this isnt really a question, i just wanted to share an experience...My dh and I had a "free day" yesterday where we pretty much went off the diet and ate whatever we wanted, donuts..pizza...pasta...you get the idea...

man, oh man am I regretting it today...I feel terrible...my stoache hurts, I am tired dragging...yck...and to think I ate like that all the time...

Just wanted to share that...thanks for reading

That's why I don't have free days. I may have one meal but I don't do the whole day thing cause I get so sick.

Also, I find that the foods I've eaten, weren't as good as I remembered.

Hope your feeling better.

LOL I have felt your pain! I had a Krispy kreme day not long after I found out I was pregnant followed by pizza (I figured being pregnant was a license to do so) OMG I felt sooooooooooooooo sick afterwards. Not only that but they were terrible doughnuts. If only there had been a Duncan Doughnuts to save me from the evil torture of krispy kreme. Needless to say, I haven't looked at a box of doughnuts again with the same fondness since my experience. In the end full blowout cheats are just not worth it. I really hope you feel better soon. It took me a couple days to feel like I was fully back to myself.

Jenn

My first day of work I tried 2 donuts to keep my boss happy. Man I was so sick after that

Free days don't work well on plans like this. The whole goal is to balance blood sugars. Having a sudden influx of sweets like that when you haven't rebuit a tolerence shoots your sugar and insulin through the roof. Plans that encourperate a free day, also have intense weight lifting rutins to burn off those carbs.

Instead of going hog wild, maybe next time just think of something you've really been missing. Then decide if there is anyway you can make it yourself to be healthier. Whole wheat pasta, and only a single serving, or homade pizza with a whole wheat or egg crust. If not, and you are going out for it, maybe only order a little and stop after a few bites. Order a large salad and some protien to eat first.

This is getting interesting - how do we deal with cheating and craving? I think this is again a matter of YMMV - some are able to stop alcohol or cigarettes yet have an occasional drink or smoke, other will fall off altogether with even one drink or smoke. Same with carbs, I think. Some of us can only do this clean, others, like myself and apparently lots of others, like to tempt fate, or try the forbidden fruit.

I had a mango sorbet a few weeks ago - real sugar! And real fresh OJ this morning! But I tend to use portion control when cheating. That may be the key. The South Beach book talks actually a bit about strategies for cheating - it was one of the astonishing parts in the book. One of them: Fill yourself with the allowed, and then allow yourself the desired slice of pizza or the doughnut. I am glad you felt awful and may not want to cheat again, but if so.... do it AFTER protein and fat - you will eat less, but still get the taste, and likely not wreck your body completely because the protein and fat already in yoru stomach will slow the rush of sugar into the blood and the imbalance.

I"m relatively a newbie, but I had been doing low-carb for about 2 weeks or so - completely sugar free, caffeine free, very very low carb (probably the same as induction, because what I'm doing now feels very much like that did) - anyway - about 2 weeks in, they had my favorite dessert at the hospital where I work. It's peanut butter pie - sprinkled with chopped nuts, topped with whip cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup. The crust is made out of oreo. I ate a piece.

Oh lord, an hour later and for the whole rest of the evening my whole stomach burned, it hurt so bad I swore I would never ever ever do it again. Then, about a week ago, I broke down and ate a fundraiser pack of peanut butter cups (3 reeses cups) - again, my stomach hurt and hurt and burned, and I just wanted to cry.

The next day, I started official induction - besides having a terrible headache (not sure why - haven't really changed much from what I was doing) I'm doing great, and my stomach doesn't hurt, except for feeling very full a little after I eat even when I only eat a little.

I haven't decided on whether or not to have a free day every once in awhile - I think despite the discomfort, I'm just going to "need" some of the stuff I have always loved. I've already made up my mind that if I can hit 220 (still 18 pounds away) I am going to Perkins for a slice of french silk pie ...

Good luck!

Stacie

Stacie - If you cook at all, you can make Low carb versions of many of those things. There is a recipe for chocoalte peanut butter cups in the resipce forum here, and I've found a LC french silk pie recipe online. Some of them stink, but some of them are much better then the regular alternatives. It just takes experimenting to find good ones.

sorry I have not been able to get back to the boards in a couple days...very busy. but, anywho..yea ultimately it was not worth it. I am just having a very hard time sticking to this, I work in a very unhealthy environment (people order out everyday, a lady I work with brings cookies for everyone once or twice a week, etc...) people are eating all the time, and sometimes I get the feeling they are resentful because I dont join in. well, as a consequence i soothed myself that week with the 'free day' (a way of saying, "if i hold off here I can have on the weekend") and paid dearly. I am also not losing any weight past the initial 5 pounds and cannot figure out why, other than that I am straight up eating too much.

well, sorry so long i feel like i rambled...thanks for listening.

As opposed to an off day, I had an off meal. What an uncomfortable evening I had as a result! I was bloated & crampy. This confirmed for me how much better off I am w/o bad carbs.