Repeating the carb ladder?

[focus83]

I know this might sound like a silly question but can you do the ladder more than once? lets say you do 2 weeks on each stage and then when you get to rung 9 can you go back to induction again?

Its just i have so much weight to lose and i dont know if i can stay on induction for such a long time but if i moved up the rungs i dont think i will lose that much weight. Would it really hurt to do this seeing as im not cheating exactly.

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before anyone mentions it i am currently reading the book. Its just alot of info to take in.

[Georgiana]

Re: Repeating the carb ladder?

Let's say you have to pay $100 and you have two options to do this:

1) Pay $30 per week for 2 weeks. Then pay $15 per week for 2 weeks. Then $5 for 2 weeks.

OR

2) Pay $30 this week, $15 next week and $5 the next. And then again $30, $15 and $5.

The second option might seem more interesting, but no matter what you choose, you will pay everything in 6 weeks. Same with the carbs. In theory, no matter if you choose to do Induction, Rung 1, Rung 2, ..., Rung 9 or Induction, Rung 1, ..., Rung 9, Induction, Rung 1, ..., in the end you will lose the weight in exactly the same amount of time. This however is true only in theory. In reality, skipping back and forth on the carb ladder is dangerous. Here is how I imagine things... Assume you're just starting and you do induction for 2 weeks. Then you go to rung 1 for 2 weeks, then to rung 2 for 2 weeks... let's say everything goes smoothly and you have no food sensitivities. Then, when you're at the top, you have to jump from rung 9 back to induction for 2 weeks. The jump is huge and might cause you to go arse over tit. It will mean giving up extra veggies, fresh cheeses, yogurt, nuts, berries, beans, fruits, starchy vegetables, grains... all the goodies you have been eating for the past four and a half months (for rung 1). You will think "oh, a bite of that and a little piece of that won't hurt me because I had them before and it was just fine". So you have them, feel guilty for cheating (because, after all, you are back in induction not on rung x), get mad on yourself and cheat more or, worse, give up.

I might be wrong, but I know this is how I would think. Why not climb the rungs slowly instead? As I've said, you will lose the weight in exactly the same amount of time. But doing things in order you will only have to *introduce* new, tasty foods and not eliminate a whole rung (or 9 of them!). Since you are just as far away from goal no matter whether you choose to have a safe climb or not, I think option 1) has a psychological advantage.

[Elizellen]

Re: Repeating the carb ladder?

As Georgiana suggested, it might not be a good idea to climb the carb ladder in OWL then return to induction and start over again.

See how you go on OWL, taking the time to add many different foods on each rung if you like, then if you are still losing (which means you have not reached your CCLL by then) you could move to premaintenance and add food from the rungs in the OWL order in larger 10 net gram amounts.

[not2late]

Re: Repeating the carb ladder?

OWL Phase is On-Going Weight Loss Phase. There isn't a need to go to OWL then go back to Induction to lose weight, because on OWL, you still ARE losing weight. I'm only saying that because over the years here on ADBB, I've noticed that people seem to think of Induction as the only weight loss phase of Atkins and that OWL is what you do when you are already at goal.

And you shouldn't be bouncing back and forth to Induction. Dr. Atkins addressed that in a section of the book called the Use and Abuse of Induction. He wrote doing that is yo-yo dieting and it doesn't guarantee weight loss and doesn't guarantee that you'll keep the weight off.

[SunnySmile501]

Re: Repeating the carb ladder?

Many of us with a lot of weight to lose stayed on Induction for more than 14 days, but when the weight loss slowed, we started up the ladder and stayed on rung 1 for a really long time. Adding more veggie carbs helped kick-start losses again. We kept adding more and more veggies, but the lower glycemic kind.

I was okay to move on up to the dairy rung (soft cheeses), but when I moved up to rung 3, seeds and nuts, I went bonkers from the peanuts and peanut butter and had a hard time eating tree nuts out of hand without going, well, NUTS. I've had to save nuts and seeds like pumpkin or sunflower seeds for using in recipes and only occasional measured amounts out of hand.

OWL is when you will find out how insulin resistant you are and what foods you are allergic to (wheat & grain for me), sensitive to or are trigger foods for you (peanuts and peanut butter for me). Finding out what foods trigger cravings and binge eating for you will be the best lesson you learn in OWL.

Sunny!

[focus83]

Re: Repeating the carb ladder?

ok thanks for everyones reply. I just thought if i could do it i might find it easier because i had planned on staying on induction for awhile as i feel it works best for me. But i will try to do it the proper atkins way.