Pre-maintenance or Lower Goal Weight?

[BigRunner]

Hello all,

I am on OWL Rung #3, starting Rung #4 this week. I currently eat about 35 carbs per day and have been losing weight very quickly (average 3 pounds per week).

The goal weight I chose was 174. I picked this because it was the weight that would give me a healthy BMI of 25.

This is my second time around on Atkins. The first time I didn't follow the book and basically stayed on Induction for a year and ate tons of frankenfoods. This time I'm sticking as close to the book as I can and moving through the phases and rungs.

I pretty much measure (measuring spoons and cups) or weigh (digital kitchen scales) everything I eat. I enter it into Fitday. My calories range anywhere from 1500 to 2300 a day. I'm not really counting calories, but I do monitor them.

I exercise (run) 5 days a week. Currently, I'm running between 28 and 34 miles per week.

Sorry for the long post.

The question is: According to the book, I should be switching to pre-maintenance with 5-10 pounds to lose (I have 9 left). However, I have not come close to finding my CCLL yet. I'm still going up the rungs.

Should I keep going as I am and progress up the rungs and find my CCLL somewhere along the way?

Should I try to find my CCLL now? How?

I have started to think that maybe my goal weight should be closer to 160. This is uncharted territory for me. I weigh less than I did when I got married and haven't been this weight since about 7th grade.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I realize how fortunate I am to be eating so many carbs/calories and still losing so well. I remember starving on Weight Watchers trying to eat 24 points (about 1200 calories) a day and not losing anything. My mom thinks I'm starving myself to lose weight. This is after eating 9 ounces of roast beef and 2 cups of broccoli with cheese in front of her!

Rich

[2big4mysize]

the only difference between OWL and premaintenance eating is you add 10 net carbs at a time instead of 5. Move to premaintnenance for your next rung increase and see what happens. your weight loss should slow down some.

if you did your induction cheat free for the 14 days then based on your pounds lost during those 14 days and your needed to lose weight loss you should be able to use the charts in DANDR to figure out your estimated CCLL. Since you are a regular exercisers you should be able to handle double your current level.

[sunflowergrl]

Wow Rich, you look great!!! Keep up the good work. I am really glad you are moving up the rungs and dumping the Frankenfoods!!

[BigRunner]

2big,

I looked up the approximate CCLL range in the book and it says 60-90 grams of carbs. I think I'll add 10 carbs per rung, starting now with #4 and see how that goes. This will help to find my CCLL faster. Once I find it, then I can decide if I want to stay below that level and continue to lose or not. I'm so excited. Thank you for responding back so fast.

sunflowergrl,

Thank you for your nice comments. I can't believe how well this works when you make it a way of life and do it right.


Rich

[soliwit]

What an amazing difference Rich !!!
Good job !

[Analog6]

Rich, Congatulations on the good results. How tall are you? That makes a difference to recommending a goal weight. Why not aim for the middle of the normal BMI rage, 22-23? See what figure that comes out to, and it should be about right. You look pretty fit now, though, so I'd say you don't have a lot more to lose.

[BigRunner]

Thank you Soliwit.

Analog,

Good suggestion. I am 5'10". According to the BMI tables, that would put me somewhere between 152 and 160. I think that pretty much confirms the 160 goal. I still think I'm going to increase my carbs by 10 for each rung to find my CCLL sooner than later.

Rich

[ValidRouge]

Originally Posted by BigRunner

My mom thinks I'm starving myself to lose weight. This is after eating 9 ounces of roast beef and 2 cups of broccoli with cheese in front of her!

Goes to show you how how people think...if you are losing weight, you MUST be starving yourself! Thanks Weight Watchers, SlimFast, USDA, Jenny Craig, and other lowfat diets...NOT!

Thanks to Dr. Atkins...I don't starve at all.

I agree with Analog and your plan to increase by 10 ...
I found mine after I had been at goal for a few months ..I just kept playing around with eating more carbs and finally settled in where I am ...

and the whole frankenfood thing ..awesome you gave that crap up!!!
nothing is better than eating really good food that is for sure ..your body appreciates it and pays you back by better energy and the way you look ..I really believe that!

you do look absolutely awesome congratulations....

[not2late]

Congrats!

By the way, since you are a regular exerciser, you might want to get your body fat % analyzed rather than going by scale weight. Having 1 pound of musle is better than having 1 pound of fat, but the scale won't discriminate between muscle poundage and fat poundage. So, get your body fat measured.