Why am i not losing weight on atkins induction

1. Why Am I Not Losing Weight on Atkins Induction?

2. If you're on Atkins Induction, but not losing weight, you might think that the Atkins
Nutritional Approach isn't working this time around. While it can certainly feel like
you're wasting your time depriving yourself of carbohydrates, a low-carb diet isn't
magic. There are specific, metabolic reasons why it works better for some people
than others.
Unlike a typical, low-fat, low-calorie diet, Atkins Induction was created to help you
enter the dietary state of ketosis easily and effortlessly. As such, it works best for
those who are insulin resistant, but even those who are insulin sensitive and suffer
with carbohydrate cravings or are prone to binge can benefit from the hunger
reduction that occurs when burning fats for fuel.
I never recommend weighing yourself when you're on Induction. It's better to wait
until Atkins Phase 1 is completely over. That way, you won't be tempted to let daily
water fluctuations and other biological processes control your mood or attitude for
the day.

3. If you can't do that, and you feel frustrated and worried because you're not losing
weight on Atkins Induction, here are 12 metabolic areas that you can explore:
[Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. If you purchase something by using
one of those links, I may receive financial compensation from that purchase.]
The Atkins Diet uses an alternative metabolic pathway than other diets, but all weight-
loss programs work by forcing the body to use its fat stores for energy. The number on
the bathroom scale doesn't reflect how much body fat you're losing, however. It simply
shows you the total weight of:
water
bodily fluids
body organs
muscle
undigested food
stored body fat
that you have at any given moment. If you can't stand not knowing how well you're
doing, the tape measure or how your clothes are fitting are better standards to use
than the scale. However, if you're not losing pounds or inches, you might want to
check out the following possibilities:

4. 1. Not Following the Atkins Diet Correctly
Believe it or not, this is a biggie.
Many people try to implement Atkins Induction without ever having read an Atkins
book. If you don't understand how the diet works, you're likely to approach the
program in the same way you would approach a low-fat, low-calorie diet – as a
temporary solution to achieve some ideal.
I actually see this a lot. People get frustrated when they don't lose weight within a
couple of days, but they don't even know what foods are allowed on plan. They are
either eating off-plan foods, or they are implementing cheat days.
Atkins Induction is not a typical low-calorie diet. Eating more carbs than you body
can use completely destroys the metabolic processes the diet sets up, so when you
don't follow the program as written, you won't get maximum results.
While everyone has different metabolic issues and will respond differently to
carbohydrate restriction, your maximum potential is only possible when you follow
the plan correctly.

5. If you dedicate yourself over the next 21-days and follow The 3
Week Diet as outlined, you will be walking around with 12 to 23
pounds of body fat gone from your waist, hips, thighs, belly and
butt. Your clothes will be looser, you’ll look healthier and more
attractive…and you’ll have more energy than you’ve ever had in a
long, long time.
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6. And that includes sticking with the following daily food restrictions:
4 ounces of cheese
•2-3 cups of salad vegetables
•1 cup of cooked vegetables
•only sugar-free spices
•2 carbs per tablespoon serving of salad dressing
•2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream
•only diet soda sweetened without aspartame
•2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice or lime juice
•3 packs of sugar substitute (Atkins Shakes count as 2 pkg)
•10 to 20 olives
•one-half an avocado
•1 ounce of sour cream (2 tablespoons)
Any convenience foods you use must fit within the Induction rules. For
example, the sugar substitute rule limits the amount of Atkins shakes you can
drink in a day to ONE and also limits the amount of diet soda, especially if you
are a coffee drinker or enjoy diet gelatin.

7. While it's true that packets of sugar substitute contain carby fillers, which is
why you count each packet as 1 carb, switching to a liquid form of sweetener
does NOT erase this limitation.
If you don't want to follow the Atkins rules, that's fine. Just pick another plan.
There are plenty of low-carb programs you might be happier with instead.
2. Unrealistic Weight-Loss Expectations
Setting up expectations of how quickly you think the weight should come off
will only set you up for:
disappointment
unpleasant emotions
looking for blame
It brings a lot of unnecessary suffering when your expectations don't play out
the way you believe they should. Weight loss is not a straight line leading to
goal weight. You won't lose weight every day, nor even every week. For some
people, you won't lose weight every month. I didn't.

8. There is a limited amount of body fat that can be pulled, processed, broken
down, and used on a daily basis. There is no way to override that limitation.
More importantly, a low-carb diet is meant to be a permanent way of life,
rather than a temporary diet, so how quickly the pounds come off during those
first two weeks really doesn't matter. The aim of Atkins Induction is to get you
into the state of ketosis. The aim isn't to lose a lot of weight.
Most of the weight you do lose in the first few days is glycogen and water,
which are replaced once you reach maintenance, anyway. The amount of
weight you lose on Atkins Induction is insignificant when you treat the Atkins
experience as a long-term project for better health.

9. 3. You're Already at a Healthy Weight
Another cause might be that you're already at a healthy weight, but you still
want to diet down further. If your weight is appropriate for your height, Atkins
Induction can help you control your appetite and reduce any cravings for
sugary foods you have, but it won't help you burn body fat that isn't there.
If you're trying to eliminate a few stubborn fat pockets, consider going to the
bodybuilding community for help instead of Atkins. The Atkins Nutritional
Approach isn't designed to get rid of stubborn fat pockets. It's designed to
correct metabolic disturbances that make low-calorie diets too difficult to
sustain long term.

10. 4. Prescription Medications
Many prescription drugs and therapies inhibit weight loss or come with a
potential side effect of weight gain. Some of these include:
•estrogen and synthetic hormone replacement
•birth control pills
•anti-depression drugs
•insulin or insulin-stimulating drugs
•anti-arthritis medications
•steroids like cortisone treatments
•diuretics or beta-blockers
The easy answer, of course, is to have your doctor switch you to something that
won't interfere with your low-carb diet, but that isn't always possible. For some
medications, your doctor might be able to lower the dosage to something
minimal, but if not, you'll have to be patient and accept a slower rate of weight
loss.

11. 5. Prior Dieting Experiences
Each and every time you go off a diet, the body becomes more and more
resistant to weight loss.
A low-carb diet is not something to play around with.
It was not designed to be just another weight-loss diet. It was designed to be a
permanent way of life.
Since low-carb eating uses the alternative metabolic pathway, going off the diet
over and over again will eventually cause your metabolic rate to permanently
slow down. In addition, yo-yo dieting increases your body's ability to adapt to
whatever diet you're following. Quick adaption can make it virtually impossible
to lose weight on Atkins Induction without resorting to severe calorie
restriction.
Similar adaptions can also occur from doing a number of low-fat diets. Health
issues that place the body into a situation that's similar to starvation will also
affect how easily you can drop the pounds.

12. If you have a history of dieting, the weight is going to come off slower than last
time. You're older, and you probably have additional metabolic damage you
didn't have before. There is no way to side-step the fact that Atkins doesn't
always work the same way.
Since the body is primed for survival, anything that your primal instincts
perceive to be life threatening, such as carbohydrate and calorie restriction,
will be considered an emergency condition. Your body will react by adapting to
the situation.
The body doesn't want to give up its fat stores. Neither does it like having to
shrink it's fat cells if it thinks that carbohydrates might be coming in again
within a few days. By yo-yo dieting, that's what you've taught the mind: I'm
going to quit in a while.

13. So your body simply waits for you to do that.
In the meantime, that resistance often manifests by stuffing your fat cells with
water to keep them plumped up and full. As long as you're eating at a calorie
deficit, your body has no choice but to use some of your body fat for its energy
needs. If you give in to your frustration and quit, it will be even harder to lose
weight next time around.
6. Extreme Carbohydrate Sensitivity
The average low-carb dieter can enter the state of ketosis and lose body fat at
an acceptable rate while eating 20 net carbs per day. However, there are some
people who are extremely sensitive to carbohydrate in the diet and must lower
their carbs to what Dr. Atkins called biologically zero.
Other people are sensitive to the sugars in certain vegetables and must eat less
produce than the ANA recommends.

14. In 1972, Induction offered about 10 full carbs per day for the first week, with
salad the only vegetable content allowed. Another 5 to 8 carbs in the form of
cottage cheese was added for week 2. Depending on your particular level of
sensitivity, you might have to eat 5, 10, or 15 carbs a day for awhile instead of
the normal 20.
These individual sensitivities doesn't mean that if you are not happy with how
fast you're losing weight on Induction that you can simply lower your carbs and
miraculously speed up weight loss. The tactic of switching to Atkins 72 only
works if you are extremely metabolic resistant to weight loss, such as those
who have been diagnosed with PCOS.
If you're not severely resistant, but just unhappy with how slow the pounds are
coming off, going too low in carbs can cause your stress hormones to soar.
The higher your stress hormones go, the more resistant to weight loss you
become, so dipping below 20 carbs a day can backfire if you don't need to do
that. For example, when I tried to implement a zero-carb diet several years ago,
I started to really pack on the pounds.

15. The same thing happened when I tried Nutritional Ketosis. Within only a couple
of months, I was well on my way to my old weight.
At the time, I didn't know that I had Grave's disease and celiac disease, so
drastically lowering my carbs and protein invoked a starvation response. Even
now, the response to carbohydrate restriction can be particularly severe if the
thyroid is overreacting or I've recently been exposed to gluten contamination.
But this is not true for everyone.
A lot of people with severe insulin resistance feel better eating fewer carbs.
Sometimes, that is only a temporary situation until your body heals, and
sometimes, the drastically reduced carb limit needs to be permanent.

16. 7. Food Sensitivities
Low-carb diets are high in dairy products.
They can also contain wheat in the form
of low-carb tortillas and breads.
Although I personally gained weight on Nutritional Ketosis, there are a lot of
people who have found success eating that way. My metabolic issues won't be
exactly the same as yours, so if you're not losing weight on Atkins Induction,
you might want to check out the possibility of food sensitivities.
Too much fat or protein can interfere with fat loss in susceptible individuals.
If you're sensitive to fats, they will be easily stored and the body will have
problems burning them for fuel. If you think fats might be problematic for you,
try cutting down on the more calorie-dense fatty foods like heavy cream,
cheese, and butter.
If you're protein sensitive, you might be triggering an excessive insulin
response by eating too many protein foods. Dr. Bernstein recommends cutting
back by an ounce or two of protein per meal, depending on how much you're
currently eating, and then evaluate the results in a couple of weeks.

17. If you're sensitive to sugar substitutes, dairy products, soy, or gluten, eating
these foods can interfere with the weight loss you'll see on the scale. Food
sensitivities and allergies cause systemic inflammation, histamine release, and
water retention. The inflammation also interferes with the way the body
functions metabolically.
You can also be sensitive to individual foods like coffee, avocados, flaxmeal,
coconut, or tomatoes. A low-carb diet is not automatically gluten free or soy
free, and quite often is extremely high in dairy products, so food sensitivities
are worth looking into if you're not losing weight easily.
Keep in mind that chemical sensitivities can also stop progress. Over the years,
I've known people who are sensitive to citric acid, the glycerine in Atkins
products, sulfites, and other food additives. Since the liver is heavily involved in
producing ketones and metabolizing fat, anything you can do to make its job
easier will give better results.

18. 8. Thyroid Problems
The main purpose of your thyroid gland is to regulate the speed of your
metabolism, so if your thyroid gland isn't functioning appropriately, it's going to
be quite difficult to lose weight, even on a low-carb diet. Hypothyroidism can
make you extremely resistant to weight loss. Some of the signs of low thyroid
functions are:
•inability to lose weight
•intolerance to cold
•hair loss
•severe fatigue
•depression
•dry skin
•chronic constipation
•poor nails
•memory issues
elevated cholesterol levels
If you have any of the above, you might want to have your thyroid checked out
by your doctor.

19. In addition, the thyroid will automatically slow a bit with age, which is why
older people can lose their tolerance for colder temperatures. The estrogen
swings in pre-menopause or menopause can also slow down thyroid function.
If your doctor won't treat you because your TSH isn't high enough yet, that's
going to influence the rate at which the pounds come off. The only way to
counteract age without hormone replacement, is to lower your calories to the
point where your body fat starts coming off.
9. Candida and Small Bowel Overgrowth
Candida is a yeast that is normally found in the body, but under conditions of
stress or when you take antibiotics, it can inappropriately spread to other
areas. Yeast complaints are quite extensive, but some of the more common
ones include:

20. •gas, bloating, cramps, heartburn
•frequent headaches or congestion
•bothered by odors like perfume and scented products
•feel worse on humid, damp days
•crave sweets and highly-refined carbs
•prone to hives and rashes
•easily retain water and feel puffy
•feel tired, even after getting a good night's sleep
Yeast infections slow down your metabolism, and thereby interfere with weight
loss. While many people restrict carbohydrates, eliminating dairy products,
yeast- and mold-containing foods, and take probiotics to help repopulate the
gut, if the problem is severe, or it doesn't correct itself on a low-carb diet in 4
to 6 weeks, make sure that you see your doctor.
You might have more problems going on than just yeast or you may need
medical intervention to get rid of it.

21. 10. Intense Vigorous Exercise Routines
This is another major problem I often see: people trying to do intense exercise
routines when they start Atkins Induction, believing that the extra-vigorous
activity will help them lose weight faster.
Actually, the opposite is true.
While exercise is not negotiable on the Atkins Diet, carbohydrate restriction
andintense exercise, such as vigorous aerobics, fast bicycling, strenuous hiking,
playing basketball, or running several days a week, are not compatible for a
variety of reasons.
Strenuous exercise combined with carbohydrate and calorie restriction places a
lot of stress on the body.
Cortisol, adrenaline, nor-adrenaline, and other stress hormones rise when the
body is under stress, triggering an excessive insulin response. Insulin works
with cortisol to clear the bloodstream of any fats available, shuttling them off
to the liver that will store them as triglycerides in your fat cells.

22. Any glycogen stores available will be immediately dumped into the
bloodstream and the body will begin burning glucose for fuel again.
Although Atkins Induction works to clear glycogen from the liver, stress can
cause the body to burn protein for energy at an accelerated rate, instead of
fats.
The lack of available fats in the presence of low glycogen stores will cause the
body's metabolic rate to slow down, especially if the body begins stripping your
muscles for the protein it needs.
In addition, microscopic muscle tears require extra water as well as extra
protein to repair, so water retention can also mask any fat loss, causing even
less-intensive exercise routines to interfere with weight loss on Atkins
Induction.
All of this doesn't mean that you have to totally give up your favorite routines,
but you will have to tweak your exercise to tone it down in the same way that a
dieter must tweak the carb and calorie content of their diet.
Start by doing just a little less exercise and see if weight loss starts. If it doesn't,
then cut down a little more.

23. 11. Eating Too Many Calories
Are You Eating Too Many Calories on Atkins Induction?
Low-carb diets are often thought to be superior to low-calorie diets because
the calorie-in versus calorie-out theory is considered a myth. But that idea isn't
true. Low-carb diets are superior for those with insulin resistance issues, but
calories matter more than your average low-carb dieter wants to admit.
The faulty notion that the calorie theory is a lie is the number one reason why
most low-carb dieters do not make it to a healthy weight.
You must eat at a calorie deficit to achieve fat loss.
That means you must eat less than what it takes to maintain your current
weight.

24. If you're coming to the low-carb table from a restrictive weight-loss plan, such
as Weight Watchers, it's easy to start eating too much on Induction. Dr. Atkins
didn't tell his patients to count calories, but a lot of people get the mistaken
notion that they can eat all the protein and fat they want and still lose weight.
That simply isn't true.
While my own philosophy is to dump the scale for the first two weeks, don't
count calories on Induction, and just focus on getting yourself into a good, solid
state of non-hungry ketosis, most dieters can't do that. However, weighing
yourself every day and worrying about the water fluctuations is only making
yourself miserable.
The more you weigh when you start Atkins Induction, the more you can eat and
still lose weight. The state of ketosis has a tremendous power to curb your
appetite, and if you eat only when you're hungry, you'll still be eating at a
deficit.
However, the closer you are to goal weight, the fewer calories you can eat and
still achieve a decent fat loss. For those with only a few pounds to lose, to make
Atkins Induction work for you, you'll have to figure out your maintenance level
of caloriesright from the start and then keep track of how much you're eating
to make sure that you are not eating too much.

25. To lose one pound per week, you have to eat 500 calories less than it takes to
maintain your current weight. For some people, that is going to drive your
calories down quite a bit.
That's the cold, bitter truth about weight loss and why controlling your calories
and food intake at maintenance is so vital.
The deficit needed to shed even 5 pounds at maintenance is going to be quite
uncomfortable, so it's better to get used to controlling your portion sizes now.
On the other hand, accepting the odd idea that everyone needs to eat at a
certain calorie level or that you can't go lower than 1200 calories a day will only
stop you from reaching goal. That is my biggest regret today: I listened to those
who told me I wasn't eating enough.
At 5 feet tall, and post menopausal, what I was eating during most of my
weight loss was all the nutrition that my body needed to function at its optimal
level. The only thing I got from believing those who told me I needed to stop
what I was doing and gain weight to repair my damaged metabolism – was:

26. 12. You're Not in Ketosis
I saved this one for last because it's only for those who can't get into ketosis in
any other way.
Insulinemia occurs when your basal insulin level is continuously high. When
insulin levels are elevated all the time, despite a low-carb diet, the body uses
whatever sources of glucose it can scrounge up to prevent the body from going
into ketosis.
This only happens with those who are severely resistant to weight loss. The
average low-carb dieter does not experience this.
Ordinarily, carbohydrate restriction drives ketosis, but since protein can be
turned into glucose, if needed, a stubborn metabolism can strip your muscles
for the glucose it needs to fuel the brain instead of switching over to using
ketones.

27. To curtail this tendency, Dr. Atkins came up with a diet he called the Fat Fast.
The idea is to get rid of almost all sources of glucose, so the body has no choice
but to switch to fats for fuel. At the same time, the diet lowers your calorie
intake to 1,000 calories a day to accelerate the need for the liver to start using
body fat.
To accomplish that aim, the Fat Fast is divided into 5 meals of 200 calories
each. These meals must be 75 to 90 percent fat, so sample meals might be:
•two hard-boiled egg yolks mixed with a tablespoons of mayo
•two deviled eggs made with 2 teaspoons mayo
•2-1/2 ounces of heavy cream, whipped
•1 ounce macadamia nuts or macadamia nut butter
•2 ounces of cream cheese
•3-cups lettuce with olive oil and vinegar dressing
As you can see from the examples above, this would be a dangerous diet to be
on for more than a few days at a time, but it works well for those who honestly
can't get into the state of ketosis in any other way.

28. Dr. Atkins reserved it for those who haven't lost any weight or inches by the
end of Atkins Induction.
While some people manage to stay in ketosis once they use the Fat Fast for a
single week, transferring to a normal Atkins Induction diet from then on, others
have had to use the Fat Fast for one week every month to see any drop on the
scales.
If you find yourself in this situation, you might want to check out Dana
Carpenter's Fat Fast Cookbook at the above link for oil and vinegar dressing. It
offers 50 high-fat recipes specifically designed for Fat Fast dieting. (This is NOT
a referral link. I have no financial interest in Dana's book.)
For extra-metabolically resistant individuals, Dr. Atkins increased the Fat Fast to
1,200 calories a day, which gives you room for four meals of 300 calories each.
The adapted Fat Fast is a bit more tolerable for those who have to use it
repeatedly, as you can see by the following sample meals:
1-1/2 ounces of macadamia nuts
1/4 cup chicken/tuna salad with 2 tablespoons mayo
2 scrambled eggs with 2 strips bacon
2 ounces beef chuck cooked in 2 tablespoon olive oil

29. The purpose of the Fat Fast isn't to accelerate weight loss. It is to show people
who are extremely metabolically resistant that they “can” lose weight following
the principles that Dr. Atkins recommended. The most difficult part of the diet
is the absence of regular meals, but for those who cannot lose weight in any
other way, the Fat Fast offers a viable alternative to traditional low-carb
methods.
If you decide to give the Fat Fast a try, make sure that you don't stay on it for
more than a week at a time. It is severely deficit in nutrients, and is only meant
to get you into the state of ketosis. Once you are in ketosis, you must switch to a
more typical Atkins 72 diet.
Being a Slave to the Scale Defeats the Purpose of Induction
Calorie restriction takes a long time to see results, so expecting a two-week
Atkins Induction to cause a huge drop in body fat isn't realistic.

30. While some people do see weight loss, those losses are mostly liver glycogen
and water. Liver glycogen has nothing to do with how fat you are or even your
recomposition, so being a slave to the scale during the first two weeks only
defeats the main purpose of Atkins Induction:
To get you into the state of ketosis.
There's no sense putting more stress on your mind and body during Induction
than need be. Why torture yourself like that?
Once you're firmly in ketosis, Induction is over, and you're burning fatty acids to
fuel your body's activities, there will be plenty of time to readjust your diet,
exercise, and lifestyle to get the scales moving at an appropriate pace.