Can someone please explain stalling?

I feel like I am stalling. I have been the same weight all week. The scale has not moved. Am I stalling? I have been trying to do different foods and I increased my walking to 1.5 miles/day. Can someone help?? :) Jamie

Hi Jamie, Here are a great couple of links that help with this issue: http://lowcarb4life.sugarbane.com/stalls.htm http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips008.htm Be sure and mix things up with  your food and exercise.  Trick the body.... Good luck Take care, Kathy

what can i do to mix my exercise up? the dr. told me all i can do is walk... maybe take a day off? i thought about just cleaning tomorrow and not doing my daily walk. ??

If possible, since  you can run or walk very fast try going up hills.  If you have access to a treadmill, increase your incline.   You can get a great workout! Also,check your eating......  and make sure you are following the pouch rules. Take care, Kathy

I was like that for a week already .. it was due to the fact that I was getting my period ..

Relax, breathe, hang in there!! It's not a stall, it's just your body playing catch up and adjusting to the new way you are eating, drinking, etc.  A true stall is when you dont lose any weight for weeks or months at a time.  I started out losing very fast for the first 4 months, then have only lost 20 lbs or so the past 4 months total!  Talk about aggravating!  My NUT says i'm doing just fine, slow is better, yadda yadda yadda lol  It's not fine by me dern it!  But i am happy to say, i have now lost a total of 93 lbs from my highest weight and other than a constipation problems, i'm doin great!   You will experience many instances where you may not lose a pound for a few days then all of a sudden drop 6 in a day.  Our bodies are weird like that.  Also, if you havent already, get out the measuring tape and measure..we lose inches even when the scale stops!  Best of luck to you on this amazing journey you've only just begun!! Robin

Been there...done that...I am just 1 week ahead of you and went for 1 full week with no loss. Then on the 7th day, I starting losing again. I am down 2 # since Monday! From what I understand, you can kind of go into hiberation where your body slows down to adjust to the much decreased food being provided. Your poor body thinks its starving!! When it figures out there will be more food coming, it starts up again.  i know that this will pass for you too, just hang in there. Best of luck

Thanks guys! I am/was really freaking out. My friend told me today that I was obsessive about it. I don't think I am obsessive, just worrried. Thanks Again! :) Jamie

The “Stalls” are normal/typical. I had about 3 big ones while on my way down to goal. It’s really not even considered a true “Plateau” until it hits 4 weeks. Although it sounds counter intuitive, Are you getting “Enough Calories?” Pull back from your ‘daily’ charting, and look at a weekly or even monthly.
There are up and down spikes each day,
But if you ‘graph’ the highest to the lowest, I’d bet there is still
A downward slope over the course of the month.
There’s an 8 to 10lb. volume of “wiggle room” due to water alone.
And it comes into play a lot.
This has to do with our bodies using glycogen for short term energy storage.
Glycogen is not very soluble,
But it is stored in our muscles for quick energy –
One pound of glycogen requires 4 lbs of water to keep it soluble,
And the average glycogen storage capacity is about 2 lbs.
So, when you are not getting in enough food,
(Like when you drop down to your calorie intake)
Your body turns first to stored glycogen,
Which is easy to break down for energy.
And when you use up 2 lbs of glycogen,
You also lose 8 lbs of water that was used to store it
Voila -- the "easy" 10 lbs that most people lose in the first week of any diet.

As you stay in caloric deficit, however,
Your body starts to ‘realize’ that this is not a short term problem.
You start mobilizing fat from your adipose tissue
And burning fat for energy.
But your body also ‘realizes’----
(by way of your liver releasing hormones signaling low Cal intake)
---That fat can't be used for short bursts of energy –
It starts converting some of the fat into glycogen,
And rebuilding the glycogen stores.
And as it puts back the 2 lbs of glycogen into the muscle,
8 lbs of water has to be stored with it to keep it soluble.
So, even though you might still be LOSING energy content to your body,
(Thus showing negative Calorie load overall)
Your weight will not go down or you might even GAIN for a while
As you retain water to dissolve the glycogen that is being reformed and stored.
Yes?
The whole ‘weight-loss’ process is not a straight “Slide” down the scale.
More like “Stair-Steps,” (Down then forward, then down, then forward, etc...
As your body cycles fat out of “deep storage” and through the Liver
Into the muscles as Glycogen.
The muscles and Liver can hold about a 3 weeks supply.
This is why many people find that their “Stall” or “Plateau”
Breaks when adding a bit of exercise
And upping their water intake, or in the case of an “extreme exerciser,”
The total Calorie or Protein Intake,
To signal the liver to let go of more Glycogen.
Fear not, many people who are now enjoying life at a normal BMI
Once had a few weeks or so of thinking-
“...my weight loss has been awfully slow, has it stopped...”?

Hope this helps some.
You are doing Great!
Keep it Up!
Best Wishes-
Dx

 

I hope I can help.  There are two additional things you could do to chart your progress other than weigh yourself.  The first thing is take your measurements.  I have taken my measurements about once per month.  You will notice that you may not be losing pounds, but you WILL lose inches.  Also, remember always that muscle weighs more than fat.  So if you are working out, which you are, you are building muscle mass.  Water weight is also a concern for us females.  And, most importantly, fat percentage is a tracking number.  After all....isn't it fat that you want to get rid of?  Well, why then do we track pounds?  What is most important is fat percentage, not weight.  A person can weigh alot and be very small simply because they have a considerable amount of muscle mass and low body fat.  I've seen it....I AM it.  Get yourself a body composition scale.  Tanita is a good brand.  I got mine from www.TheCompetitiveEdge.com.  It tells me my water percentage (so important during that time of month), fat percentage, muscle mass, metabolic rate and metabolic age.  I remember once instance where I only lost .2 pounds one week.  HOWEVER, I lost major fat percentage.  There were many weeks where I may not have lost pounds, but I lost a whole dress size....IN ONE WEEK!   In summary....pounds is not everything.  Fat percentage and inches lost is a good combination of determining your successes.