The second phase of the Atkins diet program is called Ongoing Weight Loss or OWL. After the rapid weight loss of the 2-week Induction phase, you’ll be slowing your weight reduction down just a bit. You’ll contribute in specific carbohydrates that will make your food consumption a little easier and your weight reduction just a bit slower. Even so, you will carry on slim down at a steady even pace with ease.
During the OWL phase you will boost your body’s power to burn fats. Although you’ll be adding carbohydrates slowly, you’ll still stop in the state of ketosis. You will carry on use your extra fat as fuel for your system, and the pounds and inches will carry on come off.
The OWL phase will also teach you to make better carbohydrate alternatives. The recipes and directives for OWL will improve your knowledge about satisfying food. You’ll replace the poor carbohydrate choices that you relied on in the past with new and better choices.
It will also be possible to learn how many carbohydrates you can consume and still shed weight. The operation of the OWL phase is an experiment in what your specific body does with carbs. During the OWL phase, you’ll gradually increase your daily carb intake from the 20-gram level that you employed in induction. Every week you’ll try adding another 5 grams of carbs and then take heed of what happens. When weight reduction slows too much, you’ll know that you’ve exceeded your own carb limit.
OWL also prepares you for your lasting weight management program (called maintenance). The habits and practices that you start during OWL will go quite some distance toward your long-term success. Treat this period of your food consumption as training for the real “test” – your post diet life.
During the OWL phase, you’ll still be getting most of your carbohydrates from vegetables (just as you do during Induction). It’s important to continue to eat a broad variety of vegetables, as they’re beneficial to your health and good for maintaining intestinal health during the Atkins diet plan. You will be able to add more portions of vegetables, and then gradually be able to add nuts, seeds and even berries. Still, the primary focus of the diet will still be protein.
In a way, the Induction phase is simpler than any of the other phases of Atkins. The strict plan always works and always produces weight loss. As you enter the OWL phases, you’ll ought to be more mindful of your carbohydrate count and keep better track of your weight. You will have more choice and that might lead to more temptations, which might extend to a stalling of your weight loss or even gain in weight.
Counting carbohydrate grams is critical in your OWL success. If you do not count, you will finish up consuming more carbs than you should. Although, the’re a great many tools available that can help you with counting. There are lots of handy, portable books that will tell you the amount of grams of carbohydrates in certain foods. Over the course of time, you’ll know the “carb count” for your favorite foods instantly.
Counting carbs is in addition essential during the OWL phase as you are playing detective. You are investigating to find your personal carb count, the volume of carbohydrate grams that you can eat daily and still lose weight. During first seven days of OWL, you’ll move from 20 carbohydrate grams to 25. It is advisable that you add this in the sort of more vegetables, like asparagus or cauliflower. You’ll keep at the 25-gram level for a week, and then move up to 30 grams a day.
As you improve your carbohydrate gram level, watch your weight closely. If you go through too a good deal of slowdown, you know you’ve gone too high. You’ll find your maximum carbohydrate gram level when you stop losing weight at all. When this takes place, you will know you’ve arrived at the country your limit. Once you find your own carb count, drop down below that number if you would like to continue losing weight.