It occurred to me over the course of the day (and not a few emails) that there is probably some confusion regarding my ability to lose 19 pounds in a week.
BAH! I say to those of you who can’t read my mind.
Here is the deal:
1. I am a hefty hepcat mama. I’m no lightweight. I have more to lose, and so I’m going to lose more quickly in the beginning.
2. High metabolism. Does that sound cliche? I feign a straight face here because it cracks me up to say it. Still, Atkins says that those with a high metabolism can expect to lose roughly 6-10% of weight loss needed in the first two weeks.
If you have 200 pounds to lose, that means you could be expected to lose anywhere from 10-20 pounds in the first 14 days (if, and I mean IF your metabolism is not a hot mess). If you take steroids, have thyroid complications or are dealing with other medical issues, you may not lose weight this quickly. If you have less to lose, and you’re not a guy (they fart and sprout a six-pack of abs), expect to lose less.
3. I didn’t keep a menu because I was busy. I will say this. I listened to the good Dr and follow the 2002 plan. I eat my 3 servings of veggies per day, stick to cheese limits, and eat fat and protein to help temper the minimal veggie sugars.
I ate: Cauliflower stuffed crust pizza, salads, a Wendy’s Baconator, a Red Robin Guacamole Bacon burger wrapped in lettuce, steamed veggies, veggie trays, little cheese cubes, pepperoni and olives. (Not all in the same day).
I eat when hungry and stop when no longer hungry, and I drink water when thirsty.
I don’t use sugar alcohols (they keeel mee) and I try to keep artificial sweeteners to a minimum.
I also keep food always ready and handy; otherwise when starving, it would be too easy to make the wrong choices. Today I’m mad at myself for having no frozen cauliflower in the house to make lasagna noodles.
4. I weigh daily. Not as an obsessive gesture, but to gauge if something from the day before threw me off track.
Other than that, I haven’t done anything special. I’m just fat, bloaty and full of high metabolism–which, I might add– is going to kill me eventually. high metabolisms tend to poop out more quickly than the lower ones, accounting for males dying sooner than females.
That said, I’d better get thin. Who knows how long I have before the old ticker goes kerplooey and hubby’s collecting the insurance. (LOL)
Does this help? I’m rambling now…
Hi Cleo,
that is so great to hear about your weight loss keep it up.And if you could keep like a journal of what you eat in a day for people to get a idea what you eat every day.I did Atkins last week for five days and lost nothing so i thought i would eat carbs for a 48 hour period to maybe trick my body,bad move it has turned into a carb fest.I have about 110lbs to lose i dont know why i didn’t lose in those five days but i will try again and thank you so much for your lowcarb inventions.
thank’s Bill
good going on induction. when you last left Atkins, did you have a regain or are you starting at a lower weight. Last I recall, I think you were about 275. Still 19lbs is amazing in 2 weeks.
Hi Cleo! Just wanted to tell you… WAY TO GO! Way to stick to induction! Keep it up!
Kelly W.
Indiana
Hey, Bill! I should keep an journal, but I work 12 hours a day and haven’t had time! I will try to be more diligent, but don’t hold me to anything.
It’s hard trying to trick the body, especially when it thinks it’s tricker!
Anonymous– I did regain some, fo sho! I am relosing some of that now.
Kelly– Thanks so much! You are so sweet,
Wow, 19 pounds in one week really is a lot.
I have lost that much before, but only when I was on a complete fast, with water only.
Best wishes to you.
Good post! Glad to see you walkin’ the walk again. My weight loss is so slooooooowwwww that I think what keeps me going is re-reading Taubes. This is the healthiest diet. There are people who can “get away with” eating sugars and starches, but that doesn’t make those foods healthy. And most of those folks will, sadly, pay the price later, as I am paying now for years of eating lots and lots of “healthy” whole grains.
When you talk about eating low carb, will your hubbo and kids listen at all?
EDIT BEFORE POSTING!!
I’m not actually a guy, Cleo. I’m a Grandma. Willie is short for Willa Jean, and I’m Aunt Wie on most of the boards. Wonder if I can change my user name here to avoid confusion. Sorry about that.
Feel free to delete this little tidbit.
From Willie (I edited out some personal information) sorry I couldn’t publish without editing!
“Good post! Glad to see you walkin’ the walk again. My weight loss is so slooooooowwwww that I think what keeps me going is re-reading Taubes. This is the healthiest diet. There are people who can “get away with” eating sugars and starches, but that doesn’t make those foods healthy. And most of those folks will, sadly, pay the price later, as I am paying now for years of eating lots and lots of “healthy” whole grains.
When you talk about eating low carb, will your hubbo and kids listen at all?”
My kids and hubby are carb lovers, too, so I definitely make this way of eating less painful for them. It isn’t easy!
You are doing so wonderfully, Willie! I am so inspired by you!
Hi, Jim! I have no self control. I am impressed you were able to do a water fast. I couldn’t do that unless it tastes like jelly beans. lol
Question about weighing daily: do you find that your mistakes really show up the day after? For me, I’m usually fine the day after; it’s two to three days later that I run into trouble.
Hey! Great post. I started atkins with my dad on New Year’s, he had about four times of what I’ve had to lose, and I’m down about 15 lbs in 6 weeks…. 10 of which were in the first 4 weeks. It’s slow going, but digital scales help because they are more numbers to look at (i KNOW i KNOW shouldn’t focus on the numbers! but they’re gratifying!) Love your site, keep up the great work 🙂
Can you elaborate on the sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners? I was on Atkins for 6 weeks recently and lost ZERO. I did use Splenda and had 2 SF jellos/day. Are you sensitive to amounts that small? Maybe that was what my problem was.
Ok Cleo, I have a thyroid issue. And I still lost a lot in weeks. But I had no carbs at all, no rice/pasta/bread/ except for a bowl of fiber 1 (0riginal-65% fiber) cereal for breakfast w/ a muffin for a mid morning snack at 10am. Natural sugars were ok. ; Pure Sugar cane, Pure Maple syrup, Corn syrup or Molasses. I drank tons of water if my body said I was hunger. Waited 1/2 hour and if still hungry, then I ate. Always 2 glasses of water first. No butter or margarine. Extra virgin olive oil only 1 hand full of natural almonds/hazelnuts each day, no more. Salads were always spinach base. No iceberg or mixed salad leafed lettuce but you could mixed some in if you wanted to, but not a lot. Salads were always with only 1 teaspoon of dressing / large bowl. You don't taste the dressing that much at first, but you get used to it in time. Strawberries and spinach by themselves were a snack. Vegetables always raw as much as possible. No dip with them. Meat/fish/poultry all you can eat. Home made (from scratch) spaghetti w/ fresh spinach. Home made soup (no pasta or rice/no crackers or bread with it.) Had whole grain pasta only (not whole wheat or regular pasta -big difference) once a week as a treat. I started w/ walking on the treadmill every day until I was up to 1/2 hr, then I ran starting at 30 sec. /day on day 5 and adding 30sec each other day until I couldn’t do anymore. When I felt I could, I started adding 30 sec. /day again. I walked for 5 min. before running at all each day to give my body time to adjust. After reaching 15 min., I started in the middle of my 15 min. run (approx.7 ½ min. into it) to increase the speed for 30 seconds again. And did the same for the increased speed (every 30 seconds every couple of days) until my body said enough. I never weighed myself. I waited until others told my I looked like I was losing weight. It took less than 3 weeks before someone told me I looked like I lost weight.