How many pounds do you typically lose a month?

[Rayley]

Re: How many pounds do you typically lose a month?

old enough to realize whats good for me and whats not

[Georgiana]

Re: How many pounds do you typically lose a month?

old enough to realize whats good for me and whats not

Rayley, J. was trying to help you. You have been at ADBB long enough to know that all forums here are strictly by the book, so receiving by-the-book advice is to be expected. If this is not the kind of advice you want to hear, you can either ignore it or add all by-the-book members to your Ignore List. Of course, this might mean that when you run into difficulties (and we all do) no knowledgeable member will be able/willing to help you. But it is a choice you make. However, hostile/smart-aleck replies like the one I quoted above are not welcomed.

[Georgiana]

Re: How many pounds do you typically lose a month?

Also... since you are "old enough to know what is good" for you, what I wrote below might not be relevant to you. It is meant for those who trust Dr. Atkins' advice, wish to follow it, and find others' experiences helpful.

From DANDR 2002, Chapter 17, pp. 223-224, "The Wrong Way to Do Atkins".

3. Misconception: You can focus solely on losing weight and minimize the maintenance aspects.
Reality: Any weight loss program that does not segue into weight maintenance is doomed to failure.

6. Misconception: You can just continue to do Induction until you lose all of your weight.
Reality: You will lose weight more quickly if you continue doing Induction, but you won't learn how to keep that weight off permanently if you don't move through the four phases. More importantly, you will out on the benefits of the phytochemicals present in health-promoting carbohydrate foods.

Below are some of our members' experiences.

This member lost over 100 lbs by following Induction until goal. Then she gained the weight back and is now following Atkins correctly, by moving through the different phases.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/1055369-post13.html

My first time around I was on induction for 14 months and lost 101 lbs. Then I upped my carbs so that I stayed at the same weight although I was still eating the same foods. (I'm a picky eater)

Then I started eating bad foods and became bulimic because I was terrified of gaining the weight back, and then severly depressed when I did start gaining the weight back which caused more eating and more depression etc... I tried Atkins several times, losing 20 lbs here and 10 lbs there but couldn't seem to stick with it the way I had the first time. I kept cheating, lying to myself that it was a one time thing.

So here I am trying yet again and knowing that I can't cheat even once for any reason what so ever. I'm on induction and I will stay on induction for as long as it takes to get to a set point and then THIS time I'm going to do OWL the way I should have the first time...

I've learned a lot, but I'm getting older, so I've gotta get this right this time before it is too late and I get diabetes or heart trouble etc...

Another member also regrets not moving out of Induction his first time around.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/842884-post10.html

First time that I did Atkins I stayed on induction and failed. I had a ton of weight to lose and thought If I stayed on induction, I would just lose it faster. I did lose a lot of weight, but I did not LEARN how to really eat, and eventually got bored and the weight poured back on.

This time, I started my journey with 156 pounds to lose. I stayed on induction for a few months, but with more than 100 pounds still to lose, I nervously switched over to OWL. It was the best decision that I could have made. It is on OWL that YOU REALLY LEARN how to live this way of life! You learn how foods effect you. You learn how many carbs your body can tolerate without gaining weight. And on the issue of losing weight faster, just like Julie, I found that OWL actually helped me to start losing even more weight. Don't do yourself a disservice by staying on induction longer.

That being said, I did take it slow. I spent a couple or as many as four weeks on each rung of the ladder, and climbed it ever so slowly to really figure out what foods were effecting me. Sometimes I would even go back and try foods with another combination to see what happened. For example, when I got to the fruit rung, I had some difficulty with eating apples. I found that even 1/2 of a small apple would drive my blood sugar through the roof and it would drive my appetite, by making it seem like I was starving to death about an hour after consumption. However, if I ate the same apple with an ounce of almonds or an ounce of cream cheese, I had no reaction whatsoever.

Anyway. I am almost there. I lost over 100 lbs on OWL, and I am now just 5 lbs away from my goal weight and when I get there, I now have the confidence that I can stay there. I would not have that same confidence if I hadn't learned how to live this way on OWL.

This member reached goal by staying on Induction, just to gain it back.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/1018846-post5.html

I did this diet three years ago and lost 25 pounds in about three months. That was all of the weight that I wanted to lose and I reached goal very quickly. I would say it was at least two pounds a week.

I made a mistake, though. I wanted to lose the weight so quickly that I stayed on induction and did not go through the phases. Thus, I reached goal and didn't know how to eat properly! Don't do it.

Dr. Atkins says our goal is not to reach our "goal weight". Our goal is to maintain it!

So, my advice is take it step by step and not get into too much of a hurry.

Need more examples? Here is another one.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/348228-post8.html

I was on Atkins before and I stayed on Extended Induction for 8 months! I lost 52 pounds, then, one day, I lost my mind and started eating everything in sight. I gained back all but 13 pounds before I caught hold of myself and got back on Atkins again. I was the poster child for extended induction, I never cheated, not once. I wish that I had listened to the people on this site when they urged me to move on to OWL. If you look around these boards, you will notice that the people that have been truely successful with this WOL are the ones that have read the book and followed Dr. Atkins advice to the letter. Induction, OWL, pre-maintence and maintence in that order. So I am urging you, move to OWL, you aren't meant to stay on induction, it is too strict, you need to slowly add the foods that bring variety and pleasure to your meals, you need to learn to eat correctly and the weight loss will follow.

And another one.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/267799-post4.html

This was actually my problem. I was so eager to lose the weight I stayed on Induction too long reached my goal and then all of those things I mentioned earlier happened and I just forgot about Atkins so to speak. I don't know my CCLL or how different foods affect me

And this...

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/272104-post3.html

I too did Atkins back in 2000... I lost 30 lbs successfully (I stayed on induction the entire time) and when I reached my goal weight, I just went back to my old way of eating. Big Mistake! I gained back that 30 lbs plus an additional 20 - so now I've got almost twice as much to lose.

This...

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/601721-post10.html

This is my second time at Atkins--I did it in 2003 and lost 70 pounds, but unfortunately, did it my own way and fell totally off plan. I also gained back all 70 plus 15 or 20 more. Now I'm making sure to do everything "by the book" and I'm so happy I made that decision! Previously, I stayed on induction for about 4 months--now I know why I fell off the wagon! This time I made sure to move to OWL, and I've been MORE successful this time than I was the first time. I noticed a HUGE drop of weight when I moved to OWL. And the best part of OWL? All the great foods I get to eat!

And one more.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/426155-post10.html

Dr. Atkins says the majority of people who follow his WOE through all of the phases do keep it off. My downfall was not doing all of the phases. I stayed on induction the whole time I was following Atkins (7-8 months) and never went through the maintenance phase.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: How many pounds do you typically lose a month?

>>old enough to realize whats good for me and whats not>>

The reason that I asked is that I won't personally help anyone that's not an adult ... which is 18.

I was protecting myself ... along with trying to help you.

[sham]

Re: How many pounds do you typically lose a month?

When I first started the diet I lost 14lbs the first and second month and then it slowed down to 7lb well it waried some months I would lose more and some less.i must say the results are not the same for everyone because it varies differently for different people.

[bizzlekitty]

Re: How many pounds do you typically lose a month?

I lose about 4-5 lbs a month. I recently realized that I was eating too close to my CCLL in OWL and dropped back my carbs and started losing 2 lbs a week for a few weeks recently. It's too early to tell if I can keep this up and maybe lose 6-8 lbs a month, but no matter, I'm keeping this up regardless.

It's also hard to tell as you will sometimes reach plateaus, or slight stalls in OWL as you try different foods, etc. The key is to keep doing the program. Everyone will lose weight differently, but this WOE works.

[marcella]

Re: How many pounds do you typically lose a month?

I know a lot of people who stay on extended induction until they get near their goal weight. In fact, didn't I read in the book that it was ok to stay on extended induction for six months or more?

Just wondering, because I saw nothing wrong with Raley's (sorry if I misspelled it) post, and yet a couple of responses indicated otherwise.

Am I wrong?

[Georgiana]

Re: How many pounds do you typically lose a month?

I know a lot of people who stay on extended induction until they get near their goal weight.

There are many examples of people who stay on Induction until goal. The question is: are they successful on Atkins?

In fact, didn't I read in the book that it was ok to stay on extended induction for six months or more?

You probably did. But did you also read that one should not stay on Induction until goal? And should give himself/herself enough time to progress through all the phases of Atkins? I copied some paragraphs from the book above. There is more in Chapter 13.

Just wondering, because I saw nothing wrong with Raley's (sorry if I misspelled it) post, and yet a couple of responses indicated otherwise.

Am I wrong?

Rayley is planning to stay on Induction until goal.