Hi all,
In preparation for reaching my goal weight [with all fingers crossed], I have a question. When you enter Dr. Atkin's Pre-Mainteance followed by his Lifetime Maintenance stage, should you out of Ketosis?

Started Atkins: 5/29/03
142/119/115

Good for you!!! Unfortunately, I am far away from this stage and unable to answer your question with experience, but I wanted to congratulate you!

Kellie, F38
Started Atkins 8/1/03 (off and on for the last few years but sticking to it this time!)
206/192/160 -- 10.75 inches GONE! (as of 9/20)

from what I read in his books, the answer would be "yes". You will no longer be in ketosis. Good luck and congratulations!

Never give up! Never surrender!

Katrin

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jm4duryea:
Hi all,
In preparation for reaching my goal weight [with all fingers crossed], I have a question. When you enter Dr. Atkin's Pre-Mainteance followed by his Lifetime Maintenance stage, should you out of Ketosis?

Started Atkins: 5/29/03
142/119/115<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow, Cograts. I am just wondering if you worked out at all or just dieted? I am just trying to get a feel for how long it takes poeople to lose the weight (and taking in all factors).

Maria
177/161/125
LC since 8/8/03

You should be leaving ketosis behind when you get into pre-maintenance. From there on out, your weight is your guide. Hopefully, you've been experimenting and stretching a bit in OWL, so that you've found a large selection of foods that are either "no problem" or "ok in limited quantities." These will be the basis for lifetime maintenance.

If you haven't been doing this during the later stages of OWL, then give yourself a nice long pre-maintenance period to do some exploring. If you start to gain at some point, you know what your CCLL is, so drop back to that number. It has been my experience that you don't need to show ketosis to drop a couple of pounds, just paying attention to what you did to regain them is usually enough to correct the problem.

For me (because I had no goal after I lost the first 20 lbs) the whole transition was a gradual one which I did by "feel." I went up and down and up and down a few pounds for about a year before I realized that I was actually in maintenance. That's what maintenance has remained for me. My food choices are, for the most part, pretty much automatic and I don't give it much thought. However, I'm a born "experimenter" and I love to cook. So I'm always trying new things. I give myself an "allowance" of several pounds either way from my signature weight. Usually an "overage" is water retention - a highly developed skill of mine - LOL! But if I stay over for an extended period, I take a long, hard, honest and critical look at what I'm doing differently - then stop doing it.

I hope there's something here to help you find your way to a lifetime of being in control of your weight.

Maggie
5'1" ~~ Atkins since '98 (160)/Maintaining nicely (110) ~~ Redhead until further notice!

Thanks for all the congrats and encouragement. I must admit though, while I had planned to follow Atkins scrupulously, I did "modify" to suit my needs. For example, in week 2 of induction, I decided to have 4oz of white wine. It didn't seem to hurt me. But I did notice I only wanted 4 oz, whereas I used to have 2 glasses a day. I did have difficulty eating enough calories despite eating eggs and bacon with abandon. I think I probably averaged about 1000 calories a day. This forum really clued me into drinking more water. When I doubled my water intake from 8 to 16 cups, the weight loss became consistent. Only blip was a gain of 5 pounds during my week in Jamaica -- couldn't resist the creme brulees, pina coladas. The only downside of the diet has been my cholesterol. It was 301! My triglycerides were ok [108] and HDL ok too [65]. I'm going for another blood test next week. Since getting the last bloodwork, I sort of moved over to the South Beach approach, really trying to cut down on the Sat Fats.


Response to Time2Lose: I really didn't work out much. Tried to take walks, did a lot of gardening [mostly raking]. Definitely would have lost faster if I had worked out.

Response to Maggie: Similarly, I have been experimenting. I drink 8 oz of wine if I feel like it. Have really upped my low glycemic veggies, have some fruit [pear, plum, peach, blueberries]. Also, your recipe for flax based cereal is practically a daily breakfast for me - it's really great, thanks again! My original goal was 118, but I figured 115 is a nicer number. Depending how I feel, I may go down further. The 142 weight was my peak weight that was probably caused by my inability to exercise for 3 years due to various injuries. I used to do strenuous workouts 5 or 6 times a week. It caught up to me.

Started Atkins: 5/29/03
142/119/115

Here's some more input: I entered pre-maintenance about 6 weeks ago achieving 192 lbs. I felt that I was 7 lbs from my "goal". Since then, I have found it easy to maintain my present weight (192 lbs), but a challenge to lose further. So, I have elected to be satisfied with this weight as my goal for now, and eat a few carbs.

Mort

Hey, MORT!

How ya doin? How's Kandy?

Glad to see you're doing fine with your way of eating and happy to see that you've found your way back to our re-modeled community.

Regards to you and your DW.

Maggie
5'1" ~~ Atkins since '98 (160)/Maintaining nicely (110) ~~ Redhead until further notice!

Hi Maggie,

I've been super-busy with my new lawn mowing business, but still read a lot in here. I just re-registered on the new forum, I was waiting for my logon to mysteriously "re-appear"...but Andrea finally broke the news that I had to re-up. I'm a Newb.

Kandy is on a *ahem* modified LC program, but still has lost about 15 lbs (she is at 141). Her asthma is still kicking her tail, but she is doing her best.

I want to be Andrea's agent...she'll also need a personal assistant, publicist, and chauffer.

Mort

MORT!!!! It's so great to see you back here. I've missed you delicious sense of humor. And I have been wondering how you and the Missus were doing. Welcome BACK!!! Tell Kandy to hang in there.



Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/149.4/135
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."