I'm opting to stay on Induction because I love the results. Is there any benefits or disadvantges to doing this? Can it cause any health problems? Anybody have good or bad experience doing this? Atkins For Life briefly mentions this and wasn't too against it...
It'll be 5 weeks tomorrow for me. I feel great, my weight is down as well as my blood sugar. So at this point I don't feel motivated to alter it. I am drinking tons of water and taking a good bit of Vita-nutrients.
Would love to hear y'all's experiences.
Elaine

Thats the way I understand it, I am going to stay at the Induction level of carbs but add some nuts and seeds and some yoghurt as a treat to my diet as well, so kind of induction/kinda not

Began,

Red1cutie is correct. According to the Atkins book, you may stay on the Induction phase of the diet as long as you feel well and weight loss continues.

I did this program a year ago. For me weight loss stopped after the induction phase. This time I am staying on induction longer. This phase forces you to be disciplined.

Cakes

Hi Elaine,

I'm new here (my first post! Woohoo!), but not new to LowCarb/High Protein dieting.

In 2000, I went on Atkins Induction Diet for 3 weeks. I dropped from a pant size 52 to 46 in 3 weeks.
I have no idea what I weighed prior to going on Atkins at that time-but I am currently wearing a size 50 (and can get into a 48) but I weigh 320 Lbs....so, I think I must have been weighing around 360+ lbs. when I was in the 52's!
Then, like an idiot, I upped my carbs...and eventually abandoned the diet (can anyone say "Mad Cow Disease"?) My mom and dad were afraid I might get sick..admittedly, I was tired all of the time. As much as I love my mom, sometimes she is the biggest naysayer... I've been on Atkins for 2 weeks now, I've lost 10 pounds...and today she started in on the..."it might be dangerous" routine....and of course, she prefers to eat that high carb diet...and is on humilin(diabetes....both my parents have Adult Onset diabetes.....and I decided that I am NOT going to get it out of sheer laziness!)
I have not dropped my carbs low enough (I bought Ketostrips
today and checked...there were only trace amounts of Keytones there...so, starting tomorrow, I'm doing what I did last time I tried it - All Meat and eggs, with a little bit of salad everyday, and a little bit of cheese.

For example, for breakfast I could have a 2 egg omlette, with 1 slice of cheese, and 4 pieces of turkey bacon....that is a 3 gram carb meal...at worst. The cheese I am using says it has 0 grams of carbs, the turkey bacon - I don't do pork - has 0 carbs, and the eggs have 1 gram of carbs per egg...I could make a 3 egg omlette...and I may, I'm just working out my meal plan/routine tonight.

I like to basically eat the same thing every day...one of my friends is doing this with me, and she want's variety, but I need the "STABILITY" (or repetition) from eating a familiar routine.
It takes away any of the guesswork. Besides, there's only so many ways that you can cook meat. I'm not a big fowl eater...I don't really like baked chicken, but I have coated it in Parmasean cheese and fried it, and it was so much better than breaded chicken that it wasn't funny, and fried chicken is my favorite!


I'm going to start a webpage and put my measurements, weight, as well as my meal plan (with a known carb count per meal ) online ASAP.

For me, the Induction diet is the only way to go.
On top of that, I am descended from what is called "Upper Paeleolithic Survivors" (Neanderthals) so this typr of diet is what is best suited for me...now i just have to set up my Gravity Edge machine, oil the old treadmill and get my butt exercising so that I can REALLY burn off some carbs!



Tim

I have been on induction for about a month now and I want to continue with it. The only thing that I eat from time to time is peanut butter on celery.

You can remain on induction until it is time for you to begin to move into the pre-maintenance phase. If you have a great deal of weight to lose, it can be advantageous to remain on induction longer. I actually prefer the foods and food volumes of induction, with just the addition of a few nuts.

Acrosstyck, welcome to the support group. Hang in there this time. You have a lot to benefit from getting those pounds off, since you have a risk of diabetes on top of it all.

Remember, that you are not always dumping ketones and the strips don't always give you an accurate reading. Do what works best for you, but count your carbs carefully at first. Otherwise carb creep will get you for sure. Keep posting your results, and good luck!

I just started week 4 of induction on the 20th. I intend to stay on induction until I lose majority of my weight then move on to OWL and then to maintenance. I have 37 pounds to go until I hit my goal, so I still have a ways to go. So far I've lost 14 pounds in little less than a month and 11 of that was in the first 2 weeks. I'm eating more veggies now and I'm never hungry either, so I'm going to keep this up!

Good luck to all of you fellow inductors!

Hey everyone!

I decided that I'd stay on Induction for quite a while since I have A LOT to lose. Anyhoo, I've been on for a bit over 5 months now and the pounds are still coming off--- 48 since 9/16/02. Not too shabby. Granted, I do have some 'pauses' now and then and the weekly loss is in smaller incriments compared to my first 2 weeks, but I'll take anything I can get! It helps to keep the mindset that 2 lbs./wk. is 104 lbs./yr.

Happy LCing!
Nikki

Great response you guys!
I'm still looking for any negatives or things to beware of, as well as the positives, so don't be shy.

Tim: Please come back, would love to hear more from you. Stay on target too, don't listen to nay-sayers even if it's your Mom. If you know the book ANDR well, you know how good it is for you. Try to let her gently know that this is your choice, your body and you feel you're making the best decision you can to help yourself. If she accepts it, great, if not, ask her to refrain from giving her opinion on this one subject. After all, it's your money that buys the food, your body it goes into etc etc.
I've read too many good things about this now to give credence to people who aren't able to support my choice. Fortunately, I have a lot of info-ammo now. Ooh, I sound so militant!
Keep a journal on this site, SO MANY REASONS WHY. And visit mine if you can, I've had my brushes with high blood sugar, maybe your Mom should read it too.

Keep the notes coming, I'm learning more and more.

Elaine

Hi Red

I try to keep my daily meals varied. Yesterday, I ate 2 boiled eggs with 2 tbsp of mayo and 14 slices of nuked pepperoni for breakfast, 5oz. of sirloin tips with 1 cup of mushroom and 3/4 cups of onion sauteed for lunch, 6oz. of swordfish fried in 1 tbsp. olive oil, 1 cup of broccoli, diet rite with 1 tbsp of heavy cream for dinner. I also snacked on more nuked pepperoni while watching TV at night. I had 2.5 liters of water. I haven't started exercising yet. My boyfriend is going to get me a weight bench and free weights in March, so I'll start then.

I'm averaging about 1.5 to 2 pounds a week since my first 2 weeks and I'm pretty happy about that!

Tim Please start a journal. This is the best way for us to get in touch quickly and put in our two bits about our own experiences.
My mother in law has diabetes and just keep on eating sweet junk .She has a sore on her leg since last summer .It won’t heal .
You would think the light bulb would go on about the harm she is doing to herself with all the sweet she eats.

Pene

I stayed on induction for 5 months, although I did add foods like yogurt, nuts, berries etc. I just didn't go over 20 carbs a day. I was careful to eat lots of vegetables and fiber every day.

As I understand it, the concern about staying in induction too long is that one of the most common strategies to break a stall is to reduce carbs. But if you're already at induction levels then there's noplace to go. Other than that, I think there's no reason not to stay in induction as long as you want.

I've been on induction for 5+ weeks now and am down to a loss of about .5lb/wk, which is not fast (?) but okay by me - it's a steady downward trend, and that's the idea!

I am, however, getting a little bored with the food choices. The last few days I've been adding a new item or two... like a treat of raspberries with whipping cream (wow, it was heavenly!), or even just adding onions to my bacon mushroom cheeseburger (sans bun)... what a difference a few onions made!

I am still keeping my carb count to 20 or less but wonder if I should be increasing it... even just to 25. I don't know.. this is working for me right now. I would think that adding new foods = adding more carbs, that is why I'm wondering if I should up the daily total - I know that Atkins says to increase carbs by adding primarily vegetables.

I was getting the nightly leg cramps Atkins speaks of, so got some cal-mag yesterday. Not sure if I need to also get potassium.

Penny