Im so comfortable in Induction

[tulsanurse1]

I need help, Im so confused. Ok, today is day 12 on Induction. Ive lost 18 pounds so far. Please keep in mind that when I started I weighed 269lbs. Today I weigh 251lbs. 14 of my pounds lost were in the first 4 days. I have no idea how much of the 14 pounds was water and how much was fat but I have a hard time believing one could lose even 6 pounds of fat in four days. I do know that my legs/feet were swollen when I started induction. From day 5 to day 12 Ive lost 4 pounds. Here is my question. My average carb intake daily is 13-15. My percentages of fat/carbs/protein are usually 63/3/34 or somewhere close. I am confused because I feel like I need to have been eating 20 carbs to accurately go into OWL and move up the ladder. Maybe I should do 2 weeks of getting exactly 20 grams and then start at rung 1 adding 5 more grams. Im not sure how to even calculate my BMR because Im not sure how much of my weight loss has been water. The only reason Im bringing up how much I have lost is because I have lost so much weight since I started Induction and I dont want to assume my BMR is considered "low" when its really "average". Im nervous about not doing an extended induction because Im satisfied with the foods Im eating AND I dont wanna screw up. I think this is why I didnt move to OWL the last time I did Atkins. Its really overwhelming when Ive never done it. Im so totally comfortable in induction but lets face it, I will love moving up the rung ladder once I figure all this out. I would love some help figuring out what to do.

[not2late]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

No you don't need to be eating exactly 20 net carbs in order to move onto OWL. Most of us average 10-15 net carbs during Induction. When we move to OWL, we add 5 net carbs of OWL foods to that 10-15 net carbs from Induction.

You've lost 18 pounds. Go look up your degree of metabolic resistance in the charts in the book. You'll see that your fears of having a high metabolic resistance to weight loss are completely and totally unfounded.

[tulsanurse1]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

Do you stop losing less weight the higher up the rung you go? Thats what scares me because I have almost 100 lbs still to lose.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

There are many members who find they actually lose more in Ongoing Weight Loss than in induction phase. Not to mention, the freedom of eating more vegetables than what is allowed during induction. I don't know a soul who got fat eating vegetables, do you?

[not2late]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

You'll stop losing weight when you reach your CCLL (critical carbohydrate losing level). The CCLL is different for everyone. We have had some members whose CCLLs were over 100 net carbs.

When you find your CCLL, you're in luck and your OWL will become 100% easier. That number tells you how many carbs you can eat and still lose weight. That will make your meal planning and eating out much, much easier.

[ttdriver]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

Laurie,

Don't be afraid to move up the rungs .. I know its scary to think about adding in more carbs, but as Joy said, as long as you add the correct ones in the correct amounts, you will be fine. Many people stall after staying on induction too long and they discover that once they move to OWL, the scale starts moving again (yeah, I know, hard to believe, but TRUE!)

Trust the Good Doctor and his plan .. IT WORKS!

Congrats on the terrific job so far!!!

Betty

[hrgillespie]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

I am not even close to an expert nor do I consider myself worthy of giving advice about Atkins but I can tell you what I did ............ I think when you go into this with lots of weight to lose you can do it two differnt ways as Dr Atkins describes in his book. You can either go right to the rungs or you can stay on extended induction both has their benefits ........... with exteded induction I personally feel you will lose a little faster. But you don't have the variety of foods you get to enjoy on OWL. SO you have to decide what is the more important part for you. When I started out I decided for myself that I was going to stay on extedned induction till I got to my halfway point in my weight loss and then I would move to OWL. I ended up moving into OWL about 5 lbs early because I found myself getting ansty for more kinds of food and I want to make sure I do this right this time.

I don't know if that helps you at all ............. but I would reccommend reading the parts of the book that apply to this decision ........... it does talk about the pros and cons of both and then make an informed decision based on what you think is best for you!

Let us know what you decide! I bet you can glean lots of good info from both the extended induction and the OWL forums ..........

[tulsanurse1]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

When do I have to find my CCLL? I promise Im using my DANDR but Im really nervous here. I only have 3 days left before I move to OWL. So what happens the first week is, since i normally eat 15 carbs, i add 5 more carbs for a total of 20? I know i will be on rung 1 which means that all I do is add 5 more carbs from the vegatable part of the acceptable food list, right? How long did you guys stay on rung 1?

[Sera]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

the least time you need to spend on rung 1 is 1 week afaik.
I don't do more than 2 weeks per rung personally, others spend a lot longer, its up to you.
just see how it goes the first 1 or 2 weeks on rung 1, if you feel comfy there, you can stay a while.

[mitzimarie]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

Since everyone is different, I can only attest to what has worked for me. I lost the most weight while on Rung 1. I stayed on that rung for 2 months, trying tons of new veggies. On the weeks that I wasn't adding a new food, I upped my carbs with veggies. Frankly, after progressing through rung 7, I found that most of the foods from rungs higher than 1 slowed my losses more than I was willing to. So, I have gone back to Rung 1 for the past month, and my losses have been great. I usually try to eat up to 45 net carbs, with most of them coming from veggies. It seems that the more veggies I eat, the better I lose. I thought that I was comfortable in Induction, too, and didn't see the need to move on... until I did. It was the best move that I ever made.

There is a veggie challenge coming up in the later half of October. I would encourage everyone to join this challenge. Participating in the last veggie challenge last April is how I broke my stall. Not to mention, it sincerely changed my life. I was never a veggie eater before the challenge, but when I bit the bullet and added more veggies, it sealed my success with Atkins.

And don't forget to subtract the fiber from total carbs to get net carbs.

VEGGIES RULE!!

[kate58]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

Again, I am no expert, but I moved to OWL after a little over 2 weeks on induction, even though like you I was a quite scared to do it - things were going so well, I just didn't want to mess with a good thing.

Also like you I was averaging 14-16g of carbs, so just moved it up to 20g. My weight loss carried on smoothly. Well, maybe a little slower on the scales, but a little faster on the inches. Anyway I am MORE than happy with 21lbs in 4 weeks!!

I am now just coming to the end of 2 weeks on the first rung, and am going to hang there for just another week or so - mainly because it is coming up to my TOM and I know myself well enough to know that that is a danger time for overeating the wrong food.

However having jumped in, I am now a LOT less scared of moving on than I was in taking the first step on the ladder. I believe now that I can control my eating, I am getting used to keeping account of what I eat and to keeping the proportions right.

There are foods I'd love to have from higher rungs - especially some nuts, which are a great addition to a salad - and I feel quite confident now that I can experiment or even move back a rung for a while if I feel it necessary. Plus I am very aware of Christmas on the horizon (we don't have Thanksgiving, for which this year at least I am thankful ). I really want to get myself into a postion where there are nice things I can legally eat or from which I can make 'treats' at that stage so that I don't start feeling deprived and lose the run of myself.

My experience is obviously pretty limited (I've never done Atkins before) but my real fear of leaving the comfort zone that Induction very quickly became is gone, and the feeling of control I have is much, much stronger as a result of taking the chance of moving on.

[bambinaUK]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

Last time round I stayed on Induction for 3 months and lost a steady 1-2lbs every week, but it was very boring and temptation reared its ugly head because I was bored with what I was eating. I know I did it because I felt safe and that I understood the rules of Induction.

This time I moved onto OWL at week 3 and todate have lost twice as much weight during the same amount of time!! It's a lot more fun too.

[fatty mcfatison]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

I moved to rung 1 after my 2 weeks and I love it. I have been at rung 1 for almost 2 months now and I am enjoying it. I have almost tried all the allowed veggies and when I finish the list I plan to move on to rung 2. But this woe is easy for me cause I am a creature of habit. I like eating similar foods daily. I do not miss any of the other foods at this point. My hubby on the other hand is begging to move up, but since he wasn't a big veggie eater before starting this wol he has decided to finish the veggie list as well, but its alot harder for him. So I say the length of time depends on you. If you are satisfied and do not want to move swifty through the rungs take your time.

[SunnySmile501]

Re: Im so comfortable in Induction

Do you stop losing less weight the higher up the rung you go? Thats what scares me because I have almost 100 lbs still to lose.

Eventually you will, but for me, when I finally moved up a rung, I kick-started big losses again. I stayed on induction too long. I had lost 50 pounds in the first three months, then stayed the same for nearly a month. On January 1, 2006, I started up the rungs and lost another 27 pounds in the next 90 days. I love veggies, so I was very happy.

Sunny!