Extended induction 'cheating' .......

[burtonator]

This is my second time around.. and now I'm on extended induction and moving into my forth week.

I've already lost 1.5" off my waste and things are moving along fast. I'm about 4 weeks away from my goal.

Last time I noticed that there were a few foods I *really* wanted from time to time. Mostly my double latte, maybe some fruit (blueberries, strawberries, etc), whipped cream with splenda and maybe some atkins friendly chocolate moose.

I only really want to do these things every once in a while. I want to be on extended induction and NOT move into OWL ...

So my theory is that I can have these once every week... The last time around I just went INSANE towards the end and totally went back to my regular habits. I think if I allow some of these MILD foods back into my life that I'll be ok.....

Thoughts?

I think we're only talking about 5-15 carbs per item.

[cypressgirl]

Re: Extended induction 'cheating' .......

Why not just do OWL and add back the things you really like/want that way? If you went crazy the last time, maybe it was because you didn't give yourself a chance to really do this the right way - by adding back during OWL? There isn't anything magical about extended induction and just because you enter OWL doesn't mean you will be eating tons more carbs. The basic premise just allows you to test out foods and see how you do with them. It sounds like that is what you want to do anyway.

With only 4 weeks left until your goal, you should already be doing it to have a realistic shot at maintaining once you get there.

[Elizellen]

Re: Extended induction 'cheating' .......

I agree with cypressgirl.
I cant see how much weight you have left to lose as you dont show your 'stats' in your signature, but by saying you have '4 weeks left to goal' I assume you dont have a lot left to lose, so I think you ought to be in OWL now.

Dr Atkins told us to lose our last 5-10 pounds slowly in the premaintenance stage, so if you have less than 20 pounds to lose you will be at goal well before you have tried out all the food 'rungs' of OWL and run the risk of failing in 'life after goal'.
We see many people returning to the board here and having to re-lose the weight they lost previously, and it seems to me that the 'returners' on the whole didnt follow the great experiment of OWL to learn how to cope with adding foods back, but lost all their weight on the most restricted first stage of Atkins instead. Once they reached goal they fell back into their old eating habits and proved the often made accusation true that 'after Atkins you always gain the weight you lost on it'

Even if the '4 weeks to goal' comment you made refers to a minigoal and not your final goal, then my comments still apply.
Even if you have many pounds to lose, if you are feeling deprived of certain foods like milk, more dairy and berries why not move to the first few rungs of OWL where you can enjoy them without guilt ?

Nobody says you have to have the higher rung foods every day once you have reached those rungs, just that by trying them out you will be helping your body learn to cope with them on the times you do want to eat them.

Some people with a large amount of weight to lose but who are getting bored with induction rules even follow what we call here a 'modified OWL', where they move up the carb ladder but still keep their carbs down to about 25/30 per day by switching out the different rung foods so sometimes they will eat more dairy, sometimes nuts, sometimes fruit etc, thus keeping their carbs down hoping to 'optimise' weightloss but learning how their body is affected by the higher rung foods.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Extended induction 'cheating' .......

I've continued to lose on average 2 lbs per week on OWL. I don't think I would have done any better by depriving myself by staying on extended induction. Just two weeks ago I lost 5 lbs in one week ON OWL! If you are allowing yourself to have those things...you ARE doing a modified OWL even if you're calling it extended induction. If you're going to allow yourself to have those 'treats'...why couldn't you also allow yourself to have some of the other 'treats' from the other food groups too in that same fashion. Thus, you'll be preparing yourself to maintain that loss.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Extended induction 'cheating' .......

Think of your Atkins eating as a house with induction being the foundation, OWl the framing Premaintenance the roofing and maintneance the finishing work.
Your house of Atkins came crashing down around you last time cause you used inferior materials ( those high carb foods you allowed yourself).

So now you want to add inferior materials to your foundation work that needs to support your whole house for the rest of your life? Skip the framing and hope it stands when you move in?

Atkins works for goalies cause you spend months if not yrs practicing the low carb Atkins way of eating moving thourth the phases to get to goal. The Controlled food experimentation and eating habits you establish in the phases keeps you on track for life.

You have laid the foundation now go do the framing. Pick strong good for you timbers from those 9 lumber piles examine each one carefully for any flaws related to your metabolism like cravings or weight gain. Once you got it framed add those roofinh trusses in premaintnenance andagain carefully pick and choose what you allow in your House of Atkins. be sure the workmanship is quality ( something you'd be proud of) and the materials top quality. Then when you move in and do the finishing work you knwo your house will not crash down around you and you will not be the 9 goalies on a weight loss plan who fail to maintain and balloon back up.

It is your choice do quality work and have a strong sturdy house or thow if up fast and pray it lasts.

Happy low carbing.

[sunflowergrl]

Re: Extended induction 'cheating' .......

You would rather cheat on Induction than move on to OWL? I am sorry, but this doesn't make sense to me.

[Heidi3]

Re: Extended induction 'cheating' .......

You would rather cheat on Induction than move on to OWL? I am sorry, but this doesn't make sense to me.

I completely agree with this

the word cheat is self deprecating and as far as I am concerned... should be a TOS violation on this board...just move on to OWL if you want to add foods ....that is the whole point ....

good luck you are doing well why dump the word cheat into your vocabulary at all?

[Rubysugar]

Re: Extended induction 'cheating' .......

I was on extended induction and my weight loss slowed and I got bored. I moved to OWL and had a nice whooshie and enjoy berries or nuts on occasion. Not every day, but as a treat. Guilt free. Because it wasn't a cheat, it was how I eat. Owl can speed up your weight loss, induction is just that, an induction to this WOE. It's not where you want to stop.
*sings the Jefferson's Theme* We're movin' on up... to the next ru-u-u-ng. To the deluxe berry parfait in the skyy-yhigh! We're movin' on up, to the next rung, we finally got a piece of the peanut butter cheese piiie!

[changing]

Re: Extended induction 'cheating' .......

I just want to say that OWL is wonderful!


I'll admit that I'm probably doing more of a modified version, say Monday I have an extra serving of dairy and 5 carb grams of berries, Tuesday I might have some nuts and extra veggies, Wednesday I might use red wine to cook a dish and eat extra veggies. Honestly, I wouldn't enjoy eating everything every day. Low-carb veggies have been and continue to be the mainstay of my diet. I have almost 100 lbs left to lose though so keeping my carbs low and exercising up a storm just makes sense to me.

But I will repeat, OWL is wonderful!

[Kate113]

Re: Extended induction 'cheating' .......

Great analogy, 2big!

I got stalled on induction so I tried extended induction. I lost a few pounds and stalled again. Now I am doing modified OWL and I'm losing again. Those foods you say you want once in awile are not on the induction food list. If you do enjoy them, then it's OWL you're doing and that is not a bad thing at all. I have a lot of weight left to lose and I wanted to do extended induction till I'm within reach of my goal weight, but it's not working out that way and I think it's best for me to move on and admit to modified OWL. It may just be the ticket for you as well.

Good luck to you!