the mighty isn't falling

[tabekat]

Well I've worked through all the rungs on OWL and I can now say with total confidence I'm a dismal failure at OWL.

I've lost and regained the same 10 pounds over and over again.

I'm feeling frustrated because I know that means that I will basically have to live on a strict induction or something even more restrictive if I ever hope to lose the 40 pounds left that will put me on the upper level of where the weight charts say I should be.

I just feel sad about giving up completely some of the OWL foods I really enjoy, like spaghetti squash and fruit and nuts.

But everytime I add even small portions of these extra foods, I start to gain or stay stuck at the same weight. Which isn't bad. I'm still a size 16 which is wonderful compared to how big i used to be.

But I want to get rid of the rest of this fat, and I guess I must be one of those people Dr Atkins warned about who have a high resistence to weight loss. I just didn't want to be one of those people, I was hoping the weight loss would continue easily for me. I kept watching and experimenting with portions, but i found even small portions started me gaining, or kept me at the same weight.

Honestly, I'm having some resistence trying to work up the will to go back to a strict induction. Which is strange because I was very committed to it when I was on it and being a **** about it. but now I feel reluctant to go back to that ultra strict place....even though it would probably be the best thing for me.

[cdfhstar7]

Re: the mighty isn't falling

If you were resistent to weight loss you would have not lost 40 lbs already! OWL is the phase to learn about how your body reacts to certain foods. Dr. Atkins said when you find a food that slows or stalls your weight loss - DROP IT - until you get farther up the OWL ladder.

[not2late]

Re: the mighty isn't falling

How are you adding these things in?

Remember it's 5 net carbs at a time, which may or may not be a small portion. The exception is nuts/seeds. You don't add 5 net carbs of these, you add 1 ounce (1/2 ounce for cashews). If the food is new to you, add it on 3 times a week and see what happens. If you stop losing, then drop the food and see what happens.

OWL is a big food experiment. I found through ALOT of trial and error that I can only eat one brand of ricotta cheese, that certain foods make me crave (cantaloupes), that certain food combinations make me crave (eggplant and tomatoes), that certain nuts cause me to gain weight.

The other thing you have to watch during OWL is your fat and calorie intake. Fats decrease slightly (between 65-60 %) during OWL. I noticed that you listed spaghetti squash, fruit and nuts. The squash and fruit should be eaten with fat to help blunt their insulin response. But you'll need to decrease the amount of fat you eat the rest of the day (the adjustment can be as little as 1/2 tablespoon). Nuts are high calorie. About 1 ounce of nuts is 100 calories, the majority being fat calories. If you eat 5 net carbs of these nuts, you might be eating well over 400 calories. As we become smaller people, we don't need to eat as many calories as we did when we were larger people.