Im so comfortable in Induction

[tulsanurse1]

I need help, Im so confused. Ok, today is day 12 on Induction. Ive lost 18 pounds so far. Please keep in mind that when I started I weighed 269lbs. Today I weigh 251lbs. 14 of my pounds lost were in the first 4 days. I have no idea how much of the 14 pounds was water and how much was fat but I have a hard time believing one could lose even 6 pounds of fat in four days. I do know that my legs/feet were swollen when I started induction. From day 5 to day 12 Ive lost 4 pounds. Here is my question. My average carb intake daily is 13-15. My percentages of fat/carbs/protein are usually 63/3/34 or somewhere close. I am confused because I feel like I need to have been eating 20 carbs to accurately go into OWL and move up the ladder. Maybe I should do 2 weeks of getting exactly 20 grams and then start at rung 1 adding 5 more grams. Im not sure how to even calculate my BMR because Im not sure how much of my weight loss has been water. The only reason Im bringing up how much I have lost is because I have lost so much weight since I started Induction and I dont want to assume my BMR is considered "low" when its really "average". Im nervous about not doing an extended induction because Im satisfied with the foods Im eating AND I dont wanna screw up. I think this is why I didnt move to OWL the last time I did Atkins. Its really overwhelming when Ive never done it. Im so totally comfortable in induction but lets face it, I will love moving up the rung ladder once I figure all this out. I would love some help figuring out what to do.

[not2late]

No you don't need to be eating exactly 20 net carbs in order to move onto OWL. Most of us average 10-15 net carbs during Induction. When we move to OWL, we add 5 net carbs of OWL foods to that 10-15 net carbs from Induction.

You've lost 18 pounds. Go look up your degree of metabolic resistance in the charts in the book. You'll see that your fears of having a high metabolic resistance to weight loss are completely and totally unfounded.

[tulsanurse1]

Do you stop losing less weight the higher up the rung you go? Thats what scares me because I have almost 100 lbs still to lose.

[ValidRouge]

There are many members who find they actually lose more in Ongoing Weight Loss than in induction phase. Not to mention, the freedom of eating more vegetables than what is allowed during induction. I don't know a soul who got fat eating vegetables, do you?

[not2late]

You'll stop losing weight when you reach your CCLL (critical carbohydrate losing level). The CCLL is different for everyone. We have had some members whose CCLLs were over 100 net carbs.

When you find your CCLL, you're in luck and your OWL will become 100% easier. That number tells you how many carbs you can eat and still lose weight. That will make your meal planning and eating out much, much easier.

[ttdriver]

Laurie,

Don't be afraid to move up the rungs .. I know its scary to think about adding in more carbs, but as Joy said, as long as you add the correct ones in the correct amounts, you will be fine. Many people stall after staying on induction too long and they discover that once they move to OWL, the scale starts moving again (yeah, I know, hard to believe, but TRUE!)

Trust the Good Doctor and his plan .. IT WORKS!

Congrats on the terrific job so far!!!

Betty

[hrgillespie]

I am not even close to an expert nor do I consider myself worthy of giving advice about Atkins but I can tell you what I did ............ I think when you go into this with lots of weight to lose you can do it two differnt ways as Dr Atkins describes in his book. You can either go right to the rungs or you can stay on extended induction both has their benefits ........... with exteded induction I personally feel you will lose a little faster. But you don't have the variety of foods you get to enjoy on OWL. SO you have to decide what is the more important part for you. When I started out I decided for myself that I was going to stay on extedned induction till I got to my halfway point in my weight loss and then I would move to OWL. I ended up moving into OWL about 5 lbs early because I found myself getting ansty for more kinds of food and I want to make sure I do this right this time.

I don't know if that helps you at all ............. but I would reccommend reading the parts of the book that apply to this decision ........... it does talk about the pros and cons of both and then make an informed decision based on what you think is best for you!

Let us know what you decide! I bet you can glean lots of good info from both the extended induction and the OWL forums ..........

[tulsanurse1]

When do I have to find my CCLL? I promise Im using my DANDR but Im really nervous here. I only have 3 days left before I move to OWL. So what happens the first week is, since i normally eat 15 carbs, i add 5 more carbs for a total of 20? I know i will be on rung 1 which means that all I do is add 5 more carbs from the vegatable part of the acceptable food list, right? How long did you guys stay on rung 1?

[Sera]

the least time you need to spend on rung 1 is 1 week afaik.
I don't do more than 2 weeks per rung personally, others spend a lot longer, its up to you.
just see how it goes the first 1 or 2 weeks on rung 1, if you feel comfy there, you can stay a while.

[mitzimarie]

Since everyone is different, I can only attest to what has worked for me. I lost the most weight while on Rung 1. I stayed on that rung for 2 months, trying tons of new veggies. On the weeks that I wasn't adding a new food, I upped my carbs with veggies. Frankly, after progressing through rung 7, I found that most of the foods from rungs higher than 1 slowed my losses more than I was willing to. So, I have gone back to Rung 1 for the past month, and my losses have been great. I usually try to eat up to 45 net carbs, with most of them coming from veggies. It seems that the more veggies I eat, the better I lose. I thought that I was comfortable in Induction, too, and didn't see the need to move on... until I did. It was the best move that I ever made.

There is a veggie challenge coming up in the later half of October. I would encourage everyone to join this challenge. Participating in the last veggie challenge last April is how I broke my stall. Not to mention, it sincerely changed my life. I was never a veggie eater before the challenge, but when I bit the bullet and added more veggies, it sealed my success with Atkins.

And don't forget to subtract the fiber from total carbs to get net carbs.

VEGGIES RULE!!