Moving to Rung 2

[rosie321]

I've read the book and the stickies but I'm still just a little unclear about how to move on to the next rung. I understand that next week I'll add 5g net carbs of new dairy items 3 days. On the days where I'm not adding the new dairy, should I add 5g net carbs of a veggie that I know doesn't stall me to keep my carbs count steady for each day of the week or should some days just have 5g less than others?

Along those lines, as you move up the rungs, what do you do on days that you don't want dairy, nuts, etc.? For example, if my carb level is around 40g and I feel like having a veggier day, is that okay to get more carbs from extra veggies and omit items from the "higher" rungs?

Do people advocate maintaining a steady net carb count for each day of the week regardless of which rung those carbs are coming from?

Just trying to find the most efficient way to figure out my CCLL. Thanks!

[imagood1]

For what it's worth - when I move to a new rung the first day I add 5 net carbs of the new food along with my regular food - then I wait a day to see how that food affected me (if at all) - on the day I'm not eating the new food I eat regularly like I had the week before....third day, add the new food - and so on. If a new food causes weight gain or other problems I try it one more time but if it still bothers me I write down it's not something I can eat at this time (I may go back later and try it again to see if it still bothers me). I stay on each rung a few weeks so I can try several foods - I learned this because I went up the rungs quickly when I first started Atkins and didn't give myself time to understand the new foods.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by rosie321

I've read the book and the stickies but I'm still just a little unclear about how to move on to the next rung. I understand that next week I'll add 5g net carbs of new dairy items 3 days. On the days where I'm not adding the new dairy, should I add 5g net carbs of a veggie that I know doesn't stall me to keep my carbs count steady for each day of the week or should some days just have 5g less than others?

You can do it that way, particularly if you are testing a food to see how your body reacts to it.

Along those lines, as you move up the rungs, what do you do on days that you don't want dairy, nuts, etc.?

You don't have to eat rung foods every single day. So on a day you don't want or can't have nuts, don't eat them.

For example, if my carb level is around 40g and I feel like having a veggier day, is that okay to get more carbs from extra veggies and omit items from the "higher" rungs?

Do people advocate maintaining a steady net carb count for each day of the week regardless of which rung those carbs are coming from?

there are 3 goals of OWL (not in any particular order) 1. To lose weight, 2. To see how different foods affect your body and 3. To find your CCLL.

The CCLL is the number of carbs you may eat up to and still lose weight. So it's okay if one day you are eating Induction level carbs and the next day you are eating near your CCLL. As long as you don't go over your CCLL, you will most likely continue to lose fat weight.

Think of your CCLL as you would the Induction carb limit----you may eat up to that amount, but you don't want to go over it if you want to continue losing weight.

So how you do your rungs really depends on what you are trying to accomplish. For example, let's say you don't know what your CCLL is, but you have been eating 30 net carbs and have been losing weight at that carb level. So you decide you want to try blackberries. You add blackberries to your menu every other day, while still having a daily carb intake of 30 net carbs. On non-blackberry days, you can either eat at 30 net carbs or you can eat at 25 net carbs. Why? Because you are testing to see how blackberries affect you.

Let's say you get through the berry rung fine and you are eating 30 net carbs. You decide to test 35 net carbs daily. You can add an additional 5 net carbs of a Rung 1 food like asparagus and see if 35 net carbs will have any effect on you. Or you can move to the next rung and add 5 net carbs from that.

Just trying to find the most efficient way to figure out my CCLL. Thanks!

No problem! OWL is the time you individualize Atkins to suit your preferences.

The key to OWL is to really keep track of your foods and amounts, especially when you are finding your CCLL and trying out new foods. Frankly, when you find your CCLL, OWL becomes easier.

[rosie321]

Thanks Megs, when you put it like that it makes a more sense. And you're right: the juggling between not only figuring out how individual foods will affect me but also trying to find my CCLL is what's making it difficult for me. OWL has definitely been an exercise in patience! I'm looking forward to finding my CCLL so I'll have one more piece of the puzzle figured out

[mizski]

I thought you got your CCLL range after finishing Induction. For instance, I have more than 50#s to lose and lost 18#s in Induction. That put me at a Low degree of metabolic resistance. Then I took that Low rating and used the chart to find my CCLL range (40-60g carbs/day).

So is OWL how I find the exact number and that will be my number until Maintenance?

[liv]

No Mizski. You find your range by trying it out. So you eat more and more carbs till you stop losing. Induction loss just give you a wild guess.