70 days of induction today

[phil h]

Thanks, I'm in this for the long run.The weight loss is nice but I can't get back on that binge eating merry go round again.I thank Atkins for getting the message out there.Can't help but think if he were still alive he would make changes in the maintenance plan.Way too many people get a taste of added carbs and gain most if not all back.I have found that I need to stay less than 10 gms of carbs a day to control my hunger.My favorite food has become home made peppered beef jerky made out of beef brisket and ground beef.My hot meal is rib eyes or ground beef.

[OzLover]

Are you planning to move up to the ongoing weight loss phase & start adding more foods?

[bikinidreams]

very inspiring! today is my last day of the 14 day induction, but i plan on continuing, because i feel great and want to continue to lose!

[phil h]

No, I don't plan on moving up.My choices of foods are plenty enough for me.Beef,pork,lamb and dark poultry.I eat eggs and a bit of cheese.Occasional cumcumber,celery,spinach,turnip or collard greens.I eat three meals a day, nothing in between and rarely experience hunger.I have done Atkins before and moved up the ladder after substantial wt loss and gained it all back plus.I guess I thought I could control hunger adding carbs but I was very wrong.Very content with a very low carb woe.

[waterlily]

Congratulations phil...your results are fantastic! Tomorrow will be my 77th day on induction. I started at 248 and this morning weighed in at 212. I am ecstatic over losing 36 lbs. in 11 weeks.

I have no plans to move up the ladder any time soon. I don't want to change a thing I've been doing!!

[phil h]

Waterlilly, we have similar results. 41 lbs in 77 days for me. Of course I was larger to start than you.Have been reading Good calories, Bad calories. A very good read but technical.It has me pumped to continue a very low carb diet. Atkins is great as for the induction phase.After that it has some flaws and I don't do well climbing the rung.Maybe it is just me, but I need to stay in the 5-10 carbs range.Otherwise hunger rears it's ugly head.I am slowly transforming from a sloppy fat tall guy to a lean tall guy.Your reply has given me additional encouragement.Let's both continue the good work.Phil

[chinadoll]

Just make sure you consider moving up when you are about 20-30 pounds from goal. The reason for the rungs is to allow you to add foods in to learn which foods trigger cravings and hunger as well as learning where your maintenance level of carbs is. Moving up should not stop or even slow your losing (at least on the first few rungs). However, I respect your decision to remain on Induction if you your cravings come back in OWL, but it may be certain foods and not the carb level itself--just something to think about.


You both are doing fantastic so far. Just a word of caution for when you get close to the finish line. Judging from your progress so far, it won't be long.

[waterlily]

Hey phil, we have Good Calories, Bad Calories in common as well! I just finished reading it last week (checked it out from the library and had to renew and keep it out an additional 2 weeks to finish it...there were a few parts that I had to read 2 or 3 times to be able to understand exactly what Mr. Taubes was laying out, but the understanding I've gained of the why's that going low carb work are invaluable.

This is my first time doing low carb, so I don't know what my CCL is. I was always an ultra low-fat, 60 minutes a day of aerobics kind of girl until I went through a divorce last year and just took my hands off the wheel. Amazing how fast you can put on weight when you just stop caring! I'm just glad the mental fog has lifted and I care about myself again. I still cringe not only when I see my starting weight, but even my current stats -- my highest weight ever before this at 5'8" was 153!!

I started out over at the Atkins 'official' forum, but they are minimum carb nazis over there -- I don't net my carbs. When I hit 20 max, no deduction for fiber, that's it for me. It's an effort as it is to force myself to eat, I can't imagine adding 5 more carb grams and going up the ladder.

I'll do OWL once I'm within 20-25 lbs. of goal. I do want to go through all the phases, but I don't want to jinx this rate of loss!!

I will continue to follow your progress Phil

-Lisa

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by waterlily

I started out over at the Atkins 'official' forum, but they are minimum carb nazis over there -- I don't net my carbs. When I hit 20 max, no deduction for fiber, that's it for me. It's an effort as it is to force myself to eat, I can't imagine adding 5 more carb grams and going up the ladder.

During Induction it makes little difference if you are counting net carbs or total carbs, because you probably have a CCLL above 15 or so. But in OWL, let's say you start eating 50 g total carbs at one point. If you are eating these 50 g from vegetables only (which means you're probably eating roughly 30 g of net carbohydrate) and keep losing, you will conclude that your CCLL is above 50. But if you are eating these 50 g from vegetables, diary and nuts (thus consuming, let's say, 40 g of net carbohydrate), you might found out that you stall. This is because your CCLL is not above 50 as you thought it is, but below 40. So if you want to be able to correctly determine your CCLL (and, later, CCLM), you will have to count net carbs.

I'll do OWL once I'm within 20-25 lbs. of goal. I do want to go through all the phases, but I don't want to jinx this rate of loss!!

Dr. Atkins wrote that we should lose the last 5-10 lbs in Pre-Maintenance. If you move out of Induction when you are 20-25 lbs away from goal, it means you will have only 10-20 lbs to lose during OWL. This will leave you very little time to find your CCLL and to figure out possible food intolerances. Furthermore, it is more difficult to see a stall, hence determine your CCLL, when you have little left to lose. In the end it is your choice, but doing OWL correctly is essential for learning how to maintain your weight once you are at goal.

Unfortunately, the weight loss rate slows down regardless of whether one moves to OWL or continues with Induction. The people who may benefit from extending their Induction are those who are metabolically resistant or have a lot to lose. I don't know when you started Atkins, but did you determine your degree of metabolic resistance?

[waterlily]

Thanks Georgianna for taking the time to post all of that!

I should say I usually don't net my 20 g. of carbs, but looking at my fitday food log, there have been days where I actually did -- I have a thing for mashed fake cauliflower "potatoes", and if I didn't subtract the fiber, I would've been way over my 20 for the day.

I completely understand about taking the time to move up the ladder and learn my CCL and also any foods that aren't really my friends, but I took what Dr. A. said about those who have a lot to lose staying in induction longer...I started Jan. 18th with at least 100 lbs. needing to come off.

I lost 11 lbs. during the first 2 weeks of induction, so I think what he said about losing 10% of what I needed to lose what right on the money.

I am saying for right now, I want to be within 20-25 lbs. of goal before experimenting, but that could certainly change. I am 12 lbs. away from getting under 200 and out of the obese range of BMI, and that's all I can focus on right now.

I wasn't slamming that other forum for always saying I should be netting carbs and should not still be in induction, but they've come right out and said that what I'm doing isn't Atkins, and that frosts me because I've read the book cover to cover twice, and I feel that although I don't appear to be metabolically resistant because of my losses so far, I do have a lot to lose and he said extended induction was fine for a heffer like me