food quantities?

[7Miriam]

I know when I add a new food, I can only have about 5 net carbs of it. There are various foods I have added at this point. After I have added a food for a while and have no problem with it, am I still limited to a 5 net carb serving. For example, I like pumpkin, and often have about 7 or 8 net carbs of it when I make it. Is this permissible strictly according to DANDR? I thought it was ok, but then I just read a post implying I could only have 5 net carb servings of added foods. Now I'm quite confused.

[liv]

Re: food quantities?

As far as I understand it only when you get to Pre maintenance can you start experimenting with larger quantities of the OWL foods. You are counting net carbs for the pumpkin, right?

[Elizellen]

Re: food quantities?

As Liv said, to add net carbs in larger quantities than 5 per week you should be at premaintenance phase.

However if you like your rung one veggies and are in no hurry to move on up the OWL ladder there is an alternative as I interpret DANDR.

I felt really limited by sticking to the 3 cups on induction as long as I did (and probably was eating more than 3 cups for much of that time ), so when I moved to OWL I stayed on the veg rung for quite a few '5 net carb additions'.

Each week I added 5 net carbs more veg till I was probably eating about 4-6 cups of the less carby veggies plus several cups of onions/peppers/etc before moving to the next OWL rung at about 40 net carbs per day.

Some people even stay on the first rung to discover their ccll by adding more and more veg till their losses stop, then reduce their veg quantities by say 10 net carbs and start adding the higher rung foods.

So maybe stay on the veg rung for a while and experiment?

[Desertthorn]

Re: food quantities?

See, now Im confused also. When I think about adding 5 carbs, its adding to the total, In induction you can have up to 20 carbs a day and then as you progress up the ladder you add 5 carbs for a total of 20 and it shouldn't matter if its added cheese or veggie, or a dozen eggs, as long as you stay under 20.
That sounds like a very carby pumpkin recipe. Are you subtracting the fiber?

[Elizellen]

Re: food quantities?

See, now Im confused also. When I think about adding 5 carbs, its adding to the total, In induction you can have up to 20 carbs a day and then as you progress up the ladder you add 5 carbs for a total of 20 and it shouldn't matter if its added cheese or veggie, or a dozen eggs, as long as you stay under 20.

It can depend on how many net carbs people are eating on induction.

Owl rung one is adding 5 net carbs to whatever number you averaged on induction.

Some people have only been eating maybe 10 net carbs on induction, so their aim on rung one would be to eat 15 net carbs.

Then move on to add 5 more on the next rung or 5 more of the same rung if they don't feel ready to move up the carb ladder or want to add extra foods on the same rung instead of moving up at the moment.

[7Miriam]

Re: food quantities?

I'm still confused. I am at 25 net carbs and on rung 2. I don't go over 25 net carbs a day. I eat all the required salad vegtables and other vegetables. I eat about 5 net carbs of the new food I am adding that week 3 times during the week. I then allow myself to eat whatever food I want from permissible foods I have already added so long as I don't go over 25 net carbs. So that might be some olives, or cheese or extra veggies, or some rung 2 dairy etc. Am I doing it wrong?

[Elizellen]

Re: food quantities?

If you were eating at 20 net carbs on induction then when you reach rung 2 you should be up to 30 net grams (20 + 5 rung 1 addition + 5 rung 2 addition = 30). If however you were only eating at about 15 net carbs on induction, then your rung 2 level of net carbs would be 25.

[7Miriam]

Re: food quantities?

I was at 16 net carbs during induction - so when I did rung 1 I went up to 20 net carbs, and then rung 2 went up to 25 net carbs. I guess the thing I want to make sure is ok is, for example, on a particular day eating all 10 of the net carbs beyond induction using more veggies, and then on a different day eating all 10 of the net carbs beyond induction using dairy. In other words, (other than when adding 5 net carbs of a new food) I have not been focusing on a day to day basis on how I split these extra 10 net carbs between rung 1 & 2 and am wondering if I need to be doing that.

[not2late]

Re: food quantities?

I think it depends on what you are doing or how you are doing your OWL.

Miriam, are you looking for your CCLL or are you just hanging out at 25 net carbs?

[7Miriam]

Re: food quantities?

I want to find my CCLL eventually, but I going slow b/c I have so much to lose. I am thinking of moving up to rung 3 in a few weeks, and staying at 25 net carbs for a couple months, then going up to 30 net carbs. So when at 25 net carbs I would be switching in the nuts, dairy, and extra veggies in my extra 10 net carbs, till I go up to 30 net carbs. Does this sound ok?

[not2late]

Re: food quantities?

I want to find my CCLL eventually, but I going slow b/c I have so much to lose. I am thinking of moving up to rung 3 in a few weeks, and staying at 25 net carbs for a couple months, then going up to 30 net carbs. So when at 25 net carbs I would be switching in the nuts, dairy, and extra veggies in my extra 10 net carbs, till I go up to 30 net carbs. Does this sound ok?

You could do that if you want. But just a word of warning......(insert scary music here ).....Just like the folks who stay on Extended Induction too long and they hit a plateau because they have kept their carbs too low for their body, the same thing can happen in OWL.

From my personal experience, I found that as I got thinner and more physically fit (and was, therefore, able to do more exercise), I found that my CCLL increased from 35 to 45-50. I hit a period of about 2 months where I was losing much slower and I was always hungry and very tired. I tired eliminating new foods and reintroducing them one by one, I tried being more mindful of my fat intake, etc. Then I re-read the book and decided to add 5 net carbs more, I stopped being as hungry and tired and my loss picked up. I kept going until I re-found my CCLL.

So just be aware of this if you are taking OWL slow. There is no problem with going through OWL slowly, but just be aware of this in case it happens to you too.