There's a common mentality as it relates to weight loss that is probably the single-biggest reason why people are unable to reach their goal weight. I have gone through it many times over the course of my life and it is what has prevented me from being the ultimate success that I have now become.

What is this mysterious reason why weight loss fails so often?

I think it all comes down to expectations. When you start livin' la vida low-carb or any diet plan, there are certain markers that you set for yourself either arbitrarily or by design. Regardless, we believe a certain set of events must happen to give us affirmation in our newfound journey or we're ready to throw in the towel.

Can I just say how incredibly silly that kind of thinking is?!

For example, let's say you start the Atkins diet today and two weeks later you ONLY lost 10 pounds when you expected to lose 20. Are you disappointed? Many would be which is the heart of the problem I'm talking about today.

Another thing that happens is you lose 15, 25, even 50 pounds and then the weight loss just stops. Yeah, welcome to the club! That's gonna happen, so you just have to be prepared for it.

Unfortunately, some people like to use this as an excuse to just give up. UGH! Why would you do that just because that little machine known as the scale doesn't do what you want?

Check out this e-mail I received from a reader who felt this way:

I have been doing low-carb for several years now. I had already lost 60 pounds, but then gained about 20 back after Hurricane Katrina hit in my area.

I have recently lost those 20 pounds, but now I am at a standstill. I have been doing the Induction phase for awhile now and did not move on to Ongoing Weight Loss because of the slow intial weight loss.

Whenever I have done Induction before over two weeks, I've always lost 12-15 pounds. Now, I do it and only lose 5 pounds at the very most.

I am counting my carbs and suddenly find myself just not eating anything anymore because my weight is not going anywhere. I even workout three times a week.

Any suggestions? This is all making me feel like giving up. Low-carb used to work so well for me, but sometimes I feel like my body has become used to low-carb. Maybe I need to switch to something else. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you so much for writing and you are not the first repeat low-carber who has seemed to have a harder time losing weight the second time around than the first. Some say it's the "one golden shot" theory, but I don't buy into that. If you've lost weight on low-carb before, then you can do it again.

By all means, if your weight loss is not happening at the same rate, DON'T start eating less. That will actually make the problem worse because you'll be even more hungry and irritable. My suggestion is to keep your carbs at Induction level (20g daily) and just keep doing that with a cheerful heart as if everything is working well.

Commit to do that for 45 days and don't give in to the temptation to cheat or even weigh yourself for the entire time. I know it'll be hard to resist, but you must. What's the payoff? At the end of that 45-day period, you will have lost weight and inches while gaining a newfound appreciation for this way of eating.

If you feel good and are enjoying this lifestyle change, then there's no reason why you would ever go back to another way of eating ever again. Now GO FOR IT!!!

Perhaps you feel like it's not fair when your weight loss slows or stops. Think about this: AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT GAINING! And that is a VERY good thing that you should celebrate. Plus, weight loss isn't everything...how your clothes fit, how you feel, your general state of mind, etc. are critical parts of the diet equation, too. Don't neglect them just because you stall.

It's time to stop lying to yourself and start losing weight. When you think of weight loss as a journey of choice, there's no reason to quit just because you have a few days or weeks of no weight loss. I went 10 weeks in a row during my weight loss when the scale just stopped moving down!

The good news is I remained focused and was adamant I was NOT gonna give up no matter what obstacles were gonna come my way. Heck, I had already LOST a lot of weight, so why would I suddenly start complaining because the weight loss ceased. What a tragic ending that would have been to an eventual 180-pound weight loss success in one year. It would have never happened if I had quit like so many people do.

Word of advice: DON'T DO THAT!

Gotta question about your low-carb journey that's bugging you? Send me an e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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