Hey everyone! I am working on my 3 months of PSWL and it has been three weeks since I officially started the low carb diet. Pretty much I have to stay under 30g per day. I have no limit on anything else, but I have not gone crazy and started gorging on steak lol. Anyways, it has been 3 weeks and I have lost... nothing. I am definitely below the 30 per day, I am drinking between 50-70 oz of Water per day. I was told to do 10-15 minutes of exercise per day... I am doing that plus some (i just joined a gym near me that i love).

Has the low carb diet ever NOT worked for someone before?

I have to be below 20 a day for it to work on me.

Can you give us a run down on your daily food intake??

My daily food ...

Breakfast is normally eggs, or an EAS low carb shake, or I sometimes skip this (mainly because I stay up late and sleep in).

lunch is tuna salad, egg salad, or grilled chicken w/cheese. (salads are homemade, just a little mayo mixed in)

dinner is normally some sort of meat (normally chicken) mixed with some sort of veggie and cheese.

I'm not allowed to snack, so three meals a day. If I didn't have breakfast I will sometimes have what I call my "fake chocolate moose". It is a scoop of coolwhip (2 carbs) mixed with some cocoa powder (less than 1 carb).

I don't know if it makes a difference but it did take me a long time to get through "carb withdrawal"... could this just be my body getting used to it?

In my past experience with low carb I had to start off very strict to get to ketosis or I wouldn't lose at all. Of your list of foods I would try to eliminate shakes and watch mayo and cheese. Try and not skip breakfast because that is the fuel that starts the metabolism fire that burns fat. Eggs for breakfast is a great choice! Pure meat (no sauce or condiments) with a low carb vegetable is fine but make sure you are eating more meat than veggie. Also never eat a carb or veggie without meat. This is a delicate balancing act you have to maintain for weight loss. Don't get discouraged though because it is common to not lose weight and suddenly drop a lot at once. That seems to be how the low carb diet works. Hang in there!

In my past experience with low carb I had to start off very strict to get to ketosis or I wouldn't lose at all. Of your list of foods I would try to eliminate shakes and watch mayo and cheese. Try and not skip breakfast because that is the fuel that starts the metabolism fire that burns fat. eggs for breakfast is a great choice! Pure meat (no sauce or condiments) with a low carb vegetable is fine but make sure you are eating more meat than veggie. Also never eat a carb or veggie without meat. This is a delicate balancing act you have to maintain for weight loss. Don't get discouraged though because it is common to not lose weight and suddenly drop a lot at once. That seems to be how the low carb diet works. Hang in there!

Also I am not a fan of not being allowed to snack if you need to. That is a good way to keep your metabolism burning steady.

Well, the shakes are either 2 or 4 carbs (depending on which one) and I don't have them very often (i've had 3 in the last 2 weeks). I also would not be able to stomach tuna without some mayo, and since it has no carbs I didn't see the problem. The thing I worry about cutting cheese down is what will I do for Calcium? I used to eat cheese and yogurt at least once a day, plus some milk. I've cut all of that out except the carb free cheeses. I know some veggies have lots of calcium in them but there is only so much brocolli I can eat. Also, we can't afford to do all meat and all fresh veggies so I'm stuck with frozen for now.

I guess I did make it sound like I skip breakfast. The only time I skip is when I sleep in (like until 10) and then I have my lunch.

The whole thing is very confusing. My NUT, who I am doing my PSWL with told me it was fine if I skip breakfast but they are adamant about no snacking. They also believe that everyone who is overweight is carb addicted. When I told her I am not an emotional eater she looked at me like I told her I was from Pluto's seventh moon's space station. I see her again on Tuesday so I am definitely going to talk to her more then.

What are you drinking? Even artificial sweeteners have some carbs as does cream in your coffee. Also are you having any caffiene? Low carb will not work if you have caffeine. A lot of soft drinks have caffeine even some you wouldn't expect lke Mountain Dew and some Root Beers. Some pain killers have caffeine combined in them too.

Say what? Low carb doesn't work if you have caffeine? Splain this to me.

For drinks, I am strict Water only. The only exception is I will occasionally drink Powerade zero, which is no cals and no carbs. I haven't heard about the whole caffeine and no carbs before, but it doesn't matter because I very rarely drink coffee anyways. I had diet soda once but it made me sick to my stomach so I haven't touched it since and I have no desire to as well.

I went to the gym today and I still haven't lost I do my official check in with the surgeons office on Tuesday. If I haven't dropped by then I am going to ask and see if maybe something else is up. I have been counting *everything* including veggies and *total* (not net) carbs and I have been below 30 and above 20 everyday. I am also eating about 1000 cals per day.

Thanks for everyone's input! If anyone can figure out what I'm missing please let me know!!

And you all should know that as her mother, I think she *looks* different....likes she's lost a bunch of pounds and her body just forgot to mention it. LOL.

I also disagree with the "no snacking" rule and very strongly dislike our surgeon's team's cookie-cutter, robotic approach. We are *individuals*, dagummit. Not every obese person is a carb addict and not every carb addict is obese.

I snack, and I'M PROUD! hahaha

You'll get there, Emily....hang tough girlie!!

Say what? Low carb doesn't work if you have caffeine? Splain this to me.

<div><br></div><div> Here's a little info:</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><h2 style="text-align: center; ">The Atkins Diet and Caffeine are Incompatible</h2><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><p>The <i>Atkins Diet and caffeine </i>consumption are incompatible, according to Dr. Atkins’ guidelines for successful weight loss. This was one of the most troubling aspects of the diet when I first considered trying it. I was used to having several cups of coffee during the earlier part of my day, then switching to iced tea for the afternoon and evening. I especially dreaded giving up caffeine during the hot summer months – nothing was more refreshing for me.</p><p></p><h3>Coffee and the Atkins Diet</h3><p></p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">The <a href="http://www.atkins-diet-advisor.com/atkins-diet-foods.html">Atkins diet food list</a> made it clear, however, that caffeine wasn’t a good thing. After reading up on why, I had to agree. You see, the caffeine in coffee causes unstable blood sugar levels, which is one of the things the diet is trying to avoid. After drinking or eating something with caffeine many people have a hypoglycemic reaction. Their blood sugar level temporarily drops, triggering cravings for sugary foods</span> or carbohydrates. And Dr. Atkins also noted that caffeine simply wasn't healthy.</span></h3><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; "><br></span></h3><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; ">I never had to worry about it when I was on Atkins (sooooo many years ago) because I only drank Coke, so I had to cut that out completely anyway. I just don't drink coffee.

Of course Atkins is not the end all of low carb diets, but this is their explanation of why low carb doesn't mix with caffeine. </span></h3></span></div>

Sorry! Double post!

Well I did my official check-in today and i've lost 5 pounds! So, yay, it seems to be finally working!!

The required Kaiser pre-op diet is low carb but also portion control. See my post about it http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/19102-kaiser-pre-op-meal-plan/

I'm not sure of the reason behind the whole no caffeine thing but I've been on Aitkins several times in the past and If I have caffeine I simply don't lose weight. I have lost up to 24 lbs in a month on this diet but if I have caffeine I don't lose anything.