Owl

[Carbonator]

After reading the book, it seems that Dr. Atkins was suggesting a person could stay in extended induction until they have around 30 lbs left then move into OWL. I have around 60 lbs to lose, so should I wait until reaching a 30 lb goal before moving into OWL? I don't mind being in extended induction, just curious.

When have you guys moved into OWL? After how many weeks/lbs lost?

Also, how fast did you each move up the rungs?

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Owl

>>After reading the book, it seems that Dr. Atkins was suggesting a person could stay in extended induction until they have around 30 lbs left then move into OWL.>>

Can you quote chapter and section that leads you to think that?

>>o should I wait until reaching a 30 lb goal before moving into OWL?>>

Not in my opinion.

Many people who stay on Induction past the two weeks, run into problems.

>>After how many weeks/lbs lost?>>

It's not in terms of weeks or pounds lost.

Some people stay on the first rung to get their bearings with other vegetables. It's also possible to skip a rung (if nuts, for example, are a trigger food).

Atkins (and OWL) isn't a race ... you do OWL until you reach pre-maintenance.

[Aways2Go]

Re: Owl

I moved to OWL from extended induction and experimented my way through the first 4 rungs, where I have stayed for the past several months. Seems like that took me a couple of months as I remember without going back to check. I lost more my first month on OWL than I did the prior month on extended induction, by a couple or three pounds if I remember correctly.

I did not add 5 carbs with every level I tried, though I did add a total of 10 carbs to induction level by the time I worked through the rungs. I went up by 5 carbs, tried some rung 1 foods, then added a few more carbs, tried some rung 2 foods, then capped myself at 30 carbs and experimented with rungs 3 and 4. I now feel free to add in some of the foods on all these first 4 levels, but certainly don't add foods from all of them every day as I am still keeping my carbs fairly low. If I have some walnuts today, I probably won't eat some strawberries with yogurt. If I eat blueberries tomorrow, I trim back or (don't have at all) some foods from rungs 2 or 3.

This added a fair amount of variety to my daily food options but I still lose at a reasonable pace (until I hit a bit of a lull this past month weight-wise but still lost inches). The added variety opened up my menu choices considerably and I think has made it much easier to maintain this way of eating without boredom.

As I get closer to my goal weight, I will probably add another 5 carbs and try out the next few rungs, then do it again and maybe one last time as needed as I move through the final levels and get to pre-maintenance and maintenance. At some point I will discover exactly how many carbs I can have on a regular basis and not lose, and how many it takes for me to actually start gaining. I have already found that I lose the best at some carb count in the 20s, and it doesn't seem to make much difference in my case whether it is 21 or 28. This was a nice discovery.

[Suzanne_H]

Re: Owl

I went ahead and moved to OWL after 2 weeks' induction for a number of reasons. The main thrust was simply experience. In the past I stayed too long on induction, felt deprived or bored, and cheated.

When I moved into OWL I began to discover just how healthy this WOE can be. I discovered loads of new energy, experiencing improved overall health and well-being. I check FitDay carefully to make sure I'm getting my daily recommended allowances of all vitamins and minerals. It's the healthiest I've ever eaten. I'm never bored. I don't feel deprived. Unless I screw up with sugar-free "treats" I'm pretty much free of cravings. When ADBB members stall out on a lengthy extended induction it's my first thought... that they need to go to OWL.

Find what works best for YOU. To thine own self be true. xoxo

[ziggy]

Re: Owl

i find the rungs extremely difficult i would try new recipes and they would taste soo good but then i would feel crappy later but because the food tasted soo good i did not want to believe it was the new foods from the rungs makeing me sick like that

i would say i think this sour cream is makeing me sick then they would say oh its because you had to much just have a little and of course it tasted so good so then i wanted to believe them and ended up believeing them sorta atleast till i tested it alot more and keep't geting sick

but really any amount of sour cream big time upsets my body i must be allergic to it

but thats not the case for all foods like i can handle a little bit of fiber and be fine not sick at all. but eating to much fiber hurts my gut

so really when testing the rungs as far as taste go's throw it out the window pretend everything tastes like water and after you eat that food if your body feels sick later then its not a good food for you and remember to only add 1 new food each time during rung tests

[Elizellen]

Re: Owl

Ziggy's comments on how OWL has helped find which foods the body can tolerate is to me the best recommendation for taking time to explore the rungs slowly and fully.

In DANDR as far as I have seen, Dr Atkins only says that we should be ready to move to premaintenance when we have between 5 & 10 pounds to goal rather than saying when to move to OWL.

As following OWL slowly can take many months if you experience problem foods it is better to move there earlier to allow you the time needed in my opinion.

Also if you have a fair amount of weight to lose it is much easier to tell if your losses are stoping as you reach your CCLL or add foods that disagree with you.

Also many people lose quicker on OWL once they have passed the 'magic' quick losing of initial induction and come into the slower losses of 'extended induction'.

[Georgiana]

Re: Owl

After reading the book, it seems that Dr. Atkins was suggesting a person could stay in extended induction until they have around 30 lbs left then move into OWL. I have around 60 lbs to lose, so should I wait until reaching a 30 lb goal before moving into OWL?

I think you are referring to this paragraph in Chapter 13:

Although Induction offers plenty of advantages, there are lots of valid reasons for progressing: boredom with the food choices, modest weight loss goals (say 20 or 30 pounds) and perhaps the chance to avoid becoming dependent on a "crash diet" mentality.

It's true that one "can" stay in Induction until one has 30 lbs left to lose... but it doesn't mean one should. Often, staying too long in Induction is counterproductive to long term success.

[Carbonator]

Re: Owl

Yeah, sorry about that- I read through the book and for some odd reason deduced that I should go into OWL when I have 30 lbs left. My bad

You all have good ideas. I definitely want to take each food group slowly, becuase like Ziggy, I think there are certain items that I may never be able to add back due to food allergies. I also think the last couple of rungs I may want to stay away from generally.

If anyone has any other tips on moving from induction to OWL, it would be appreciated I think I am going to try out what Aways2go did and take each rung slowly, but not necessarily add 5 grams with each rung. I have gone over a few times in extended induction to around 23 grams and I don't feel deprived, so I may try out staying under 25 grams for a few months.

Thanks everyone

[Shrew2u]

Re: Owl

Moving from Induction to OWL Rung 1 is ridiculously easy - add 5 net grams of Induction List veggies. If you've been eating a wide variety of veg during Induction (which you should! lettuce sucks!), adding 5 net grams of the same wide variety of veg should be pretty painless. (Side note: One of the best investments I made on this Way of Eating in investing $30 in a digital food scale. More precise than cup measurements, and it really helps in learning about what different food portions look like.)

If you know a rung will cause you problems, skip it or skip the problem items. Example: I knew that eating/drinking straight milk, yogurt, apples, melon, oatmeal, rice and bread would not work well for me (due to portion control or causing cravings), so I have yet to re-incorporate those items except as an ingredient in a recipe. Some avoid eating nuts as a snack due to portion control, as well. Recovering alcoholics will avoid Rung 5. That said, make a list of foods for which you have had trouble with portion control, and identify them by rung. Think of related foods to those you have listed - treat them with caution.

This is not to say that you should be afraid of food - to the contrary! Explore the delights that each rung offers...but be mindful of how your body reacts to certain foods, so you can stay success-oriented.

[keriann_forgoodthistime]

Re: Owl

last year, when I first moved up through OWL - the way I did it (I only had about 37 pounds total to lose...) I moved up each rung per every 3 - 5 pounds I lost as - to me 3 - 5 * 9 rungs would get me through 37 pounds.

[ShannonM]

Re: Owl

Wow, keriann, you look awesome in that pic! Apologies if people have already posted on this but I hadn't seen that photo till just now. I can tell a huge difference!

[JulieB]

Re: Owl

I spent 3 weeks on induction, then moved to OWL. I spent 10 weeks on Rung 1, 3 weeks on Rung 2, 3 weeks on Rung 3, and have been on Rung 4 for about 20 weeks. I am still losing ~2 pounds per week on average. I certainly don't eat from each rung every day, but I enjoy the option of using those foods when I want to. I also believe that spending lots of time on OWL is creating good eating habits that I can keep forever.

PS - when looking at the number of weeks I spent on each rung, remember that I had a lot more than 60lbs to lose I also would have spent more time on Rungs 2 and 3, but moved forward because my husband & I did this together, and he was ready to move on.