I'm going to spend the rest of this week in Induction. This weekend, I want to move into OWL. Before I do, I have a question for all of you in OWL already:

What one piece of wisdom do you wish you had when YOU started OWL? In other words, what's your best advice?

Thanks for your input!

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Michelle
209 / 187 / 150




DH's R&R Goal:
209 / 187 / 165
(2 months to go!)

Add additional veggies into your diet before other items on the carb ladder! I've seen it happen to many people, myself included, who started adding in items not in order that Dr. Atkins recommends and they end up with craving problems

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Libby

2004 174/142/138

Begin Again 2007

164/159/142

Advice I SWEAR BY (and which has worked for me in the past): DON'T give in to the temptation to use your increased carb allowance to eat "borderline foods." Basically, I'm just restating Libaki's awesome advice above in a different way...
SOOO many people think once they move into OWL, it's time to start eating bowls full of sugar-free jello with whipped cream and sugar-free ice cream and LC cookies... etc, etc...
While those things can be wonderful TOOLS for OCCASIONAL use (especially in an emergency), DON'T make the common mistake of making them a staple in your menu! Use your increased carb allowance for FRUIT (berries) and MORE VEGGIES, first and foremost.
IF I had followed this advice the FIRST TIME around, maybe I wouldn't still be stuck 50+ pounds from my goal and having to start all over!
*sigh*
I guess some of us INSIST on learning things the hard way...

Congratulations & Good luck!

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Summer

Keep track of what you eat, prepare, prepare, prepare....
I find that if I don't prepare, I tend to eat more than I should, or something I shouldn't... That being said weither you are on induction or owl, keep track of your food choices, and prepare as much ahead as you can... I have been cooking on the weekends so we (dh and I) don't have to mess with food during the week...I also pack lunch and breakfast every day (tho sometimes I make a mess of scrambled eggs and sausage, or a bunch of egg salad and take it on monday and not have to carry... )
Making sure you have the tools that help you stay on track is the best advise I can give you.
c

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http://www.youravon.com/cnorulak
carolyn in texas
started 8/11/03 327/268/177
5/20/08/ - 348
onward thru the fog

OWL is tough, it is where you learn the lessons that will enable you to truly make this a WOE for life. I found it much harder to try to hit a specific number each day, than just limit the total carbs to 20 or less. To adjust to OWL, I first added my 5 grams of carbs to my breakfast meal and kept the rest of my meals the same as for induction. In addition, I only increased by 5 grams about 2-3 weeks after the last increase, to give me time to adjust my eating patterns to each increase, before going on to the next increase. In OWL, you will learn what foods cause you to stall, so listen to your body. For me, I have found that an occasional handful of peanuts is ok, but if I have too many or too often, I can count on a stall/increase. However, it took me a couple of times to figure that one out. As I said before, OWL is all about learning, but you must learn to listen to your body. Good luck, it is well worth the trip.

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Henry

adding one food at a time is especially helpful, since you can quickly surmise if it causes problems.

and while i can't say i perfectly followed the advice given by lib and summer, it would have been very helpful to do it that way! the first thing you're tempted to do is run off and try some of those borderline foods and special "treats" and such, or at least that was me. and i found out quickly: not only can that stop you from losing, if i overdid that stuff, it made me gain. even some things that have low net carbs can create problems in certain individuals. it's very much an experimentation phase.

the best part of owl, though, is knowing you're learning what it takes to keep that weight off! having a few more choices and working on a less restrictive phase of the plan is very helpful for further integrating lc into your everyday life. good luck!

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All fantastic advice - I would only add that if you are not already tracking your food intakes with some software or another - that you do so... fitday is a favorite of mine - but any tracking mechanism so you can be careful that the "slight" increase in carbs really is "slight"!

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Hugs, Rachel







(the horn is in honor of DH!)
Quien canta, sus males espanta... ("She who sings fightens away her ills") Miguel de Cervantes

Rosie, I cannot give you any more advice than what has already been said. I did as Henry did..... I only added one thing (berries) to my breakfast cereal (Maggie's of course) in the mornings and keep my lunch and dinner the same as induction for a couple of weeks. After that, it was more veggies of the higher carb nature, but still only one selection for a couple of weeks to see how my body would handle it. You will learn much about your body in the OWL phase. As Henry said..... it is well worth the journey and what keeps us eating right and not getting bored with our selections each day. Good luck to you on the new path of your journey!

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196/135-135

Thanks, everyone. I think I'm ready for this switch!

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Michelle
209 / 187 / 150




DH's R&R Goal:
209 / 187 / 165
(2 months to go!)