I guess if you count this month you can average me to once a month.

Although they all happened to be holiday related in the past month.

I can't wait until January...

I have utilized CAD for meals that I know are coming up and I continue to lose on a consistant basis. Lucky lucky Lisa! But for the few occassions of poor planning I was able to rebound within 3 days to prior weight and continue onward!

5 Months and not one single cheat (one mistake where I drank 1/2 beer before I realized I couldn't - sounds weird but really happened - half way through I turned to DH and said - what am I doing I can't have this. And I gave it to him)
I do eat the Ketogenics bread with 2 carbs per slice which meets my morning regime. I don't consider that cheating and keep my carbs well below 30 everyday - closer to 20 most days.

Last week was my first week and I did well. I did have an egg nog latte on Sunday but found that it was too sweet. Hopefully eating LC will cure me of my sweet tooth by making all of the sweets I indulged in previously too sweet for me to eat very many of.

Today is going to be a challenge since I am going to my brother's for Christmans Eve. Fortunately, both my brother and sister-in-law are on Atkins but I think that they are planning on 'straying' a bit for the holiday.

Tomorrow will be even more of a challenge when I have dinner with my mom who is a big carbohydrate eater. I am making dinner so the menu is going to be:

Tenderloin Steak
Baked Potato
Aspargus
Rolls
Pumpkin Pie

I will have to skip the high carb stuff or only sample.

We will see.

I think it is all in perspective.....if this diet works for you, then don't deviate....but if you like the other foods then partake from time to time....just because this is a total woe for some does not mean it is like that for all. I don't believe the concept that certain foods are bad. However, I obviously have not ever learned moderation. This woe teaches me that. When I do have a food that is not allowed I do not beat myself up about it, I am very conscious of it, and I move on. I don't like the way I feel when I over indulge on carbs....so I am only cheating myself when I do that. When I have a bite of a forbidden food then I did just that.
my opinion only,

I treat myself once a month to congratulate me on my weight loss on the month. I dont really have anything material that I really want so this works pretty good. Usually its foods that are definitely forbidden pizza, pasta dishes, chinese buffet YUM! After my one meal I get back on the wagon again. If I didnt do it at once a month I have a feeling that I would toss out this diet, I love my carbs way too much

If your implying what I think your implying aren't you a sly one!

By the way I haven't cheated only been on this for 1 month. But I am an all or nothing kind of girl!

This is a complicated issue, and here is my tuppence worth on the subject.
Cheating is not a good word to use. Cheating suggests doing something, maybe secretly, which you think you will get away with. Fact is, we never 'get away with' what we put in our mouths. Whatever we eat has consequences, even if we are not aware of them at the time.

Some people have found a flexible and less restrictive woe which suits them. Others go for 'all or nothing'. I am a bit like that as I know one bite of cake will never be enough but no cake at all is relatively easy. Having said that, I do taste things sometimes, and increasingly often manage to stop at 'a taste.' I am not totally strict all the time as I know I am in this for the long haul, and a woe which I can do on holiday and at home, when I am feeling good and not so good, will be best in the long run. My weight loss is not as fast as I would like but that is the result of what I am doing, not bad luck!

Some people talk and act as if 'If no one sees me eat the doughnut, it doesn't count.' or 'It's my birthday so it doesn't count.' Well, it always counts. Please don't get me wrong, I really don't have a thing about what other people eat, I am just flying a small flag for taking responsibility for what we eat and facing the consequences without making excuses.

I think my answer would be several times a week, but not every day. It's hard to say. Does a tiny piece of dark chocolate count as cheating? To some, yes. So I probably "cheat" nearly every day. (BTW, I've gotten much more picky about chocolate lately, and I like dark chocolate much more than I used to!!)

But here's the thing. I've spent more time NOT dieting (and beating myself up over my binges) than I have dieting. I haven't really lost any weight yet, probably because I have been eating a few too many carbs. But I'm trying to stick with it, because I think that my WOE now is much better for me than the way I was eating prior. This has got to be a huge improvement, even if I am not losing any weight--though hopefully that will happen.

This same process happened when I started running (which I can't do now, unfortunately). It has to do with external vs internal motivation factors. In the beginning, you're doing it because you want to lose weight. But when you start exercising, particularly with anything that involves any kind of endurance, your body just has to get used to it. You won't see any results because you can't do the activity long enough for it to have any effect. You have to believe that you will improve. You have to believe that you are doing something good for yourself, and let that be the motivation. Anyway, the diet is not exactly like that, but similar. I'm doing it now because I think that I am on the right track.

I don't like the term "cheating". I also don't like the implication from someone who has no trouble sticking with LC 100% that cheating is bad. I refuse to beat myself up over this! My "cheats" are NOTHING compared to what I used to stuff down. I'm staying away from the most offensive things.

Another thing that sometimes irks me (and I may have said this elsewhere) is when someone says that they have this huge variety of great foods on LC--why would they need to cheat? Why would they want anything else? Well, it depends on which diet you're following of course (I'm leaning towards Schwarzbein, which fits my principles better), but generally you are very restricted on a LC diet, especially in Atkins Induction (and similar). Now, if you are a person who really likes animal products and fat, and you have eaten low-fat for so long (or tried to) that you just LOVE being able to eat those things, of course you feel freed! But if you were never really very interested in that kind of food, maybe only eating it once a while, subsisting mainly on grain and fruit products, for example, your whole world is upside down. Suddenly you're supposed to eat food you don't really care about, and can't eat much of anything you really LIKE, carb addiction aside. Make sense?

Some really good points, Zandria -- sounds like "progress, not perfection" to me, and I think you'll succeed. And as you seem to be concentrating on your health first, and the scale second, Schwartzbein might be very good for you. I get the impression that most of the people who give up on it do so because the weight loss can be slow.

I'm also with you on disliking the word "cheat" in connection with food choices. Who are we supposed to be cheating?? I like Dana Carpenders idea of an "indulgence," and I think your tiny piece of dark chocolate probably fits that concept.

--Ruth

just wanted to add: i didn't answer the question b/c the answers weren't specific enough. i don't over-indulge in high carb (based on a lc wol that is, not to say what over-indulgence means to everyone) foods but what i do do is up the amount of carbs i eat in a day if i'm particularly hungry and too tired to go out of my way to make an lc meal. for instance i might eat more nuts or cheese than i prob should...or i'll have sweetener (something i mostly try to avoid b/c i don't think they help me much). so no, i haven't 'cheated' in the official sense, the entire time i've been on this wol. i feel lucky though b/c meats, cheeses, butter etc..appeal to me very much..however, i have gone over my carb intake for the day several times. basically (as has been said before) i think you have to modify your own specific diet (not a diet in the weight loss sense, but in the foods you choose to eat sense) to fit you, your personality, your body's physical makeup and etc...for instance, i know i cannot swear off alcohol b/c i like going out w/ my friends sometimes on weekends and i enjoy having drinks. but i do stick to lc type drinks (liquor w/ diet coke etc...). though i haven't officially cheated or binged on carbs, i do intend to relax a a little after i've lost more weight..and have considered trying a 'day off' since i've been stalled for a while...might help seeing as on the days i've 'relaxed' some the scale has occassionally gone down. sorry for the ramble.
Hope

Cheat.....what's that???? LOL I did not have sugar, chocolate or bread or any other nasty carb, simply because I'm afraid of my body's reaction. It would probably be like "just a little drink" for an alcoholic.
I had too many glasses of champagne and wine, if that counts as a cheat. Did pay a price of being sick and in bed for almost a whole day....will NOT forget that!
Alina

cheating has not been a temptation for me yet. but i am a newbie and really into it. once or twice it crossed my mind, but only fleeting thoughts of it...like what would happen if i just bought ice cream and ate it? so is still cheating if i only think about it? (jimmy carter referring to adultery in the mind is still a sin before god). haha

ally

I look at low-carbing as more of a lifestyle of eating than a diet and so I don't consider going "off" occasionally as cheating. You can only "cheat" yourself. I think that we should always keep in mind the health benefits of this program. If you're always aware of how healthy you're trying to eat, you won't be as tempted to "cheat". Whenever I feel like having pizza or ice cream or something similar, I ask myself if it's worth sacrificing the health benefits of sticking to this healthy way of eating! I'm not trying to say that I've never, ever eaten anything that's not "carb friendly"....but what I am trying to say is that I'm always aware of what it could be doing to my body and I go right back to the program.

Remember, sacrifice never works.............indulge once in a great while but get right back on!

I don't know exactly how often - I've never thought about it that way. What I find though is if I really really want something I'm usually better off to have it and be done with it or it will nag at me. A couple of weeks ago I really wanted a chocolate granola bar - which wouldn't really have been too bad- but instead I tried to ignore the craving and munched on "legal" things nothing satisfied me though and I packed away hundreds of calories and a quite a few "legal" carbs , hours later I still felt unsatisfied and ending up having 2 granola bars. I think if I would have had the 1 when I first felt like it I could have avoided all the munching that came after....... but then again who knows

I'm with you, Mad Piano! If I thought I could NEVER have pasta, pie, biscuits & gravy, or orange juice again .... well, I would not be very motivated to stay on this lo-carb diet.

My husband & I have been on this since 2/20. He's lost twice what I have (typical for men). But on Easter (4/20), we are already planning a feast that includes all of the foods we've been craving. And after that, I intend to plan 1 or 2 "happy days" a month, when we can eat whatever we want. That will keep me going & motivated - my "light at the end of the tunnel" - because I love this diet, and the results, but sometimes I just feel so empty! Even after a huge, lovely dinner - it's like something's missing.......


Good luck to you -- and us all!