"On and Off" or "Cave, Crave". Cycles of Doom!
 

Well, it always used to bug me how people would jump on and off the bandwagon. "Just do it!" seemed like sensible advice... and then I had one too many "caves" and my "ons" were measured in hours, occasionally days, and my offs were measure in days and weeks.

UGH! So, I've had a few weeks on again and the cravings have subsided and I now know I'm as vulnerable as anyone else giant gaps in my good behavior.

I blame my ex-boyfriend. Fell off the wagon when I was going with him and getting back on was impossible. We've been apart for 4 years now, and it took me that long to get back into the groove.

So pardon me while I run to 7-11 and buy some Hard boiled eggs and cheese. Woo hoo! I'm so happy that Keto is "in" again.

Nancy I totally understand. We low carbers are in the minority, and getting the right foods at the right time is rather difficult; other foods are readily available, making our choices not choices as we are pushed toward the crappy foods. I understand now why groups of people gather together to make communities to support each other. Usually people group by religion, as food norms are often based on religious teachings. Maybe in a thousand years, Taubesism will have its followers, and we will live in communities where the church suppers are all LC options.

Until then, I do best when I can make my own food. Eating out recently has not worked out. Something hidden in the food triggers a craving. Then Im off track. Sometimes days, sometimes weeks. sigh.

Getting back on track can take days, months, years. Glad you have found you way back!!!!

Taubeism! Love it. Well, better than being a Pastafarian, I suppose.

“Pastafarian”!!!! 😂🤣 It’s bedtime here, so that made my night! 😆

Since I've been LC (or a Taubist, perhaps ;) ) I've noticed that most of the food brought to church potlucks is from Pastafarians. I'm working diligently to convert them, since I used to be one of them. :lol:

It IS hard. But it's not as hard as counting calories and all that stuff, at least for me. I feel so much better when I cut out certain foods that call my name, particularly fried potatoes and bread. Sometimes I buy gluten-free bread which is of course full of carbs and it always messes me up and I start picking at the cakes that people bring into the office and so it goes on. Once I decide to go "clean" again so many things improve, especially my digestion. It is a while since I lost any weight but I've been holding back the gains more or less. The health benefits are what keeps me going. If it were just a reducing diet, I don't think I could keep going back to it.

Just a hug! Glad things are looking better for you.

My own on-off downward spiral started a few months ago, but rereading the posts here - & weighing myself - made an honest woman out of me: I corrected my weight. It's hard to believe that I managed to both screw up my bg & gain 15 pounds in just 4 months. :cry:

So I'm clawing my way back up to where I was. But it's hard - eating too much has habituated my stomach & brain to think they're hungry when I reduce the food even just a bit.

Glad to hear! It's a never ending thing.



And they will all argue about keto stuff :lol:

Just be wary if the Taubists offer you an unsweetened glass of purple Kool-Aid . . .

One thing that helps is that I have been doing this for long enough that, most of the time, my brain and body response is "this is not food."

Just the other day, I passed by a WALL of Little Debbie cakes in the grocery: and my response was revulsion.

As it should be :)

Thanks for posting this and to all the others brave enough to come clean. Today is Day Six for me back OP. Wish I could say that my weight has corrected, but instead I just continue to gain. This started back in May and ounce by ounce built up to 7 lbs.

I've tried omitting food groups, IF, tested my hormone levels, changed my exercise routine. I've eaten less, eaten more, changed my macros.......n=1 ad nauseam and still have no answer.

At least I, too, found my way back OP. I didn't spend lots of time off, but I've been doing this a long, long time and I know the results I always get with eating carbs. Yep! All the way back to where I started, plus some more.

So here we are.

It’s scary, isn’t it? I’m glad when people talk about this ... the endless enforced positivity we sometimes see has it’s place, but when you’re struggling I find it isn’t helpful, amd potentially drives people away because they can’t live up to it. Just speaking for myself, I prefer acceptance of the struggle, and space to talk about how hard it can be at times, and support/empathy for the struggle and how to figure out our own personal hard times, rather than insistent cheerleading.

There may be people on the forum whose mental state of “not one cheat” or “it’s just not food to me anymore” can-do attitude lasts for years without a wobble in their thinking (never mind behaviour.) But to me I think...better to be a bit humble. Better to understand and remember that life is long, and people are complex, and sometimes “knowing” we are happier, healthier, and more at ease eating low carb is not enough.

Thank you for sharing your experience with such humour, Nancy. The old “just get back on and don’t beat yourself up about it” still applies. To you and all of us.

Thanks for posting this! It’s crazy how there are virtually no cravings when 100% on plan but go off course for a second and those cravings are back with a vengeance ugh.

I started again today, goal is to stay 100% until Thanksgiving and hopefully drop at least 10 lbs between now and then.

I recently lost my focus and started experimenting, which cost me a 4-5 lb weight gain within a week's time. I did need to up my carb, calorie and water intake to feel better but went hog wild with the food choices. I hit the reset button pretty fast and almost immediately re-lost a pound. I'm confident that the rest will fall off if I just keep sticking to what works. I tend to fall into that trap of convincing myself that now that my weight is stable and I'm lighter, I can eat "a little bit" of whatever I want and not suffer for it.

P.S. Speaking of suffering, last week I had a small slice of cold thin crust veggie pizza that was in the fridge overnight. I used to love cold pizza. Within one minute of finishing it, I got an acid reflux attack. Same thing happened after having a cup of Greek yogurt with a tablespoon of peanut butter mixed in. :o Talk about listening to your body. Mine was screaming at me. :bash: