OWL or not?

[foxfire1977]

Well I made it to day 14, as of this morning I'm down 20 pounds and loving it. It's still kind of a shock to me but when I go to put my work clothes on and they fit it sinks in. For some odd reason I'm leary about going to OWL. I have a family get-together in four weeks and want to lose as much as I can. I'm afraid that by finding how many carbs I can eat daily will some how stall me.

[*Emma*]

So just go to the veggie rung and stay there for a month or so... theres no rush with OWL, its not a week on each rung its as long as YOU want and you feel comfortable.

Though you can stay on an extended induction if you want, i wouldnt recommend it. I stayed on it and stalled until i moved to the veggie rung then i started losing again!

But of course, its up to you. I can only recommend what i personally think to you.

[*Alexa*]

Hi Foxfire1977,

I think Emma is right - it really depends on you. You are unlikely to stall in four weeks if you work through OWL as the book recommends.

It depedns on a few things - are you happy with the amount of food and choices available to you now? If not move up - it is better to move up and possibly slow your loss (this won't happen straightaway - some people lose more once on OWL) than to crash off plan from bordeom or hunger. If you are satisfied with induction and are still losing, then it is fine to extend induction. I did it for 2 months because I wanted to maximise weight loss at first.

The risk is when people stay on induction for too long - OWL is still a weightloss phase and you need to work through it to be able to maintain.

[julirama723]

Congrats on the 20 pounds!

I personally recommend moving to OWL. The only benefit of doing extended induction is if you're metabolically resistant to weightloss. And if you've lost 20 pounds, you are clearly NOT resistant!

Like Emma said, you may take the rungs slowly. The important thing is to keep moving up the rungs, at whatever pace you deem comfortable. OWL is where we learn how to eat for a LIFETIME. Atkins is not a crash-diet, and shouldn't be called a "diet" at all. It is simply a healthy way to eat, one that can be maintained indefinitely.

I wish I'd moved to OWL sooner! OWL is the MAIN weight loss phase of Atkins. I lost about 25 pounds on induction/extended induction, but have lost almost 55 pounds so far on OWL.

[Kawispice]

I understand your hesitation to move off Induction. Once things get working you just want to keep continuing doing it, but the body gets used to it and Induction gets a little less effective in terms of rapid weight loss, as you extend it. It is better to go up the rungs and then if you hit a stall go back to Induction or close to it to shock the body into weight loss again. Induction is yours forever, you have it anytime you want it, now that you know how it works. I would suggest you go on to OWL and see what happens.

[apple]

You already have some great advise here, so I'll just chime in and say CONGRATS on ditching 20 pounds!

Keep up the awesome work!

[foxfire1977]

Thank you all for your reply, I think I'll just add some more veggies. So I only go up 5 net carbs of those? I'm going to have to buy the book again because the rung ladder still is weird to me. But I'm sure I'll get it after a while.

[julirama723]

Yes, Rung 1 is another serving of induction veggies, and you add 5g net carbs. Make sure the veggies you're eating are on the induction foods list. And if you have NOT eaten the veggie before on Atkins (even if it's on the list), follow the rules of OWL for introducing new foods; eat it only 3x the first week. If it causes you no problems (like bloating, cravings, headache, etc.) you may eat it daily after that.

[SandyL2002]

Yay on losing the 20lbs...