long term weight loss question

[ceecee29]

So it is the end of my first two weeks and I've lost around nine pounds (yay!) I started out with 30-ish pounds to lose so I still have about 20 left to go. I've cheated a few times during induction, and so I'm thinking of staying on induction until I lose ten more pounds. My question is, does it make more sense, health and weight-loss wise, to move on to OWL rather than to continue doing induction with a few cheats (a few too many veggies or a vodka-soda) here or there? What do you all think? Or does it effectively equal the same thing?
thanks, and good luck!
SW 11/28 158
CW 12/12 149
GW 130

[matawguro]

Personally, I don't recommend going on extended induction if your only reason to do so is to lose weight faster. The only reason to go on extended induction is to wean yourself off carbs if you still feel you're addicted or you still have blood-sugar imbalance problems. Another good reason is if you feel your body hasn't fully adapted to Atkins, for example you still have induction flu, you have low energy, you're experiencing headaches, etc.

Induction is not, nor was it meant to be a long term solution. It's not even a solution in itself. My personal opinion is that most of those who fell off the wagon never got off induction.

The purpose of OWL is for you to be able to customize your diet according to what your body can tolerate. The advantages of OWL are the following:

1. You get to add more food to your meals. The corollary benefits are, you get more nutrients from a wider range of foods and you are less likely to feel quit due to limited choices.
2. You get to know your body better. You can find exactly how much carbs your body can take.
3. Some people actually lose weight faster on OWL. You'll never know until you try.

I suggest going to OWL if you really want a longer term solution.

[Sweets]

Good Morning,

I totally agree with Mata!! Move on to OWL unless you feel you haven't gotten your carb and sugar addiction under control.

The next rung of OWL is veggies.... so it's much like induction just more veggies. Some people need to move to OWL kick start the losing... you must do it slowly and carefully.

You may experience a post induction stall... but don't get discourged just keep following this WOE and the pounds will come off. you may find you actually lose inches more than you will pounds!!

Have a great day...

Sweets

[cafe_et_creme]

Hi

I would also recommend going onto OWL. It can get boring sticking to the strict food lists of induction for long, which may make you more likely to cheat. You can continue losing weight on OWL, and enjoy more foods!

[Hudson]

The idea of long term is to make Atkins specific to you. Low carb works for everyonge (as far as I know). But we all have certain foods that work, and others we need to avoid or severly limit. OWL is the process for doing that. You add a new item and see how it goes. Ok this is a workable food or it's not. A nice systematic process.

I got about 2 rungs up the ladder and went haywire. I went nuts on LC candy. Then several months discovering the dangers of LC tortillas. Then about a year or so learning about LC Ice Cream. Oh, I left out the going nuts on nuts.

I fatigued on all the counting. So I developed my own system. I took Atkins' system that would take a few months and modified it so that it only took me a few years to figure out what works and what dosen't. Though that process still goes on a little now.

Looking back OWL makes sense. But one way or another you are going to have to figure out what works for you and what does not.

Extending induction a week or so is probably fine. But thinking long term OWL is where you need to be.

[dreamof145]

OWL is a very important step to making this WOE a premanent life-style. You learn so much about your body and the way you react to different food groups. I wouldn't stay on induction too long or you won't get the benefits that OWL provides.

[blue996]

I agree with the comments to move to OWL. The first time I did Atkins I stayed on induction, lost a lot of weight, and then went back to eating how I did before. Had I done OWL I would have kept the weight off and learned how to maintain.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by matawguro

Personally, I don't recommend going on extended induction if your only reason to do so is to lose weight faster. The only reason to go on extended induction is to wean yourself off carbs if you still feel you're addicted or you still have blood-sugar imbalance problems. Another good reason is if you feel your body hasn't fully adapted to Atkins, for example you still have induction flu, you have low energy, you're experiencing headaches, etc.

Induction is not, nor was it meant to be a long term solution. It's not even a solution in itself. My personal opinion is that most of those who fell off the wagon never got off induction.

The purpose of OWL is for you to be able to customize your diet according to what your body can tolerate. The advantages of OWL are the following:

1. You get to add more food to your meals. The corollary benefits are, you get more nutrients from a wider range of foods and you are less likely to feel quit due to limited choices.
2. You get to know your body better. You can find exactly how much carbs your body can take.
3. Some people actually lose weight faster on OWL. You'll never know until you try.

I suggest going to OWL if you really want a longer term solution.

I'm in complete agreement with Robbie.

Dr. Atkins wrote that the people who have a high metabolic resistance to weight loss may benefit from staying on Induction longer in order to correct those metabolic imbalances. Only a very small percentage of people have a high metabolic resistance to weight loss. I think the entire time I've been on ADBB, there's only been 1 or 2 people who legitimately had that high metabolic resistance. Others mistakenly believe they have a high metabolic resistance because they 1. cheated through the 14 Day Induction and didn't achieve their true weight loss potential and/or 2. never bothered to look up their 14 Day results in the charts in the book so they think a 4-10 pound loss in 14 Days means they have a high metabolic resistance.

And also from looking at the experience of ADBB members who stayed on Induction too long have a higher rate of falling off the Diet than the people who move through the Phases as Dr. Atkins intended us to do. Likewise, the folks who stayed on Induction until their goal, have a higer regain and return to Atkins rate than the people who went through the Phases.

Induction doesn't teach you anything about how you body reacts to food groups and to individual foods. Knowing our bodies' reactions to foods is what we need to know in order to keep that weight off for good.

[sadie147]

If your 'cheats' are too many veggies, and vodka..if you do OWL, those will no longer be cheats.

[ceecee29]

wow, thanks so much for the input! OWL it is. I am getting pretty sick of the limitations of induction anyhow...
ceecee