Awwww Nuts!

[NewToAtkins]

I have a question:
Although I am in late state extended induction (I need to pick a stop date soon and move on, although I'm dropping about 4 pounds a week), I ate some walnuts two weeks ago during a mini stall. One day later I was down a pound. Thinking I might really have something going (and being superstitious) I ate a small handful the next night (about 1/8 to 1/4 cup...2 or less net carbs) and lost again. I've been doing this with walnuts every day for about the past 10 and I've increased my losing. Besides that, I've felt better since I started with them.
My question is this: Although nuts aren't allowed until much later on in Atkins, am I doing harm if I've increased my weight loss and felt better since I've been eating them? I know what the Atkins book says about it, but Dr. Atkins was just the doctor, YOU guys are the professionals through trial and error.

Thanks so much, as always, for your help.

[Sunny_0ne]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

NewtoAtkins, read the article in my signature. It was written by a woman who was actually involved with the Atkins medical center when Dr. Atkins was alive.

Since you are not in the first two weeks of induction, I think it will greatly reassure you.

[IrishRain]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

Hey there, New. Having read the article in Sunny's signature, I know it says the same as I'm about to say, but I'll say it anyway: You don't have to do the rungs in order. It's just a guideline. After the first two weeks of induction, you can add in your extra carbs from whichever rung suits your fancy.

Really, the rungs are in the order that they are because of the carb counts, I think. Obviously veggies have fewer net carbs than berries or whole grains, so they're easier to fit in when you're just moving up to 25 carbs.

[Sunny_0ne]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

One thing to remember, though... if you skip WAY up the ladder you can trigger cravings again.

[Georgiana]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

I have seen this many times on the board -- people on "extended induction" adding back foods that should only be reintroduced in OWL, then wondering how this will affect them or, even worse, feeling guilty about eating those foods. In my opinion, the problem should not arise in the first place. I'll explain this by looking at your case. The day you started eating nuts, you stopped doing extended induction and moved to OWL. You can say this, or you can say that you were still doing induction and cheated by having nuts. The word "cheat" is pretty demoralizing for me.

So instead of worrying about nuts, acknowledge that you moved to OWL and start adding other foods back.

The food groups should be reintroduced in order, so the first thing you should do is add more veggies, in the way indicated in the book (5 g every other day, etc.). What I am going to say now is not particularly popular, but since you already added walnuts and saw they do not affect your weight loss, you can keep them in your diet instead of putting them away for a few more weeks. However, my advice would be to follow the rungs from here on.

You don't have to do the rungs in order. It's just a guideline. After the first two weeks of induction, you can add in your extra carbs from whichever rung suits your fancy.

This is actually not true, although I believe this is what the Atkins Company says these days (you can throw stones at me if I'm wrong, I'm too lazy to check right now ). Foods in higher rungs have a higher probability to mess up your blood sugar levels, which leads to cravings. Adding foods from Rung 4, for example, before trying out Rung 1 is like trying to squat 150 lbs before knowing whether you can squat 50. It might work but, more often than not, you will injure yourself.

Regarding the "modified OWL" 2big4mysize talks about in that sticky. What is meant is not that you can pick rungs in the order you wish. No. If one week you choose to substitute a rung for another, you should only substitute a higher rung for a lower rung you have already tried. So while going 1-2-3-3-1-4-5-6-1-3-7-8-9 is okay, going 3-3-1-2-4-7-5-6-8-9 is not. I think this sentence in that thread summarizes it very well:

They strongly cautioned against adding a higher level rung and then jumping back down the ladder like 1,9,2,3,4, etc because the higher rungs were higher GI and could effect your craving controls and sabotage your efforts.

Rung 9 is an example here, just to make a point. It could have been 3, 5, etc.

NewtoAtkins, I've seen your before/during pictures and you are obviously doing great. You took a risk by eating walnuts before foods in Rungs 1 or 2, and the fact that they didn't cause you any issues is fantastic! But what worked once might not work all the time and I think it would be a shame to fall off the wagon now that you reached this far. Add a few more veggies, then some diary, then try other nuts and so on. Move up the rungs, find your CCLL and then keep eating (below your CCLL) any foods you don't have an intolerance to. It will save you a lot of worries and guilt, without hindering your weight loss.

[NewToAtkins]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

You guys are the best!

[tfek70]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

Jon, I went to beer after 12 weeks of induction. It didn't phase me, and I actually lost weight only on days after I had a beer for like 2 weeks. You mileage may vary, but that's what happened to me. Still got Elmo going through my head, thanks man!

T. J.

[NewToAtkins]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

I could help you with the Elmo song the same way my wife did...by singing the unspeakable song. You know...the one about it being such a tiny planet after all. I won't put you through that.
I might try adding a beer back into my diet. I haven't had one since my birthday in January, and boy do I miss it!

[Georgiana]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

I might try adding a beer back into my diet. I haven't had one since my birthday in January, and boy do I miss it!

The question is: do you miss beer strong enough to take the risk before reaching OWL Rung 5?

[ctark]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

From my experience the nuts thing is a myth. I eat nuts during the induction phase and i still hit ketosis pretty fast. I eats nuts every day and LOTS of them. Sometimes a 1000 calories worth. I eat just about any kind of nut you can think of. Ate 80g of carbs worth of cashews 2 days ago and didnt affect me at all and i've lost 3 pounds since then. I dont think they impact blood sugar.

[Georgiana]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

From my experience the nuts thing is a myth. I eat nuts during the induction phase and i still hit ketosis pretty fast. I eats nuts every day and LOTS of them. Sometimes a 1000 calories worth. I eat just about any kind of nut you can think of. Ate 80g of carbs worth of cashews 2 days ago and didnt affect me at all and i've lost 3 pounds since then. I dont think they impact blood sugar.

That's fantastic! The only problem is that people on this board follow Atkins and what you are doing is something completely different.

Induction Rule: Eat no more than 20 g of carbohydrate.

So if you eat 80 g of carbohydrate, you are not following induction.

Induction Rule: Most of the 20 g of carbohydrate should come from vegetables.

Even without the 20-g rule, you'd have to eat a lot of vegetables to get most of your carbs from them.

Induction Rule: Eat nothing that is not on the acceptable food list.

Nuts are not.

If you are on OWL, already know your CCLL, can afford eating well over 80 net carbs and cashews are not one of the foods you have an intolerance to, then you could theoretically eat 2 cups of cashews (i.e. 80 g carbohydrate). However, 2 cups of cashews is binging, imo, and it can hardly be part of a varied diet.

[ctark]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

Well maybe some people on this board shouldnt follow "atkins"

I notice some have problems with it and some people like nuts! I'm just saying experiment cause everybody is different and what works for one may not work for another

[jimmie 48]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

Well maybe some people on this board shouldnt follow "atkins"

I notice some have problems with it and some people like nuts! I'm just saying experiment cause everybody is different and what works for one may not work for another

i agree, it's fantastic for you. you must be able to lose weight like nobody's business.

however, the advice given for this board follows atkins and as Georgiana has posted, nuts are not for induction. you are doing your version of low carb and information has been posted and probably will continue to be posted so new folks will have the book information.

[Georgiana]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

Well maybe some people on this board shouldnt follow "atkins"

The reason why this board is called "Atkins Diet Bulletin Board" is because people here are following Atkins. There is also bulletin boards for people on other low-carb diets.

I'm just saying experiment cause everybody is different and what works for one may not work for another

Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) is a great time to experiment.

[mitzimarie]

Re: Awwww Nuts!

Well maybe some people on this board shouldnt follow "atkins"

There are plenty of lowcarb boards out there, that you can join and not be "tied down" to following the Atkins plan. However, this board is based upon the 2002 version of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. So YES, the advice given here is based upon the work of Dr. Atkins.

Nuts - as with ALL foods, each person will respond differently. I have been in Maintenance since 11/11/07, and I can honestly say that nuts are still a HUGE problem food for me.

Your mileage may vary.