Mixed OWL & Induction

[kiani]

Well, I've been off strict Induction since the last week of May. It's three weeks later and I've been doing a combination of both Induction and OWL. I'm pretty sure that when I measured my waist 2 weeks ago, I was 31.5". I just measured today and I'm 32.5"

I gained 1" in 2 weeks? OMG.

Now I want to go back on Induction because I don't think I'm ready for OWL. I'm getting these awful and soul consuming bread and sweets cravings. I had lost this during Induction...but now the thought of such things seems to consume me every other hour of my waking day.

Anybody else?

[DebbietheHugBug]

How do you combine induction and OWL? What does your menu look like?

[not2late]

Re: Mixed OWL & Induction

Well, I've been off strict Induction since the last week of May. It's three weeks later and I've been doing a combination of both Induction and OWL. I'm pretty sure that when I measured my waist 2 weeks ago, I was 31.5". I just measured today and I'm 32.5"

I gained 1" in 2 weeks? OMG.

Now I want to go back on Induction because I don't think I'm ready for OWL. I'm getting these awful and soul consuming bread and sweets cravings. I had lost this during Induction...but now the thought of such things seems to consume me every other hour of my waking day.

Anybody else?

Agree with Debbie. How did you combine OWL and Induction?

Also from what your wrote of cravings, whatever you've added to your diet is destabilizing your blood sugar and that is causing cravings.

So again, give us your menu so we can take a look at what you've been doing.

[Enchantedraisin]

Induction is Induction... OWL is OWL. I didn't think they could be combined unless you are doing your own low-carb diet.


Do you mean you are staying under 20 net carbs per day, but moving up the rungs?


And the measuring thing, ...who knows sometimes your body bloats differently at different times of the day/month.... or maybe you measured slightly in the wrong spot. Try doing it again in another 2 weeks.

[kiani]

well, what I mean by mixing Induction and OWL is that I go back and forth on the phases because I'm a creature of habit and I'm afraid of 'moving on' to the next stage because I'll mess up....

Like I totally am now.

Had the Coup De Gras today. I went to a big and ridiculously over-indulgent buffet in the city. Oh man. I DEFINITELY went of kilter here. Fruit! Cake! Noodles! Meat! Sweets! You name it! I had it all.

Bloat much?

Oh yes.....

Will go back on Induction on Saturday.

[not2late]

well, what I mean by mixing Induction and OWL is that I go back and forth on the phases because I'm a creature of habit and I'm afraid of 'moving on' to the next stage because I'll mess up....

Like I totally am now.

Had the Coup De Gras today. I went to a big and ridiculously over-indulgent buffet in the city. Oh man. I DEFINITELY went of kilter here. Fruit! Cake! Noodles! Meat! Sweets! You name it! I had it all.

Bloat much?

Oh yes.....

Will go back on Induction on Saturday.

So when you move to OWL, how many carbs do you eat and what kinds of foods?

[kiani]

I've added a portion of nuts. But it seems that this instills a craving of more carbs in me. then I'm downing Atkins Breakfast Bars and the Endulge Chocolate. Its like I get and inch...but I end up taking a foot.

I know I need to do things in stages. I stopped referring to my book and recording my daily menu in my Atkins journal. I have to go back to that.

It's all about control right?

Should I start back on Induction tomorrow? Or should I just be strong and REALLY give OWL a try?

[not2late]

I've added a portion of nuts. But it seems that this instills a craving of more carbs in me. then I'm downing Atkins Breakfast Bars and the Endulge Chocolate. Its like I get and inch...but I end up taking a foot.

I know I need to do things in stages. I stopped referring to my book and recording my daily menu in my Atkins journal. I have to go back to that.

It's all about control right?

Should I start back on Induction tomorrow? Or should I just be strong and REALLY give OWL a try?

If you aren't following the Rungs in the proper order, you'll still need to follow the OWL rules for adding foods.

Keep protein and fat as the mainstays of your diet.

Increase your daily carbohydrate intake by no more than 5 net grams each week.

Add new foods in the order listed in the carbohydrate ladder.

Add one new food group at a time.

Eat a new food no more than three times per week to start, then eat it daily.

Stop new foods immediately if they provoke weight gain, the return of physical symptoms lost doing Induction or increased appetite or cravings.

Continue doing OWL until you have five to 10 pounds left to lose.

If the nuts are causing cravings, you need to drop them from your diet.

Likewise, if the bars and candy are triggering over-eating and uncontrolled eating in you, you need to drop them.

Bouncing back and forth between OWL and Induction won't help you out in the long run, imo.

I think you should re-read the OWL chapters and read through the stickies here in this forum.

[Effie]

I agree with Megs, and just want to add that OWL itself isn't causing you to lose control, it's your specific food choices. You could go back to OWL rung 1, eating mostly an induction menu with 5 more carbs from veggies, and I can almost guarantee you that you'll get back into ketosis and lose all the cravings. Give it a try and let us know how it goes.