ok, dh and i are through "induction". actually, feel really good. i am down about 6-7 lbs. T.O.M is here so not quiet sure on the 'accuracy of that though. we have been loving this way of eating. i went out with friends to a pasta place, thought surely they would have a salad on the menu..nope, so i had fettucini alfredo with chicken, mushrooms and brocolli, minus the pasta and NO BREAD. every restaurant we have been to has been very accomodating in letting us exchange a starch or high carb side dish with extra veggies or salad.

for the most part we kept our carbs to 20grams, but we weren't fanatical..still we lost weight. i knew if we did this way of eating it would have to be something we could live with...we eat jello with whipped cream, have our caffinated coffee once a day, and today (due to TOM) i was craving carbs like crazy so i made the blueberry muffins atkins puts out. so yummy hit the spot and only 3 carbs.

so now we are past induction and on to on going weight loss stage. dh is happy where he is..i need to drop around 15-20 more lbs we are happy with how we were eating the last two weeks...so what do we do differently? i have read the book about adding only 5 more grams of carbs a week and using the "ladder". is this how most of you long time atkins woe did this? i am dying to have some berries and here in wa they are starting to be sold in the stores and look SO YUMMY>

for me, personally i think if i continue to curb my carbs and absolutely cut out white flour, rice sugar i will continue to lose weight. i guess i just need guidance for this stage....induction is so "spelled out" i need some "guidelines" that someone else used. i know my loss may be slow, but i want it off, FOR GOOD!

so what did you guys do after "induction". we aren't "bored really with the food restrictions, just today i needed the muffins.

thanks
jabs72

That is exactly how us long timers do it. Add 5 daily carbs back in week intervals to find the magic number where we stop losing, then back down to continue losing.


The added carbs back into your diet is a real treat I have berries in the mornings or for dessert at dinner time. Surprising how a few carbs can really open up the daily menu from boring to scrumpious.

congratulations! you've done great so far. Take the time to move into OWL, pre-maintenance (for your hubby that can start now, right?) and maintenance slowly, so as to not lose any ground. Slower loss is the norm now--expect 1/2-1 pounds/week on average. Still, I'd be careful with what and how much I'd add in. Berries every other day are great, even with whipped cream. Try to avoid eating anything on a daily basis, especially if it seems a 'treat' to you. Most of us do add back 5 g at a time, and some people stay on 20 indefinitely.

I agree with you that most people can maintain just cutting out flours, sugars, potatoes, and most grains. Other grains...well...successful people vary there. Some have sprouted grain bread with no problems, others in maintenance realize they're gluten intolerant (but can eat millet or quinoa or brown rice), and still others have to stay away from grains 100% (Realize that most breads that claim to be "whole wheat" are nothing of the sort, btw!) Some people can add back legumes; some cannot.

In general, whatever carbs you add back, eat with your meal so that there's plenty of fat and protein there to cushion the insulin response. Fruits, too, can cause some people some problems--bananas are especially problematic, as are dried fruits, even in maintenance--and too carby for OWL. Again, don't have fruits alone, but at the end of a LC meal, and you'll be best positioned to keep off the weight you've lost.

Best of luck to you, and congratulations again on a successful induction!

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.