I've been in active maintenance for about 14 months. Most of the time, I seem to stay in the realm of 30-40 carbs, and my weight has held steady. I've taken a few carb vacations, after which I go back to Induction for a week or so, until the 5 lbs. drops off, and then I'm back to my baseline maintenance weight. (Which I'd kind of like to drop about ten pounds!)

At 30-40 carbs, I go in and out of "the pink" on those stix, which I can't seem to resist checking once or twice a week. However, other signs indicate that I'm in a fat-burning state whether the stix show anything or not. Which brings me to the question.

By any dietary standard, 30-40 carbs is still really, really low. I'm thinking I need to forget about the ketosis thing, and increase those carbs to 50-60 (net) and see what happens. Will I gain weight? I kind of doubt it, as long as I stick with veggies, melon and berries, nuts (in moderation) and more veggies. I'd really like to lose just a little more, which is why I tend to be a bit preoccupied with the numbers and the indicators.

As I've said many times myself, the only way to find out is to try it. And I plan to. But I'd welcome your insight, information sources, experience, etc. on the subject of maintaining--or even losing--in the absence of the ketogenic advantage.

P. S. I exercise a lot. Something every day, including cardio, weights, and yoga. I think it's unfair of Mother Nature that I'm not skinny by now.

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


My Fitday Journal

barb-i'm flattered that you'd think of me.

i'm can't tell you too much about personal experiences with the stix and going in and out of ketosis, because i quit using them not too long after i started. i found that how i felt was a much more reliable indicator of how i was doing than the stix, and being "in the pink" or not for me didn't seem to be consistent with what i expected. and as you know of course, there are also many variables with those stix, like when you do them, how much water you drink, etc.

30-40 does sound low indeed. (darned mother nature, anyway!) i know i've heard some folks also say that when they do an extended induction, their bodies seem to adjust to the lower carb levels, which is one of the reasons i try to encourage people to move on to owl after a couple of weeks.

i would think it's worth experimenting with, going up a bit at a time and seeing how your body reacts. i know you're a hard-core exerciser, which should certainly help you support a higher carb allowance. and i also know you have been around the low-carb block long enough to know most of the in's and out's of this.

the only other thing at this point you could be aware of is calories, which i figure you are already aware of since you track eating as i recall.

i know that last 10 can be the toughest 10. heck, i may not be the best soucre of maintenece advice anyway, since i got down to my last ten, then packed another 10+ on or so, and have been bouncing up and down ever since. i'm in the process of working on focus myself, since i absolutely don't want to backslide my butt right back into plus sizes.

it takes vigilance, huh? let us know how your experiement turns out.

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Fat Baggage- Is Yours Packed?

Thanx, Goddess. I'm going to ditch the stix and concentrate on the "liveability" factor of continuing LC. I'll keep my Fitday diary, take measurements, and watch for trends. My energy level is always good, and I'm sure I expend plenty of cals in the course of a day. Maybe more carbs will be better? Time to find out.

"Bouncing up and down" seems to be a normal experience. However, better that than up and up and up and up...my former "normal" experience. I don't have enough life left to do that all over again, says I.

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


My Fitday Journal

Don't you just love a woe that people ponder whether they need to eat more to lose weight?

I think that Goddess gave you some good sound advice, Barb. If you are a hard exerciser, you might just need to up your carbs a bit. If you don't mind, I'd like to know if it works for you.

BTW, I think that bouncing is normal, especially for women, regardless of age. I've never had a steady downward trend on the scales, it's always down, then up a bit, then down, then up a bit. So a pound lost is usually followed by a half pound gained. 2 steps forward and one back!

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Nita

Goddess,I will take your advice about moving on from induction phase. I don't want to be stuck at an ace of 30!! I have about 15 more pounds to go and I guess I will just be patient.

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All Natural Atkins Girl/Nourishing Traditions
Gluten, dairy, and egg free
Start-175
Finish-155