OWL question? what rung do you guys consider me?

[badweiser]

I mostly stick with vegetables for my carbs but i do snack on proper potions of almonds and sunflower seeds. I eat some cheese but not much. I eat 45 carbs a day and im still pink. (the majority of carbs are veggies 25 or so) the rest are 5 on cheese and 5 on nuts, the rest come from what i call fillers(you know 1 carb here one carb there from cheese in my omelet and beef jerky snacks and dairy in my main courses and such and of course the occasional bar or shake. And I must admit that on friday nights I usually have a Vodka and club or two or maybe the occaisonal Michelob Ultra. I consider myself on rung 1 because its mainly veggies but maybe i am a rung 3?

Happy Easter to all!!

Greg in Connecticut

[julirama723]

Re: OWL question? what rung do you guys consider me?

If you're consuming alcohol, you're Rung 5.

The key here isn't which rung you're on, but that you're moving up properly through the rungs. Doing it haphazardly, or adding a food here or a food there might not seem problematic now, but it's best to follow OWL as intended. Often times you may have a food allergy or sensitivity that you were unaware of prior to Atkins. If foods are being added in no certain order (the foods should be introduced in order of low GI to high GI), you will be able to pinpoint foods or entire food groups that cause stalls, cravings, bloating, or any other negative side-effects. Also, if you're constantly adding foods from allover the rungs, it will be harder to find your CCLL, which is neccessary for maintaining this WOL.

If you consider yourself Rung 1, you must only eat foods from Rung 1. OWL Rung 1 is another serving of induction veggies.

Hope this helps.

[Grant]

Re: OWL question? what rung do you guys consider me?

Seems a little backwards? Deciding what rung you are on based on what you are eating rather then deciding what to eat based on what rung you are on. Since the point of OWL is to add foods and carbs back in in a regulated way I don't know that technically you are on OWL unless you added those things back in in the proper progression and watched your reactions to them.

That said though, going by food alone, I'd say you are on rung 5 as you are eating nuts, dairy and alcohol and seemed to have skipped the berry rung.

[badweiser]

Re: OWL question? what rung do you guys consider me?

Seems a little backwards? Deciding what rung you are on based on what you are eating rather then deciding what to eat based on what rung you are on. Since the point of OWL is to add foods and carbs back in in a regulated way I don't know that technically you are on OWL unless you added those things back in in the proper progression and watched your reactions to them.

That said though, going by food alone, I'd say you are on rung 5 as you are eating nuts, dairy and alcohol and seemed to have skipped the berry rung.

I know it may seem backward to most maybe I can explain my question with a little more detail. When i started back on atkins on 2/1 of this year I did a 14 day induction properly and at that time I did not fully understand the ladder. You see i added 5 carbs per week < i added them from veggies the first week and cheeses is where i got confused because I had eaten them in moderation on my induction. As for berries, I was never a big berry eater at all so yes I am guilty of skipping that step. The thing is I didnt understand the Rungs of the ladder( I think I do now that I have found you guys a short week ago) as steps of progress. I thought OWL was a process where I can add 5g of carbs from any rung to find my ace. I have had success in continuing my weight loss and keeping in the pink on my ketostix. As for me asking what rung I am on I was didnt consider myself a 5 because I only consume alcohol in moderation(at most 2 drinks on a friday) And nuts and seeds are not everday and berries I do not eat at all. So thats why I consider myself a 1. I know it may seem that I am backwards but i am not. I just have the mainstay of veggies everyday .

[julirama723]

Re: OWL question? what rung do you guys consider me?

It doesn't matter how OFTEN you consume said foods. If you consume them, then that is where you are. So, since you have alcohol, you're Rung 5.

My advice (since it was not intentional to do OWL out of order) is to stick with rung 1 foods only for a week or two, then progress up the rungs in order as intended. It may seem like deprivation, but it's only for a few short weeks. Trust me, this will be so beneficial to you. Stay another week on rung 1, and then I would suggest moving up a new rung every 2 weeks or so. That will give you an opportunity to successfully expirement with "new" foods.

Remember that when you're adding in new foods, eat it only 3x the first week, and if it causes you no problems, you may eat it daily (if you choose) thereafter. Also, it's best to stay at a certain level of carbs when you go up a rung, do not add 5g the same week you're moving up a rung or adding new foods. For example, let's say you are on rung 1, eating 25g carbs per day because you've added 5g of net carbs from rung one. The next week, EITHER add 5g more (so you're eating 30g carbs on rung 1) or move up to rung 2, but stay at 25g. This will let you pinpoint the cause of a stall or gain--you will be able to see if it's a food/food group, or the amount of carbs causing the delay.

RE-READ (because I'm assuming that you have read the book by now) the OWL sections of DANDR, and check out the OWL stickies in the FAQ section of the board. It is so important to have knowledge about the phase you're doing BEFORE you start it, so you can have the best success doing it!

[badweiser]

Re: OWL question? what rung do you guys consider me?

thanks for the great advice. But an added question Do you think I should reduce my carb intake or is that a backward step?

[julirama723]

Re: OWL question? what rung do you guys consider me?

I would drop back to a lower level, say, to 25 or 30g. You know that you're still losing at 45g, but just to keep an even playing field (and to cut out more variables) drop down to a lower level. Besides, it's pretty hard to eat 45g worth of induction foods! Yikes, you'd be eating veggies until they were coming out your ears...

Best of success to you!

[Lamby-pie]

Re: OWL question? what rung do you guys consider me?

I have had success in continuing my weight loss and keeping in the pink on my ketostix.

Greg, bouncing around on the rungs may not be perceived as being problematic at this time, as you are still in the stage of Atkins where you have quite a bit to lose, and your body is burning the fat easily.
When you get down to that last 10-20 lbs., your body might slow down the weight loss dramatically, and it may slam on the brakes. You might be setting yourself up for trouble as you won't know which foods are causing the slow-down, as you added too many foods of different GI at once.
OWL is a lot of trial and error.

Hope you had a great Easter, too.