I'm having issues.

[Hoping]

I have several issues now that I've moved onto OWL. First, I want to eat more than I used to when I was on extended induction. Like I will have eaten a meal and then I want to eat just for the heck of it. Normally I just drink water till I can't anymore and it goes away. This normally happens when I'm terribly bored.

My other problem is...I want to move up the ladder more quickly. I know I can't. But I'm so frustrated!!! Yesterday I wanted to buy fresh cheese, and I wanted yogurt with some berries. That sounds so good....But the other problem is that I think I'm going to have to skip the dairy rung. Which brings me to last night, when I was bad.
I ate some low-carb ice cream and today my stomach isn't doing so peachy. I'm also retaining a little bit of water. I have such a hard time controlling myself when it comes to ice cream, I just don't think I can do the dairy rung. Or maybe I'll just do the cheeses. I'm lactose intolerant, but I seem to be okay with cheeses. Yogurt normally makes me sick. Oh, and I even have a hard time controlling myself with the heavy cream.
I guess, I just can't decide whether to do the dairy rung now. Can I add it later? Or would that not work.

I'm so frustrated
Help me out guys. I need support.

[kate58]

I skipped dairy. There was nothing there that I needed and plenty that I knew would make me overindulge. I am perfectly happy with the cheese/small amount of cream that I can already have.

As for the hunger - are you still making sure you have enough fat? Are you eating enough? The deep appetite supression of induction means it is very easy to eat too little, even if it isn't the best way to go. As you increase your carbs appetite suppression is less extreme, and it becomes more important that you eat enough to satisfy yourself.

What about veg - are you eating enough? The right types (ie not the chewy water kind)? The amount of veg you can eat now is prodigious - it really is a lot of veg. If you try to spread that over the day - rather than say having most of it with dinner - it seems to even out appetite and is better for you anyway. Also have a little fat with your veg - glaze green beans with olive oil, butter your cauliflower, sprinkle a little hard cheese on your broccoli etc.

[Hayden]

Sorry, but I'm not experienced enough of moving up the rungs to give advice.

I can offer some moral support though.

[ValidRouge]

Sounds, to me, that dairy is giving you fits! I didn't know I had issues with dairy until just a few months ago. If it is giving you that much trouble, avoid it like the plague! No reason to awaken your "carbo-addicted inner-monster" with foods that are going to derail you.

I had to cut dairy out too. I had some this past week and all the cravings, all the bloating is returning. Nuts are the same way for me. It's just not worth it. The cravings can be fierce. And, just not worth it.

Since you know you are lactose intolerant, stick with just hard cheeses and butter. You can even cut those out if you need to. Eat lots of veggies, plenty of fatty meats, olive oil and such to get your fats.

Skip the dairy rung and move on up. However, I will STRONGLY advise you to proceed cautiously with nuts. They are trouble for a LOT of people. Berries would be a good rung to proceed onto.

[*Emma*]

I missed out both dairy and nuts, i tried to add dairy in later, when i'd done all the other rungs and my god!! i will not be having LC Icecream EVER again! talk about carb monsters, sheesh!!

I cant control nuts, so if you like nuts be careful. theyre sooooo more-ish

[Hoping]

Thank you everyone for your wonderful advice And Hayden, thanks for the moral support. *hugs*

I am eating enough veggies. I weigh my veggies and normally add some fat. I normally fry them with olive oil or butter. Funny you should mention sprinkling cheese, Kate. I looove putting parmesan on my veggies.
Based on everything that everyone has said, I am going to skip the dairy rung. If I do the nut rung, and I think I will, I will eat peanuts. Almonds are my favorite, but I'm allergic. I'm allergic to everything under the sun! lol
And I think everyone's right...the carb monster comes out and gets me every time I eat ice cream, so no more. Thanks, again, for the advice.

[blue996]

Avoid those low carb products! I found that in the past (on one of my many failed attempts) the more of those products I ate the slower I lost (never mind the horrible stomach issues). Plus I found tasting something sweet led to way more cravings. Now I can't even have splenda as the sweetness is too much (and this is coming from a former chocolate cake addict).

The more and more I hear about the nut rung the more grateful I am that I am deathly allergic! I'm also not that big into dairy so I might just skip over both rungs and add berries down the road.

Good luck with your continued losses!