The OWL phase doesn't seem worth it..it's only 5g extra/week, that's less than 1g/day! What good is the OWL phase?????? Why not stay on induction ?

Actually it's 5 grams per DAY, Bluu. You're supposed to be on 20 gms per day while on induction. Then raise it to 25 gms per day, and stay at that for a few weeks to be sure you're still losing weight at that level. Then raise it to 30 gms per day, stay at that for a few weeks, etc. Hope this helps make it clearer!

Wendy

hmmm i could've sworn Dr Atkins said 5g/week LOL.. i was beginning to think i'd like to see his daily menu!
Thanks for clearing it up.. i should probably read his book again (only read it once)

The 5 grams increase is per week, for your dail carbs budget.

Week 1: 25g/day
Week 2: 30g/day

and so on, until you find your correct budget of carbs that causes no weight gain or loss. Then for OWL, you just make sure you stay below it.

Wa'il

So the OWL is simply to find that critical threshold for maintenance? i do believe this is the hardest thing to find out!
when are u supposed to start OWL? when you're 10lb from ur goal, 2 weeks after induction?

After induction. I find that I can eat quite well on 30 grams a day. It's amazing!

Karen

This is what Atkins says: start OWL immediately after your two-week induction. Increase carbs by 5-gram increments daily, maintaining each increase for a couple of weeks, until you reach the point where your test strips don't turn any more and/or you're no longer losing. Then back down from that level of carbs to one that's 5 grams per day less.

Having said that, a lot of folks, especially those who are slow losers, like me, keep pretty well to induction levels. I've personally modified my OWL by subtracting fibre grams from daily carb counts, and keeping the resulting "effective carbs" to 20-25 per day, somewhat higher than Induction levels, in which fibre grams are included in with your carb count. I also don't agonize if my carbs go up to 30/day, which they do on occasion (once every couple of weeks, max), if I'm eating out and have more veggies and/or low-carb fruit than usual.

You could keep on strict induction indefinitely, and some people do. I think the main danger in doing so would be getting bored with the food, and possibly not getting enough fibre.

Rachel

i too am a slow loser, and i just like the idea of being consistent, i don't like changing alot..now that i know what 20g of carbs is, (i am not including fiber..so my carbs may well be more) i like to stick to it.. i worry if i increase, i might increase too much!.. i'm the kind of person who can't have just 1 potato chip.. if i eat a potato chip, i have to eat the whole bag , so i just NOT eat tempting foods.. Im just using this as an example of the kind of person i am in terms of eating habits..lol
all in all, i'm guessing i'm about 30g carbs max which will just be extra veggies.. i love veggies and hate to limit them.

Hello, here you've got it wrong . It's a daily 5grams for one week at a time. so 25 grams daily in weeks 3 and 30 a day in week 4 etc. i'm just on week 4 from today and i lost 1 pound on week 3 so i'm almost there. i've lost 9 pounds so far.