Should I stay in induction or move on to OWL?

[Kimberly_P]

Hi everyone! I have 4 days left to go in the induction phase and I've lost 9 pounds so far. I am curious if I should move on to OWL or stay in induction for another week or two?


Thanks,
Kim

[dotsamantha]

How do you feel about it? Induction is a no-brainer and I stayed on for over a month, slowly moving into owl, but plenty go straight to it. Do you want to keep it simple, or start to explore?

[Kimberly_P]

Hey! I kind of want to move into it but an unsure, I suppose I have to move there sometime and better now than never. I don't have Dr. Adkin's book right now because I lent it out to a friend but I ordered it on e-bay. I don't know exactly what I have to do in the OWL phase, I do know I have to add 5 more carbs of vegetable and that's about it so if there's more to it I really need to know I read the easiest way to add the 5 extra carbs is to eat 1 cup of pumkin and that equals out to 5, then maybe try something different the following week.

[dotsamantha]

In this (the owl) forum, the faq are informative. Since you'll be on the fist rung for at least a week, start there.

[ValidRouge]

I say if you've done a clean induction, go ahead and move into OWL. If you didn't do it clean, stay on for another two weeks and do it right. You'll set yourself up for SUCCESS and that's what you want, right?

OWL is great, and I've lost steadily since moving up through the rungs. Plus, I'm never bored with my food.

On a second thought though, if you are bored with induction, then DEFINITELY move into OWL right away so that you can have a broader variety of foods. You don't want boredom to sabotage all your efforts so far.

[Kimberly_P]

Thank you guys for the great advice I'm just still not sure what I want to do, it's honestly a tough decision and scary one too because I'm thinking if I move on will I gain weight or stop losing... I do have a question though.. If I decide to move on in the next 4 days I need to add 5 more carbs, I've been reading the threads about what to choose when adding those 5 extra and some people have been adding Pumpkin. So I went to the store and grabbed some just so I'd have it on hand but here's what the label reads... 9 carbs for every half-cup - Dietary Fiber 5 grams, so do I subtract the fiber from the carbs? Because then it would be 4 carbs per half-cup? And while in the OWL phase do I eat this every other day for a week or everyday?

[ValidRouge]

Yep, you always get to subtract fiber. I'm always on the lookout for high fiber veggies. You can get more bang for your buck, so to speak. Also, we NEED fiber, so the more I get in veggies, the less need I'll have for fiber supplement.

The way the OWL works is that you get to eat 5 grams more from your induction levels. So, if during induction you are eating 15 NET (minus fiber) carbs per day, now you'll get 20 NET carbs. You can have those 5g net carbs every day on vegetables you've already been eating during induction. For those vegetables you didn't have during induction (such as the pumpkin) then you only eat that vegetable (5 carbs worth) 3 times a week. What you're trying to do is see if that food causes your body problems, like giving you the munchies or causing you to stall.

The point of OWL is to test your body with the different foods. Slowly add them back in.

I hope this helps.

[2big4mysize]

yep and you don't have to add the 5 net grams back as one food. you can add a bit more tomato, pepper ,eggplant, summer squash type of veggie sautee adding up to 5 net.

Since youare bored with induction foods that answers yes to one of the chapter 13 questions Dr Atkins uses to determine if we move or not to OWL you should go. Just go slowly. nothing wrong with spending a month on rung one testing out all the veggies while you are shedding pounds. then move to the next rung and settle in until you are sure you know how those foods effect you.

remember too all the induction rules still apply eat only when hungry and stop as soon as your hunger is satisfied even if you got food on the plate room in your belly or carbs in your budget. Many folk over eat their OWL by adding back more and more foods. that isn't waht we do we trade off some of our fats for some more carb foods like you add more veggies to the salad but use the same amount of dressing so you havefat with your new carbs but you didn't add new fats to the new carbs. it is complicated so go slow and read the OWL stickies.

Happy OWLing