What is the amount of time of which induction is not recommended? Is a month too long, or 2?

Staying on induction serves no useful purpose, unless you are so insulin resistant that any carbs over 20 stops your loss. You need to move forward, add carbs slowly, because you are wanting to make this a way of eating, not something you are going to stop when you reach your goal weight. (Otherwise you'll gain it all back!)

Now is the time to learn good eating habits, which means learning which veggies you can add to make your daily diet appealing, healthy, and will help you manage your weight.

Induction is just a tool to get your started with your fat-burning process. On-going weight loss is how you learn to make this your own way of eating.

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Nita

Your profile does not give enough information for me to make an informed answer. If you are following the Atkins approach, the answer to your question depends on a number of variables like how much weight do you have to lose. I stayed at induction level for 9 months before moving on to OWL. In DANDR, Dr. Atkins stated that you can stay on induction for longer than 2 weeks and when you move into OWL, you can increase your carbs by 5 grams every 2-3 weeks, if you still have a lot to lose after induction. As Nita said, OWL is how you learn to make this a WOE. If you are planning on following the Atkins approach, I encourage you to read DANDR, and regardless of how long you plan on staying in Induction, make sure you leave yourself enough time to go through each of the 4 stages of the plan.

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Henry

Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I didnt add enough to my question. I just was curious and looking for a general answer. But if Henry has been on induction for 9 months then I guess the health risks are little to none. I was just curious as to whether it would be harmful to stay at the induction stage for a long period of time. I've read Dr. Atkins' book and I've followed the plan a couple of years ago, but I have been reading that it will take longer for me to attain the results i did the first time, so i was thinking of extending induction for a week or two longer. Thanks for your help!

In my view, how long one stays on induction is not as important as how long one spends on the next three phases. There should be a LONG time spent in OWL and pre-maintenance. This is where we learn to eat well, but differently than in the past. ... and of course, maintenance is forever.

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I've seen lots of discussion on this. I consider ALL phases of Atkins to be much more healthy than how most of us were eating before, for sure! If you don't have medical concerns to preclude it, an induction longer than the standard 2 weeks should not be an issue. Regardless of the length, however, I do encourage you to take a good multivitamin. It's just a big overall help.

Personally, though, I often encourage people to move on to owl without dragging induction out for an extended period. While losses can be faster in induction, they aren't always. (When and how one loses is a very individual thing, and something you will learn over time.) Having a little more variety can be a big help in keeping your menu interesting. People sometimes fear that a move into OWL will kick them out of losing mode, and that's just not necessarily true. The real magic of Atkins happens in OWL, as Maggie mentioned, where you learn to integrate this way of eating into your lifestyle, so that you can maintain your losses for good.

If you don't have the book yet, I would echo Henry's suggestion. It is your roadmap and it often will make the difference between success and disappointment. Good luck to you!

Peace out.

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