Struggling with OWL - can I just clarify?

[Alexa]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading the stickies and the book and I'm still confused, so I just wanted to double-triple check that I am doing OWL correctly because sometimes I think I've got it and then someone posts some advice that seems a little contradictory.

Am I right in thinking that in OWL you have your three cups of salad and veg as you do in induction and you also add 5 grams of netcarbs (as per the excellent list in the sticky above) per week (eating each new food only 3 times at first)?

Does this mean that when on the diary rung you can have the oz of cheese allowed on induction plus diary representing 5g more?

Or is it the case that you must figure out exactly 25g (or whatever increment you are on) of carbs per day and not just take the original induction cups as a given? An presumably if you are doing that then the carbs in the meat you eat too must be counted also?

Sorry to have to ask for clarification again - I'm sure you all get tired of these same old questions.

Thanks, Baarb

[not2late]

Re: Struggling with OWL - can I just clarify?

Am I right in thinking that in OWL you have your three cups of salad and veg as you do in induction and you also add 5 grams of netcarbs (as per the excellent list in the sticky above) per week (eating each new food only 3 times at first)?

That's right. Those 3 cups of Induction vegetables are the minimum amount of daily veggies for the rest of your Atkins. The OWL rung 1 veggies can be any veggie on the Induction Food list. So, let's say you want to have 1 cup spaghetti squash, your Rung 1 Veggie can be 5 net carbs of tomato made into a sauce.

Does this mean that when on the diary rung you can have the oz of cheese allowed on induction plus diary representing 5g more?

Yes. BUT (<---note the capital letters ) Your fat intake during OWL decreases slightly. So you might want to eat 2 oz of the Induction cheese ration while eating 5 net carbs of the OWL dairy, in order to keep that fat in balance.

As with Induction all the carbs you eat are counted towards your daily totals. So if you eat 3 eggs, you need to count those egg carbs.

The simplest way to approach OWL is that you are adding carbs onto your current Induction meals. Let's say you average 15 net carbs during Induction. On OWL, you'll add 5 net carbs of veggies. So your total net carbs will be 20. The next rung, you add another 5 net carbs of OWL foods, your net carbs will be 25, and so forth.

[Alexa]

Re: Struggling with OWL - can I just clarify?

Hey Megs,

Thanks for that. I think I kind of get it, it's just that the two approaches (adding 5g to induction or counting all carbs) seemed kind of incompatible. For instance yesterday I ate my induction menu, added 5g of carbs but then when I added it all up in the evening I'd only had 18g of carbs that day including everything. Does that matter?

For now I've decided to just add above the 3 cups and works it out at the end of the day and if i't slow, not worry about it. Does that seem ok?

Thanks,

Baarb

[not2late]

Re: Struggling with OWL - can I just clarify?

Hey Megs,

Thanks for that. I think I kind of get it, it's just that the two approaches (adding 5g to induction or counting all carbs) seemed kind of incompatible. For instance yesterday I ate my induction menu, added 5g of carbs but then when I added it all up in the evening I'd only had 18g of carbs that day including everything. Does that matter?

For now I've decided to just add above the 3 cups and works it out at the end of the day and if i't slow, not worry about it. Does that seem ok?

Thanks,

Baarb

It doesn't matter if the daily total is less that 20. Whatever your carbs were during Induction, you add 5 net carbs to that for OWL. For example, if you were eating 10 net carbs daily during Induction, on OWL, you add 5 net carbs to that.

Just remember each veggie has its own carb value. 5 net carbs of lettuce is something like 15 cups. 5 net carbs of pumpkin is 1/2 cup.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Struggling with OWL - can I just clarify?

JUST BE SURE TO YOUR 3 CUPS OF INDUCTION VEGGIES YOU ADD 5 MORE NET CARBS OF THOSE INDUCTION VEGGIES SO YOU GOT 3 CUPS PLUS 5 NT GRAMS OF THE INDUCTION VEGGIES AND ALL THE OTHER CARB THINGS YOU HAD DURING INDUCTION LIKE EGGS CHEESE SPICES HERBS SWEETENERS ETC.,. WHEN YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT RUNG YOU ADD 5 NET CARBS OF THE FRESH DAIRY RUNG TO THOSE 5 NET CARBS OF YOUR INDUCTION VEGIES PLUS THE 3 CUPS PLUS ALL THE STUFF YOU HAD IN INDUCTION THAT hAD CARBS.

oNE VERY INPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT WHEN YOU GET TO FRESH DAIRY EVEN THOUGH STUFF LIKE AGED HARE CHEESE HAS LESS THEN ONE CARG PER OUNCE YOU USE dR aTKINS COUNTING METHOD AND EACH OUNCE IS ONE GRAM OF CARBS SO YOU DON'T ADD BACK 25 OUNCES OF CHEDDAR CHEESE CAUSE IT olny HAS .2 NET CARBS AN OUNCE.

hAPPY owlING

[Alexa]

Re: Struggling with OWL - can I just clarify?

Thanks so much Megs and 2Big,

I am now no longer wasting several hours per day dithering in confusion in the kitchen!

Baarb

[not2late]

Re: Struggling with OWL - can I just clarify?

It gets easier when you get the hang of it, Baarb. Give it about a week and you'll be an OWL pro.