Hi! Has anyone just finished the induction phase and just starting the OWL phase?

I started OWL a few days ago and actually gained a *little* weight, but luckily it is coming back off again.....slowly......

Lets get together to hear about what effect changing to OWL has on other people as well, and maybe we could help each other out with any problems. Hopefully we can make a good transition into OWL and keep on losing!!!

I got to about 60 carbs and was losing 2#'s per month, and decided to go back into induction this week. Boy was that hard...took 5 days before I could get results...5.5 #'s I know it will slow down again, but that 5#'s would fluctuate during the course of the day. I would get up at 7am say 162, by8 I would be 165, by 12 I would be 167....It was awful.
So I decided to get a little closer to my goal and watch it when I return to owl - it is only a 5 carb addition per day per week. I am older (47) and I think I need to slow that increment down even more, maybe 5 carbs every 2 weeks, because of metabolism and menopause.
Anyway, if your still chatting in Jan...I'd love to join your thread.
later GATOR
keep up the good work

yea..my weight loss slowed down a lot too at only 25g, but luckily i don't fluctuate much. but i've just started OWL, so i'll try to wait for about 2 weeks to see how it goes - if its too slow, i might go back to induction for a while

I've been doing the induction now for about 2 months, and trying to maintain 20-25 carbs a day. I've included 1 hr of walking with free weights every day in my routine. I plan to stay at this speed/carb level until NY day. Then I plan to savor the restaurants of NYC, but not over indulge. Then I'm going to also slowly add carbs, slowly, as to not disturb the weight loss. My goal has been to reach a 40 lb lost by 3/304. But I don't want to freak out the metabolism with rapid carb rises.
I read where people have stayed in induction longer than 5 mo.
So I guess, whatever your body can do, and it's not being depleted of anything required, go for it.
I have another 35 lbs to lose.

I have recently transitioned into OWL and have found that increasing my water intake helps the weight keep coming off. I gained a few pounds at first but it is coming back off since I have upped my water.

wow, thats great beachjen!! maybe i should drink more water too.

i gained one pound when i started OWL, but have now dropped 2 pounds.......but my weight is coming off much much slower than during induction, and i only increased carb intake by 5g

but i really dont want to stay on induction too long because i'm going on holiday soon, and may have to eat about 30-40g per day, so might as well get used to it now :P

Has anyone tried going into induction - Owl - induction - owl (and then stay at owl)

Would that speed up your weight loss for the OWL phase?

Yeah this water thing is really working for me. I was at 143 then after going into OWL (only upped my carbs by about 5) I went up to 146.5 within a few days. So I increased my water, drinking a lot of it and cutting out my usual kool-aid with splenda and wala - today I weighed in at 142.5. I've noticed that since I started Atkins I always gain a few pounds for a few days or a week and then a lose it all back with an additional pound. Hey, as long as it's going down in the long run I ain't complainin'!

wow, thats great beachjen! i tried drinking more water too, but i'm still losing REALLY slowly...

Yeah it's taking me a while too. In the last month I have lost 2 pounds and the month before I only lost 1. I 'm in it for the long haul though so I have to be patient.

beachjen, I'm glad you brought that up... I think i'm noticing that i gain some weight just prior to dropping some lbs. I think that's what disillusioned me when i ate that pumpkin pie.. I had gotten on the scale at the grocery store and it said i had gained 6 lbs. i couldn't understand it, and i think that triggered the need for sugar. (emotional temper tantrum?)

You gals seem to be moving in the same direction as I was on owl, I got so disappointed I went back to induction after 3 months.
May I join this thread ? I need some encouragement during the plateau's and slow seasons.
I'm a full believer lc is the way to go with my non-existent metabolism, and I cannot invest 2 hrs. every day at the gym. I want to get to 3, but I'm having trouble with continued loss at that level.
I drink so much water - the ketone sticks don't work LOL.

Sure you can join the thread ricky! Anyone is welcome!!

I decided to go back on induction for a few days, and then up my carbs even more slowly (eg. <20, =20, =22, =25, etc), because i slowed down so much when i went straight to 25 :P

i also read elsewhere, that if you are eating too few calories, it could also stall weight loss, because your body thinks there is a famine and will use energy more conservatively.....so i've upped my calories too!

the optimal amount of calories should be about 10x your weight, but i'm not sure whether this should be 10xpresentweight, or 10xgoalweight
??

Induction seems to agree with me. I've been doing this way of eating steadily now since 9/03. I like my wine at night, so I have to incorporate my wine carbs into my daily menu so that I stay in my ketosis, lose weight, and lose my inches. I try to stay at 20-25 carbs a day, I walk about 5-6 days a week (60 min per walk) with weights, affording me about 500 calories depleted a day with exercise. The inches are falling off me, but the weight is creeping off, which is okay... the inches mean more than the weight right now at this point. I'll stay on induction til about NY day, then I expect to start slowly adding more carbs til i hit my goal in March. But, I fear with induction all this time, maintenance might be difficult.

Well ladies, I'm here. Hope I don't bore ya'll. I needed a boost - so I went back to my old journal to see how far I've come ...almost 42#'s and 32 inches. That's almost a yard!!!!! Wow, I don't want to stall. This week before thanksgiving I went back on induction and reduced my calories to diet level (12-1300) By the 5th day, weakness set in and I couldn't keep up in aerobics or have the stamina for weights. I logged this same weakness in my old journal - same day. Must be the detox process.
But a peculiar thing happened on induction this time. I have been taking metamuil (sp) every other night, but there is not much of an effect. (I have trouble with cheese binding me up) I'm thinking that I am burning enough calories that I do not have the waste product to eliminate in the morning. I mention this because of the comment about famine mode - the body goes into to protect it's plateau. I know I plateau at about 160 - I'm trying to break it by going back on induction last week and adding the weight trainning 2 days per week. I may be putting on muscle, and that is why the scale won't budge- or like you said - famine mode. What do you think. PS I drink so much water - the ketone sticks don't show anything.