One very clear long term observation I've drawn from carefully watching other online lowcarbers for more than 10 years now is that weight lost on lowcarb is usually lost in layers. 

Generally if people come into lowcarb more than 50 pounds overweight they will lose very well and very quickly when they first start induction.  This is why so many folks STAY on induction, probably way too long—hoping to keep this seemingly miraculous rate of weight loss and personal change going.  Often the first "layer" of weight is lost on induction.  That's the easiest one.

The next layer(s) of loss are usually consistent but much slower, and GENERALLY (again, there are always exceptions), when people get to within 20-40 pounds of their goal weight there is a fairly predictable weight loss wall/stall.  I would say this happens even more predictably to emotionally addicted and life-long yo-yo dieters.  I have also seen a few people, people with what I term "highly reactive bodies" hit serious weight loss walls more than 100 pounds from goal.  But no matter where the wall hits, it's rare that with the right tweaks the diet won't work the way it's supposed to.

The majority end up throwing in the towel when they hit a stall or weight loss wall.  But if you observe carefully, you'll see that the patient and committed people who persevere through the stall discover that they need to change their eating slightly or significantly in order to get past that final stall-wall, and they generally need to shift it in the direction of more good carbs, often much higher than induction levels, and fewer crap ones. Some have to totally eliminate some kinds of foods and go to an anti-yeast lowcarb diet, one I have termed a "Gold Standard Diet".  This final layer is also the place where exercise, addiction, food intolerance and sometimes calorie issues need to be seriously and permanently addressed in order to achieve lasting positive change.  This is the point when most folks have to let go of their lowcarb "methadone" foods and behaviors.  This is the first step to surrender I'm always talking about.

I came into lowcarb with only 2 layers—and the first layer was only 3 pounds.  (In my adult life my highest non-pregnant weight was around 180, I just happened to be at 168 in the lifelong yo-yo cycle when I began lowcarbing and finally stuck with it this time.)  So I have a lot of experience with battling that last stubborn layer.  It's the layer that thwarts a heartbreaking number of people when they let the frustrations of getting it off get in their way. 

If you find yourself up against the wall, and you are ready to press on instead of giving up (even though that's what 99% of us do over and over again), that's when this site might be able to help you through that hurdle.  I hope you'll take advantage of it.

Adele Stratton

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