New to board-day 14th of induction!!!

[CraftyGirl]

I'm trying to decide whether to extend my induction another week or two. I've lost exactly 10 pounds as of this morning, going from 222.4 to 212.4. I've lost an inch around my waist and a half inch from my hips.

I stopped using Atkins when we decided to try to conceive after my wedding in July 2004. Then after beginning to have some problems with the pregnancy between the 3rd and 4th months I just... quit altogether. I had some serious pelvic pain and was unable to exercise, and when that depressed me I started eating whatever was in front of me. I BALLOONED and by the time the baby was born I had hit 256 pounds - THE BIGGEST I've ever been. I was SO depressed.

Since I was nursing I was told it would be better to wait to come back to Atkins (by the OBGYN) and to instead try something like WW. It helped, but just allowed me too much wiggle room and I wasn't making much progress.

So now I'm back, and I'm SO GLAD to have stumbled across this board!!!

I had nightmares last night that I came across a huge box of cookies and just sat there eating them, two days before induction was over. I woke up panicked since I've worked SO HARD to have a CLEAN induction. In the past they weren't so clean and I struggled and had to start over. This time I wanted to do things right.

Unfortunately, I can't find my copy of the book!!! So I wondered if anyone out there can tip me off to the amount of weight loss resistance category I fit in with the loss I've achieved so I know if I should extend induction.

Advice?

[not2late]

Congrats on your loss (and your child!)

According to the chart, for a 10 pound loss,

if you have less than 20 pounds to lose, you have low metabolic resistance.
if you have 20-50 pounds to lose, you have low metabolic resistance
if you have over 50 pound to lose, you have average to low metabolic resistance (the range is 8-12 pounds, 8 pounds being "average" and 12 being "low")

As for extending your Induction, it's up to you. Dr. Atkins said that the people with metabolic imbalances would benefit from staying staying on Induction longer because it will help to correct some of those imbalances.

Whatever you decide, don't make the mistake of skipping the On-Going Weight Loss and Pre-Maintenance phases. Some people stay on Induction until goal, and balloon back up because they skipped the phases that teach them about their bodies and about eating in the real world.

[ValidRouge]

I'm a real advocate for moving on to Ongoing Weight Loss. As not2late pointed out, you seem to have a low metabolic resistance which is great and OWL would allow you to continue to lose weight but have different foods and ultimately a lot more variety than you'd have in induction. I always say too, that if you move into OWL and have problems, you can always return to induction. But, if you don't try, you'll never know. And too many people stay in induction and then are "afraid" of OWL, and that's unfortunate because they are really missing out. I've embraced the fact that I'm going to live Atkins for the rest of my life and OWL has taught me, that's FANTASTIC because I'm loving the food I eat. My family loves the food I eat too.

[CraftyGirl]

Thanks so much for the help and advice!

Oh, and ValidRouge... YOU LOOK FANTASTIC!!! If a good solid loss in induction werent motivation enough, your pictures sure are!

[ValidRouge]

Thanks Craftygirl! So, are you going to move into OWL with more veggies??? You just can't go wrong with more veggies!