Tomorrow is our 2 week mark and we were wondering about staying on induction. What would be some reasons for doing that? How do you make the decision to start OWL?

DANDR says it all. (Read the book, if you haven't!!!)

OWL, you add more carbs, slowing your weight loss, but increasing your variety.

Induction without The Rules of Induction is OWL. Plain and simple.

Personally, I find induction suits me fine. (although a little blackberry now and again would be nice.)

If you are finding the rules stifling, experiment with what works for you.

If not, don't worry about it.

Hi Holly. Re "how long for Induction". I've been on Induction now for 8 weeks, but have only added a few extras. ie, if I feel like a low carb muffin, some strawberries, extra veges etc. This suits me fine as I find I'm still very happy with the diet and not feeling deprived at all.
Cheers...Pam

I have been on induction for 1 year and 1/2. I have had the occasional nuts and little fruit. Other than that I stick with it. It works for me very well.

I came off induction as soon as i could because i really really love berries and nuts and it just gave me that extra bit of variety to play with - but if you are happy with the induction diet - go for it!!

The best reasons to come off of induction are to

1. add variety to your diet,
2. add extra nutrition, and
3. begin OWL.

Adding variety will help you stick to the diet long-term - no boredom from eating the same induction foods over and over again.

Adding extra nutrition is, of course, always a good idea.

The best reason to stay in induction is that you haven't reached ketosis for some reason. Likewise, the best reason to go back to induction is after a cheat knocks you OUT of ketosis.

Does extended induction (while in ketosis) speed-up weight loss? Some say yes, but I have my doubts. If you are in it for lifetime weight-loss, then I think your best odds are to start OWL.

People who hit their target weight in Induction are most likely to return to their old eating habits - and we know where THAT goes.

Do you think I can stay on induction and throw in some berries? I really miss strawberries!!! Nuts would be nice too.

Do you normally get out of ketosis during OWL?

My dh has just gotten to ketosis--on about day 10. Should he stay on induction? He's lost about 15 lbs. So since he hasn't been in ketosis, does that mean he just lost water?

We have been really keeping the carbs low---15 or so.

And at how many carbs do you stop ketosis at? I remember reading something about that--but I don't remember the #.

Holly

1. Berries and nuts are not allowed during induction. (They are in OWL). In fact, nuts and berries are the first new foods allowed back in your diet to change from Induction to OWL.

2. Ketosis continues into OWL (though the extra ketones in urine and sweat may decline - that does NOT mean ketosis - fat burning, in other words - has stopped.)

3. The rapid loss of induction is both water and fat. The weight loss in OWL is fat. One actually loses more fat in OWL, because it lasts longer and most of the water weight is gone.

4. The carb limit for ketosis varies by individual and activity level. For some it is 30, others 50, others 100 grams or more - that is why some people can eat freely, and others must control their diets.

Hi HollyM_WA,
I think the biggest reason for staying on Induction is the motivation that comes with the steady weight lose. People (like me) who have a lot to lose need to see results to stay motivated.
It really boils down to whether you are ready to see a big drop in the rate that you lose weight. See my note to Birddog below.
Simon.




Hi Birddog,
Sorry to jump in here but I'm interested to know if you had any stalls during your 1 year and 1/2 of Induction? If so, how long did it/they last and what did you do to get things going again?
I was on Induction for about 5 months and lost 50+ pounds (steadily without any stalls) but then moved on to OWL (25g then 30g) and slowed right down. I wasn't happy with the slow down as I still have another 50 pounds to go, so I am still on OWL but try to stay at 20g of carbs per day. I sometimes eat nuts and strawberries but otherwise stick to Induction type foods. Since doing this I seem to have stalled and haven't lost in 3 weeks. I cut out the nuts for a week but it didn't make any difference. Then I cut out the strawberries for a week and it didn't make any difference.
Thanks.
Simon.

I have a lot to lose and I have chosen to make my diet more varied than induction allows. I have been low carbing for 10 months and I don't think I could possibly have continued to do this for so long with only the limited variety of food permitted in induction. I keep my carbs reasonably low -- usually around 30 grams a day -- but I eat some berries, cottage cheese, and nuts, all foods that are not permitted on induction. I also eat a lot more vegetables than the three cups generally permitted on induction.

I honestly don't think I would lose weight much faster if I stuck with the food choices permited on induction. I have occasionally experimented with dropping nuts and the other extras out of my daily menus and I have not noticed much change in my rate of weight loss. However, even if adding these foods is slowing me down, I would still choose to do it because I know that I need to make this a way of eating that I can stick to for my lifetime.

This is definitely one of those "your mileage may vary" issues. Adding some more variety to your daily menus may slow down your weight loss or it may not. Adding some more variety may make it easier for you to stick to low carb eating over the long term or it may not. Only you can make those judgments.

Simon,
In reference to you questions, I did have a stall after 8 months. In the 8 months I had lost 65 lbs. I was stalled for about 6 weeks. At that point I quit eating nuts and drinking coffee. I stopped all snacking. Don't get me wrong, I ate three solid meals everyday. But I stuck with inducton and I didn't take in more then 9 to 13 carbs a day. After two weeks I had lost 5 pounds.

I saw Dr. Atkins on a talk show and he said that long term induction would not cause any problems. It may be very true that some people that eat induction do have tendenacy to binge, but I worked so hard to lose 70 lbs that I didn't want to sabotage all that with more carbs. I enjoy induction.