What should I do??

[Jessneedshelp]

Hello everyone! I am new to posting on the board, but have been reading it for a few weeks now. I have been on Induction for 4 weeks now. Cheated once two weeks ago. I have lost a total of 15 pounds and about 16 inches. I have not lost weight in a week and a have but have lost a few inches and I was wondering if it was due to needing to move on to OWL or what?! Is this common?! You guys are the only ones i know on Atkins so I need your help! I have about 20 more pounds to lose so I am not sure if I should keep doing induction...

[liv]

Re: What should I do??

I think you should move up. You want to develop good eating habits for the rest of your life and adding back carbs gradually is part of that.
But it is very normal to have some small stops in lost. You have already lost almost half your weight on induction and it is to be expected to have some stalls and even small gains during this journey.
There is a sticky here called weighloss is not linear. It is a good one to check out.

[Jessneedshelp]

Re: What should I do??

I keep reading about OWL... but I am very apprehensive about how it's kind of a free for all to figure out how much carbs you can take... especially since I haven't seen results in pounds I am worried I may be in induction forever. Is there like a rough estimate according to weight and height that could show a general carb intake amount for OWL??? I knwo I dont have as much to lose as others so it this why it is so slow? Thanks for all your help!

Jessica

[Skeptika23]

Re: What should I do??

No, Dr. Atkins specifically states in DANDR 2002 that it's highly individualized for each person. You and I could be the same height, weight, and age, we could eat identically, and I'll have a CCLL that's different than yours for a variety of reasons.

Whatever gave you the idea that OWL is a free for all? It's not as strict as Induction but still pretty regulated - rungs of allowable foods and adding five grams of net carbs/day as you go (vs. what you averaged in Induction). Measure what you eat and see if it stalls you or not as you work up the rungs. That's still pretty regimented!

I didn't lose weight for two weeks in Induction (I did it for a month), went on OWL, and after TOM I started losing pounds again (the whole time I was losing inches, though). Many of the experienced people here will tell you that sometimes doing OWL will actually break a mini-stall.

Weight loss is not linear. Repeat that to yourself, because it is true.

You can't live on Induction forever!

[Elizellen]

Re: What should I do??

As Jackie said, OWL is not a 'free for all' in DANDR (Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution - the version of Dr Atkins books we follow here).

The original book Dr Atkins Diet Revolution (DADR) in the 70's was more like a 'free for all' where you could choose to add foods as you wanted, and so I guess Dr Atkins figured that was hard to follow (I have seen him comment that many people were just adding 5 carbs of booze!) hence him rethinking his ideas and inventing an order for adding the carbs called the 'carbohydrate ladder'.

In OWL we start by adding 5 net carbs of the veggies that we are already eating on induction - or try some from the list that we havent eaten yet. These veggies are the first level (or rung as we call the levels here).

When you have seen that you can still lose inches or weight by eating a bit more veg then you can move on to the next rung and add some milk products like cottage cheese, yogurt, whole milk etc and see how your body reacts.

After that you can add some nuts or seeds (peanuts are not strictly nuts but legumes so most people wait till the later legumes rung to add them) either as a snack of one ounce (1/2 ounce of cashew nuts) or by using ground almonds, walnuts or other nuts and seeds as a sort of flour in recipes or as breading for fried meats.

If all goes well and you are still losing inches or weight then you can try adding berries or the lower GI melons (not watermelon) and see how that goes.

Next if you want you can add a small quantity of lowcarb or no-carb alcohol. Those of us who do not drink might either miss this rung or just try adding wine in recipes.

Then try beans and peanuts (legumes) and so on till you have added fruits like apples, pears, peaches, bananas etc., starchy veggies then whole grains or rice or pasta.

Each time you start by adding 5 net carbs of a new food 3 times a week to see if the addition of either more carbs or different foods affects your losing, so for the higher rungs you might be trying say 1.5 inches of a banana or 1/2 of a very small apple or 10 small grapes or one ounce of a baked potato or 1.5 tablespoons of rolled oats whereas for the lower rungs you could add nearly 2 cups of raw brocolli or 1/2 cup of yogurt.

So as you can see it is very structured if you choose to follow OWL according to the rules in DANDR and though complicated to start with, it gets easier as you get into the swing of it.

And as you climb the OWL ladder as well as discovering lots about your body and how it reacts to various foods you will find out how many carbs you can eat and still lose weight which will help you to maintain your goal weight when you reach it.

[Jessneedshelp]

Re: What should I do??

Thanks for all the insight. What I meant as a free for all is that there is a strict list for induction and with each rung there are new foods to try with new carbs counts and it just worries me not so much the first rung, but the others. Yes I know I cannot be on induction forever, I would just like to do OWL correctly so I do not have to do Induction again after making so much progress. I am concerned with the weight because that is the easiest way to tell progress, as where I only measure myself every week and a half. I have only been doing this for four weeks so you will have to bare with me for learning new terms, and having a hard time with something I am sure you all went through.

[ceemarie]

Re: What should I do??

Everyone's body is different. You need to give your body time to adjust to your weight loss. Not losing weight for a week is not a problem. There can be many factors for that.

[Jessneedshelp]

Re: What should I do??

thank you for your input! I am just worried I didn't do induction right, even though I have been working at it. I am eager to start OWL..I am guessing I did if I lost..but it is also a change of lifestyle eating. i figure for at least this week I can add the same food for that extra carb level so I can pin point weight loss or gain. thanks everyone... will let you know about my prgress next week!