Where is everyone?

[Miss Phode]

Seems like the posts in OWL are few and far between. Am I one of just 3 people on the boards in OWL? Everyone else is in induction or Pre-Maintenence, or at goal?

Wondering how the other OWL's are doing out there, and what do they think of their menu's since re-introducing more foods?

[EverLosing]

I think I'm reconsidering carbs!! I don't know...that's where I am!! I'm considering knocking the carbs way down for a few days to see what happens. I'm looking toward tweaking everything. My body is fighting me and winning and I'm NOT liking it!! I have to check my fitday to see when I actually started keeping a food journal and what I was eating when I was dropping the most weight. My never ending adjustment phase is getting old!! Maybe it's the supplements, maybe it's the 3rd rung and nuts aren't really my friends. Think I'll use my response here and add it to my journal. Now, you've got me thinking..........

[liv]

I am still in OWL. I think there are plenty of us out there but I guess we are not that good about sharing our experience in here. Not sure why not.
I am very happy about OWL. I have been fairly successful, I think, identifying what foods work and what not. It has also taught me how to experiment and try new things. I am eating quite a variety of vegetables now. The other day I tried Chayote squash - pretty good stuff.

[Lisa]

Hey, Miss Phode. Nice to see you around. I'm a happy OWLer...for the moment. I'm short on time these days posting. My favorite OWL foods these days....I think berries, even though their the frozen ones. Great snacks for me

[not2late]

I think OWLers and Pre-Maintainers are an independent group. This is the time when we individualize Atkins to suit our body chemisty and our taste preferences. And I think as people get further into their OWL, they realize that they can't copy and paste another person's OWL experience for their own.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that there are folks who still think that Induction is the entire Atkins Diet and mistakenly think that OWL and Pre-Maintenance Phases are what you do when you are a couple pounds from your goal weight. So they haven't moved on or even consider moving on.

[Sunny_0ne]

I think Not2Late nailed it for me.

I moved up to OWL 1, skipped 2, and started adding a few sesame seeds to my flax crackers, but have temporarily reverted to an almost induction diet. My supplements run around 10 carbs a day, and they are not negotiable at this point.

I am a very slow loser and have taken the article in my signature as my Atkins bible. I'm keeping the carbs really low, but am adding in occasional items from 1 and 3 as the article mentions. Still not getting nearly enough veggies, but that will come.

I was reading the book a few days ago and Dr. Atkins suggests acetyl-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid and CoQ10 to speed up fat burning in slow losers. So I have some of those on order.

I also have some heart issues and Dr. Atkins said that those supplements are very beneficial to healthy heart function.

As I add back more nutrient dense foods into my WOE, I will probably feel comfortable dropping some of the supplements. But every time I add anything at this point, the scales start edging back up. I'm wondering if I'm one of those who will always have to keep carbs around 30 grams a day.

I love the way Fitday calculates your vitamin and mineral intake as well as the calories, fat, protein and carb percentages.

The one thing that I am certain of is that this is the WOE for me. But I don't feel confident talking about OWL because I am still feeling my way around and trying to determine what works for my particular metabolism.

[not2late]

Yup, there are people whose CCLLs are 30. We even had a member whose CCLL was 20. But once you find that CCLL, you can still move up the carb ladder and try out different foods.

[not2late]

Also, your CCLL can change too. So don't be discouraged.

When I found my CCLL it was 35. So I went along eating about 30-35 net carbs daily. Well, after about 4 months, I began feeling tired and hungry all the time. I couldn't figure it out. I was losing weight. My physical stamina was great: I was walking 15 minute miles and trying to walk them in 10 minutes. But I was tired and hungry. I tried dropping carbs, raising fat, lowering fat, eating more calories, eating less calories, exercising more, exercising less. Nothing worked--still tired and still very hungry.

Then I re-read the book. In it was a sentence that said if you are a regular exerciser your CCLL could be 60 and greater. I had become a "regular" exerciser. So I decided to increase my carbs to 40. I didn't feel as tired and hungry and my weight loss continued. So I added another 5 net carbs and I stopped feeling hungry and tired and my loss continued. So I added another 5---still lost and still didn't feel hungry or tired. So I added another, loss stopped. So I backed off 5 net carbs, my loss restarted and I found my new CCLL --- 50.

So don't get discouraged that you can "only" eat 30 net carbs.

[Sunny_0ne]

Not2Late, I am not discouraged. If I take the time to be creative, I can eat an amazing variety of food, even keeping the carbs very low. There is not one time I have considered going off Atkins.

But your post about exercise changing your CCL REALLY brightened my day. That's something to look forward to!

[C P]

Hi Miss Phode

Well, I'm here, but I've only been 'OWL-ling' for 4 days, so can't really say much about it at the moment. I've done Atkins twice before, but fell off the wagon both times. I'm hoping that the incentive of being able to introduce a variety of different foods every few weeks will help to keep me motivated... the other couple of times I stayed on induction, and I think that backfired for me personally.

Look ing forward to comparing notes with fellow Owlers in the coming weeks. What rung are you on, and how is it going?

CP