Hi folks! I was wondering if anyone has been doing lo-carb with any success without doing the 2 weeks of induction or preparation into a lo-carb life style? This is where I am having the trouble. I can't get past the first two weeks without falling off the wagon as it were. If anyone is doing lo-carb succussfully either on their own or without the two start up, please let me know. I am not lo-carbing at present, but have spoken to my doctor who encourages the lo-carb, good carb lifestyle, but not necessarily the total NO carb. She like South Beach plan pretty well due to the low sat fat, but I have friends on Atkins that are doing well although they too fall off the wagon quite a bit. Any input here would be greatly appreciated.

Hugs ya'll,
Ellie

It would be a LOT easier in the long run if you did induction first and personally found what we all are so excited about. Many of us (overweight people) have little control with carbs and we need to go through withdrawal. Of course, you can do the program backwards - dropping your level of carbs til you reach your critical carb level for losing, but trust us it is much easier when you control the carbs instead of the carbs controling you.
I couldn't commit to 2 weeks, instead I committed to one day. After that day, I committed to 3 days and then the 2 weeks and then a lifetime.

Yes, a lot of people do low carb without doing the induction. A lot of people also do low carb plans that aren't Atkins. What some people who do Atkins and do, the induction find is that the 2 week period of severly restricted foods helps them get over cravings they might have for sweets or other carbs. Other people can jump right into low carbing with no cravings, a lot of this probably depends on how you were eating before you started the plan.

Here's a link to an outline of quite a few low- carb or controlled -carb plans

plan comparison

Good luck and welcome to the forum. Peg

Perhaps you should read Life Without Bread, by Dr. Lutz. He suggests you avoid the very low carb levels recommended by others, and stick with about 70-80 grams of carbs. In fact, he also suggests you lower gradually to that level based on your relative age and health. From his point of view, the very low carb levels put unncessary stress on the body, and aren't really necessary to achieve the low carb health benefits.

I've been low carbing for two years, I've lost over 100 pounds, and I never did Induction. I just gradually cut back on the carbs until I reached a level similar to Atkin's ongoing weight loss. Everyone is different. Some people need to go through Induction to clear their system out and jump start their weight loss; other people do fine without it.

Hi, E4ellie! How lo-carb carb can you go before the urge to cheat finally gets you?

I started the end of May on my own lo-carb plan and I didn't hit the ketosis level for almost three weeks. I gradually reduced my carbs over that period of time, and I haven't cheated at all.

It would be too bad if you didn't start your lo-carb WOL just because the induction level of carbs are too hard for you to follow. I hope you at least try to lower your carbs anyway you can for now, and when you've eaten healthy for awhile it won't be so hard for you.

Good Luck!

Atkins is not no-carb. In fact, there's no such thing unless you just drink water.

The only disadvantage I can see to not doing induction is that you wouldn't go through what might be two weeks of hardship and get that initial big whoosh of weight loss. But some folks don't have that whoosh anyway.

You might try to gradually cut down. Cut out all sugar first, then cut out flour and grains, then cut out starchy fruits and vegetables. But keep eating lots of non-starchy veggies and berries. Switch over to low carb condiments and dairy products. Eat more meat, eggs and be sure to use those things you might have given up before, like cheese and butter. Give up eating processed foods with transfats in them and limit low-carb substitutes for sweets.

Seems like a reasonable way to ease into it.

You don't need to do induction if you don't want to, but I would recommend that you look at why, exactly, you end up falling off the wagon. It might have nothing to do with the carb count. Do you have unsupportive family members pressuring you? Is there too much junk food in your house? Are you having a hard time planning ahead? If you can solve the problems that are in your environment and settle into LC foods that you're *crazy* about, you're home free.

Welcome and good luck!

I didn't do induction. I didn't have overeating problems, but I was hungry too often, too soon after eating, and I certainly was eating the wrong things.

I was a little spooked about making such a radical change in my eating, I was little nervous about "induction flu," and I frankly wasn't sure how much I could go without the bread and sugar.

So I decided to shoot for 40-60. This was a 300 gram reduction from the way I had been eating, so I figured there would be some effect.

I felt pretty draggy the first week, but the second week I started feeling great. I loved the food, and lost my taste for bread and sugar.

I've stayed at those levels ever since. So I don't see any reason why you can't "step down" if you felt that would work better for you. Then again, I didn't have health or emotional eating issues which would have complicated matters. And while some people do fine adding in grain, it seems to have a bad effect on me. I do better avoiding it almost all of the time.

Don't think of it as a diet. Think of it as changing the way you eat. That is the ONLY way it will work, short term or long term.

Yes Ellie you can skip induction if you like.
It's funny I tried for two weeks to do induction and would fall often. I decided instead of beating myself up every couple of days I would just reduce carbs the best I could.
I finished my first week reducing and lost 6 lbs this week.
I consider any reduction a win situation and I'm pleased with my results this week.

Thanks for the input folks. Ok, here goes. I have read all the books about low carbing and understand the reasoning behind the 2 wk induction. But if other have tried with success to slowly adopt the life style (notice I said lifestyle, not diet) then I can too. I really was starting to feel like a failure at losing weight because I can't go cold turkey. I can give up sugar, that has never been my problem. I drink unsweetened tea and child I am as southern as you can get when it comes to our down home cooking. Herein lies the problem. Ya'll know that the South is known for it's "breaded and fried" quisine! I love chicken and dumplings (flat not spoon dropped), potatoes, corn, fried green tomatoes and the like. I have done some self evaluation and taken note of my eating habits. While in some cases I am noted for being the healthy eater at work, it has been popcorn (lite), baked chips and salsa, tons of fresh fruits. We have the best peaches in the world! So you can see what I have been faced with.

I know that this is going to be a personal choice to live my life somewhat differently than what I have been taught my whole life, but the point being is that my life is worth the change. No one can do this for me. I have to do this myself. I may fall once in a while, but I like to say "get yourself up, brush yourself off and start all over again." Thanks for all the support, I think you can see that I am going to need it.

Hugs ya'll
Ellie

Try the Warrior Diet, use search for a description one my earlier posts. Would fit nicely for good eating at night.

I did induction and if I had to do it again, I would. I learned the most about counting carbs and good healthy foods at that time. It was wonderful, getting on the scale each morning and seeing the numbers going down daily. I am on Atkins and I eat all the allowable fats and my cholesterol has benefitted greatly from that.

However, I believe that you definitely can do Atkins without the first phase.

I might add that sometimes, if you think that you will fail something, you probably will. So succeeding at induction is mostly a mental than a physical problem.

Protein Power starts out at 30 grams of carbs for induction. Maybe that will be easier for you.