Starting OWL rung 1 today

[No_More_Messing_Around]

Lost 11 pounds on 14 day induction and starting OWL today.

I don't really get hungry on this WOE, but I'm determined to get those extra carbs in me to stay on track.

What's tough is that for so many of the vegetables, 5 net carbs is such a large quantity of food. Not sure how to work in a cup and a half of broccoli, for example.

Also while on rung 1, am I supposed to pick only one new item for the week? So if I wasn't eating tomato on induction and wanted to test tomatoes now, am I supposed to add ONLY tomatoes for a week and check weight loss after the week? Or am I supposed to mix and match all the foods from the rung?

Thanks everyone!

[Georgiana]

Re: Starting OWL rung 1 today

Lost 11 pounds on 14 day induction and starting OWL today.

Congratulations. Did you determine your degree of metabolic resistance?

What's tough is that for so many of the vegetables, 5 net carbs is such a large quantity of food. Not sure how to work in a cup and a half of broccoli, for example.

Not a large quantity if you are inventive.
Here's something Megs wrote: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ables-owl.html

Also while on rung 1, am I supposed to pick only one new item for the week? So if I wasn't eating tomato on induction and wanted to test tomatoes now, am I supposed to add ONLY tomatoes for a week and check weight loss after the week?

That's right. If you introduce a new food, you can eat it every other day.

Or am I supposed to mix and match all the foods from the rung?

It's better not to do this. Otherwise, when a food stalls you or gives you blood sugar symptoms, you won't know exactly which food is the culprit.

For the same reason, it is better not to add a new food and increase your carb intake in the same week -- it will allow you to know what stalled you, the new food or the extra carbs.

[No_More_Messing_Around]

Re: Starting OWL rung 1 today

Um...I think I'm confused. I thought the purpose of OWL was to determine your metabolic resistance. Is this a formula? Can you direct me to a post where I can uderstand "determining your metabolic resistance"?

So if I wanted to add 6 of the vegetables from rung 1, I should stay on rung 1 for at least 6 weeks; 1 week for each veggie? If so, you could conceivably stay on any particular rung for months cycling through all the foods on that rung?

Thanks for the info. I'm starting to realize how uninformed I was.

[Georgiana]

Re: Starting OWL rung 1 today

Um...I think I'm confused. I thought the purpose of OWL was to determine your metabolic resistance. Is this a formula? Can you direct me to a post where I can uderstand "determining your metabolic resistance"?

You can use the weight lost during Induction to estimate your degree of metabolic resistance. The chart you need is on page 158 in DANDR. It's also in some sticky here, but I don't have it bookmarked. I'll look for the link and post it here if I find it.

So if I wanted to add 6 of the vegetables from rung 1, I should stay on rung 1 for at least 6 weeks; 1 week for each veggie?

Yes and no. Depending on how many weeks you want to stay on each rung, you can have different strategies.

1. The courageous approach. Let's say you ate 12 net carbs, on average, during Induction. Then you move to OWL Rung 1 and add another 5 net carbs in the form of vegetables ("new" vegetables or vegetables you had during Induction). You can have, for example, shallots on Monday, yellow squash on Wednesday and pumpkin on Friday. Your carb count will be 17 on days when you ate the extra veggies and 12 the other days.

2. The chicken approach. This is how I did things in OWL Rung 1 and I still do so now. Each week, I either added a new vegetable or I increased my carb count by 5 net carbs. I stayed in OWL Rung 1 for 10 weeks, time in which I introduced 7 "new" vegetables (shallots, pumpkin, watercress, turnips, asparagus, zucchini and brussels sprouts) and increased my carb intake from 12-14 g to 22-24 g. I discovered that pumpkin doesn't agree with me, so I spent two weeks playing with it to see if it's the pumpkin itself or only the pumpkin combined with some other food.

While one has to follow a very strict set of rules during Induction, OWL is the time to try new things and design an approach that fits you best. So make your own strategy based on the Rules of OWL and don't be afraid to experiment.

[No_More_Messing_Around]

Re: Starting OWL rung 1 today

I just found this:

Degree of Metabolic Resistance for Men
...................Pounds Lost in First 14 Days
Pounds to Lose......High........Avg........Low
Less than 20.........4...........6..........8
20-50................6...........9.........12
More than 50.........8..........12.........16

Degree of Metabolic Resistance for Women
...................Pounds Lost in First 14 Days
Pounds to Lose......High........Avg........Low
Less than 20.........2...........4..........6
20-50................3...........6..........9
More than 50.........4...........8.........12

Metabolic Resistance........Approximate ACE Range
.......High.................15 grams of carbs per day
......Average...............15-40 grams of carbs per day
.......Low..................40-60 grams of carbs per day
..Regular exerciser*........60-90 grams of carbs per day


*In this context, a regular exerciser is someone who does vigorous exercise five


If this is it, it looks like I fall into the average category. Unfortunately, I did absolutely NO exercising this past 2 weeks. I suspect that if I had, I would be in the low metabolic resistance category.

2 weeks till the semester is over. I'm finding that between a full time job, classes at the university, studying in the evenings, and being a husband and dad, it's difficult figuring out where to slice out exercise time. I'm going to try to figure it out. I'm confident my numbers over the induction period would have been noticeably better with exercise.

[Georgiana]

Re: Starting OWL rung 1 today

Here's the link to the charts, although I would strongly recommend reading the book: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...-ace-ccll.html

[BikiniBy2010]

Re: Starting OWL rung 1 today

If you are male with 67lbs to lose and you lost 11lbs you are about Average Metabolic Resistance...
For reference..
High resistance is 8lbs Average is 12lbs and Low Resistance is 16.

If I am wrong and you are female, then at 11lbs you have a low metabolic resistance!

[BikiniBy2010]

Re: Starting OWL rung 1 today

Oops ya beat me to it. I was reading out of my book ;-)

[No_More_Messing_Around]

Re: Starting OWL rung 1 today

Thanks. It looks like that's the link I copied the chart from above.

I ordered the book last week...just waiting for it to show up.