Hey guys im pretty upset today. After one month of doing absolutely fabulous, i started to let myself have a little more leeway and all of the sudden i find myself back into full blown carbaholism. i have gained about four pounds back in two weeks and thats because i have been practically binging every day. i feel terrible and need the strength to start over. helppppp! exactly how long does it take for me to get all this crap out of my body and back into protein power mode. i cant believe the change in my body, my sleep my energy. my attitude. i work two jobs and right now i am barely hanging on, when i was on the diet i worked both with ease and still had time to clean the house and wear makeup. now im lucky if im there on time, dont leave early and find myself putting everything off till tommorrow. need some guidance guys. thanks kas

Been there, done that, a thousand times over. Doing it right now. I have been back on the wagon for a week now. I actually cheated a little bit at work last night. They did a christmas party catering thing yesterday at work and had some hor d' oevres left over (cranberry stuffing squares, little tiny sweet potato cheesecakes in phyllo crusts, and mini eclairs that were about the size of quarters, they were so cute.) Everything was very small (bite size), and I ate one of each. I felt so guilty. I had next to no carbs yestereday, so it probably only put my carb count where it was supposed to be, and I didn'tgain any weight, but it would have been so easy to fall all the way off. The rest of the evening, I thought about helping myself to a piece of bread, are getting some mashed potatos or Polenta, but I didn't do it, and was so glad when I left. You just have to start back over, and hope it won't take too long to get back to feeling like your self.
Good Luck....

best way is to not think about it and do, i know easier said than done. i just kept really busy and with your schedule that shouldn't be too hard. isn't it funny, why do we go off the diet...we feel crappy when we do and yet all of us are guilty of it...it's a dr.phil moment "what part of it didn't you like? losing the weight? having energy? feeling more healthy?" i don't know why but he always pops into my head when i fall off in the past...i haven't even watched him for years and yet he's there lol. hang in there you'll get on again..

Kasstout,

Just get back 'on the wagon' and your fall 'off' will be forgotten about ... comon' hop back on now!

Nikki

Taken from the Confession Booth threads:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=108

After You Cheat
First of all, forgive yourself. You made a mistake. Guilt causes no weight loss at all. Guilt can (and often does) lead us to more comfort eating or self-punishing eating. The guilt, in other words, is worse for you than the food you ate.

Many of us are addicted to the brain chemical cocktail that high carbs (especially eaten alone) give us ... we're addicted to the foods we're allergic to ... we're addicted to eating for comfort, solace, to numb pain, to punish our mothers, and a hundred other emotional reasons ... and we're habituated to old familiar habits, too, like eating popcorn at movies. This can be helpful to remember.

None of that makes us "bad." Food has no moral component. If you're a good person in the rest of your life, don't rob banks or beat children or the like, no amount of overeating food could possibly make you "bad."

Once you've dumped your guilt and gotten calm, figure out why you made the mistake. (What triggered it? An event? A smell? A sight? Spending time with someone who stresses you out? A fight with your teenager? A painful memory?)

Brainstorm how to deal with the same situation next time. Write down this plan.

Apply one or two of those ideas next time the same situation arises.

If those don't work, add to your list and try other approaches to this particular trigger.

Remember, you can't "blow the diet" because this isn't a diet but a permanent way of eating. Part of a WOE is finding strategies for dealing with challenging situations. As long as you are learning something from this experience, you're still moving forward.

If the cheats seem to become chronic, you simply can't stop, it's tearing you up inside ... then think about finding a local OA (Overeaters Anonymous) meeting. Their website is here

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Definitely some words of wisdom there -- we are all only human, and mistakes will happen. My favorite quote someone else uses on this site: It's not how many times you fall, it's how many times you get up!

Hugs,
Courtney