Wanted to make this a new topic so it didn't get lost...

[tammytomandgirls]

"After 2 weeks of Induction, I'm planning to move on to OWL. For some reason, I'm not seeing the benefit of staying with just one food group for an entire week when one food within that group might be a problem and then you need to determine which one that is. I'm thinking of maybe selecting one specific food from 3 groups and eating those for a week while staying at 25 carbs or less. For instance, cream cheese from dairy, strawberries from the berry group, and kidney beans from legumes. Is there a drawback to doing OWL this way? If I stopped losing and/or gained, couldn't I safely rule out cream cheese as the cause since I had it on Induction and assume the strawberries or kidney beans were a problem food for me?

Just trying to figure out which direction to go before I start OWL. The thought of eating larger quantities of the same Induction veggies sickens me so Rung 1 is out as a starting point for OWL. Any suggestions?

Lisa"


I thought this was a good question as my OWL seems to be heading in a similar direction due to time contrants and not really having an appetite for more veggies.

Tammy

[not2late]

The rungs are arranged in a very specific pattern: the lower carb foods are introduced first AND the groups are arranged in order of their allergenicity. In other words, as you go up the ladder, you'll encounter more foods that can cause potential food allergies or food intolerances.

So if you don't go in order and spend your first week eating 5 net carbs extra of grains, fresh dairy, and nuts, for example, you might eat a food to which you have a minor food intolerance and your blood sugar problems might return and you might stop losing weight. Then you'll be in a mess, because you won't know which food(s) did it to you.

I haven't reached the grains rung, but I'm on the "other fruit" rung. As I progressed up the ladder, I've found a number of things:

1. I cannot eat cantaloupes because they give me cravings, but I can eat honeydew melon without any problems.
2. I can only eat 1 brand of ricotta cheese. Other brands stop my weight loss.
3. I can't eat heavily salted nuts and I can't eat pistachios---they slow down my weight loss.
4. I can't eat tomatoes or eggplant more than 3 times a week because anymore than that and I begin to have food cravings. I used to eat tomatoes and eggplant during Induction, but I still ran into problems with them when I was eating them at OWL level carbs.

Can you imagine what a mess I'd be in if on my first week of OWL, I ate cantaloupe, pistachios and Sargento brand ricotta cheese??

There's a rhyme and reason to the OWL carb ladder. If you choose not to follow it, do so at your own risk. Because it's most likely you'll have to drop all the new foods you ate, in order to pinpoint which 5 net carbs of food you ate is giving you the problems.

[Heidi3]

I am NO expert but adding one food at a time allows for you to really see on differing days how that food affects you...for instance I had trouble with nuts...so I stayed on the nut rung until I figured out what nuts I could eat and what did not agree with me.....if I had added more than one rung at a time I would not have known that I can eat coconut but have to beg off on peanuts... I have noticed some foods trigger cravings some days and not others ...hormones have a lot to do with it for me....so one food at a time helps you sort this kind of thing out!...you can do whatever you want ..this way just seems to work!.....I had a horrible weekend adding berries when I was at a bad point tired and not planning well..so I can not blame berries I will try them again over the next couple of weeks if I do not get cravings I will move on to another food!...does this help?

[not2late]

Oh yeah, regarding food intolerances, re-read Chapter 26---that whole chapter is on food intolerances. If you want to read more about them, then read The Asthma and Allergy Cure by Fred Pescatore, MD. Dr. Pescatore was the associate Medical Director of the Atkins Center and his book explains Chapter 26 a bit more thoroughly.

[tammytomandgirls]

Thank you That gives good insight...I just can't seem to get organized enough for some reason??

I know, everyone has an excuse, I just have to figure how to make this work with my life.

Honestly I'm not sure if I'm doing OWL or still in induction type mode right now...I'm eating what I know I can eat on induction because I don't have time for planning/experimenting right now - people know we are leaving for vacation so our business is just out of control, plus trying to get ready for vacation...*sigh*...I AM making my workouts a priority... I guess I'm kinda doing OWL..I've been eating the induction foods..plus I tried to add extra veggies...I think I'm on track but I haven't had the time to fitday it or anything like that...*sigh*.... I guess all we can do is our best..I was only eating additional veggies that I'd already had on induction so today I added some Macadamian nuts because I was in a hurry and unprepared and HUNGRY...so we'll see how that works for me...if I did that should I not have the extra veggies? See, I'm not organized enough right now to know exactly what my carb count is..I'm guessing based on the power of five info and the induction info and only adding what the power of 5 says portion wise - the good news is I'm still in ketosis - for some reason the strips that were regularly light pink throughout induction turned purple a couple days ago?? Not sure why..I've been drinking my water & stuff?

Ok........I'm just rambling now...... :confused

[sassyone]

Tammy- I hear what you are saying- sometimes it is just too much to think about! And plan for! I live a very busy life and don't want to spend so much time planning- but I have found that I do much better when I do! MY personality is sort of a shoot from the hip type- so this really challenges me! I have followed pretty closely most of the time- but I admit sometimes I do my own thing too- not carby foods- just not in the right rung- well now I am at goal so I can be a little more flexible. But those dang nuts are my big downfall- I cannot hve them in the house- because I won't quit!

[LilBit]

2. I can only eat 1 brand of ricotta cheese. Other brands stop my weight loss.

Just out of curiousity so that I can watch for the same thing, which brand CAN you eat?

Also, what ingredient do you think was in the other cheese brands that stopped your weight loss?

[not2late]

I can eat a local supermarket brand from Giant food stores (the supermarket is only in the Maryland-Virginia area). I don't know how it's different than the national brands because the ingredients are the same, but it's the only one that doesn't cause me any problems....Yeah, I've got a weird bod.