holiday binge?

[snkhoward]

I was just curious how other Atkin's people felt about 1 day off this WOE for say, Xmas or other holidays. I am not talking about a free for all entirely, but a day to get those cravings out of your system. I have done this myself in the past and have found I often don't enjoy those craved foods nearly as much as I thought I would. What are you experiences/thoughts on this?

[LC Sponge]

I learned early on in this WOE that those one-craved items were not all they were cracked up to be.

I never enjoyed them very much after I started Atkins.

Now almost 2 years later, I sat very near the "buffet" table at work that was filled all day with Christmas sweets. I looked at everything, selected a clementine and never felt compelled at all to sample any of the pure sugar items :)

Once you are past the "cravings" I find it's a lot like quitting smoking. If you never have the first one, you're fine.

[Chrissy]

No way, I absolutely will not go off plan during the holidays, I even plan on taking daily walks during those days too, while visiting my family in Saskatoon. You can enjoy the holidays with family & friends just as much with LC foods, just eat your protein and you'll be fine....... This is how I lost control last time and fell of the wagon. I promised myself that I would not do this again....... Last Easter, I lost 42 pounds, and I was feeling so gooooood, I figure I would just eat everything but in small portions, yeah right, it sent me into an insulin high rocket machine, that day and especially the next day and the days after...... I couldn’t even function mentally or physically, all I could think of was FOOD and I mean high carb foods, bread, doughnuts, cookies, chips, you name it I was chowing it down. I was also panicking, always thinking this was going to be my last swindle and I’ll start induction tomorrow, and the next day same thing happened, and so on and so on, till finally I didn’t even give a dam...... I was trapped in the high carb world again. I tried so hard to back on program during the long laspe, but I just couldn’t. No matter how I tried.......I was trapped into a frenzy binging eating machine again, till finally I was able to free myself once again on Nov 13th.
I also don’t want to be set back for 2 weeks, nor do I want to start induction over again, nor do I want headaches again, nor do I want all that fat storing to my hips again, after I tried so hard to lose that weight. lol
Its just not worth it to me..........
I envy any of you that can go off plan for one hour, or one day, or for one celebration and get back on the next day, I know I just can’t right now.

Take care and Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!

[EllieEats]

Have to tell you----
I was in the car with my daughter and her friend a couple days ago. He bought a "Butterfinger" candy bar and was eating it in the car. Used to be one of my favorites and after just one month--- what a difference! I could smell that sweetness back to where I was sitting-- it was just overwhelming and sickening! I couldn't even stand the smell of it!! Boy-- what a major change! I say just stick to the program and in time you probably won't desire the "cheats"
Ellie :wave:

[Homegirl]

I allow myself things every so often w/o guilt or apology.

However, sometimes, the things I eat don't taste as good as they used to. For example, the other day I made mini butter tarts. I had planned to eat one after supper because I made them and wanted to try one. I did have one w/ 2 tbsp of vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was okay but the tart was very very sweet to me.

Now I am interested to see what the mince tarts and Christmas pudding taste like. Those are my favourite desserts w/ whipped cream and ice cream on Christmas & Boxing Day. It's tradition. But will they taste much too sweet? Methinks yes, so I plan to only eat a little of each.

On the other hand, when I have potatoes or pasta, they taste good and they only seem to affect me with water gain about two days later. Mind you, when I eat those things now I only eat very small amounts because I remember only too well the mental and physical lethargy that overtakes me when I eat too much bread, pasta or potatoes. I think for the rest of my life I will only be able to have those three things here and there. Same goes for real sugar in desserts and candies.

I think, once you have reached your health/weight loss goal, the key is refining a plan that works for you as an individual w/o compromising what you've accomplished. Therefore, it will be a slightly different "plan" for each person because the tolerances (mentally and physically) for various foods will be different. Learning to really pay attention and listen to your body is paramount.

[Deirdre]

Originally posted by Homegirl
I allow myself things every so often w/o guilt or apology.



Same here! I've already had a couple holiday binges. I have no problem making exceptions and then still eating low carb the rest of the time.

I find everything does still taste good to me! If this is going to be a life long thing I believe it's ok to indulge once in a while (for me). I don't see a reason to deprive myself from things I enjoy occasionally. That's a lot better than eating them every day like I used to!! For me eating low carb is now a matter of habit.

Mind you, I'm in more of a maintenance phase than a weight loss phase. I was also sick for a few weeks and didn't have much of an appetite so I think it has evened out.

[Tikerberi]

I'm having too difficult of a time losing weight, and have found a good routine to eating that is helping me do it. If I were to binge or eat unplanned/unallowed carbs, I'd be afraid of putting myself right back to the beginning again. I'd rather not go that route and keep plugging away with what I'm doing right. I feel too good right now to risk it.

[Sh'ra]

I'm allowing myself to have a tiny bit of extra carb on the 25th, but only a tiny bit, like a little fruit, or one piece of chocolate. But honestly, at these gatherings, there are so many foods to choose from that are naturally low carb - meats, salads, green vegis, mushrooms...of course, there are tons of high carb things, too, but I know ther'll be plenty to fill up on without them.

I'm beginning induction on the 26th, just to make positive that my body swings back on track even with a little extra the day before.

I think a lot of it depends on past experience. If you (or I) are the type of person who will lose control for weeks or longer with one day of "cheating," then don't take the risk. If you find that you can do this and be able to swing right back to LC, then more power to ya, but don't overdo it.

Shalom
Sh'ra

[snkhoward]

thanks to all who have replied to my questions. I am planing on a guilt free day on x-mas. But I also don't think I will have a hard time returning to this WOL on the 26th. I like the results too much!! You can all check up on me with my diary posts(snkhowards diary) and see how I do. Merry x-mas to all!

[Alexxa]

trust me, dont have any sweet or starch carbs while on this diet. last year after loseing about 20lbs my sister forced a chocolate bar down my throat because she thought i was getting too thin, from that on chocolat bar i couldn't stop, i binged on carbs until i gained most of the wieght back, its been a year now and i'm finally going back on the diet, but remember it is better to abstain from carbs rather then moderate them.

[pre3teach]

My story was like your Chrissy. I really think for me it is a matter of attitude and whether or not I want to go through withdrawl.

I too had lost weight (14lbs) Alot on my frame! I was finaaly becoming hapy about the way I looked. That was last Oct. I thought it was neat that I could take a bit here and a bit there and still lose. It gave me too much confidence and I thought I could eat more of the carbs. I startd eating candy and kept thinking I will start watching it tommorrow...and tommorrow was always the next day. Here I am stuck with gain of 12lbs.!!! (I had gained it all back plus a few!) :tears: It has been so long that I can't remember eactly what I did to lose the weight. I never was super stict with atkins induction, ie. I ate 20-30 carbs but not all from veggies and some days I ate 40. I lost weight steadily and really enjoyed this wol.

I am having to go back on strict induction now...I mess up from time to time but I have a different attitude that prevents me from blowing it!!!

As several stated I don't want the headaches, cravings, bloat, etc. I want to get this weight back off and I know that any carbs not on the strictist plan only slow me down, so that is a choice one has to make. If the carbs will help you be happy over all then you may wish to induldge. As long as you know your mental attitude won't allow you to really blow it.

Good luck...And Great for you for Planning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a very important key to this wol! :clap:

[tagcaver]

My solution to this dilemma is a "compromise". I just went on a weekend mini-vacation up to a resort in Tennessee. Probably the only real vacation I'll get this year. My partner and I decided to bring a cooler with "fixins" for breakfast and lunch, and we'd eat dinner in the restaurant.

While my partner is 5'10 and only weighs about 5 lbs more than when he was in college (he's currently 142 lbs), he eats like a demon. He downed a whole package of strawberry licorice during the car ride. But the menus we planned went like this:

breakfast - him: wheat chex, whole milk, strawberries/raspberries
me: low carb cranberry pumpkin muffin (Atkins recipe), strawberries/raspberries, eas shake

lunch - big plate of salad with canned tuna, dressing, cheese, olives pringles (for him) [day 1]
[day 2] - turkey & cheese sandwich (regular bread for him, Atkins for me), letttuce, tomato, pickles (splenda-sweetened for me, regular for him), pringles (for him), carb solutions (yuk, but crunchy - for me), canteloupe, celery sticks

dinner - hamburger steak, salad, I gave him my Texas toast and ditched the fries

So even though I ate about 20 grams of carbs more than I've been eating, it was all "good" carbs. When we returned I went back to my 20g carbs level and have not gained any weight.

So you might consider "treating" yourself on holidays to a few more of the "good" carbs and avoiding the sugar/starch type carbs. You'll feel like you're eating for a holiday without really doing too much damage.

Joan