Has anyone tried this pattern of induction?

[LJ]

I've been thinking about staying on induction longer than the 14 days since I want to lose 70 pounds to start, and have over 100 pounds that I should lose. However, I'm counting down the days till the 14 are up because I'm finding the limited foods really boring. Has anyone (or do you recommend trying) 14 days on induction, 14 days off, then 14 days back on, etc? Just wondering. :confused

[Moochiecat]

Depends what you mean by 'off'.

If you mean going back to how you ate before Induction..carby foods etc, then no, that's a very bad idea. Yo-yo'ing back and forth is not healthy at all, and why would you want to destroy the progress you made..it doesn't make sense. Each time you go out of ketosis, it makes it that much harder for your body to get back into it.
I've seen quite a few posts with people asking "Those of you who have been on Atkins before, are you having trouble getting into ketosis or losing weight after going on it for the second/third/fourth time?"


You can stay on Induction for a while though, or you can choose to go into OWL, and on the first rung you begin to add in more vegetables. We're just talking 5 carbs worth, so you will continue to lose weight, but you can add more to what you're eating.
Read the sticky about what to do when your 14 days are up, and see what you think.

It'd be helpful if you posted a menu in 'Review My Menu' so we can get a look at what you're eating.

The list is only as limited as your cooking abilities and imagination! I've never eaten this good, and I'd be happy to suggest some recipes when I see what your menu is like and get an idea of what your tastes are.

You are completely in control of how you put the Acceptable foods together: have you checked out the recipe sections both on the tab up top, and in the food forums? Full of good stuff!
And here's a really excellent site...the author makes and tries everything then offers her suggestions
http://users3.ev1.net/~fontlady/index.html

I'll watch for your post in Review my Menu! :yes

[spazzyhilo]

I love her site! I've recently tried the Induction pancakes, when it was topped with Atkins brand maple syrup, I couldn't tell the difference.

LJ, don't be afraid to experiment with what you are allowed to have. You can have 3 cups of salad or 2 cups of salad with 1 cup veggies and it gives you so many choices!. One of my favs is 2 cups spinach leaves with 1 (or 2 if I'm hungry) chopped up hard boiled egg, some grated cheese, and 1 cup mushrooms. 2 tablespoons of your favorite dressing and mmm... I'll never have potatoes again. :joy

Also Cream cheese goes with just about everything I've found so experiment!

But after all this being creativeness and whatnot and your still bored with the food selection, do the 2 weeks induction then by all means move up to OWL and happy low carbing!

[hulagrl1120]

I don't know how you can get bored with induction...there are so many things you can have you just have to think outside of the box sometimes...never would have thought of dicing up jicama and sprinkling with splenda and cinnamon before this WOE...or parmesan crisps...so simple but never thought about it before...I've melted sharp cheddar over tuna...made salmon cakes with canned salmon...deep fried kale to make veggie popcorn...you are only limited by your imagination so get creative!

[Kent]

I'd also be worried about cycling back and forth as your body just gets to ketosis, and within a week your WOE switches back to burning the easier carbs for fuel. To me, it just seems like a recipe for quick dissatisfaction and numerous induction flu headaches. That said, I used to have a boss who did this except he went entirely off fat the non-Atkins week. He had some success, but never learned a healthy eating style.

Overall, I would encourage you like Moochie did to find alternatives to the monotony of the standard Induction menu's by hitting some of the recipe sights. I think you'd be much happier with the results and keep the weight off longer.

[Desertthorn]

What do you feel that your really missing on this plan.

[LJ]

I meant doing 14 days of induction, then 14 days of OWL, then another 14 days of induction, and so on, just to vary the foods a bit. I miss fruit!

I've never hear of kale popcorn (one of the things I miss quite a lot).

I tried Atkins a year ago and gave up pop (pepsi). I thought I was going to die. Before I tried any other part of the diet, I took two weeks just to get off the pop. When I fell off the wagon, I still refused to allow myself to go back to pop. I knew I couldn't have "just one." I haven't had a pepsi since April 1, 2004. You have no idea how addicted to that stuff I was! :capital

At this point, 8 days into induction, I don't believe I'll ever allow myself to have sugar again; it was so hard to give it up, and there are so many alternatives.

Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions. I really appreciate this site. (I'd better check out the recipe forum.)

[hulagrl1120]

parmesan crisps are an easy replacement for something salty and crunchy...put some shredded parmesan on a baking sheet(I use parchment paper to make sure it slides off) and bake at 400 until crispy...the deep fried kale can get messy if you don't have a deep fryer...you just cut up the kale into large pieces and drop it into very hot cooking oil...it cooks really fast so you have to be ready to scoop it out quickly or it will burn...then just salt and eat...someone had a recipe for a baked version but I don't remember who it was...it may be in the recipe section.

[2big4mysize]

you can get the weight loss speed of induction with the food variety of OWL if you hold your carbs artifically low like at the induction 20 net but add back some of the rungs. Check the stickies in the oWL section about doing a modified OWl lots of us did variations of that.

Checkout the board recipe section too. We have lots of induction recipes and you can search by ingredeint too.

http://www.lowcarbrecipes.org/

[not2late]

Don't be scared of OWL. Some people can stay on Induction for a long period of time without getting bored. I stayed on for 4 months and moved onto OWL due to a job related seminar, where I knew if I didn't introduce OWL foods, I would have a very hard time staying on this WOE.

Moving on was the best thing for me, because I love food and the variety that OWL gives me prevents me from getting bored (which means I'm not tempted to cheat). I love the fact that if I want to have strawberries for dessert, I can have them. Or if I want some beans in my chili I can have them. This diet/lifestyle is much more doable and adaptable to "eating in the real world" during OWL.

Follow the plan as written. Dr. Atkins figured it all out for us so we wouldn't have to guess and make things up as we go along. He knew what he was doing.