller than I was 20 years ago.
Low carb is different but what it’s done to my health has been miraculous, the weight loss was just a nice bonus. It takes awhile to discover different foods but I can have (low carb versions of) pizza, ice cream & cheesecake & still lose weight. High carbs are so seriously detrimental to health, I guess with my health problems, I have a greater incentive to stay on plan.
The greatest tip I can share is to increase your carb levels 5g net carbs every week after induction til you reach a comfortable level that you have foods you enjoy & still lose weight & not worry about weight loss. It may not happen as quickly, but you create a lifeplan.
Visit the low carb forums, learn new recipes & foods. Before low carb, I hadn’t tried 90% of the vegetables at the grocery store. Vegetables, seeds & nuts are the bulk of my diet now.
I highly recommend chia seeds (getchia.com), ground flax seeds & shirataki noodles to greatly expand the diet.
Check out the recipe sites posted below -
Thin and Crispy Pizza Crust
http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/recipe-forum-sticky-threads/549376-thin-crispy-pizza-crust-easiest-ever-pics-included.html
Chilidog Casserole
http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/recipereview/showproduct.php/product/3399/sort/8/cat/all/page/1
Easy flax bread with pics -
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/breads/r/flaxbasicfoc.htm
Cheesecake -
http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/recipereview/showproduct.php/item/3571_cheri%20A%20Cheesecake%20Factory%20Cheesecake%20%28converted%20to%20lowcarb%29
Pumpkin soup & others
http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/lowcarb-recipe-help-suggestions/608599-low-carb-soups.html
http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase1/WhatYouCanEatinthisPhase.aspx
low carb recipe websites -
http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=2
http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/low-carb-recipes-menus/
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html
