Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

[kayceear]

I am so frustrated Please Help! Last Tuesday I began OWL That morning I was 127.5 I am now as of this morning 1 wk later 130.0 I have been drinking my water and counting carbs and cal and exercising.

I did make some cheesecake cookies one day and ate those which were high in calories but not really carbs. I did really well the next day though.

I need some major encouragement or I will fall off the wagon. Do I need to go back to ext. induction or keep trying?

I added tomatoes and jicama to my diet last week.

Maybe I'm just not doing OWL right?

Suggestions?? Please!!!

[kellygirl2]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Hi, Kay,

Fellow OWLer here who is feeling my way through too! Did you have a chance to read the great stickies by not2late in this forum? I found them so helpful.

I am trying to reduce my fat% (though fat is still the backbone of my intake) as I add in more carbs. This has reduced my calories, per fit day, and has kept me losing at the same pace as when in extended induction. Also, some foods cause wonky blood sugar for me...see tomatoes! I try to add one food at a time to see which one causes the cravings, water retention, etc. Are you reducing the other foods as you add in more carbs?

You know you did not gain 2.5lbs in 1 week, that is 7000 calories more than you need and seems very, very unlikely! Don't give up on OWL. It is a methodical, slow, learning curve to see how foods affect us.

I'm sure our experts will come later and give some good advice to you, but just wanted you to know that I am with you on this exploratory journey and thank you for posting your experience. You will reach your goals, Kay!!!!!!!

[kayceear]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Thanks for writing...I noticed on fitday that my fat intake has been reduced as are the calories. Everyday my calories burned exceed my calories eaten. I am not sure how to handle this.

I do enjoy OWL b/c of all the extra food options and would hate to have to go back to induction. But, I will if i have to just to get back into ketosis.

I will be measuring myself on thurs. to see if there is any change there.

[H2Ohhh]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Hi Kay,
Don't get frustrated -- same thing happened to me. Started OWL and bumped up a pound on my weekly weigh-in. Reread the book thinking "what have I done wrong?" Nuthin. Waited it out a week and whoosh, lost that pound plus two more. Hang in there, you're doing great.

[not2late]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Okay, your calories aren't increasing but you've gained 3 pounds. You need to eat 3500 calories in addition to your 'normal' amount in order to gain 1 pound of fat. So I have lots of questions...

1. You've gained "pounds". How are your measurements doing? Have you lost inches? Are your clothes fitting better? Dr. Atkins wrote that inches lost are a more accurate indicator of fat loss because it represents the emptying of fat from your cells. So if you haven't been keeping track of your inches as Dr. Atkins advised us to, start doing so now.

2. TOM: is your TOM nearing? Just like during Induction, TOM can affect your pounds lost due to water retention.

3. Check the sodium content to your foods. Are you eating high sodium foods? Again, sodium can cause water retention leading to 'gained' pounds.

Regarding the OWL foods...

1. When you added the tomatoes and jicama did you take the Blood Sugar Instability Test in Chapter 12 of DANDR 2002 to see if these vegetables were causing any blood sugar instability (insulin regulation) problems? In my experience, the Blood Instability Test is a more reliable and faster way to see if a food is affecting you than to wait for the weekly weigh/measure-in.

2. How did you add the foods into your menu? Did you add tomatoes one day and jicama the next? Did you eat 2.5 carbs worth of each every other day?

3. Are you still following the Induction Rules in terms of the cheese allowance, sweetener allowance, cream allowance, water allowance, etc.? Remember the only thing that changes during Rung 1 is the addition of 5 net carbs of an Induction vegetable to your Induction menu.

4. Are you being careful to measure your foods and check their carb counts? Each vegetable has its own net carb amount, so 1 cup of the vegetable might be 0.2 net carbs or 10 net carbs.

[kayceear]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

So I have lots of questions...

I have some answers not2late,

1. I will not measure till thurs. but, I don't feel as if my clothes are fitting tighter.
2. TOM was over last week
3. I have had some high sodium food but not a lot. I do drink lots of water to combat any high sodium foods i eat.

OWL foods...

1. My Blood sugar instability test # was 11

2. I added tomatoes first on day 1 then jicama on day 2

3. I will admit to getting sloppy with the sweetener allowance but i count every carb associated with it.

I am willing to learn what i need to know do you have any other questions?

[kayceear]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Oh yes I'm sorry about the last question

I count everything on fitday...

[Tired of Chub]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Have you changed your exercise routine? at all? different video, longer time, farther distance, different activity, higher reps, heavier weights?

[kayceear]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

I have slowed down my running. Instead of running 5 mph I run 4.3 mph to stay in my target Heart rate. It requires more time but I run the same distance. I have started doing more situps (since the challenge) I have also been more consistent when exercising because I am im the 6 weeks challenge also. So the answer is yes to some degree my routine has changed.

[not2late]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

So I have lots of questions...

I have some answers not2late,

1. I will not measure till thurs. but, I don't feel as if my clothes are fitting tighter.
2. TOM was over last week
3. I have had some high sodium food but not a lot. I do drink lots of water to combat any high sodium foods i eat.

Okay. Your inches are "unchanged" because your clothes aren't tighter, in spite of the 3 pound gain but they aren't looser. Don't panic.

OWL foods...

1. My Blood sugar instability test # was 11

2. I added tomatoes first on day 1 then jicama on day 2

3. I will admit to getting sloppy with the sweetener allowance but i count every carb associated with it.

I am willing to learn what i need to know do you have any other questions?

The Blood Sugar Test was 11. What were the positive symptoms? Which food(s) was the symptoms associated with?

You added 2 new foods on alternating days. You'll have to figure out which food is hindering your loss. You can drop one of the foods and eat the remaining food every other day and see what happens. If you lose weight/no Blood Sugar symptoms, then that food is most likely not the culprit. If you want you can experiment with the suspect food, by adding that in every other day too see what happens.

The sweetener allowance....DANDR 2002 limited the sweeteners to 3 daily. To find the answer why it was limited to 3 I had to look in an older edition of the book. Dr. Atkins found that his patients who used 3 or more servings of aspartame stalled. Apparently, the limit carried over to the 2002 edition. I don't know what kind of sweetener you are using, but we have folks here who cannot use Splenda because it affects their blood sugar. In fact, we had a member here who experimented by taking her blood sugar readings after using Splenda and she found the Splenda increased it. So if you are getting lax with the sweetener allowance, tighten up. In another book of Dr. Atkins', he wrote that he wasn't a fan of artificial sweeteners, but he let us use them in order to wean ourselves off the highly sweet taste of foods.

2Big likes to say OWL is a big experiment. And it is. Every one will react differently to different foods and different carb levels. BUT, we learn what our bodies can and cannot tolerate, which will help us when we are maintaining that goal weight. I went through alot of trial and error on the Dairy rung---I found that I can eat only 1 brand of ricotta cheese, because the other brands cause me to lose no pounds and no inches.

So, drop one of the vegetables you added and add one back in every other day. See if it affects your loss. If it does, then that's the culprit. If it doesn't add the other vegetable and see what happens.

[kayceear]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Thanks not2late,

I will do some experimenting with these new foods. Can I add another food this week or hold off till i find a culprit (if there is one).

I may just be eating to much...Calories seem to be in check though...I am staying under 1300 per day.

It has to be tomatoes...I like jicama somewhat though it is a new and interesting taste...

[2big4mysize]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

it could be nothing so as Not2late said do some experimenting to see how you handle the new veggies you already have issues with. it is never good to add 2 different new things likecookies and new vegies at the same time. GO slow and figure out what is going on so you can get a handle on it.

Happy OLWing.

[not2late]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Tomatoes are really a fruit! They are classified as a vegetable due to a US Supreme Court ruling in 1893! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden

As a fruit, tomatoes have a relatively high glycemic index and they also have a relatively higher net carb too.

Dump the tomato and try out the jicama on its own for a week. I wouldn't recommend adding another new vegetable, because you'll be stuck trying to figure out if it was the jicama or the other new vegetable you added.

[kayceear]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Thanks for helping out...I now have some work to do. Those pesky fruits are to be the first to go.

Have any suggestions on using jicama's (other than raw)?

[not2late]

Re: Not OWLing right? Major Frustration!!!

Some people fry jicama like potatoes or make them into "hash browns".

I like jicama plain and raw (I use them like potato chips for scooping up a dip). Or I like them in a jicama slaw. There's a recipe for the jicama slaw in the "side dishes" forum of the recipe board.