Introduction to OWL

[foxfire1977]

Wow I sure hope I understand the way the whole rung thing works by the time I move on to OWL.

[Hopeful1]

lol same here I'm so lost! I decided to read up on it early though hoping I'll get it all by then. My one concern is how in the heck do I add more food when I already feel like I'm eating enough as it is.

[kisstuck]

Eventually, the new foods you add will take the place of some you are already eating. For instance: you usually eat 8 ounces of steak with a 2 cup salad. You may choose to eat a 6 ounce steak with 2 cups of salad and a cup of green beans. You are not always eating more food. And you don't have to eat from each of the rungs everyday. Say you are on rung 2-dairy. Maybe you don't feel like an extra veggie today, but instead you choose cottage cheese from the dairy rung.

Is it clear as mud yet? I'm sure I still don't do everything right, but I am learning each day. Don't skip a rung just because you "think" you won't eat anything in that rung. For instance rung 3-nuts/seeds. Some people don't like nuts, so they skip it, but lots of recipes call for almond flour and such, so it is a good rung to make sure you spend some time on. I chose to do rung 5-alcohol. I do not drink very often at all, but I didn't want to deprive myself of a drink now and then forever, so I kept that rung in my diet.

It helps to track your percentages of fat/protien/carbs in fitday. If you are not already doing this, I suggest you check it out.

Have I confused you enought for one day? Hope this helps!

[gonnabskinny]

It is hard early on, but you do start to figure it out, trust me! You just start balancing things a little more as you go up each rung. You really will have to use a journal such as fitday or my-calorie-counter I actually use both, but I prefer my-calorie-counter because it breaks it down by meal. Really each has pluses and minuses.

What I try to do is to figure out ahead of time where I'm at and then put something into my meal that day to even out the percentages.

Below my signature is a link to my fitday journal, if you would like to take a look. It will kind of give you an idea, though I'm still working on learning. The key for me is to keep my protein at about 30% of my overall calories and I also try to keep my calories in the 1800-2000 Kcal per day range. That means each day, I will need to have about 135 to 150 grams of protein. I also try to spread my protein out throughout the day. Maybe 40-45 at breakfast, 45-50 at lunch, and another 50 or so at dinner.

I hope this helps. By the way Hopeful1, where abouts in Dallas do you live? We live in Allen!

[CATBLUE]

Originally Posted by loonatika

1: Vegetables
2: Dairy
3: Nuts and Seeds
4: Berries & Melons
5: Wine and other spirits low in carbs
6: Legumes
7: Fruits other than berries
8: Starchy Veges
9: Whole Grains[/color]

Ok.. this may be silly... But what if you don't do # 2... I mean, Since we could have aged cheese, sour cream, butter and cream on induction, the only things left to add are milk, yogurt and fresh cheese..

What happens if I just don't eat those things?
I don't drink milk... it makes my stomach cramp and makes me rust to the potty.

I like yogurt but most of them are full of fruit and sugar....

I'm ok with cottage cheese but I haven't eaten it in years.

Do I now have to put these things in my diet? Can I go straight to nuts...?

What about #4.. Berries and Melons.. ? I'm allergic to all melons.. But I can eat a few berries but I have to be careful about the seeds... I have a difficult time with small seeds.

#5... Wine.. that I can figure out!!!

[not2late]

Originally Posted by CATBLUE

Ok.. this may be silly... But what if you don't do # 2... I mean, Since we could have aged cheese, sour cream, butter and cream on induction, the only things left to add are milk, yogurt and fresh cheese..

What happens if I just don't eat those things?
I don't drink milk... it makes my stomach cramp and makes me rust to the potty.

I like yogurt but most of them are full of fruit and sugar....

I'm ok with cottage cheese but I haven't eaten it in years.

Do I now have to put these things in my diet? Can I go straight to nuts...?

What about #4.. Berries and Melons.. ? I'm allergic to all melons.. But I can eat a few berries but I have to be careful about the seeds... I have a difficult time with small seeds.

#5... Wine.. that I can figure out!!!

Dairy Rung includes cultured milk products like yogurt and kefir, fresh cheeses like cottage cheese/ricotta/mascarpone.

There are low carb yogurts, but I prefer plain full fat yogurt because I can flavor it any way I like and I can also use it in savory dishes like curries, sauces, soups, beverages, etc.

If you can't eat a particular food in a rung, then skip the food. If you know that you will never eat any food in a particular rung, then you can skip the rung. We don't, however, recommend skipping the first rung of more Induction veggies---we need the fiber and we've more or less know how these veggies affect our bodies because we have typically eaten them during our Induction phase.

[Flab To Go]

The first week you add in an 5 net grams of carb. If this is a new food to you, then eat it nore than 3 times a week.


I want to begin OWl next week but I am confused on how to begin. From the quote above, I'm thinking that I should introduce one new veggie (ex. asparagus) to my diet in a week. In that week I should have 5g of asparagus for 3 days. for example on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I would have 5g of asparagus daily. AM I on the right track here?

[not2late]

Originally Posted by Flab To Go

The first week you add in an 5 net grams of carb. If this is a new food to you, then eat it nore than 3 times a week.


I want to begin OWl next week but I am confused on how to begin. From the quote above, I'm thinking that I should introduce one new veggie (ex. asparagus) to my diet in a week. In that week I should have 5g of asparagus for 3 days. for example on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I would have 5g of asparagus daily. AM I on the right track here?

If you have never eaten asparagus or did not eat it during your Induction, then it is "new" to you. So you eat it every other day, and see what happens.

[shininstr984]

How much time do you spend on each rung? I was confused by this and did veggie rung for 1 week and now dairy for 1 week...I haven't really added too much dairy, just a little cottage cheese and a low carb ice cream bar. Should I give each rung longer than a week?

[EmDee]

and I'm confused about "testing" new foods ~ do I need a week of testing every time I add a new veggie to my diet? For ex, I am on veggie rung now. Last week I added pumpkin. Won't it take forever if I need a week to "test" each new veggie?

I'll be ancient before I ever get to the dairy rung! LOL