Looking for guidance

[caesarsally]

Hi. I am on Day 19 of Induction. I believe I understand the WOE, however, I have only lost 7 lbs. It is not melting off as I had hoped. I have been following the program diligently. If anything, I am not eatting enough. I do miss an apple & grapefruit, but it has not been that difficult. I have had many apples in the past and need to succeed with this program. I am thrilled to be off sugar. I am trying to watch my sodium intake and not a bacon lover. I am tired of eggs for breakfast and usually grab a piece of cheese. I drink an abundance of water and love it. I probably eat more than 3 cups of salad a day, but do not indulge in carrots or other veggies not on the preferred list. I feel tired all the time and need to get with my vitamin supplements. I do chew sugarfree gum - alot. I take thyroid & depression meds. I have been so encouraged to have lost 7 lbs as Weight Watchers was so slow- going for me. I journal my eatting but do not indicate carb gram next to my permitted foods. I must get on the stick and start reading the recipes so that I am inspired to eat. My husband loves to eat out and so far, I have been excellent at get ordering things on the program. I want to continue the Induction until I lose 15 lbs if possible. I read the book constantly and the boards. Thank goodness for you wonderful, supportive people.

Can someone guide me as to how I can move full steam ahead? Thank you all . I hope you all have a fabulous day.

Caesarsally

PS I am still having difficulty with getting the ticker to appear under my signature. UGH!


SW 254.5
CW 247.5
GW 160

[MadamPhoenix]

WOohooo! on the 7lbs! if you are not losing as much it might be like you said not eating enough..so your body is probably going into the starve mode and holding to every fat it can..I hate vegetables and salad so I am struggling with that but I have gone to LInda's Low carb website and gotten new ideas for eating. Maybe somebody here may suggest something else. Good luck and don't give up

In regards to the Ticker I was having problems too, try the code that is under the bbc or other that one worked for me.

[Desihue]

First off...I say...ROCK ON with your 7 pound loss!!
I know there are other who have HUGE drops with Induction but just know that we're all different. Your weight loss will probably take off and others will be stalled so continue to be patient. If you're on day 19, you're well past Induction and can have an apple. If you're eating more than the suggested veggies then you can have that apple and should be alright. What I can say it, you might want to consider moving up the rungs. Usually people stay on Induction to lose more weight because it tends to drop faster in this phase. I'm thinking, why not add back a few things and see what happens?? I'm not seeing much talk about your fat intake and usually when I feel sluggish and tired, I need a bit more fat in my menus. You gotta eat to lose so get some of the great recipes and enjoy this woe to the fullest!

[Sherri]

Hello,
I think it would be a good idea to move onto OWL Rung 1 Veggies. It's just 5 more grams of veggies other than what you're allowed during Induction. It's important to reintroduce foods back into your WOE (way of eating) the way Dr. Atkins intended. Moving up the carbohydrate ladder correctly will help you lose the weight and also will help you discover which foods you're tollerable or intollerable to. The apple will have to wait until Rung 7 Fruits other than berries and melon.
Here's Linda's site for recipes- Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes - Home
Also here's a Sticky from the OWL thread explaining the carbohydrate ladder. Also a Sticky to help you understand Percentages for OWL.
I agree with you. Start writing down your carb numbers from the food you're eating each day. VERY IMPORTANT. That way as you're moving up the rungs (carbohydrate ladder) You'll be able to find out what yout CCCL (Critical Carbohydrate Level for losing)Page 170-173 DANDR. You won't know this unless you know how many carbs you're taking in and what that number will be when you stop losing. Everyone CCCL# is different so it's really important to know yours.
I have Hypothyroidism so I understand about how important it is to keep the thyroid levels up to where they should be. When is the last time you had your levels checked? You mentioned that you're tired. Just a thought.
A good way to get fat into your WOE is to add 1/2 of an avacado or ten to 20 olives. These come from the specialty category foods Page 129, DANDR. You may want to read up on those aswell.
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE 7 POUNDS GONE FOREVER!!!
You're doing great! Work the plan 100% and you'll get 100% results!
Sincerely, Sherri


The OWL Carbohydrate Ladder

As you move from one rung to the next, add carbohydrate foods back into your diet in the order that follows. Adhering to this order tends to minimize blood-sugar surges that could reactivate cravings. You will find that while fat and protein will continue to be the mainstays of your diet, you will eat less of them as you add carbohydrates.

As you choose foods from each rung on the ladder, you should choose most often from foods with a low Atkins Glycemic Ranking, or AGR. Foods with a low AGR will have the least impact on your blood sugar for each rung. The foods listed in each rung of the ladder below are examples of low AGR foods for their rung.

As you hit each rung, you can add up to 5 net carbohydrates from that rung. For each food group you add, you should eat from it no more than three times the first week and monitor your body for changes. You need to give it the entire week as a couple of days may not be enough to know how a food is affecting you. You can eat from daily same food group the second week, and continue to monitor your progress.

You should only skip a rung if you do not plan on eating from it. For example, someone may have dairy allergies, so they may skip the dairy rung #2.

If you do skip a rung, at Atkins Diet Bulletin Board we have found that it is best if you spend the time you normally would have spent for that rung before moving to the next one. This helps to give your body enough time to adjust before giving it the higher AGR foods. For example, if you normally spend three weeks on each rung, and you want to skip alcohol rung#5, then you should spend six weeks at berries rung #4 before proceeding to legumes rung #6. In the same example, if you normally spend two weeks on each rung, then you would only spend four weeks at the berries rung #4 before proceeding to the legumes rung #6.

Your ability to add all the food groups back depends upon your Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium, or ACE. For example, someone that does not exercise and has a low ACE would probably not be able to add legumes back during OWL, while someone who is young, works out regularly, and has a high ACE might have no problems climbing to the top.

Once you begin consuming alcohol on rung #5, be sure to count the carbohydrates and monitor your weight loss. Spirits have no carbohydrates, while white wine and red wine have 0.9 and 2.0 carbohydrates respectively. Alcohol will suspend weight loss as you do not burn fat while your body has alcohol to burn. If you find that you are stalled, discontinue your alcohol consumption.

When you get to the last three rungs of the ladder, you are eating foods with the highest AGR. Make sure you do not eat those foods alone. Eat them with foods high in fat and fiber to help minimize their impact on your blood sugar.

With fruits and vegetables, the more color they have, the more nutrition they have. If you have a choice between red grapes and white grapes, choose red. Also, be careful of dried fruit as it concentrates the natural sugar and could potentially make a small piece have as many carbohydrates as the entire fruit.









The OWL Carbohydrate Ladder

1. Vegetables
   More salad and other vegetables on the acceptable foods list
2. Dairy
   Fresh cheeses:
   Cottage cheese
   Farmer’s cheese
   Ricotta cheese
   Pot cheese
   
   Keep portions small for:
   Hard aged cheese
   Cream, heavy and light
   Half and half
   Sour cream
   Low-carb ice cream, yogurt, and milk
   
   
3. Seeds and Nuts
   Macadamias
   Almonds
   Peanuts/Natural Peanut Butter
   Coconut
   Sunflower seeds
   Sesame seeds
   Walnuts
   Pistachios
   
   
4. Berries
   Eat frequently from:
   Strawberries
   Blueberries
   Blackberries
   Raspberries
   
   Eat moderately from higher AGR melons:
   Watermelon
   Honeydew
   Cantaloupe
   
   
5. Wine and other spirits low in carbs
   Spirits
   White Wine
   Red Wine
   Low-carbohydrate Beer
   
   
6. Legumes
   Lentils
   Kidney Beans
   Pinto Beans
   Black Beans
   Hummus
   Chickpeas
   Tofu
   Soybeans
   Soy milk, unsweetened
   
   
7. Fruits other than Berries and Melons
   Plums
   Kiwis
   Peaches
   Apples
   Grapefruit
   Tangerines
   
   
8. Starchy Vegetables
   Keep all portions small
   Carrots
   Green Peas
   Acorn squash
   Butternut squash
   
   Eat rarely:
   Corn
   Potatoes
   Sweet potatoes
   
   
9. Whole Grains
   Keep all portions small and focus on whole, unprocessed grains:
   Old fashioned Oatmeal
   Oat Bran
   Wheat Bran
   Low carb (soy) bread and muffins
   All-bran
   Barley, cooked

OWL Fat/Protein/Carb percentages

During Induction, we kept our percentages around 65% fat:30% protein:5% carbs. During OWL, we begin to increase our carbs. By the time you reach Maintenance, your fat percentages are around 50%.

So how do we naturally lower our fats during OWL?

First off, protein remains the same, at 30%, throughout the diet. Therefore, we can alter our fat and carb amounts. But, Dr. Atkins says that fat remains the "mainstay" of our diet and as we increase our carbs, our fat percentages decrease naturally. Confused? You aren't alone.

Our fat percentages will decrease naturally provided that they remain the same or slightly lower than the Induction levels.

Here's an example meal of chicken breast, lettuce, mayonnaise.

Using your fitday.com account plug in 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 4 ounces chicken, breast, with or without bone, broiled,skin eaten and 1 cup of lettuce, shredded or chopped. The fat % is 69% and the carb is 1%.

Now add 4 net carbs of broccoli (2 cups broccoli NFS) to that. The fat % is 64% and the carb is 5%. The fat percentage decreased and the only thing you changed was the carb grams.

The problem with some OWLers is that they as they increase the carbs, they increase the fat. This is probably the result of the "make sure you eat fat with carbs" rule from Induction. So more fat the better, right? Wrong.

While they might be eating below their CCLL and will have the signs of ketosis, the number of calories will be increased too. Remember fat is a calorie dense food. 1 gram of fat has 9 calories as opposed to 1 gram of carbs, which has 4 calories. So the weight loss stumble might not be carb level related, it might be calorie-related.

Let's look at this with our chicken, lettuce, mayonnaise and broccoli meal.

2 tablespoons of mayo, 4 oz chicken breast, 1 cup of lettuce and 4 net carbs of broccoli have a 433 calories.

What happens if we increase the mayo to 4 tablespoons?
Our fat % is 75%, Our carbs are 4%. But the calories are 631! 2 additional tablespoons added 200 calories to the meal.

What happens if we decrease the mayo to 1 ½ tablespoons? The fat% is now 59% and carb% is 5%. The calories are 384. For this meal, you've 'saved' 49 calories by eating just ½ tablespoon less of the mayo. Depending on your CCLL and your OWL rung, those 49 calories can be spent on another 5 net carbs of OWL food.

So do I count calories too?
Dr. Atkins really depended on the appetite suppression of ketosis to train us to eat only enough food for our bodies to function. If we do that, then the weight loss will proceed (along with the other stuff we have to do like count the carbs, exercise, etc.) But for many of us, we still need to make a conscious effort to eat only enough. So, unless you have your eating under control, you might need to count calories during OWL daily. For the people under control, you might need to spot check yourself once or twice a week to make sure you aren't going overboard.

Okay so I'm looking at my calories, I'm looking at my carbs, and I'm too scared to eat anything.

During Induction, you ate off the list, followed the rules, and life was simple and pleasant. OWL is really the first phase of Atkins where you get practice eating in the real world. Real world eating requires that you balance your meals.

For example, you eat 5 net carbs of cottage cheese this morning, you might want to eat an ounce or two less of the aged cheeses for the rest of the day. Why? Because cheese is a calorie-dense food. If you eat your 5 nets of cottage cheese plus your 4 ounces of cheddar, you're eating about 500 calories worth of cheese alone! Again, you'll be in ketosis, but you might not lose weight because you are eating more calories than what your smaller OWL body can use.

Remember one of the Rules of Induction was to adjust the amount of food you ate as your appetite decreased. When you began your Atkins at 275 pounds, you might have been able to eat 2200 calories and lose weight, but your 180 pound OWL body might not need all those calories. So you will be decreasing your overall calorie intake as you get smaller.

Summary
1. Protein percentages remain the same as Induction level
2. Keep your fats the same or slightly lower than your Induction level.
3. Calories do matter. So begin adjusting your daily calorie intake to suit your energy needs, as you become a smaller person.
4. Balance your meals.

[caesarsally]

Wow! Thank you all so much for the valuable information. I will move up a rung and see what happens. I almost feel as if I need to start all over again to make sure I am following this WOE correctly. Maybe adding more veggies will make me feel better. As far as my fat intake goes,I have been consuming lots of cheese. Perhaps I have been eatting too many grams. Breakfast has been very difficult for me and I am tiring of eggs. I am more of a Greek yogurt & berry girl, but that will have to wait a while. I will keep reading and becoming educated. I am very determined and will do whatever is necessary to lose the necessary weight.

Thanks so much,
Caesarsally