[SaskNewfie]

Hey everyone...I need a little input from anyone with experience in the OWL portion of Atkins.

In the past, I've only stuck with induction. This time, i would like to add more variety to my food choices. So, I decided to make an attempt at OWL.

I know my initial choices are supposed to be increased veggies and then cheese, followed by nuts. Well, I've gotten to this point eating about 2/3 a cup of almonds each day, along with more cheese than I was supposed to consume.

Because of this, I wonder if it's ok to start on the 3rd rung and add berries.

If I can, how exactly does it work? I know I'm supposed to add an extra 5g of carbs a day and keep it at that level for a week. If I lose, bump it up again for another week. Does it matter the allocation of carbs? I know most is supposed be from veggies.

For example, today I ate 3 chicken tornados and a cup of Asian blend veggies (10g of net carbs). For supper i had around 15 baked wings (0g carbs). I had two cans of diet pop (2g of carbs). About 20 minutes ago I ate 1 cup of mixed berries (10g of carbs) and 1/2 my normal serving of almonds (2g of carbs).

So today's intake of carbs was 24g. Is this ok?

Also, when measuring berries, do I measure it frozen or thawed? I know thawed gets me more! lol

[SaskNewfie]

Well, my first week of phase 2 is over and done with. I didn't lose, but didn't gain. I think I messed up 2 days prior to starting, and I'm certain this knocked me out of induction. The Friday evening before starting, I went out with my wife and son to a Chinese buffet...I stuck with meat products, but they were all battered and covered in sauces. Since starting school this semester, I've been neglecting them quite a bit. I had a break in my schedule and couldn't resist the chance to join them at my son's favorite restaurant. Plus, it was kind of a mini-celebration (although wrong) for reaching my goal.

I'm pretty sure that that feed knocked me out of induction, which explains not losing any weight over the last week. I did go up for a couple days immediately after that cheat night, but dropped back.

Also, this Saturday night past I drank 4 low-carb beers...the carbs were included in my daily allowance of 25 grams.

On the upside, while adding a serving of berries or low-carb yoghurt at night, my cravings are stable...so that's a good thing.

The moral of the story? The results of week one are inconclusive!

[Violet73]

Hey Sask! I'm sorry I can't help you with OWL as I've never made it there (LOL) but I just wanted to say to keep up the good work. Watching things carefully is key I think and making sure the cravings are kept at bay. You are doing great! I hope you continue to maintain your weight loss

[SaskNewfie]

Thanks, Violet! So far, so good...at least i'm not gaining. I'm up to 30g of carbs per day, starting today. It's very difficult to actually eat that many. Today I had a few strips of bacon and a small chunk of cheese for breakfast. For lunch i had two cheese strings and a burger paddy. I had almonds for a snack. For supper I had sausages and oriental veggies...I still have 21 grams left to consume to get to 30! I gotta figure a way to eat more veggies during the day...

[Violet73]

Do you like salads? You could eat a very large salad for lunch with maybe some grilled chicken?