Enjoying OWL!

[ep611]

So here I am in the OWL phase, and I see someone has posted what I was noticing as well...not a lot of posting going on here! So I guess instead of reading, I can fix that and share my experience so far with OWL.

After reading a past post about moving in a lateral way along the ladder (just not going up to high at once), I decided to try it out. I upped the veggies, and every so often eat a few macadamia nuts, or some natural peanut butter with celery sticks (which has become my pre-run snack). I don't do a lot of dairy as it doesn't always agree with me, just a little bit of cream in my small coffee in the morning.

Yesterday I started on Rung 4, the berry rung and I love it. Just a few slices of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and black berries around lunch time. I think I will stay here for a couple weeks and see how it all goes ( I will skip over rung 5, as I am not a big drinker).

I love the variety in my diet now! I am doing a 10K mid may, and a half marathon the end of May, so being able to successfully move up the ladder adding in some additional carbs for fuel will be great. And hopefully, being a little lighter will help out as well! I've run a half marathon at 145 lbs and know what that feels like....

I'm 11 pounds from my goal weight, so once I have moved through the rungs in OWL I'll be moving on to pre-maintenence. Losing slow but steady ( averaging about a pound a week, and measuring inches monthly) but I am in it for the long haul. So there is my experience so far with OWL, and I would love to hear others share their experience as well in this phase.

And thanks again to everyone on this board for being so supportive of each other and sharing personal experiences. It's great motivation!

[not2late]

Good for you!

I loved OWL too. I found that the variety of food was terrific and it made my menu planning a whole lot easier. Plus I didn't have to worry as much when I went out to eat because I would be able to find something OWL legal to eat.

I remember when I began OWL some of my family who knew I was doing Atkins, smirked at me when I had some fruit at one family gathering. They told me (really arrogantly) that they knew no one could do Atkins forever. I merely told them that I'm still on Atkins, but a different Phase of it.

[ep611]

Oh, I know exactly what you mean! My boss made some negative comments when I started induction. She said she had tried Atkins years ago and gave up, and told me that any diet that restricts food groups isn't good and proceeded to tell me how wonderful weight watchers is. Turns out she, like many others, seem to view atkins as 'induction' only! I explained there were four phases, and I soon would be adding back in foods and end up with a healthy balanced diet at a healthy weight.

Yesterday a coworker asked 'How are you doing with the no carb thing?' I just laughed and said I eat carbs, just good carbs and not a ton of them!

I am slowly trying to change the perception of the atkins diet, one co-worker at a time.

[clogger]

You are doing great! Thanks for sharing.

I am sooo happy that I moved onto OWL after my second run with Atkins. I cannot eat the same thing everyday (except for breakfast ) so the variety keeps me happy.

My family and co-workers are also learning little by little what Atkins is REALLY about. It's not NO carbs, it's not HIGH protein, it's not just meat and cheese.

Recently I shared with a couple different doctors what I was eating and they were fine with it. I'm sure it would have been a different story if I had seen them when I was on Induction.

I almost always eat one ounce of nuts or seeds per day (almonds, cashews, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, etc). Most days of the week I have some strawberries and blueberries - sometimes cantaloupe. Also, I enjoy some plain Greek yogurt sometimes (I add Splenda).

OWL has wonderful variety that I LOVE! Good luck with your upcoming runs!

[imagood1]

hi Erin -- I am going up the rungs for the 2nd time. The first time I went from rung to rung not giving my body enough time to catch up .... and stalled. So I did a clean re-induction and have been on Rung 1 for 2 weeks. I got on the scale earlier this week and had lost 3 pounds so I'm going to move on to Rung 2 on Monday.

I'm not in as much of a hurry to climb the rungs this time....I'm taking the mantra "slow but sure wins the race".....I've also increased my exercise since re-induction and have no problem drinking 150 oz of water a day. I also added a B-complex supplement to the multi vitamin I take daily. I take several medicines daily for high blood pressure, high triglicerides, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol....so these add to my slower weight loss also. Since starting Atkins my blood sugar readings have steadily gone down and I'm hoping to be able to get off all my meds someday.

Good luck to you with your running!

[sallyseachange]

Nice to see someone enjoying OWL. I too loved it... and I hadn't imagined I would. The extra food choices were amazing, after a long (too long, I realised in retrospect!) induction. Also, it wasn't nearly as complicated as I'd imagined, once you get in the groove.
It's a pity so many are afraid of OWL and avoid making the move.

Congrats on your success so far! Looking forward to seeing you hit maintenance!

[EverLosing]

I'm loving OWL too!! So many choices! I enjoy strawberries and cream often. I'm finding it's my version of a candy bar. I look forward to that little dish filled with fruit! Finding strawberries on sale is a different story though!! As summer approaches, so does the variety of berries and good prices on them! I enjoy almonds too, absolutely LOVE them but stopped losing for awhile while eating them. I had to cut them out and the losses came back. I've never eaten this many veggies in my life!!

OWL really is a whole different adventure and I think some inductioneers think the losses will grind to a halt if they step beyond induction. I'm pretty sure I'd be stalled if I was limiting my body to what induction has to offer. It has it's place, maybe going back for a short time to get something under control but I've found Induction is just a place to spend a little time, OWL is the place to live!!

Great post! We don't brag on OWL nearly enough, do we?

[Sunny_0ne]

Blueberries and whipped cream are my favorite. It's impossible to feel deprived with such a huge variety of food possibilities!

Great post!