I have NEVER been able to figure this out

[Wonder Woman]

About the rungs....

There are two things going on here. I'm supposed to be adding 5 carbs per week but I'm also supposed to be adding different food groups (according to the carb ladder).

So which do I do first, add 5 carbs (without climbing a rung) or add a food group (and stay at my current level of carb) or both (and if both, how do I know - if my weightloss stalls - if the new food group or the 5 grams of carbs is to blame?)

I have NEVER been able to figure this out. There are two variables here (grams of carbs and food groups) but it's the ladder implies that there is only one variable (the food groups).

I don't understand which tactic to use. After induction, I am supposed to add more veggies. If I stop losing, do I assume that I added too many carbs? Then would I skip to the next rung (nuts, I think)? And would I stay at 20 carbs but add the nuts? Or assume I can't go above veggies on the ladder?

See how confused I am?

I'm not new to Atkins and I previously was able to add berries and nuts with no problem but I never figured out my ACL.

[MaggieBE]

Re: I have NEVER been able to figure this out

There are some stickies in the OWL forum that might be helpful. I would try to explain myself but I am dealing with a fussy 2 year old and would likely get it all wrong.

[Alexa]

Re: I have NEVER been able to figure this out

Hi Wonder Woman,

I had exactly the same dilemma - it was driving me a bit nuts for a while because I was working my way up and weight loss stopped and I didn't know why.

Checking out the stickies is useful. Also I asked a similar question and got some good info, here's the link:
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ad.php?t=38540

I'm working through induction again for now because of a slip up, but when I start adding I've decided to add 5g carbs every week (or so) just from the veggie category. When I stop losing, I'll drop back to my CCLL and then start substituting food froms other rungs, in order, to see how I react.

Baarb

[boonie stomper]

Re: I have NEVER been able to figure this out

Read the stickys in the OWL forum.



See page 169+ of DANDR.


Try upping the carbs in 5g increments, but be wary of effects that you can pinpoint to any "new" food you've added to your regimen. It can be tricky to figure your CCLL, especially if you are a woman, vary your level of activity, or your weight is fluctuating due to water-weight inbalances ( as if anyone is immune to this ) so take your time.

[Wonder Woman]

Re: I have NEVER been able to figure this out

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought there were too many variables in there.


So I stay on the same rung and add 5 carbs from that rung according to the stickies. Then do I add 5 MORE carbs from that rung (eventually) or go up a rung? Maybe that's a dumb question.

[sadie147]

Re: I have NEVER been able to figure this out

Not a dumb question at all....it can be confusing. You would add 5g of carbs on the next rung...

[not2late]

Re: I have NEVER been able to figure this out

You can do that if you want. I stayed on the vegetable rung and found my CCLL. You can also move up the ladder and add 5 net carbs. If you are worried about introducing too many variables with this method, then do it cautiously. For example, let's say, you've added 5 net carbs from Rung 1 (total daily net carbs = 25) and now want to move to Rung 2 and add another 5 net carbs. What you can do is add the Rung 2 food while staying at the Rung 1 carb level. So you stay at 25 net carbs and add the Rung 2 food. If your weight loss slows/stalls or your blood sugar instability returns, then you know it was the food and not the carb level. At this point, you can try another food on Rung 2 and see how you do.

Also, just because 1 food on the Rung affects you, doesn't mean you should write the entire rung off. I found through alot of trial and error that I can only eat 1 brand of ricotta cheese. However, the other dairy foods on the Dairy Rung don't give me any problems. So if I dropped the entire rung because ricotta gave me grief, I'd be missing out on a food group. Same thing for grains. I can't eat wheat because it aggravates my asthma and allergies, but I can eat the other grains without messing up my weight loss or messing up my breathing. If I wrote off the entire grains rung because wheat gave me problems, I would be missing out on corn, rye, rice and oats.

I'm also going to have someone move this thread to the On-Going Weight Loss Forum because it will be helpful to the OWLers there.

[boonie stomper]

Re: I have NEVER been able to figure this out

You can do both. If you're perfectly content with your food choices, you can keep adding veggies, but in the eventuality you are still rung 1 when you discover your CCLL, you will have to back off 5g net carbs of the veggies to go to another rung or you'd be above your CCLL.


If you want to add back other foods, you can go up a rung every week, you can skip a rung if you don't wish to consume anything on it. You can back off the carb total and/or increase your exercise once you find your CCLL if you wish to continue loosing. Keep protein about 30%; as you add more net carbs, fat % should drop.

go to http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ad.php?t=39503

[sadie147]

Re: I have NEVER been able to figure this out

Moving this thread to the OWL forum...