OWL Stall

[michelea3425]

Good afternoon all!

It's been a while since I have posted anything on here. I'm discouraged and needed to figure out what I'm doing that is causing me to stall so badly.

I have been following rung 1 of OWL and didn't move to rung 2 since I couldn't handle all of that food. I am not a "regular" eater anyway. I work from home and I work long hours so I stay up late and get up late. I don't usually eat three meals a day so I do a late breakfast and then dinner so I'm cramming all of my carbs into two meals. It's too much food and I know I need to eat lunch or a carb snack in the middle of the day but I'm not doing that.

I have lost a lot of weight so far and I'm happy with the weight loss but for the past two weeks I haven't seen the scale move at all and I am discouraged to the point that I'm beginning to cheat. I have a real problem with late nights wanting Ice Cream. I need to find something that will curb this craving because I will talk myself into getting into the car and going to get ice cream! It's horrible I know and if I eat ice cream then I know I have a full week where I won't lost weight at all!

HELP! Do I just need to get three meals in? Do I need to space out my carbs more during the day? If I am stalled on rung 1 does that mean I need to stay below 25 carbs a day?? If so that is depressing since I will have to stay with the low carbs of induction forever!

Any help or words of encouragement would be appreciated to get me back on track!

[losetocruise]

Can you post what you are actually eating? You have already lost a lot of weight. Congratulations on that! Two weeks is not really a stall. Are you drinking enough water and gettingenough fiber? From what I can get from the book, you actually eat only what you need to keep from being hungry and no more.

The main purpose of the carbs you eat, is for vitamins and fiber. if you are getting vitamin supplements and eating enough carbs for your fiber requirements, you should not need a "carb snack". If you are hungry though a protein snack is recommended by Dr. Atkins.

[Chicklady]

Two weeks isn't too bad. you may be losing inches....are you measuring?

[Elsie150]

You could be losing inches and not weight. Happens all the time. Also I am going to say...if you have time to hop in your car to go for ice cream you have time to make a legal snack or meal. The book says not to go more than 6 waking hours without eating. You should fit another meal in preplan it and bring to your desk if you have too. Also post your menu.

Don't get discouraged. There are going to be weeks when the scale doesn't move. And there are going to be weeks where you lose more than one or two pounds. I am sure you already know that...if not it is the lesson you are about to learn.

Stay on the plan. Every time you cheat with ice cream (or whatever) you kick your body out of ketosis. And it takes time to get it back there. So really with your cheats you have not been stalled for two weeks as you haven't been on plan for two weeks. Don't be discouraged...get back on plan and stay true...you know it works. You can do it. You have had so much success!

[Elizellen]

Maybe it is time for you to try the OWL rungs but in a 'net' fashion rather than a ladder? We have had members who kept their net carbs at about 25 (having added extra veg) but seemed to not be able to add more, and so they swapped out the extra 5 net carbs in turn with the higher OWL rungs to test how their body reacted with the different foods.

We sometimes call this 'modified OWL' here, and it would allow you to add more variety without more carbs.

[moniegail]

i found a link to a cheescake and added at the bottom of this post that might help your ice cream cravings once you are in the appropriate rung.

if you can work your way through the OWL rungs and can get to atleast the dairy rung this would be a great recipe to try. when i have made this before, i usually omit the vanilla and also reduce the splenda a little too, but it could be something that could help you with your ice cream cravings. it freezes very well. just don't eat alot of it. i made mine in mini muffin pans(no backing cups), froze it. it really makes a great treat, but don't go overboard. once you make it to the nut and seeds rung, you could also crush some type of nut up to make a crust before adding your filling(you might want to use the baking cups for this).

the first time i made this i was already in the berries rung, so i made the filling and topped it with a strawberry, raspberry, blueberry or blackberry. i took it to a birthday party knowing there would be cake there and i didn't want to not have any type of dessert to eat while everyone ate cake. it actually went over so well, that more people ate the cheesecake than ate the birthday cake.

i hope you will just hang in there and get back on track and can work your way through the rungs to be able to enjoy this wonderful treat. just remember to not overdo it. just because it will be a legal treat doesn't mean you can eat all you want of it and it be ok.

good luck in your journey and stay strong
monie

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...e-pudding.html (Dom's cheesecake pudding)

[chinadoll]

My first thought was this-- if you are putting all your carbs into those two meals, maybe that is part of what is causing your late night cravings. You may be getting too many carbs hitting your system at once and that is causing a blood sugar drop later in the evening. I think three meals a day, or maybe splitting your dinner into two halves--eat half early and save the rest for a couple hours later-- this may help. You have a steadier blood sugar level and maybe no cravings. Also, eating less more often is better for your metabolism and keeps your stomach from stretching out.

Also, if you need ice cream--make some! I used to make it from light cream, Splenda and vanilla or cocoa powder. A little of this goes a long way because it is very rich! It can be made in a few minutes with a small baggie, large baggie some salt and ice cubes. {Google search for ice cream in a bag--there are sites with directions}

[michelea3425]

Okay all. Thank you so much for the encouragement. I know I've lost half of what I wanted to lose in the first place and I need to add some cardio. I haven't been exercising at all. If weight loss was easy then everyone would be doing it. I can do this and I will stay on plan.

Chinadoll....thank you for the ice cream recipe. I will try that and see if I can beat this! I'm not doing the ice cream ANYMORE! I didn't get this far by cheating so I know I can do this!

You are all a Godsend...thank you.

[Lacypie]

WoW! It's so funny that every time I decide to surf around and read New Threads. It's like I am guided here to find either answers to my own delimas... thoughts... . Michalea3425 keeps hours like me, and sometimes i find it hard to eat in the mornings till after noon.. and then if i try to eat the meals, 3 or 5 small, through out my day, its can be very late when i can get to dinner. And I dont' feel like trying to eat my food all before 5:00 pm when I start work, I have tried, and I end up being famish at about 11 or 12 that night. Not good right before bed. I do try to get my food in before 8 no later than 9 , but if i have a busy night at the bar, its going to be late.. and i am hungry. I try to take my snacks and meal every work night, that at least keeps me from grabbing something I'll regret. Have I ever said, " I love this board"

[chinadoll]

There is no rule that says you have to have three meals. Actually to graze on 6 little meals a day is probably even beter. But glad the old threads get stirred up from time to time. I actually came in to try to give an answer and was very surprised to see I have already done so- months ago! ;D