I have had a very bad day today. It all started off well and good, but I have been worried about my husband who has been very ill. So of course when I am extra stressed I want to eat. Well eat I did, first it was three chocolate chip cookies and if that was not bad enough later it turned into a bowl of ice cream with cherries on top. What a total pig...and I just ruined all my hard work this week. I am so sick of my total lack of self control. I wish I could just get over myself already. I am hating myself alot latley. I was looking through old pictures today and I came accross a picture of me when I was about 190lbs and I thought at the time I was so fat. But now, I compare then and now and boy I wish I was 190 again. I am so sick of myself and my total lack of self control....

How many of you success stories out there had the same kind of struggles when you began the Atkins program. Or was it all roses right from the start. I am just fishing for a little encouragement I guess...

Thanks for reading my little vent against myself...

this wasn't all roses for me from the get go. it's not all roses for me now either, come to think of it. it's a mind over matter issue for me all day, every day. i just take it one meal at a time.

sure, i could get fries to go with my whopper, but i could also get a salad. so you did a little stress eating. it's not like you offed a kitten. all of us here have our triggers and our way of dealing with stress - food being a big component i'd bet. if not, we wouldn't be here, right? you owned your cheat and you feel guilty. don't let it ruin you. just get back to plan with your next meal.

you can do this. will it be effortless? probably not. but you can do this. end of discussion.

I go through a lot of waves...meaning that I'll be doing awesome for 2 or 3 weeks and then I'll go off plan with a bad binge. Not always sure what triggers it. Could be stress, could be TOM. But I have never felt like this WOE is simple for me. I'm a carb addict. I know carbs are really bad for me but I still pursue them when I feel down or angry or stressed out. I think we just have to take this one day at a time, not beat ourselves up, but just keep going and not give up. This is a journey and we are going to stumble from time to time.

I'm not a success story yet ( I just threw away an evil box of s/f pudding because some naughty girl told me it was yummy mixed with cream--she didn't know I'd inhale an entire mixing bowl full at one sitting). I look at it this way...you had one day where you caved. You had six days where you did not. Not so long ago I bet every day was a cave day. Get back on your pony and ride.

Most of us have been where you are... but the first thing to do after getting back on your pony, as Mumbo said, is to route all that negative abuse right out of your brain because continuing to hate yourself for having weak moments will cause you to fail in the long run. Everyone has slipped one or more times... the ones who succeed in the long run are those who say each time, "Whoops! that was mistake!! I won't do that again!" Even if they do it again.

Is it possible to get all that crap out of your house so it's not around to tempt you in weak moments? Having it around makes life harder than it needs to be.

One thing that works for me when these weak moments come around (and they do for everyone), is to eat as much as I want of anything legal, never mind "legal" quantities... at least while fighting off junk food. For the ice cream cravings I used to get when I first started Atkins, I used to whip a half cup of heavy cream, add sweetener, unsweetened coconut shreds and cocoa powder or frozen berries, stir it all together in the eating bowl, freeze briefly, top with a few chopped nuts, and eat. If that didn't kill the craving (and early on, it didn't) I'd make another one. All that heavy cream is guaranteed to kill any cravings and the "damage" will certainly be far less than eating commercial ice cream.

For chocolate candy cravings, I make my own of coconut oil, heavy or sour cream or cream cheese, cocoa, sweetener and a few chopped nuts... a couple small pieces of those and I'm stuffed, whereas pre-LC I could have eaten 4-5 times or more of the sugary stuff. Crunchy snacks like potato chips, etc are now deflected with pork rinds and homemade sour cream dip... 1 ounce of rinds plus 2 ounces of homemade dip fill me up faster than a huge bag of chips and a 4-oz container of commercial dip ever did. Homemade pizza now tastes better than commercial and is much healthier to boot.

Note: I'm not saying you can or should eat these things every day.... only if the choice is breaking down and eating junk food.... that is, when commercial ice cream, chips, cookies, whatever, are seriously screaming your name in an unresistible siren call.

I've since come to believe that most people who consume junk food really are craving high quality FAT. Substitute the crap carbs with wholesome high-fat foods and your cravings will eventually disappear and junk will rarely tempt you. At least, that's what I've discovered in the last year and half.

This leads to my last tip: I find eating some coconut oil 20-30 minutes before each meal fills me up and helps reduce cravings.

thanks for the support, I am picking myself up and dusting off...today is a new day...


Thanks again...
This place is so good to me...without these boards I think that I would have not stuck to this at all.....

That is the way to succeed!

I fell off the wagon for over a year, but I am baaaack and doing it with a vengeance!

Best of luck, no don't be killing yourself over one day, but don't let it continue for any longer!

Sagehill, thanks for your snack tips. I just stress ate a whole pint of ice cream. Rats.

I love the whip cream snack idea. I'll go for that next time.

Off the pitty potty now, time to hop back on plan.

Its never all roses.
But, the only one who can control what goes in your mouth is you and now is the time to do it.
What works for me.....everytime you are about to put something in your mouth...say to yourself :
Do I really want this? How will I feel after I eat this? Why am I REALLY eating this?
Be honest with yourself and after a while, you'll quite binging on stuff that makes you feel awful. You CAN do this, you just gotta make yourself do it.

Please keep in mind that it IS NOT TOTAL lack of self control!

It is only one moment of weakness (the first bite off plan)
When it turns into a whole day, that can be because of the chemical reaction in your body causing you to crave.

Like samantha says, it's that one moment of sanity that can save you. you have to replace that one moment with something that will stop you. For me when it works (and it doesn't always), it can be as simple as looking at the bag of doritos and realizing the two ways it can go and saying NO. And sometimes I actually am stupid enough to talk myself into it instead of out of it--go figure!