Its really too bad for you that you feel this way. It's a big forum and like in life, we each find people that we click with and those we don't. I hope you stick around.

This is the ACTUAL mantra I repeat to myself daily (when necessary) at my place of work which REGULARLY tempts (poisons) us all with French pastries, dumplings, and brownies.

I think you'd be fine weight-wise (probably gain a bunch -maybe 10 pounds, but it wouldn't all be fat. It would be a lot of water.) There are a few others here on the boards who have had "planned deviations" on vacations, gained 8-15 pounds, and then returned immediately to strict clean eating upon return. It's a CHOICE. There is a cost benefit analysis you need to figure out. Is it worth it? (I know some/many will say you risk abandoning the whole WOE forever, and you might, BUT, if you are convinced you can get back on track easily, then it's really more about what a week of sugar and grains will do to you.


... I just realized... it's past October...SO, my response is irrelevant! LOL!

Gonna' read back and see what you chose to do...

Good luck everyone!
Happy HFLC!

...and there it is! Thanks for reporting back, Whitecrane... Glad you enjoyed your vacation! Sounds like you had a great time in "wine country"!

Hope to see you around.

Take care,
Jammie

I'm sorry you feel this way, and I'd urge you to not jump off the board. This thread has touched a lot of people's buttons and got people very emotional as a consequence.

I know I stopped posting on this thread because of that, and it's a bit like car crash telly in so far as I keep coming back to read the posts.

This forum is one of the most supportive and nicest that I have been on, and that encompasses pet forums, bike forums, medical ones. All have threads like these but the others have more. I think this thread stands out because of how unusual it is.

I can definitely see your point.

The beauty of this board is that there are so many people, with different bodies, plans, WOEs, experiences, etc. that we get a great variety of feedback. It's really amazing.

The fact that our bodies and health are so related to our WOEs makes all of this VERY personal. When it's personal, people get passionate, serious, and sometimes defensive of their choices for this path. It's a double edge. Sometimes, that means inspiration when you need it most. Other times, it means that you get a thread that may belong in the War Zone, even though to topic doesn't seem worthy of that level of fight.

I hope the passionate, if sometimes rude, discourse in this thread doesn't turn you off of the board as a whole. We're all human, and like most humans, there's more good than bad here, I think.

That. Right there.

I'm not sure why not agreeing with somebody is considered hateful and demoralizing, particularly when this isn't a "support your buddy's feelings" group. This is, as so eloquently stated above, an ongoing carb-addicts group. And those of us who have suffered the results of thinking of food as a reward aren't the best to lecture on how it is, and everybody should have whatever they want, because it says X on the calendar. I thought that way too, until I realized it didn't work for me. And was actually what was specifically keeping me fat. Don't tell people who have gotten off the rollercoaster that it doesn't exist, just because you happen to be on the kiddie version at the zoo, while they were stuck on the tidal wave. Until they had to exit before it started because the safety harness wouldn't buckle over them.

This thread is a HOT TOPIC and I for one, love the debate. A lot to be learned here. Mainly--not everyone can agree on everything all of the time!

You ask for opinions, you get them! Whether you agree or not is an option. If you can't take the heat, then be aware that when you ask for opinions, it CAN get heated!! Agree to disagree!

Mean people? I think not.
Honest people? YES!!!

"I left plan from 10/18 by having IHOP pancakes in the morning in prep for the vacation the next day."

WHAT?!!!

Are you kidding me? WHY would anyone TRYING to lose weight, who is asking for our opinions on LOSING weight, even post such a thing? This is like posting on an alcoholics anonymous page something like, "I drank 5 vodka tonics in preparation for my holiday blowout the next day--you know--the holiday I am boasting about--with drinking abounds---the holiday YOU can participate it?!"

Geez, how RUDE! How inconsiderate!

I finally have reached the point in my life now that I have confidence that I am developing a THICK SKIN, FINALLY! I've been soft hearted all my life, have held my tongue, for fear or hurting some stranger's feelings. I'm tired of worrying about that---so if someone asks me for MY opinion, and I have some knowledge/experience in what they are asking, I'm gonna tell it, like it or not!

Losing weight with this LC/SF WOE has changed me FOR THE BETTER! I have good insight to offer. And I know what it's like to get my feelings hurt, and it's that last thing I still do not want to do to anyone else. Especially a stranger. But if I can HELP someone, because they have a problem with eating, then let me help!

Has Whitecrane been back? Is he out of denial yet? And I don't know about a lot of you, but ME? I DO NOT BELIEVE HIS After-vacation story about how the gluttony and bad eating habits did NOT hurt him. I don't believe it for one second!!

This is the last thing I will post. I think the thing that bothers me the most is that no one will acknowledge the fact that maybe this will work for the OP. I for one have lost 80 lbs with cheats and having absolutely no set backs or urges to go back to my old woe. I know that if I don't allow myself higher carb days then this plan will never work for me long term. That style doesn't work for you? Ok well you do it your way and I'll do it mine. But don't make me feel bad or criticize me because my way is not your way. Or maybe it's jealousy that some can handle it and others can't.

In any case - I'm out.

If you take "good luck, it doesn't work for me or the hundreds of others we have seen declare their 'deserved cheat!' only to quickly become yet another disappearance act." as criticism, or feel bad about it? I'd say that's your problem. Personally? I'm not going to refrain from telling the truth, which is that it doesn't work for most people, and maybe you should look into why that donut is so damn important. Good news is that I happen to know at least a couple of people have listened to me, and are thankful for such feedback, even if only after the fact. I'll take that over sparing somebody's hurt feelings because they cling to their birthday cake SO fiercely, they can't see the roses through the icing.




Maybe you really should look into why that donut (or whatever) is so damn important. Ridiculous.

Although I do believe somebody younger and male can totally get away with it. For a while. Won't stop me from saying it's not a good idea though. Or that breaking free from the "I can't have a good time without FOOD!!" mindset is something to at least try for.

This is a great thread, full of honesty from people telling it like it is from their personal experiences (on both "sides", sigh). I, for one, am enjoying a discussion that's not tiptoeing on eggshells.

Well, we did warn about the "creeping" mindset and I'm pleased Whitecrane came back to say our advice to go right back to strict low carb did help.

As constantly pointed out in Paleo discussions , it's one thing to be young/male/active, or any combination... and it's quite another to be older, with a longstanding weight problem, and possibly a serious issue with "eating our feelings" that makes such diversions much more dangerous to our goals.

The thing about low carbing is how important momentum is to our progress.There's one undeniable thing about derailings -- they force our body to transition from a fat-burning machine to one that burns carbs. It can take weeks to get back into fat burning mode at its fullest extent.

Why would we want to slam on the brakes?

I wouldn't call myself addicted to any kind of food... although I am a creature of habit. It's hard for me to decide to eat a different way in the first place--even if it's just one low carb plan to another. For me, a single day off-plan--last Christmas was one--is relatively harmless. I felt crappy, didn't enjoy eating that non-habitual food, cookies and chocolate (full sugar) as much as I would have when it was a more normal part of my diet, etc. I wouldn't want to do two weeks of that--by then, who knows, my habits might shift back to eating the crud.

If I ate high-carb for ten days, and gained 14 pounds--down to 5 pounds, once the water weight was gone, I don't think I'd be very happy with that result. I don't really understand why that would be seen as a successful experiment.

For a lot of people on this board, even on low carb, a five-pound loss is very hard-fought for.

My carb addiction is so strong that once I start eating carbs it is very hard to stop. It is almost like I have a different state of mind when I'm eating carbs. I just keep craving more carbs and I never feel satisfied. I feel fat, depressed and always wonder how much weight I would have lost had I stuck with the program.

It may work for the OP but it isn't a great idea for newbies to be given this permission via our support for it. They need to know what the risks are. Then they can make their own informed choices.

I did allow myself cheats, as in a portion of an old favorite food once every 4-6 weeks, while I was loosing. It was a strategy that worked for me.
I would never choose to go off plan for an entire week though.
That would be to hard to get back into it.
Yes, I did keep track of these treats as I call them and it did enable to me to stick to my plan the rest of the time.
Making informed choices is the only way to do this, IMO. If you don't know the risks, how can you make a wise choice?