Well i blew it almost one month straight of Atkins and i had to blow it. I was down 6 pound which isnt much but i lose slowly and i have been excersizing but i had a stressful week and so much homework and i was making my sister a bowl of fruit loops and i couldnt resist i gave in and then i had like 6 cookies and some milk and some doritos i cut it off there but i am still so dissapointed in myself my binge habits had subsided and the cravings were gone and i was so proud of myself now i feel terrible emotionally and not to mention physically but i broke the promise i made to myself on christmas that i would never eat like this again i am so ashamed of myself and feel that this is such a pattern for me i will do very good for a while and get on my way to losing and then there it goes my terrible will power gets even worse and i just give in, now i have to wait days to get back into ketosis and i feel shaky and have a headache coming on i will prolly gain all 6 pounds back knowing my luck i only want to lose about 25 lbs and i feel that it will never come off by summer my goal was 5 pounds a month and i had already lost 6 but i just blew this month im so frustrated and tired of this behavior sometimes its just as if i cannot control it. oh well i guess i just have to pick myself up and dust all the crumbs off and keep going.

Don't sweat it! When I began low carbing about a year ago, I would have episodes like that about once a month because I honestly missed those foods so much that I felt like I "deserved" a reward every once in a while. Then after like 4 months of doing this I realized that I didn't have the urge to cheat anymore. Even though my carb binges never resulted in a weight gain that lasted more than a day or 2, there were even worse side effects: killer headaches, extreme fatigue, and of course, an overwehlming sense of guilt. I haven't had a carb-fest since. But, now that I'm on maintenance I do allow myself small rewards like a bite of cake at a wedding, some nibbles of popcorn at the movies, etc, but the major difference is that now I am always in control. Before, when I had my little carb crazy sessions, the food controlled me and I just moved from item to item to item. Very, very bad.
Sorry to ramble on, but my main point is: Don't worry, you won't experience any long term effects from this, and eventually the temptation to do this again will dissapear forever.

thank you cococarby, i was noticing that your stats are similiar to mine you have reached my goal weight. was there anything in particular that you did? any type of excersize im just trying to get my plan down i have started to plan out what i am going to eat for the next day the nite before and i lay out my gym clothes in my school backpack so that i make myself go (at my college we get to use the gym for free and we have a pool but im not ready for that scenario yet ) but i do appreciate the support i relaly needed it and i would be interested in any tips you might have as to what helped you get down to goal b/c i weighed about 111 juyst about 7 months ago but alot happened alot of weight gain that is and its coming off oh so slowly so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks so much

Smile,
I didn't do anything really different than the rest of the crowd on this forum. Except maybe lack of exercise...I'm a full-time student with zero time to work out. But I figure I walk a few miles a week just getting to and from classes. I do want to start weight training now that I'm at goal though just to tone things up a bit. In the beginning, the main thing was just knowing exactly what I was eating each day... which meant no mindless munching or handfuls of stuff here and there. I kept track of my daily intake (calories, fat, protein, and carbs) on an Excel spreadsheet. Everytime I ate something, I typed it in and my daily totals would automatically adjust.. so I always knew how much I had consumed so far during the day and how much I had left to "spend." After I was about 5 lbs from goal I stopped doing that because it started becoming a little too obsessive, and I got sick of having to know the exact nutritional content of everything I put in my mouth. Since then, Ive just "watched things" by only eating low carb foods and by making a concious effort to keep my calories at a certain level. I've also incorporated a couple low carb products (tortillas, ice cream, carbquick, to name a few) and began cooking like crazy! I love experimenting with new foods and recipes, esspecially ones from this forum. Since relaxing my approach to this woe, I've actually surpased my goal! I'd be happy to share some of my favorites with you or giving you some of my sample menus.

yea i am in the same situation about the student w/ zero time i work out when i have time at school becuase we can use the gym for free but its such a meat market there you know. i would love to have some of your favorite recipies i have started to get more into cooking than the last time i did atkins when i would jsut eat a ham roll and some cheese now my favorite is quiche i just dump whatever i have in there but it is very calorically dense but its a good way to get some fat and vegetables in, but i would appreciate whatever you have to share thanks again for all your help.!

Haha, yes I definetly understand the "meat market" of the on campus gym. We have 2 huge facilities at my school that are free for students but they are always packed to the max with sorority girls who make it resemble more of a fashion show than a work out place.

Okay, well Im not sure what phase of Atkins you are in, so your interest in these recipes may vary, but here are some of my all time favorites:

Faux Fried Rice: grated cauliflower stirfried with shrimp or chicken, green onion, scrambled egg and soy sauce. this is absolutely awesome when a chinese food craving hits!

Vegetable Lasagna: Alternate thin slices of zucchini and eggplant with ricotta cheese, lc tomato sauce, mushrooms, and mozz cheese. Sometimes I add lean ground beef. Top wth lotza cheese and bake. Great for leftovers.

Egg Foo Yung: another chinese food like recipe, basically chinese omlettes. Mix egg (I use eggbeaters), bean sprouts, green onion, and meat of choice and fry in a non stick pan like mini little egg pancakes. serve with soy sauce.

Taco Salad: pretty self explanatory

Quesadillas: I eat these with lc tortillas all the time and a million different ways. Sometimes I add tomato sauce and pepperoni or black olives to make pizza quesadillas... sometimes I add lean ground beef, cheddar cheese, salsa and sour cream to make taco quesadillas...sometimes shrimp, spinach and feta cheese...the possibilities are endless!

Oven fried Chicken Fingers: chicken breast sliced into strips, dipped in egg, and coated with parmasean cheese or some kind of bake mix. Served with lc ketchip, BBQ sauce, ranch, or lc honey mustard.

Recent favs since discovering carbquick (but u could prob substitute any bake mix):
Banana Walnut Belgian waffles: follow the recipe on the box and add banana extract and walnut pieces. not just for breakfast!

Vegetable patties: recipe on this forum... basically just shredded veggies like zucchini, squash or brocolli, mixed with Carbquik batter and fried on the stove like latkas. served with sour cream.

LC burger buns: recipe also on this forum... basically the waffle recipe, only savory instead of sweet and used as buns instead of eaten as waffles, but still made with a waffle iron. I like to make a bunch and freeze them. They are awesome when you put a Boca Burger w/ cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and lc ketchup between them. (this is currently my favorite dinner)


Hmmm what else keeps me going...
Cottage or ricotta cheese, sweetned w/ splenda or davinci's with berries or sliced almonds thrown in.

Pumpkin mouse: whipped cream cheese mixed with pumpkin puree, splenda, and vanilla extract. Topped with whipped cream and toasted almonds.

LC Chocolate Cappacinos: Coffee sweetened with splenda and davincis stopped with heaps of foamed chocolate milk and whipped cream (my mom got my a milk frother for xmas so thats what I use)

I have tons more favorites but my brain is starting to fall asleep... Ill try to think of some more later on. Hope these help!

it happens. don't be so hard on yourself. i still have to remind myself that it's one day, one meal, one snack at a time! and i've been doing this for almost two years! you'll get stronger and stronger as time goes on and the cravings will get easier to deal with! you will be fine! just get back after it!

Remember, guilt is useless...it's a waste of time,it's self consuming, and it can make you fail even more. Forgive yourself and move on! And also remember, you didn't put it on in a month,so it won't come off in amonth...6 lbs is awesome! That's 1 1/2 lbs per week, which everyone says is safe!

Thanks for everyones support it has helped alot!
Coco thanks for for all those recipies they look really good i am going to have some cooking to do!

well i weighed this morning and i was only up 4 lbs which is of course water weight and will come off in the next couple days with some extra excersize, again thanks for all your support it really kept me from just giving up completley

Don't be so hard on yourself! I too have these problems with binging! I can also relate to the no time to work out. i work full time and go to school full time. I do try to workout 3x per week.

I too hope to lose by summer time!!! Only twenty pounds to go?! We can do it!!!! We just have to stick to the plan.

I have a suggestion for working out when you have a tight schedule......if you can find 10 minutes, either in the morning or right before bed, try "The 10 minute Solution" workout videos, there's 5 different workouts on each one, so you never get bored, and it's only 10 minutes but intense, so you actually work up a sweat. Mine has boot camp, pilates, yoga, ballet and kickboxing on it, and sometimes I mix a couple together to make a 20 min. workout when I have time. I've already noticed a difference in my abs from the pilates, and I do it about every 2nd day.

Also, park further away from where you need to go then walk really really fast to get there. It isn't really a workout, but every little bit of extra activity helps, and when you don't have alot of time, just putting in a few extra movements in your day will make a difference.

bl8r thanks for the suggestions i think that i have that dvd but i cant find it....i remember liking tho and those 10 minutes kicked my butt....maybe i lost it on purpose lol anyways thanks for the suggestions i really do need to work out more
and also thanks to everyone else who has offered your support i really appreciate all the kind help it has made me that much more determined in this WOL.