Pictures of me before I started Atkins and current photos can be seen here: http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/buttonbutt/My%20Atkins%20Journey/
NOTE: My journey and difficulties losing weight are not the typical Atkins experience. I have some hormonal issues my doctor is currently addressing. I also have some chronic stress factors that have kept my cortisol levels high for 4-5 years now. I’m currently keeping cortisol at bay with a relaxation technique and a couple of supplements.
April 21, 2009: I’m 5’5″ tall and my goal weight is somewhere between 140-145 lbs. Start Weight=196 lbs. During 5 weeks of induction, I lost 12 lbs. (following strict Atkins 2002 guidelines).
June 30, 2009: Moved on to OWL.
September, 2009: Down to 182
November, 2009: Down to 175
December 15, 2009: Down to 170. Approaching my 8 month Atkins anniversary now. Total lost = 26 lbs. A New Atkins for a New you was published this month, but I will continue to follow Atkins 2002 guidelines.
December 31, 2009: Still hanging right smack dab on 170. 
Stall has persisted for 17 months!!!!!!!! Conclusion: I’m sure good at “maintenance” skills 
For some reason, by body thinks we’re at the end of my journey.
December 31, 2010 – Stalled at 170 the entire year, bouncing up and down that number 1-2# either way. How frustrating!
March 10, 2011: Gained to 175 within 7 days of initial BHRT (bio-identical hormone replacement therapy). My doctor warned me that was likely, but usually temporary. Had to be the cause, as no other changes occurred.
May, 2011: Still tweaking C/P/F to lose that 5# gain.
June 1, 2011: Up to 179!! A gain of 4 more lbs.!! I’m really not happy with this trend, despite all my efforts.
June 19, 2011: – Began Induction for 3rd time and lost 4# initially. Down to 175. Stalled again!
July 17, 2011 - Began Atkins 1972 version (20 TOTAL carbs, no fiber deducting). No coffee, tea, dairy, sweeteners, or snacking.
July 29, 2011 – Down to 169 today! That’s 10# in 5 weeks! Not breakneck speed, but for ME truly amazing!
August 3, 2011 – Second BHRT implant and hoping I don’t gain 5-9# again!!
August 4, 2011 – Holding at 169, my lowest weight so far! My doctor was REAL pleased yesterday.
August 7, 2011 – In depth food log analysis conclusion: I lose best below 20 TOTAL carbs and under 2000 calories
August 13, 2011 – Down to 168! Waistline down 1¼”!! Foot is much better, so morning walks start again. 2 miles at first.
August 16, 2011 – Down to 167! Still doing my walking and foot problem is OK now.
August 20, 2011 – No loss, but waist is down another 1″. Foot hurts again so stopping walking again.
August 30, 2011 – Up to 170. Foot improving. Have pretty much returned to Atkins 2002 food guidelines now.
September 25, 2011- Whoosh! Dropped to 167! So I’m back to my lowest weight in about 10 years.
October 10, 2011 – Bounced back up to 169. Been there ever since. What is it with this body?? It just LIKES 169-170!!!
October 17, 2011 – Down to 168. I’ve had a real issue with loss of sense of taste lately (salty and sweet) and a noticeable drop in appetite. Finally pinned it to Vitamin D3 at too high a dose. Dropping back to 5,000 IU has corrected the issues.
October 26, 2011 - Scale reads 167 today, what it read 1½ years ago. Yipee!
October 19, 2011 – Down to 164 the hard way – Husband and I both got food poisoning we think from some pouch tuna we ate. We were both the sickest we have ever been in our lives from bad food. 5 days later, we’re both better.
November 11, 2011 – Regained to 167 and holding that for 1 week. My doctor feels recent thyroid tests and my symptoms would indicate I might benefit from a low dose of Armour Thyroid) and is doing some further adjusting of my BHRT.
November 15, 2011 – Dropped to 166. I attribute it to restarting my coconut oil I dropped during my bout with food poisoning.
November 17, 2011 – Dropped to 165. I’m happy. Started taking the Armour Thyroid and topical BHRT progesterone and estrogen today. We’ll see what all that does for me.
November 20, 2011 – Down to 164.
November 27, 2011 – Up to 166. Didn’t cheat over the Thanksgiving Holidays, but ate way too much of the allowed stuff.
December 5, 2011 – Back down to 165.
December 22, 2011 – Bounced up to 168.Was hoping to get into the 150′s for my birthday, but it looks like that won’t happen for me.
January 3, 2012 – Back down to 166 and hope to get down even further in the new year!
January 15, 2012 – Been eating too many baked goods testing in my kitchen……all low carb, but too many. Gained up to 170!
January 23, 2012 – I’m back down to 165 again! The doc just added a second thyroid medication, Levothyroxine. And my body temps are finally climbing to 98′s in the afternoons. I go back to the doc mid-February
February 12, 2012 – Bounced back up to 167. Still trying to stick with Atkins’72 to get weight on down.
February 17, 2012 – Doctor altered dosage on hormones; also pleased with the body temps improving. Weighed in at 166.
February 18, 2012 – Down to 165 this morning. Yipee! I’m VERY pleased.
March 7, 2012 – Down to 164 today!
March 8, 2012 – Down to 163 today! I think I may be breaking my interminable stall, FINALLY!
March 15, 2012 – WOO HOO! I’m down to 162 today. Dropping the cream out of my 2 cups of morning coffee may be helping a bit. Started taking Resveratrol recently also.
March 22, 2012 – Still at 162-163. Doctor is taking me off my thyroid meds. My Free T3 and Free T4 are waaay too high, even on my very low doses. He was just trialing me and is convinced my thyroid gland is functioning just fine without meds.
March 26, 2012 – I’ve decided to add a new twist to my Atkins journey. I’m finally starting JUDDD, Dr. Johnson’s UpDayDownDay program. I still plan to avoid bad carbs, but will do the alternate day controlled calorie approach to try and jar my metabolism a bit. Today is DAY ONE! It’s 4pm and I don’t feel deprived on my first Down Day. A wee bit hungry between meals today, but I’m hanging in there.
March 28, 2012 – Down to 160! This JUDDD program really is shaking up my metabolism set point system!! Either that or the Resveratrol is facilitating in some way. Either way, I never thought I’d get this close to the 150′s. So close I can taste it! (pardon the tacky reference) I’m VERY pleased!
April 3, 2012 – Woo! Hoo! I’m down to 159 this morning!!! And that was after a gut-stuffing UP day with a humongous ribeye and roasted vegetable dinner last night. Can’t believe I finally made it to the 150′s! Was beginning to think it would never happen!
April 10, 2012 – OMG! The scale is reading 158 today! Man, this is too good to be true! Had to get up on the scale 4 times today before I’d believe my eyes. That’s 7# in 14 days. Haven’t seen that kind of loss since Atkins Induction 3 years ago! And today is an UP day so I can celebrate a bit with my menu. I get to eat a lot for 1655 calories!
April 26, 2012 – I bounced up to 160 a few days later. Held there for 2 weeks. But weighed in today at 157!! WOO HOO! Finally a WHOOSH fairy visit!
April 30, 2012 - Bounced back up to 160, darn it!
May 11, 2012 - Dropped to 159 yesterday. Hope I can stay out of the 160′s for good now!
May 18, 2012 - Whoosh! (well, a whoosh for ME, anyway ) Dropped to 157 today!! I’m ecstatic! That’s 13# in 3 months. Phenomenal for me. I had stalled around 160 for a whole month. So I decided to recalculate my JUDDD calories on their website to reflect the initial JUDDD losses and my recommended calories dropped from 500 to 325 cals on DOWN days; dropped from 1655 to 1630 cals for my UP days. In order to meet the down days, I just have coffee for breakfast and lunch and fairly nice dinner that uses up all my allotted calories. I actually find that less hunger invoking than trying to spread them out into 3 tiny meals. So it would appear I just needed to drop the down days a bit!! 500 must be right at my metabolic threshold for maintaining! Going to keep with this calorie restriction for my rotations until I reach my goal of 140, unless I stall out again.
May 27, 2012 – Bounced up to 159 couple weeks ago and have bouncing between 158-159 ever since.
Good Morning Peggy:
Just ran across your blog after reading your posting on about.com; I am one year behind you in years, have had thyroid issues for decades and only in my 40′s was able to get help; my temp runs just as yours – I am also on Armour thyroid and have been for years; at a dosage of 240mg and that dose brings my temp up to about 97….If you would be willing to share with me the dosage of Levothyroxine I’d like to discuss with my physician…that may be an answer for me also….lowering the thyroid and adding Levothyroxine…thanks Peggy. Nancy
WELCOME, Nancy! My doc has pulled me off both my thyroid meds now. He was alarmed at how high my thyroid levels were on such low doses. I was also having occasional rapid pulse and elevated BP on it. But when I was on it, I took 60mg Armour twice a day; 125mcg Levo once a day. My doc says I’m worrying too much about body temps and MOST people’s runs lower as they get older. But I’m losing again even though I’ve stopped both now. I’m eating low carb, but am watching calories strictly: low-calorie one day; high calorie the next; low the next….and so on. The daily jarring of intake seems to fool my metabolism and set point so it doesn’t implement countermeasures to thwart weight loss AND IT’S WORKING! I’m down 6# in just 9 days of doing this UP/DOWN way of eating my low-carb foods. Couldn’t be happier. Good luck with finding the meds dosage that will work just right for you, Nancy.
Thanks for taking the time Peggy…..I presume from the site you are using the JUDDD site you referred to, correct? Also, if you wouldn’t mind sharing the calorie level that you are sticking to – I typically consume about 1400 and have been eating low carb for sometime…but haven’t found that magic combination…I do know that if I do not get enough healthy fat in my diet daily, I am eating raw carrots for great fiber to get things moving again….thanks Peggy and I’ll take a look at the JUDDD site – thanks -Nancy
I haven’t bought the book yet, so my only knowledge of the program is on the website: http://www.johnsonupdaydowndaydiet.com/html/how-to-do-the-diet.html . I’m 5’5″, age 63 and start weight was 165, so I’m at 500 cals. on DOWN days and 1655 on UP days. The up is very doable and satisfying. About what I was eating on straight Atkins low-carb really. The down days are a challenge still. Hungry a lot between meals. Eating lost of 5 cal jello, carrots, celery and chicken bouillon (from cubes) to get through the down days. But I also follow the very active JUDDD forum on LowCarbFriends forums and have gleaned lots of information and great DOWN day recipes and tips there. Nice group of people there. Oh, I forgot to mention I do take Resveratrol I had gotten started on a month before I started eating the JUDDD program. But I just found a good deal on it on the net and ordered. I haven’t bought the stuff they sell on the website.
Hi Peggy:
I am so happy you have finally broken your stall. I have been following your blog, and enjoy your recipes. I started Atkins in Jan 09, and have slowly lost 42 lbs. I am stuck on these lase 10 though. What exactly is JUDD? I will also say I haven’t followed the Atkins forum very much since they changed it over….I just don’t understand it. I know you left the forums for other reasons, but I am really happy you have kept this site. You are a very talented cook!
Thank you,
Diane
Why thank you, Diane. And congrats on your 42# loss. I think the best way to share what I’m following (with an Atkins allowable foods limitation) is to let you read this page: http://www.johnsonupdaydowndaydiet.com/html/how-to-do-the-diet.html
Low Carb Friends has a large JUDDD following and subforum. Reading some of the threads on that forum will give you great insight: http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/juddd/
My heart is with Atkins, but I am clearly going to have to try something to jar my metabolic set point as my body is VERY good at countering all diet efforts. I think doing the Alternate Day Diet approach with my Atkins foundation is going to do the trick for me. Hope so anyway, as I need to lose 20 more pounds. Good luck with your last 10# Diane. I hear it’s the hardest to lose on ANY diet program.