Fri, Jan-02-04, 20:24
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Lowcarb since 7/2002
Posts: 5,991
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Plan: Atkins
Stats: 360/232/180
BF:BMI 53.2/34.3/?
Progress: 71%
Location: U.S.: Mid-Atlantic
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I moved rapidly to ongoing weight loss because I knew I needed the food variety or I would get bored. In particular, I really like fruit, and being able to eat one or two serings of berries a day is a big help to me. Also, because of my job, I travel a fair amount and eat a lot of meals in restaurants and at catered meetings, and that is just too hard with the limits of induction. It's much easier on OWL. However, I have lost much slower than you have -- it took me 17 months to lose 100 pounds. Some of that may just be differences in our metabolisms, etc. -- I think I am older than you are (I'm 46) -- but undoubtedly some of that is because I have followed OWL instead of induction.
You clearly don't need to switch to OWL to keep yourself on Atkins, so for you the issue becomes when you need to do so. I have never been in your situation, but based on what I have learned about myself, I think you should probably switch by the time you have 20 or 25 pounds left to lose. I have found that it takes a fair amount of experimentation to figure out what I can eat and what I cannot eat. Carb counts really don't tell me everything I need to know about the way my body reacts to a particular food. If that turns out to be the case for you as well, you probably want to allow yourself some time to experiment with a variety of new foods in small quantities before you get to maintenance and need to increase the quantities in order to keep your weight from going too low.
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