Starting OWL tomorrow, still have questions

[Ammamady]

Hi everyone! I am very excited to be starting OWL rung 1 tomorrow. As many times as I have started this WOL, I have never done it properly and moved up as I am supposed to. So, I am excited this time will be different, and want to understand it completely before I begin.

I have read DANDR 2002 many times, read the chapter on OWL again last night. I have also read all the threads in this forum about the rungs. I still have a couple questions I could not find the answers to. Hoping you all can help me!

First, If I try different foods from a rung during the two weeks, and don't lose anything, how do I know it is not just a specific food I tried as opposed to my CCL? Like maybe I am sensitive to yogurt specifically, but if I have other dairy products, I may not know which one is causing me not to lose, make sense? But I don't want to spend months on each rung testing each food individually for two weeks, that would take forever!

Secondly, As I understand it, the max carbs from each rung is 5 grams as I move up. So if I am up to rung 5, and can have 45 carbs a day, that means I can still only have 5 carbs of dairy, nuts and berries each, right? Or can I have no carbs from nuts, and instead have 10 carbs from berries some days?

I think the last question is where whey protein powder fits in the rungs. My hubby uses it for protein shakes, it only has 3 carbs per serving. I would love to make blueberry/peanut butter shakes when I get to the berry rung. Is this ok as long as I count the carbs from the protein powder?

Thanks so much for your input, I am looking forward to being a member of the OWL club!

[studyinscarlet]

Hi,
I am no OWL expert because I am just starting myself but if you are worried about not being able to gauge whether its a food group or your CCLL you can do OWL by staying on the veggie rung until you find your CCLL and then move up the rungs once you have it. That's what I am doing so I can avoid that same thing. Also, with regards to your protein powder, it depends on what's in it. If it's whey protein isolate, that would be the dairy rung because whey is a milk product. If its soy protein isolate, I believe that would be the legumes rung, when soy products are allowed. Anyway, hope that helps and good luck!

[TheDogAteMyName]

Hello there - welcome to OWL! The first rung is 5 more net carbs of induction veggies. The second rung is dairy and every new food is introduced every other day. For example you just started the dairy rung and want to see how your body handles cottage cheese. You can eat 1/2 cup of cottage cheese on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Did you lose weight that week? If so - you can eat cottage cheese safely. If you didn't lose weight that week it could be because of TOM or the cheese. When my TOM is here I throw everything out the window about weight loss because I know there won't be any that week. I'll just eat another weeks worth of that rung after TOM is over to gauge it precisely. Whey protein may be introduced on Rung 2 Dairy. I don't stay on the rungs more than 2 weeks, but then again I haven't had a problem. Dairy isn't an issue for me, but it is for some people. Some need to stay on Rung 2 and test the dairy that they enjoy. It's smart to do it that way because then you'll be able to weed out the foods that will hinder your weight loss.

My menu is based around veggies and then I add in the rest. I eat most of my carbs from veggies and then add in berries, nuts, cheese, etc... I don't eat 20 carbs from berries a day. I wouldn't dare eat more than 5 net carbs of legumes in the current rung I'm on. Not yet anyway. Once you move up the rungs, you'll have difficulty eating all of the food offered anyway.

I don't think I could've stayed on Rung 1 to find my CCLL. If I kept eating more induction veggies to reach 50 net carbs...I'd still be eating my daily carbs from last week! I would move up the rungs as Dr. Atkins intended. It's so much fun that way Over the weekend I had strawberries, fresh whipped cream and some almonds as a snack. I don't think it gets better than that!

[not2late]

First, If I try different foods from a rung during the two weeks, and don't lose anything, how do I know it is not just a specific food I tried as opposed to my CCL? Like maybe I am sensitive to yogurt specifically, but if I have other dairy products, I may not know which one is causing me not to lose, make sense? But I don't want to spend months on each rung testing each food individually for two weeks, that would take forever!

This is the thing about OWL. You won't know if it's the carb level or the food. If you're especially concerned what you might try doing it to go up a carb level, see how your body reacts to it, then go up the Ladder. For example, you add 5 net carbs for Rung 1. You lose weight with that carb level. Add another 5 net carbs of the Rung 1 foods. You still lose weight. So then you move to Rung 2.

OR you can stay at Rung 1 level carbs, and swap the Rung 1 food for a Rung 2 food, see how you do.

Mind you, this isn't what Dr. Atkins wrote in the book, but if you are concerned, then you can try it these ways.

Many people actually enjoy experimenting with different foods during the OWL. Let's face it, you are still losing weight. So you can linger on a certain rung if you particularly enjoy those new foods.

Secondly, As I understand it, the max carbs from each rung is 5 grams as I move up. So if I am up to rung 5, and can have 45 carbs a day, that means I can still only have 5 carbs of dairy, nuts and berries each, right? Or can I have no carbs from nuts, and instead have 10 carbs from berries some days?

First off, you NEVER add 5 net carbs of nuts! Dr. Atkins wrote that nuts and seeds are limited to 1 ounce, except for cashews which are limited to 1/2 ounce.

Personally, I wouldn't add 10 net carbs of the foods with high glycemic levels, like fruits---that can totally mess up your blood sugar/insulin levels if you aren't careful. If you do choose to add double portions of fruits, then you have to be very aware of the physical signs of blood sugar instability and at the first signs of it, drop the food from your menu or else you might stop losing weight.

As for adding more dairy, I would be cautious about that too. During OWL your fat intake decreases slightly as your carbs increase. So if you bump up your fat intake, you might find yourself not losing weight. Rememer, while we don't actively count calories, they do matter. Nuts and dairy are naturally high fat. And before you ask if you can switch to low fat dairy products, the answer is no, because in order to make a low fat/nonfat dairy product to have the same taste, texture and appearance as the full fat version, they add carbs (sugars) to it.

I think the last question is where whey protein powder fits in the rungs. My hubby uses it for protein shakes, it only has 3 carbs per serving. I would love to make blueberry/peanut butter shakes when I get to the berry rung. Is this ok as long as I count the carbs from the protein powder?

It will fit in during the Dairy Rung. But be aware: Atkins is a high fat diet, not a high protein one. So if you choose to use a protein powder, be sure that your protein % is no more than 30%.

As for peanut butter, peanuts are techically legumes. Some people add them during the Nut/Seed rung, others don't. And like nuts and seeds, peanuts have the tendency to derail people due to previously unrecognized food intolerances, etc.