Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitecrane
When I was hungry I used to gravitate to the pantry. I found the habit easy to break though.
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The key point here is that we had just eaten dinner. She was not really hungry. That was carb craving written all over her face. Believe me, it takes one to know one. The other members of my family are not like this. When they have a meal, they are satisfied. There is no magnet drawing them back into the kitchen 30 minutes later.
I remember talking to a guy I knew who had just got out of drug rehab. He was a normal kid until one day he tried crack cocaine at a party. He told me that after 1 hit, he was hooked. As soon as the satisfaction of a hit wore off - he became fixated on having another one. It is all he could think about and his life pretty much fell apart until his rehab.
Now I've never actually done crack cocaine - so I can't be certain how valid my comparison is -- but I'm pretty sure that when I eat carb loaded food, my brain reacts in pretty much the same way. Fireworks go off and as they start to fade - the cravings for more fireworks kicks in. And just like a drug, the only way to stop the cycle is to kick the habit completely. But if carbs are your drug, what in the heck are you going to eat? I agree with Jessdamess. Those that have carb cravings are in for a struggle.
Simply gauging by the full gamut of responses you received in this post - it is obvious to me that we all vary widely in how we respond to stepping out of plan for a little high-carb vacation. For me, it is like a drug addict relapse. For others, it appears to be no more than a blip on the progress chart. I suppose the only way to find out how you will respond is to try it.
Keep in mind that I never went off plan without intending to get right back on the horse when the cheat period was over. Most times I did manage to get back on plan. Once I managed to keep this up for nearly a year and lost 90 pounds. But eventually, some weekend "cheat" turned into a week long cheat, which turned into a month off cheat - and then it was pretty much over for the plan.