Finding my CCLL

[quotidianlight]

So tomorrow I wanted to go up another 5 gr's but I am a little confused. On induction I varied from about 10-20 carbs. When I added my 5 gr's, I didn't measure out 25 gr's of carbs. I just ate my three cups of veggies and added 5 more gr's of carbs. Now I must have reduced my intake someplace else because looking at my numbers, my average is still only 18 and it varies daily from 15-25! Do I keep eating my three cups and just two 5 gr increments and just live with the daily variation, or should I started eating enough veggies to get me up to 30 even if it takes more than those three cups plus 10 gr?

[mitzimarie]

Re: Finding my CCLL

Hi, Quo

I have found that one of the most difficult tasks in OWL is finding your CCLL. The reason that it is so challenging, is because to truly find it, you DO have to eat at a consisitent amount of carbs daily to test it.

In my experience, it took a very concentrated effort to accomplish that... lots of planning and awareness. It can be a pain in the butt. It's probably the number 1 reason that some people never do really find it... when progressing up the rungs, they just keep adding in 5 extra grams of each type carb, without worrying about whether they could handle up to a specific number each day.

For example, if you have a week where you ate 35g on some days, 40 on a couple more days, and 50 on 2 more days, that does not mean that you can handle up to 50 carbs. You really do need to try to eat as close as you can to 50 every day, to make sure that you can truly tolerate it. Not always an easy task. I toughed it out, until I got a specific number. And now that I know it, I don't stress to try to reach that number every day... I just make sure to not go over it. But anytime you are testing a number of carbs, you really should try to eat up to it everyday for at least a week to see if you can tolerate it.

I have also found that the total number of carbs I can eat will vary with the types of carbs I am eating. When most of my net carbs come from veggies, I can eat a greater number. When I start mixing in some of the upper rung foods, I can't always seem to eat as many. That is why I stayed on Rung 1 for a couple of months... veggies are relatively safe, and I wanted to build up my number of carbs before moving up. That way, I had more carbs to spend when going up the rungs, without having to sacrifice veggies to do it. I already knew that I could handle "x" amount of carbs... if my losses slowed at that number, I knew it was the new food I was adding, that was tripping me up.

If you have been eating at an inconsistent number of carbs each day, you might want to take a week to practice eating at the same number each day. That way, you have a benchmark number to increase upon. Since you have varied between 15 and 25, maybe take a week to try to eat up to 20 every day. Then, the next week, you can try increasing to 25 every day. Just remember not to add a new food and increase carbs in the same week. If you have trouble, you won't know whether it was the new food, or the increase in carbs that affected you.

About whether to adhere stictly to the 3 cups, plus 2 5g increment requirements for veggies - my personal opinion is, at your stage of the game, not to worry so much about that restrcition. As long as most of your net carbs are coming from veggies, and they are not the starchy kinds, you should be free to consume them how you wish. One thing - even though I am in Maintenance, I still try to get 2 cups of my veggies as salad veggies, because they are lower in glycemic impact. I have discussed this with other OWLer's, and the majority of them don't worry about doing that. Meaning, they go ahead and eat all of their veggies from the "Other" list, rather than still trying to get in 2 of the cups from the "Salad" list. I'm just a little OCD. I look upon it as, the upper rungs are built around the Induction menu... they are add ons... so, to me, that means that after I have my basic required minimum of 2 cups of salad veggies, I can add more in any way that I wish. Like I said, though, I feel sure I am in the minority on that one.

I will be the first one to admit that OWL takes a lot of time, effort, and pateince. But there really is a reason to go through it... this is where you learn your body's tolerances for the number of carbs, and kinds of carbs, you can have. This will be unique to each individual. So, even though it can be tedious, it is very important.

Good luck!

[Kansas Deb]

Re: Finding my CCLL

Wonderful question and great answer. I was wondering the same thing and you answered it so well Mitzi. Thank you.

[mitzimarie]

Re: Finding my CCLL

You are very welcome, Deb! Good luck to you.

[quotidianlight]

Re: Finding my CCLL

Mitzie you are a life saver! I just scrutinized my stats and graphs more and it seems, during induction I was only averaging 14 grs the first week and 15 the second to my new average of 18 isn't that far off but it's off. But being able to eat more variety of veggies will help me get those numbers up to 25 consistently. I agree that the salad veggies are so important but the limitations make it really hard for me to keep the numbers up, at least this way I can add extra broccoli or something to make up the difference when I am short. CCLL I will find you

[mitzimarie]

Re: Finding my CCLL

Quo, there are a couple of salad veggies that are good to get carbs numbers up. Often, for a snack, I will eat a whole, raw yellow, red, or orange bellpepper, cut into strips. Yum! One cup (149g) of a red bellpepper has 6 net carbs. The peppers I've been finding are big, so I am getting more than a cup of salad veggies out of the way, and racking up at least 6 net veggie carbs, by eating 1 bellpepper. Also, jicama is a staple for me. I eat it raw, as a snack, too. One cup (130g) contains 5 net carbs. I can wipe out 2 cups of that in a day, easy. Plus, jicama has a whopping 6.37g fiber per cup. You know I'm a fiber freak.

I'm glad you like veggies... veggies rule!

[quotidianlight]

Re: Finding my CCLL

Yeah, I'm eating a lot of peppers but had to stop eating the Jicama cause it was causing cravings (so much for safe veggies). I'm eating a lot of the peppers (of all types) mushrooms, bokchoy and romaine for my two cups. Jicama made it so easy to get my 20 *sighs* My problem isn't getting the two cups but restricting them and still hitting my numbers. An extra cup of peppers or spinach or eggplant goes a long way. I think what also hurt me was having to cut out tomatos and avocados.

[mitzimarie]

Re: Finding my CCLL

I think what also hurt me was having to cut out tomatos and avocados.

Oh, man! Too bad. Did you have to cut them because they caused cravings, or stalled you?

[quotidianlight]

Re: Finding my CCLL

I have food allergies. It started with just nuts as a kid but after my latex allergy was diagnosed the doctor never told me about rotating related foods so I have a list of foods I am either allergic to or suspicious of. I've known I was..."sensitive" to avocados and tomatoes for some time but kept eating them. Told myself it was in my head or just the acidity. After removing so many foods though it's become easier for me to tell so I'm using the diet as an allergy diagnosis diet as well (I was always too busy and/or scared to do one). I am sad but if I hadn't refused to stop eating them all the time I would be a lot less allergic to various foods. The Jacima just gave me cravings. I hope can add those back later but man, I'm gonna miss tomatoes. They jacked my mouth and throat up pretty bad after a week without any at all and avocados itched and made me really tired and irritable. They also made my tongue tingle a little. But the good news is I always thought I was allergic to eggplant and I'm not! well, at least not the little ones we'll see about the other strains. Since I never ate one not cooked in tomatoes I guess it makes sense.