Think I ' m going to move to the OWL phase
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bcopith
New Member
Joined: 07 Jan 2008
Posts: 25
Tue Feb 05, 2008 5: 58 pm    Post subject: Think I ' m going to move to the OWL phase
Hi all. This is my 5th week on induction and I think I going to move to OWL. I haven ' t lost that much weight but I don ' t have much to lose anyway. I did Atkins to originate my blood sugar... have hypoglycemia... and it that respect, it has been very successful. I have also noticed that I am WAY less bloated and gassy than I have ever been. I have a lot of food insensitivities and this has really helped with those. I plan to finish out the week doing induction and then start adding things like nuts and a small amount of fruit, maybe cottage cheese, back into my diet. I ' m going to do just one kind of food at a time so I will be able to tell who is the sinner if my tummy acts up.
The book says to do OWLs or Pre - Mainentance when you have only 10lbs or so left to lose. I started only have to lose a little so I think I probably need to be at least in OWLs right? I am 5 ' 7 " and started at 148. I ' d like to be 135. I haven ' t weighed myself in a week because it ' s TOM and I don ' t want to get discouraged. I was 142. 8 last week. I will likely not lose everything I want until I am medically more stable. I have adrenal insuffuciency and have to take steroids for that and I have hypthyroidism and take thryoid meds for that. I am still not optimized on those meds yet so I expect I won ' t get to my goal until then, but I can wait. I have been feeling a little better lately so I am promising to start exercising again. I used to go to teh gym days a week but now a walk does me in. I ' m going to start adding in little walks and maybe Pilates. Those should be easy enough on me.
I would also like to give myself a little driven on the back. NOT ONCE IN A WHOLE 5 WEEKS did I cheat. NOT ONCE. I didn ' t have a single thing I was not supposed to have on induction. I even made brownies for a friend and didn ' t lick the bowl or spoon which is one of my favorite things to do. I ' m very proud of myself. My husband cheats all the time and still loses and I never do and lose hardly anything, but that ' s how it goes. I lost all my weight in the first couple weeks and nothing since, but I ' m hoping I can lose a bit when I move into OWL. I don ' t think I ' m doing anything wrong now and I don ' t want to stay in induction anymore if I would get the same results with OWL. If I ' m not losing now but can eat a little fruit here and there and have the same results, at least my menu will be more varied. Maybe I ' ll start to lose. Who knows.
Anyway, what do you think? Is it a good idea to move into OWL for me since I have so little to lose or a bad idea since I didn ' t lose a lot in induction?
Thanks.
Ginny_O
Established Member
Joined: 26 Dec 2007
Posts: 141
Location: Maryland
Tue Feb 05, 2008 8: 08 pm    Post subject:
You definitely can go into OWL now. Be careful adding in carbs - not too much - but after five weeks, adding in more variety is a good idea. Since you know you have food sensitivities, your idea ( actually Dr. Atkins [ / icon_wink. gif] of doing it one food at a time is also a good one.
Congratulations on not cheating for so long. I wish I could stay on induction that long, but I start adding in more vegetables after a week or so. I can only stand so much lettuce. I share the thyroid problem. I still don ' t know how much of my weight problem is thryroid and how much is age related slowdown. It was under control, but I haven ' t seen a doctor for a couple of years, so I ' m not sure that it still is. Medications did help though, since before then I couldn ' t lose weight no matter what I did.
InthePresent
Established Member
Joined: 15 Jan 2008
Posts: 143
Wed Feb 06, 2008 12: 04 am    Post subject: Whoah!
Hi Bcopith;
You ' ve done marvelously well... 5 weeks and no cheats. Give yourself a HUGE pat on the back. You ' ve thought things out well. OWL with a bit of nuts and fruit for starters is perfect. I ' m like you, lost all my weight in first 2 weeks and now I ' m on my fourth week and no more weight loss. I ' ll assess how I feel at end of this week. I may be joining you in OWL.
I have hypoglycemia as well therefore the Atkins eating plan works real well for me too. It ' s an ongoing commitment whether we ' re in Induction or OWL.
Good luck!!
pheonixheart
Senior Member
Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 665
Location: Florida
Wed Feb 06, 2008 4: 05 am    Post subject:
I think it ' s a wonderful idea to move on to the next phase!! You ' ll be doing yourself a favor in the long run because OWL is when you start incorporating other foods back into your diet, and REALLY start re - learning healthy eating habits from a much more varied world of food!! I think you ' re completely right in thinking that you ' ll get pretty much the same results on OWL.
I also think it ' s absolutely stunning and fantastic you didn ' t cheat for 5 whole weeks that ' s so AMAZING!!! I agree with InThePresent - you really should give yourself a HUGE PAT ON THE BACK!!! Also, for some people, I have noticed that moving on to OWL has actually spurred the weight loss on again. [ / icon_biggrin. gif]
I hope you are able to find a balance for your meds soon and that hopefully that type of thing will no longer be such a large factor in stalling any potential to lose weight... Best of luck to you!!
Brightest Blessings,
Lisa