High ladder rungs haven't been good for me..

[G-Mom]

Hi all, I have gone up all the rungs of the OWL ladder, and it has been hard for me. I have been having lots of trouble with cravings, and I don't feel as in control as I am when I eat at the lower rungs. I am wondering if I am not ready to eat at the higher rungs.

Lately, I have felt conflicted, because this summer I did really well, swimming almost everyday and I did lose a total of 33 lbs since April, which I feel good about. But now swimming is out, I need to get into walking, which I am starting to do. I am conflicted because of my cravings, I am upset with myself since I must not be doing my Atkins correctly, AND since I haven't been exercising properly, I probably won't make my September goal of 215lbs.

I do try to find good things, like I put on a pair of pants and shirt yesterday that were WAY too tight this past spring, that made me happy.

I am not going to sit here and complain and not say what I am thinking of doing to remedy my situation. My plan is to get off my lazy arse and exercise at least 4 times per week for one hour, and revert to Induction for at least a week to get back into ketosis. I think I might eat at the lower rungs until I get down to a weight that I feel I can safely go up the rungs again (25 lbs left to lose). What do you guys think? Have you experienced major cravings at the higher rungs? Do you think there are some of us who are just wired in a way that we can't eat at a higher carb level and not experience major cravings?

[Desertthorn]

I guess thats rather common, something on your new menu isn't agreeing with your blood sugar. Have you been able to isolate what it might be. A trip back to fitday might be in order.
I have recently been diagnosed with cancer (again) and have decided that I absolutely need to infuse myself with antioxidants so I have added a shake in the morning that had pomegrante juice. I toss in some blue berries and a raw egg and yogurt and a sprinkle of splenda. Its pretty high carb and I was worried that it would send my cravings through the roof, but nothing. I am even still losing weight.

[not2late]

Cravings are a sign of blood sugar instability. According to the OWL rules, "if new foods provoke weight gain or return of physicial symptoms lost during Induction, or an increased appetite or cravings, stop them immediately."

You might also want to carefully look at these foods, particularly how you added them into your menu. If they were ready-made, look at the ingredients.

[not2late]

I forgot to add, you might want to try out the lower glycemic foods on the higher rungs. For example carrots have a lower GI than beets or sweet potatoes, lentil have a lower GI than chickpeas, etc.

[G-Mom]

Thank you, gals. Lynne, I am so very sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I hope very much that you are cured. Huge hugs your way and healing vibes.....

[Elsie150]

G-Mom...Here is thought that popped into my head while reading your post. Don't know if it has merit or not but thought I would hear about it if I am too off base (right Megs?!).

Where you continuing to use fitday to track your ratios? I found last year that after being on Atkins for months that I got quite lack about entering my foods and balancing my ratios out and was eating stuff that I knew did not affect my weight. And it didn't but I sure was getting cravings like crazy. Until reading your post I thought that maybe the craving were all in my head as I was reaching an low that I hadn't seen for almost 20 years. But now, since reading your post, I am wondering if the cravings had more to do with the amounts of the acceptable foods I was eating...even though I was still losing...the cravings were uncontrollable and I did cave into them after 7 months of no cheats and gained back as of today 36 of my 60 pound loss. I just restarted (again) today.

Anyhow..thought I would throw that out there.

Stay strong...drink your water...use fitday and post often.

[not2late]

This entire diet is really dependent on your carb tolerance.And since we're all individuals, we all have a different level.

Also different foods have the possibility of affecting us differently. I can't eat any combination of tomato and eggplant (Induction vegetables!), because it triggers massive cravings, yet I can eat potatoes without any of those problems. I think 2Big can't eat celery. And alot of people have tremendous problems with nuts---any amount of them!

So look at the glycemic index of the higher rung foods you are eating. Tropical fruits (bananas) generally have a higher GI than the non tropical fruits, like grapes.

This is why I say that OWL and Pre-Maintenance is where you learn to "eat in the real world" and where you learn to eat for your body. Induction doesn't teach you those skills.

[G-Mom]

Ok, I think I know what it is. We have a small orchard and about a month ago I discovered (quite gleefully, mind you) that we have two peach trees in there (its a new house for me). I didn't want them to go to waste, so I ate a peach probably everyday, which led to..."yum..nuts!", which led to, "homemade bread...just one little bite!" You know, instead of making wiser higher rung choices, I went for trigger foods instead. The peaches have to have been my gateway food. It's just a shame for them to go to waste, and my boys just didn't like them much.

[not2late]

One medium sized peach is about 8 net carbs.

You can freeze them: peel, slice and freeze. Then store in a plastic bags for the winter or whenever.

[Elsie150]

Ah...there you go. Now cut all that stuff out again. And the next time you add a peach just be aware of what your body is telling you and make wiser descision following. You can do it!