I'm afraid to leave induction!!!

[tiffanim]

Ok, so today is day 14, and my scale is (for the first time in my life) my friend. As of today, I've lost 7 pounds on induction, almost 10% of my goal, and I'm nervous about OWL. However, I definitely do NOT want to live on an extended induction.

Anyone else in this boat? Maybe we can jump together?

[Georgiana]

Congratulations for the 7 lbs!

Enjoy the OWL!

[julirama723]

Congrats on 7 pounds! Do not be afraid of OWL!

Moving to OWL means more responsibility, but also more freedom. You have more food choices, more options, and more recipes to choose from. Rung 1 is simply more induction vegetables, meaning you can add more veggies to your omelet, eat a larger salad, or include a wider variety of cooked vegetables for dinner. You could even add some pumpkin as a dessert.

Vegetables are healthy, they are nutritious, and I am hard-pressed to find a person who gained weight from eating more vegetables! In fact, many people find they actually lose more weight and/or avoid a stall by incorporating more vegetables into their daily diets. Why? By eating slightly more carbs (of the healthy persuasion) and slightly less fat, you are able to burn more body fat because you are consuming less dietary fat.

You can stay at Rung 1 as long as you wish if you are uneasy about adding new foods. Just make sure that you increase your carbs by 5g each week as stated in DANDR, this will help you find your CCLL. If you do choose to move up the rungs at a regular pace, make sure that when you move up a rung, you keep your carb intake the same. (I.e. don't add 5g carbs during the same week you add a new food group.)

[C P]

Hi and congrats on your loss so far!

It's a personal choice of course, but my experience is this... I have started Atkins twice before this time around. On the previous two attempts I fell off the wagon after losing aound 20 pounds. I stayed on Induction - thinking that was the way to go as I had plenty more to lose. I think it worked against me though - as I began to feel restricted by the food choices, so this time I moved straight onto OWL after the two weeks. I'm happier - I plan to stay on rung one for a week or two and then move onto rung 2 (I've got to be on to the berries rung by summer when my fruit garden delivers strawbs, blackcurrants, redcurrants and gooseberries!) I find it gives me that bit more flexibility with the extra veg allowance, and as I love to cook, the thought of being able to add in new foods every so often is going to keep me motivated.

I reckon - read, or re-read the OWL chapter in the book, and the stickies on the OWL Forum here, and then decide when you'll feel right to move on up! I know it seems a bit scary when the induction has worked for you and feels safe, but whenever you're ready you'll be able to do it - you've already lost your first 7 lbs -and more to go!

Best of luck

CP

[tiffanim]

In the OWL instructions it says that I can have up to 5 veggie carbs 3 times this week. Does that mean that i do 25 carbs and then go back to 20? So am I looking to average no more than 22-23 per day for the week?

And if that's the case, and I can have more next week, would that mean 25 each day? Wouldn't that really upset things if I wanted to move up the rung, or is it recommended to stay at each rung for two weeks to balance this out.

[Georgiana]

First, you should not really eat 25 net carbs unless your average during induction was 20. If your average was 15 for example, then you should only be eating 20, not 25.

Second, in the book it says we should only eat a new food group three times a week in the beginning. The rest of the days you can still eat more carbs than you did, let's say, during induction, but these carbs should come from foods you had already added back.

[tiffanim]

thanks georgiana. yes, i did 20 carbs per day on induction. that makes me feel a lot better.

[Elizellen]

Originally Posted by tiffanim

thanks georgiana. yes, i did 20 carbs per day on induction. that makes me feel a lot better.

Good for you
Many of our members have difficulty in getting anything like 20 net carbs (most of which are from vegetables) on induction, so you have done well

[tiffanim]

Well, I have to admit, I did a little bit of cheating. I ate way more than the prescribed 3 cups max of veggies and salad. I had lots of asparagus, homemade veggie soups (I created an amazing sausage and bok choy soup recipe), and even ate artichokes on 3 different occasions (in their entirety).

I'd be happy to post the soup recipe in case anyone wants it... 5.5 grams of carbs for a 10 oz. serving... very hearty and filling