I find that adding a "higher carb" meal a couple times a week works for me as long as I keep up the fat and protein. As a matter of fact, for me it's been easier to eat more calories now that I'm in OWL. And as strange as it seemed, adding some more carbs to my WOE, I actually lost 2 additional pounds! So, definitely keep the fat and protein up but be careful what types of carbs you add to your WOE. When I "mess up" and add "bad" carbs like noodles or bread crumbs, I get cravings and whatnot. So I try to make sure that I recognize why I have cravings and what triggers them so I can make mental notes on why I'm cutting them out of my WOE. I've had ice cream recently and that definitely triggered cravings for more. Before I knew it, I was having it like every other night! So be careful! Definitely, use FitDay.com to track what you eat and be honest with serving sizes. I try to make sure that if I chose to have higher amounts of carbs one day, that the next day is lower. Atkins suggests trying to have "high carb treats or meals" a couple times a week if you can during OWL. For some people, it's ok, but for others, they have to stick around 20 grams/day.

It's really how your body can handle the additional carbs. I found it kind of challenging to switch out of Induction and into OWL because for me, I was plenty full on my 20 grams/day. Trying to add 5 per week was tricky. But now, with my "high carb" snack (nuts, berries, small amount of oatmeal) I've had an easier time getting my carbs up. But I've also been able to hover around 60-70 grams and still be ok. But I've found that I'm really lucky.

That's what's fun about OWL: learning your number. I think that people's number's can change too. So sometimes it helps to test and retest to play around with it.

Annie G.