Hello,
in the Atkins new revolution book it states that you may stay on Induction for longer than 2 weeks. I believe it may even mention up to 6 months but not certain. While reading some other threads there was advice about not staying in phase 1 for longer than 2 weeks which is contrary to the books advice. For some of you experts out there, what do you make of this?

ps, I've been on induction for 5 weeks
thank you,
darren

Howdy, Darren. You see conflicting info because people have different thoughts on it. Ultimately, it's one of those "you have to decide for yourself issues."

Metabolism and reaction to dietary changes is highly individual - just like the number of carbs in your diet that leaves you feeling the best is individual. For some folks who are very sensitive to carbs, they may end up with close to induction levels indefinitely while others may find they do best at a significantly higher level of carbs.

The reason why you'll so often see many of us encouraging people to up their carb intake is because induction is the most "diet" phase of Atkins, and people tend to cling to it out of fear and/or a rush to take off weight. Focusing on speed is counter-productive in terms of integrating LC into your lifestyle, which is the only way you'll manage to keep off anything you've lost, and the fact that many if not the overwhelming majority of people who lose weight with LC will at some point have pauses, slowdowns or outright stalls in their weight loss efforts means we strongly encourage people to take a long term view. Otherwise, they're going to get frustrated and give up before they reach their goals when, in fact, LC is still working for them, but just not on their timetable.

Also, some people find that significant carb restriction over time leaves them more sensitive to carbs overall, in essence convincing their bodies to slow down and use those carbs more efficiently - i.e. hang on to every ounce. You see both people who can only lose near induction level carbs AND people who stop losing until they begin upping their carbs. It helps to remember that carbs are NOT like the whole calories-in/calories-out mantra we've been hearing for years. It's not a straight-up fewer carbs = more weight loss proposition.

OWL, IMO, is actually the most important and helpful phase of Atkins, where you find out exactly what carb level works for you and where you maintain vs. lose vs. gain weight. While it isn't the "sexiest" part of the plan, it's where you get info that lasts you a lifetime in terms of understanding what you need to do to stay at the weight you want. Someone can be quite successful on Atkins without ever doing induction, but long term success is much less likely if they never do OWL.

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Darren, The Atkins approach enables you to tailor the basic steps to your individual situation. For example, when I started, I had a lot (over 100 pounds) of weight to lose. I quickly found that the low carb eating approach actually worked for me. Because I had so much to lose, I stayed at induction level of carbs for 9 months before moving into OWL. When I moved into OWL, I only increased my carbs every 2-3 weeks. I did this because I found it was easier to plan meals when limiting my daily carbs to 20 than to try to plan meals to hit a specific daily carb target. Stretching each level of allowable carbs gave me time to get comfortable with the adjustments I was making with my meals. It is important that you move into OWL because that is where you will learn the long term eating habits that will enable you to make this a true lifestyle rather than a diet. There is a purpose for each stage ofthe Atkins approach. Weight loss is not a race. It is more important that you develop the long term eating habits that will enable you eat healthy and keep the weight off that you lost. To do this, you must allow enough time and weight to accomodate each stage of the Atkins approach. Some people find comfort in the Induction level and are afraid to move on. If they do this, they are not following the Atkins approach. As each person is different, you may tailor the approach to what works best for you. If you have a lot of weight to lose, you may certainly stay at Induction for longer than 2 weeks. If you are getting "bored" with your eating choices at Induction, and you don't want to try other induction friendly choices, you may want to move on to OWL to give you some additional variety in your meals to keep you on plan. Good luck.

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Henry

Henry is without a doubt the wisest of the OWLs. He's also a great cook, and makes the most of all the choices available to lifelong low-carbers.

I've found that moving into OWL isn't quite as straightforward as Dr. Atkins suggests. However, I'm sure that learning how to include green veggies and other tasty carbs into a regular menu plan helps with maintenance--the real secret of LC eating.

Best wishes.

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


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