About to move onto OWL

[IAmJbo]

Howdy all,

My friend and I are about to move onto OWL from Induction on Monday. We extended our Induction from two weeks to three weeks because we had a party last Saturday that set us back a bit. However, since returning to Induction last Monday, we've actually managed to continue to lose significantly. I started at 196 and I'm down to 187. My goal is 185 to begin OWL. He started at 195 and is down to 187. He's ready to begin OWL whenever. I figure that at this pace of weight loss, I should be down to 185 by Monday.

My ultimate goal is to get into the 170 to 175 range. At around 1 pound a week on OWL, I know that means it will take me 10 to 15 weeks. However, someone else on this board mentioned taht they lost a ton of weight when they first started OWL but not too much on induction. Any similar experiences? Further, I'm figuring that I lost a good amount of weight on induction that was actual fat because I kept up my water consumption, hopefully preventing water loss. I'm sure, though, that some of it was just excess water. But is there generally a difference in the type of weight or fat loss experienced on OWL vs. Induction? Will this be more of actual mass vs. water loss? Is this what accounts for the 1 pound per week vs. the 4 to 7 on Induction?

Lots of questions. I'd appreciate your thoughts. I'm going to start planning for OWL now.

Jason

[not2late]

Re: About to move onto OWL

If you read how Dr. Atkins devised his diet, the majority of your weight loss should be spend on OWL unless you have a high metabolic resistance to weight loss, which the vast majority of us do not.

I extended my Induction for 3 months and lost about 30 pounds. I moved onto OWL and the majority of the weight I needed to lose. I took my OWL slowly because along the way, I realized I had really bad eating habits, like over-eating. I figured the better I re-trained my brain, the better the chances I had of keeping the weight off. Let's face it, losing weight is a big pain in the rear-end and I NEVER want to be in the situation of losing weight again.

[Tomorrow_I'll_Be_Perfect]

Re: About to move onto OWL

Hi there. You will definitely experience fat loss. By OWL you should be done with dumping your excess water weight. From what I've read, it takes more water to process carbs than protein, that's why you dump the water when you dump the carbs. With all the protein you'll be eating, you shouldn't have a problem with your body losing muscle mass...that leaves fat. Burn baby burn!

I am scared of OWL. I'm still on Induction, but I know I won't be psychologically ready to move on in just one week. It's not so much the fact of losing more weight on Induction as that I'm afraid of lose control. I plan on taking things very slow this time and spending plenty of time in each phase and each rung. If I feel myself slipping, I'll drop back to the previous step.

Good luck on OWL!

[superjane]

Re: About to move onto OWL

i've now moved onto OWL too. and i've already found that my appetite has drastically decreased.

i dont know if thats normal or not. maybe its because i'm a bit scared of putting on weight or doing something wrong.

whatever the reason, you wont lose anything by moving onto OWL. if you notice a stall or gain,then just stop.

[Kandimom]

Re: About to move onto OWL

These comments have been really helpful. I've been on Induction for about 5 weeks and will move to OWL on Monday. I'm a little nervous. I lost 10 pounds, which is not a huge amount but I'm pleased. I plan to do each rung of the ladder slowly, maybe a month or so at each level until I feel good about moving up. Keeping my fingers crossed!

[PolarBearKing]

Re: About to move onto OWL

I was really nervous about moving into OWL, but on my third week on (Extended) Induction I didn't lose any weight. I had been extremely strict and was bummed out. So, with some prompting by the wise folks here, I moved on.

What is surprising, is that there isn't a whole lot of difference. I wasn't eating enough veggies during Induction and the move to OWL Rung 1 got me eating them and trying new ones. I lost 3 Lbs in each of the following two weeks.

I haven't stepped on a scale in almost a week, but I lost ANOTHER belt loop and I feel great. Once I do weigh in on Monday, I'll be moving to the next rung.

[jroche5998]

Re: About to move onto OWL

During the first few days of induction a large amount of the weight loss is indeed water. As you burn off your glycogen stores water goes with it. Every molecule of glycogen is stored with two molecules of water. But from then on a portion of the weight is fat, but even fat cells contain water as well as fat, so all of our weight loss is to some degree "water loss". Aren't we all 90% water anyway?

But keep going move to OWL, move up the rungs, you don't have much weight to lose, and you're supposed to coast into goal during pre-maintenance. So I would advise moving up the rungs rather quickly (no more than a week at each rung) to learn your trigger or problem foods before you get to goal.

Good luck and keep up the good work.