Hi Everyone!

NancyLC - Yep, that's what I like about it. The idea of a "refeed" the way I've heard it defined on other threads sounds gross! I don't want to eat carbage in order to lose.

James Blond - I think the problem you are having is that you need something like 35? posts before you can even have a signature. But, when you have that many, click on "User CP" at the top left of your screen, then select the first option under "settings" which is "Edit Signature."

Woo - I was hoping you would respond to this. I always enjoy your intelligent and insightful posts. There's no doubt this is working for me, why I'm not so sure. But, since I've found references in several books and on several websites about recharging the metabolism, I'm going with that. I remember on other diets in the past when I cheated a lot, I lost weight really well whenever I stayed on plan. I would cheat, gain a few pounds, then go back on plan hard and lose again. This time on Atkins, since the end of January, I've been so strict, virtually never "cheating." Well, weight loss stalled to a crawl. I didn't want to "cheat" or "refeed", so I decided to try this which is what I read about in Lean for Life. They diet hard for 6 weeks, then take a two week metabolic adjustment. I figured, why not up and down more frequently, like bodybuilders do, but with very low and moderate carbs. It worked like a charm.

Is it the carbs or the cals? Good question. I think that it is the calories, BUT because virtually everyone on this site is insulin resistant, I think we would get into trouble pushing the carbs too high. I have felt great with my current back and forth of under 20/1200 vs. 60 or so/17-1800. I think that sometimes my carbs/cals on carb up perhaps go even higher, but not much over 80 carbs/2000 cals. I think what is really important is to be very strict on the carb down portion. I think there is room for more flexibility in the carb up, as long as the carbs/cals actually do go up! At least, that seems to be my experience. For others: YMMV! Also - I stay completely away from grains, because they seem to be a trigger food for me. For some reason simple sugar/fructose doesn't seem to be as much of a problem, evidenced by the large amount of fruit I eat on carb up.

Wench: Congratulations on the 2 pounds!! Now, is that two virgin pounds? Or pounds that you had gained during carb up? As you can see from my signature line, I don't give a net loss until I have completed both the up and down portion. So far I've lost about 3 net pounds on each cycle except for cycle 5. Not sure what happened there, but I did net 1, so I'm not complaining. It could be a fluke, or could be that I'm finally slowing down as I get closer to goal. Since you don't have a lot to lose, I would not expect large net losses for you either from each cycle.

Note everyone - I THINK that there is some flexibility when on Carb Up, but don't go crazy and gain a lot of weight or you'll get frustrated and quit. On Carb Down I think it's important to stay very strict, Induction Atkins rules. If you are heavier, you probably want to have more calories, but keep the carbs low. That's what I THINK. I'd be happy for other opinions about that.

If anyone else has any results yet, please post here so we can all learn.

Anita