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I'm curious, since everyone seems to do OWL slightly different, how all of you are going through it. I know some of us stuck to one rung to find their CCLL, and then moved up the ladder... others moved up the ladder and stuck to 20g net...
Basically, I want to know how you were/are successful. How did you make it work for you? How did you get past the slow or stalled periods? What 'experiments' did you have to carry out to make Atkins unique to you?
Me? I'm frustrated. I had gotten to the nuts rung, and was playing with 30 net carbs to try and find my CCLL. I had been toying with 30 for a while - but for the most part, was eating moreso in the 20 - 25 range, with a 30g day every so often. I was losing steadily at anywhere from 1 - 3lbs a week.
I decided to move up to berries, and get serious at getting in my 30g to figure out my CCLL. I've *never* gone over 5g of berries, and the only berries I've had during that time are strawberries and blueberries, and with one exception, always in their natural form. [Tried Smuckers no-sugar-added strawberry jam once, and didn't think it was worth the added carbs cause of its 8mg sucralose per tbsp serving! Yow.] And this is about the time when my weightloss slowed down to a crawl. Or a yo-yo depending on how you look at it - I've been bouncing around 155 - 157.5 for almost a month. As of today, I've seen 155 lbs a grand total of SIX times.
So the experiment began. I started going over my food journal/fitday with a finetooth comb to make sure I wasn't breaking any rules. Check.
I paid attention to keeping my calories reasonable to make sure that wasn't it. Check. I actually gained .5 lbs doing that. Hah!
I dropped down to 25g to see if my carb level was too high, all the while being totally disappointed if I was actually going to have a CCLL this low, despite exercising and eating properly and everything. Check. Didn't do a thing, my weight hovered around the same .5 lbs. But I know already this is a level I regularly lose at - I was losing here for well over a month and a half.
So finally, I decided to hit Induction for a couple of days. I figured this would be the real test as to whether it was just my body reaching a 'set point,' or whether it was the food I was eating.
I went back to a clean Induction for 4 days, and lost 2.5 lbs. Ok then. That answers that question - obviously my body isn't settling into a set point.
I'm pretty sure berries are not my problem, as I'm not eating even remotely enough of them on a regular basis - I am suspect of my nuts/seeds. I'd gotten pretty keen on flax about the same time this started happening, and was paying more attention to how much flax I was eating instead of how they were contributing to my 5g of nuts/seeds. Doh. So I'm thinking my 1oz of walnuts and/or almonds a day, plus my flax per day, was putting me over the top, and I wasn't even realizing this. Though I can't imagine it put me over by much - if I think of a typical day, it was at most 3g over. Either that or my body just cannot do nuts + seeds every day. Prior to the flax, I was eating nuts on a daily basis, and it hadn't affected me. Hm. Any ideas?
Of course, I've had MANY theories as to why my body is doing what its doing the last month and a half, this could be yet another one that doesn't work out.
I'll be honest and say that trying to climb and ladder AND find my CCLL at the same time is something I think I have trouble doing. So far its just worked out that as I've moved up the ladder and added 5g that I've kept losing. Now that something isn't working, I have no idea whether its the number or the food because I'm doing both at the same time. I mean, I'm almost sure its the food not the number, but not entirely sure.
Today I'm doing OWL, Rung 1 - veggies, at 30g. But for those of you who do it this way - one rung the entire time to find your CCLL, how do you manage the fact that you can only have 5g extra veggies and STILL get in 30?
So confused.
Basically, I want to know how you were/are successful. How did you make it work for you? How did you get past the slow or stalled periods? What 'experiments' did you have to carry out to make Atkins unique to you?
Me? I'm frustrated. I had gotten to the nuts rung, and was playing with 30 net carbs to try and find my CCLL. I had been toying with 30 for a while - but for the most part, was eating moreso in the 20 - 25 range, with a 30g day every so often. I was losing steadily at anywhere from 1 - 3lbs a week.
I decided to move up to berries, and get serious at getting in my 30g to figure out my CCLL. I've *never* gone over 5g of berries, and the only berries I've had during that time are strawberries and blueberries, and with one exception, always in their natural form. [Tried Smuckers no-sugar-added strawberry jam once, and didn't think it was worth the added carbs cause of its 8mg sucralose per tbsp serving! Yow.] And this is about the time when my weightloss slowed down to a crawl. Or a yo-yo depending on how you look at it - I've been bouncing around 155 - 157.5 for almost a month. As of today, I've seen 155 lbs a grand total of SIX times.
So the experiment began. I started going over my food journal/fitday with a finetooth comb to make sure I wasn't breaking any rules. Check.
I paid attention to keeping my calories reasonable to make sure that wasn't it. Check. I actually gained .5 lbs doing that. Hah!
I dropped down to 25g to see if my carb level was too high, all the while being totally disappointed if I was actually going to have a CCLL this low, despite exercising and eating properly and everything. Check. Didn't do a thing, my weight hovered around the same .5 lbs. But I know already this is a level I regularly lose at - I was losing here for well over a month and a half.
So finally, I decided to hit Induction for a couple of days. I figured this would be the real test as to whether it was just my body reaching a 'set point,' or whether it was the food I was eating.
I went back to a clean Induction for 4 days, and lost 2.5 lbs. Ok then. That answers that question - obviously my body isn't settling into a set point.
I'm pretty sure berries are not my problem, as I'm not eating even remotely enough of them on a regular basis - I am suspect of my nuts/seeds. I'd gotten pretty keen on flax about the same time this started happening, and was paying more attention to how much flax I was eating instead of how they were contributing to my 5g of nuts/seeds. Doh. So I'm thinking my 1oz of walnuts and/or almonds a day, plus my flax per day, was putting me over the top, and I wasn't even realizing this. Though I can't imagine it put me over by much - if I think of a typical day, it was at most 3g over. Either that or my body just cannot do nuts + seeds every day. Prior to the flax, I was eating nuts on a daily basis, and it hadn't affected me. Hm. Any ideas?
Of course, I've had MANY theories as to why my body is doing what its doing the last month and a half, this could be yet another one that doesn't work out.
I'll be honest and say that trying to climb and ladder AND find my CCLL at the same time is something I think I have trouble doing. So far its just worked out that as I've moved up the ladder and added 5g that I've kept losing. Now that something isn't working, I have no idea whether its the number or the food because I'm doing both at the same time. I mean, I'm almost sure its the food not the number, but not entirely sure.
Today I'm doing OWL, Rung 1 - veggies, at 30g. But for those of you who do it this way - one rung the entire time to find your CCLL, how do you manage the fact that you can only have 5g extra veggies and STILL get in 30?
So confused.
)
That's a great way to explain it Megs. I think alot of people are afraid of OWL, and approach it a little too cautiously. This WOE takes some time, and experimentation, and I think this experimentation is what makes someone successful when in maintenance. You're better to spend the time now finding the foods you can tolerate and your CCLL. 
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