total cholesterol has dropped from 212 to 178. With all these changes, it ' s no surprise that he now feels great. It ' s just too bad that it took a mild heart attack for Gary to get back on board. I hope you will heed the message before getting such a wake-up call.
What OWL Does for You
Your goal-for a large percentage of you, your destiny-of reaching your desired weight and staying there for life is best met by realistically considering which levels of carbohydrate intake apply to you. In OWL, you will take the physical and emotional well-being promoted by fat burning and combine that with the gustatory pleasure of an increasingly varied diet. Specifically, on OWL you will:
• continue to bum and dissolve fat.
• maintain control of your appetite sufficiently to control cravings.
• learn your threshold level of carbohydrate consumption, which will allow you to continue to lose weight.
• eat a broader range of healthy foods, selecting those that you enjoy most.
• learn to make the most nutrient-rich choices among carbohydrate foods.
• deliberately slow your rate of weight loss in order to lay the groundwork for permanent weight management.
How to Do OWL
There are three key differences between Induction and OWL. The first is obvious: You will consume more carbohydrates. Second, whereas during Induction you ate your protein and fat foods, plus three cups of salad and other veggies( and the special foods such as avocado, olives and sour cream), OWL allows you much more choice. That means now you can craft a weight loss regimen that is uniquely yours. But it also means-and here ' s the third key-that counting grams of carbohydrate is truly your responsibility.
If you don ' t count, you could get in trouble. Fortunately, counting is easy with the help of the carbohydrate gram counter in this book, which will familiarize you with the number of grams of carbs in common foods. For a more comprehensive guide, refer to www. atkinscenter. com or purchase a copy of Dr Atkins ' New Carbohydrate Gram Counter. After you have been doing Atkins for a while, you will begin to have a natural feel for the carb counts of your favorite foods, but it is always a good idea to keep your carb counter handy so you can check out new or unfamiliar foods.
Your Own Private, Personal Number
Life in the twenty-first century means lots of numbers to remember, what with cell phone numbers, bank PIN numbers and the like, but I ' m going to give you the tools to find out another number that is just as essential for your lifestyle. Remember these two basic principles:
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