I don't know if I have asked this before, but I am going to anyway.


I always here of those who start this way of life, and then "fall off the wagon" and gain it all back.

Yeah.

I tried to make myself go off.... for some stupid reason(a while ago) and I CAN"T (not that I want to) stay off for very long. It kills my stomach. Seriously. Which is a good thing. But does anyone else get effected like that?

Sheila, My personal response is "Failed again. Add this to my long list of failures. Might as well eat myself into oblivion. I will never be healthy and fit." I am now in the frame of mind that I will NOT go off plan unless it is in an unconscience state! I am determined to make this my first success in a long list of future successes.

Sheila, I do find that I can't do much high carb without suffering some stomach/digestive distress - carbs really do affect me adversely! Strangely, starchy carbs are not as bad as sweet carbs so I can have a half a baked potato with a restaurant meal, but if I do I'd better not have a piece of lemon meringue pie too!!

I haven't really gone off plan since I started and I'm absolutely terrified of the thought. I tried, same as you, last month when we went out for a big sushi meal to celebrate a birthday, but I ended up making some really good, low carb choices anyway. Go figure.

This whole question came because my husband I were taking about a few people we know who also "tried" Atkins, but gained their weight all back. I am feeling very lucky that I couldnt' quit if I wanted to. Unless I wanted to feel like poo or something. ~ I was just curious if I was "different" or if other long term low carbers found the same thing going on. When I was only on it for a few months I didn't feel anything but guilt. LOL now, a year and a half later ~ yeah ... pains from all sorts! (And as sick as it sounds, I am glad!!) I have lost 80 pounds.... I surely dont' want to gain it back. I am glad my body has made this a lifestyle for itself.

I feel terrible off low carb too. When I started this WOE a few months ago my headaches dissappeared, my allergies were reduced by say 90%, I rarely have burning tummy and gas pains like I used to. I have more energy and have almost no cravings or strong urges to eat everything in sight. I am close to my goal weight, but can't see going back to a "normal" carby way of eating. My tastes have changed to where I love veggies, and a baked piece of chicken with the skin on is truly delightful.

One of the things said on this board really changed my thinking: being on a diet is hard, being fat is hard - pick your hard. Sometimes when I have to say no to something offered me, I feel a pang of feeling sorry for myself for not being able to eat "normal" food. But then I tell myself, "would you rather have headaches, allergies, no energy, and eventually not be able to tie your shoes without grunting, and not sleeping well at night because you're too fat?" Life is hard. Pick your hard.

I love this way of eating! I'm a lifer.

I haven't been at this very long, since the beginning of the year. I did well for a few weeks, then messed up and restarted 2/11 at the same weight I began the year with 168. I lc'd back in 07 for a few months--and should've stuck with it but didn't.
I don't know how I would feel if I did but I do know that eating VLC as I have the last week has cured my insomnia! This is awesome because I have young kids who like to wake early so when I cannot sleep and its 2am..I know the next morning will be hell. Everyone blames caffeine but sugar is far worse a culprit for me.
When I ate carby opposed to not for those few weeks I felt bloated and gross.

This might seem like a strange analogy but keep reading and it will make sense:

Have you ever heard of the frog and the pot of water?
If you placed a frog in a pot of water sitting on a stove and turned on the heat, the frog would end up getting boiled to death.
But if you had a pot of already boiling water and tried to put a frog in it, the frog would jump out immediately.

Now relate that to weight loss and gain.
Weight gain didn't come on over night. It creeped on and I put up with the stomache pain, the back aches, the head aches, being out of breath, etc., because it didn't seem like too big of a deal at the time.
But if I had gained weight over night, I would know in my brain that I was experiencing pain all at once and wouldn't want that.

George Clooney has always been reasonably fit. But he had a role for a movie a few years back where he had to put on 30+ pounds. He described in many interviews how that extra weight caused him lots of pain and he didn't want to do that ever again. I think of him as the frog being put in the pot of boiling water.

Now when it comes to those of us who have gained all the weight back after having lost it successfully on Atkins, I think the problem lies in the weight slowly creeping back on with cheating here and there, getting discouraged, not making time for working out, and feeling discomfort in our body but putting up with it. And then you look in the mirror and say, "Oh my gosh, what happened, I put on 50lbs!"
If we experienced the pain of being over weight all at once, we might not want to go there ever again.
Hope this makes sense.

And for me, I haven't been at my ideal weight for over a decade or two.
I have no idea the extent of pain I really am experiencing right now that would be alleviated by the weight loss. But I'm willing to find out.

What Renee said!
Yesterday I was packing 10lb box of cat litter upstairs and thought "gee, this is heavy". Well, 2 months ago I was packing more than that up and down those stairs all day long...only it was part of me! I would just grunt and groan and deal with it...well, I still am grunting and groaning, but it's getting easier. It's funny the different ways we notice things.
In the past I would fall off the wagon due to finances(as in food pantry)and feel guilty about eating yucky foods, then after a while just accept it and slowly feel worse and worse physically. Now that I'm back on plan I'm going to fight to stay here.

This is my first go at Atkins, and I haven't fallen off. I have stayed 95% on plan until 2 weeks ago (I had stuffing at Thanksgiving, and went right back to normal that night at dinner). We went to Texas De Brazil (one of those Brazilian Churrascarias where they bring around all different types of meats and you have as much as you want), and I had a bite of their fried banana (covered in cinnamon and sugar) and half a piece of bread. I felt guilty, but I had reached goal 2 weeks prior, and figured what the heck. I didn't have any crazy fallout, and it was nice to just have a small bit. I haven't had anything off plan since, and don't have a desire too. It was just a spur of the moment thing (honestly, they have REALLY good salad dressing at the salad bar, and there is something about a super crusty bread dipped in the leftover dressing that is SO good and I missed that).

This WOE has been so easy for me to do, that I really have no desire. I'm finally comfortable with movingup the carb ladder, and the added allowance will let me enjoy the things I miss. Oddly enough, they are not cakes and sweets or even potato...I just want some yogurt, fruit, or some beans in my chili. I will admit that I do enjoy the occasional low carb tortilla (string me up now, I know), but they don't bother me or slow me down.

Everyone has their own limits, and I look at it this way. I was eating fast food every day. I was extremely unhealthy. I now eat well, have lost 65lbs and counting, and have my life back. If I want an occasional something that isn't the best choice in the world, I'm going to have it so long as it's not a box of oreos or something. That feeling almost never comes around, and I have no problem getting right back into the swing of things the following meal and staying there. To say I'll never eat another cookie in my entire life is silly, but I can say with confidence that it won't derail me completely.

Falling off the wagon ~ how does it affect me?

It's 2 fold......

# 1. Physically, I feel like crap, my tummy hurts, cramps, I get bloated and gassey, headaches....

# 2..... Mentally, I get mad at myself, feel disgusted with myself for falling off the wagon, negative talk/thinking starts and then I turn to some carby food to "feel better/shut the voices up" then I get mad at myself again.... vicious cycle.

One thing I have noticed though is because the physical pains are almost instant... like if I decide to eat some slices of pizza for dinner by guts are churning with in a few hours... makes it easier not to cheat cuz I know I will feel it right away, and I feel so much better eating low carb....

While I don't feel my best when I don't eat well, I don't have these horrible abdominal castastrophes or mental divebombs that people describe. Sometimes I think that would make it easier!

I don't get them, either. The ONLY time I do is if I have chicken wings that are fried before the sauce is put on. (Otherwise I don't have anything fried anymore...which is probably why it messes with me!)

I think my problem is not that I fell off the wagon, but I just kinda walked along the side. I was on plan and doing great, but then fell in love and moved in with the guy. So I "mostly" kept to my WOE, but gradually -- very gradually -- added back in a few things here and there. Mostly I stayed relatively low with Dreamfields Pasta, low carb tortillas, Michelob Ultra Beer, a few pinto beans, a couple of chips -- you see how it worked. And for awhile I maintained the weight I had lost, but it started creeping back on and I was trying to ignore that (although how you can ignore needing a larger shirt, I do not know).

And now I think it is harder because I never really went all the way off the wagon. Induction was easy, and it still is. Still difficult to hang around on a daily basis with a non-LC person, but I've decided both of us will just have to deal with it. I'm not giving up my health for the sake of making someone else comfortable. We're hanging in there.

So back to my point -- I don't think my body is losing as well because there was no big shock. I didn't ever start eating sugar again, so I didn't have to give that up. I didn't really eat much potato or rice, and never started eating bread. I never drink soda or much alcohol. So I'm thinking my body is just adapting to the change, and I will have to something a little more drastic. But we'll see, I'm going to wait to determine if this is necessary after 3 months.

Anyway, that's my fall of the wagon story. I lost almost 80 pounds the first time and I want to do that again -- luckily I didn't gain it all back.

Add a little Paleo - eating within a certain daily window of six hours or less - but do something different. Add interval HIIT training. Do something different if you body has adapted. Never delved into "carb cycling" but hey, it's different and may keep you mentally on plan.

Just brainstorming....not judging.