I've been doing Atkins for 8 weeks now. I have been sticking to induction all this time pretty much. I want to start adding more carbs into my program and move it on up to OWL, but I'm almost afraid to do it.

I feel it's really important to me to relax a little bit with Atkins and start to enjoy myself a bit more (without going overboard of course). But I'm so used to being on induction, it almost feels as if I am cheating to move it on up.

I have been adding some nuts in, but can't get over the feeling that "I'm not supposed to have them!" LOL! And I bought some blackberries today...same feeling. They are still sitting in the fridge.

I know, for me, it's very important that I move into different phases of Atkins and relearn eating habits. Otherwise, I'm going to end up on induction the whole time and when I'm done...I'll not have progressed and learned and am afraid I'll do the yoyo deal. I do NOT want to have to do this again!

Is anyone else feeling this way about moving out of induction toward OWL?

I'm in the same boat. It raised it to 25g about 8 weeks ago and stayed there. I'm on a tonne of meds and they are really slowing the weight loss so it is difficult to gauge if I am actually dropping any weight. I've lost a pound in the last three weeks. If I can actually get to a point when I can say I have lost consistently (and it doesn't have to be much) then I'll raise it again. Otherwise I'm sticking to 25g.

Bigted, that's a bummer about the meds possibly masking the weightloss. Nothing is ever really cut and dried when it comes to the body, is it?

Well, one thing's for sure! I'm going to eat those danged blackberries before they spoil! I paid 2 bucks for like a half pint of them! LOL!

I felt the same way at first, but after I started adding a few more carbs (at the recommended 5 per week) I was really glad I did! Not only did my weight loss remain steady during that time, I was really glad to be able to eat more veggies and have carb room for a few berries and nuts. I'm thinking maybe nuts aren't such a good thing for me now, though, LOL.

It's really amazing how much more good food and vitamins you can have for 25-30 carbs per day. Now I eat around 35-40 carbs a day and love that level.

Yeah, try the 5 extra per week until you hit a wall. then you know you have found your Limit. You will benefit from having a better variety in your diet.

I have read that one can stay on induction level carbohydrates for a long time safely, and that if one has a lot of weight to lose, it is advisable to keep the carbohydrates in the lower range so as not to get as discouraged from weight loss slowdown until the end is in sight (the last 10-20 lbs).

I started Atkins about 14 months ago and have stayed with close to induction level carbs for most of the time (20 - 30 net carbs). I regularly eat cheese, nuts, and berries and have not found any of these things to stall me out--the key is moderation and being sure to measure out servings. Nuts are insanely healthy but also very high in calories, so it's easy to end up by eating way too many. Sunflower seeds in the shell have been a welcome addition. Strawberries and blueberreis, too. I have also recently added grapefruit.

I take sunflower seeds in the shell to the movies and eat them instead of popcorn. I also eat low carb tortillas, flax cereals, and organic low carb breads with no problems. Occasional alcohol as well.

Induction technically does not permit certain foods, but OWL does... OWL, however can be as low as 15 grams of carbs and certainly up... it's extremely individual. If you do add carbs, go by the carb ladder and take your time adding them in to see how you feel.

What OWL does offer over Induction is a wider variety of choices in what you eat. You can be on OWL and eat quite a range of foods and quite a range of carbs that is customized to you.

Maltitol has caused a bit of a stall for me--I prefer to count it as a standard carb rather than subtract it--if I do that, it tends to give a more realistic picture of the carb load.

However, after losing 40 lbs and being stalled for a couple of months I found that the most effective way for me to handle extra carbohydrates is to add a significant amount of vigorous daily exercies (30 minutes to 2 hours per day), incorporating both aerobic (including walking) and weight training types of exercise.

I have recently been adding more fruit and veggies. Because I am exercising a lot (more than an hour daily now) my body's optimal nutrition needs and tolerances are a little different than they were before when I was only lightly exercising... so one recommendation when you are adding carbs to your diet, is to also increase your activity level.

I would say that there is a direct correlation between the effectiveness of lc'ing and exercise. Exercise tends to cut appetite so calories trim down naturally, lc'ing also tends to cut appetite/cravings, and exercise also improves insulin function. I strongly believe that exercise is the single most effective weight loss tool even above and beyond lc'ing (not that I'm knocking lc, because I KNOW what a great WOL it is).

Thanks for all the great feedback! I measure snacks very carefully, I can see how easy it would be to fall into the nut trap of eating too many of them. (especially macadamias! they are good!)

By the way, I just ate one of those blackberries I was talking about, it tastes like crap! So sour! I figured it would be sweet since I've not had sugar in so long.

I don't think they are worth the carbs. I'm going to let my husband eat them and have some celery stuffed with cream cheese instead. Hmmm.. how many celery sticks for the price of a handful of berries? ROTFL!

Okay, call me bad, but I eat my berries with Splenda and half-and-half. You can probably have quite a few celery sticks for the carbs in a handful of blackberries, but watch that cream cheese! LOL

Blackberries have 4.59 carbs per 1/4 cup with 1.91 grams of fiber, so you've only got about 2.5 net carbs there. There's almost 1 carb per 2 Tablespoons cream cheese. Plus, you aren't getting the added bonus of the fiber and phytonutrients. To my mind cream cheese, while it's a great source of fat, is almost junk food compared to most berries (blackberries aside-- Strawberries and raspberries are a lot higher in vitamins than blackberries.)

Oh, and if you want really, really good blackberries you need to grow them yourself and fertilize them ever once in a while with a foliar fish/kelp mixture, then pick them when they are just starting to get soft. THEN you'll have good blackberries.