This morning, I wrote the most positive upbeat post about how things were going. Down 10.5 pounds, and so happy to be feeling like myself and out of the carbohydrate prison. I'm starting to think it was no coincidence that I accidentally deleted the post. It's now late in the evening, and I have just ingested 7, that's right, 7 plain taco shells. WTF????

I know where it started to slide. Last night, we went to our favorite tex-mex place, and I ordered a blackened chicken salad with grilled onions and peppers, guac and sour cream. Somehow the server got our order wrong and brought an entire basket of fresh tortilla chips to the table. I resisted. I was so impressed with myself. The salad was delicious, and I enjoyed every bite. But, my 3 year old wanted to bring the chips home. I know I should have said no, but I didn't. The chips sat on the kitchen table all night, and I didn't even think of them.

This morning, my husband made us bacon and scrambled eggs, that were so delicious. But on our way out the door to to Costco, I caught myself sneaking one chip. Just one.

A little while later at Costco, I saw they had a box of 12 "Oh Yeah" grab bars for a great price. I've read they are really good low carb protein bars. As we were leaving Costco, my son bought a small bag of popcorn for a dollar for charity. The little bag probably held 3 cups of popped corn. He ate very little, and we ended up bringing it home, where it sat on the kitchen table next to last night's tortilla chips. I skipped lunch, but ate an Oh Yeah bar. It was very tasty, but I immediately felt like, "uh oh, what did I do?" At 4pm, I found myself eating the bag of popcorn. Why, I don't know. I was just going to take one taste, but I couldn't stop once I started.

I had a great dinner, grilled cheeseburger with green beans and a salad. I was full and satisfied, but still feeling a little bad about the popcorn. After dinner, it really hit me. Last night's chips were calling me. Loudly. I opened them up, and started in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6..... My husband asked me, "What are you doing?!?!" I told him, I didn't know. They just tasted so good. I said, "It's like crack..." He took them away from me and threw them in the garbage.

After he went to bed, I remembered we had those taco shells in the pantry from a dinner, like, 3 weeks ago. (I ate a taco salad, and the boys ate tacos. 5 between the two of them.) There have been 7 taco shells in the pantry for 3 weeks, and I was never once tempted, but tonight, it was a free for all.

So, here's how I feel ten minutes after my little taco binge. My lips are swollen and red around the edges. My fingers are swelling up as I type. My belly feels distended, and it feels like my face is swelling up. The whole time, I was thinking, "Oh god, how much is this going to set me back?" But, it didn't slow me down at all. I didn't stop until the goods were gone.

Now it's time to face the music, I guess. I will not be surprised if I see a 3-4 pound gain in the morning, but I will be disappointed in myself. Talk about throwing yourself under the bus!

Tomorrow, I get back on the horse like this never happened. Putting it out here is putting it behind me. No more corn for me!! It's my kryptonite!

Follow up. I now feel as if I've been medicated. The feeling you get on narcotic pain pills. This is powerful stuff!

Swoops! Well, it's good that you wrote this down so you can refer to it and remember how cruddy it feels. It's tough when he have to learn things the hard way but the reality is...your disaster is now behind you and now it's time for search and rescue. Search for healthy foods, rescue your body by eating clean and drinking lots of water. Don't let there be any aftershocks!

If possible don't leave that stuff in plain sight anymore. After your son has his share, throw the rest away And don't bring the leftovers home. Nobody really needs to have that stuff anyway.

Good luck recovering tomorrow!

Thanks, Pink. Good advice.

I always go as close to zero carb as possible when I go off-plan. It really works for me - I'd do it for the day, and if you ate a lot of carbs, then do it tomorrow too. If you are able to be more active you'll be able to burn it off more quickly.

Good luck, and well done for keeping your motivation up.

Thanks so much. I'm back on plan with a vengeance today. Thankfully, I'm only up 0.5 from yesterday, so I didn't do as much damage as I thought. Instead of the weight gain, I can focus on the puffiness and joint pain I'm experiencing as a reminder to SOP!!!

Oh, man! I am recovering from my food binge from my daughter's bday yesterday! I ate and ate and ate!!! Seriously, even though I was putting so much food in my body, it was like I couldn't get full or feel satisfied. Today, I am puffy, miserable, headachy, sluggish & nauseous! Was it worth it? Heck, no! Today, I have eaten maybe 5 carbs since this morning, but I made sure the rest of my meals consist of high fat/protein only to counteract what I did to myself yesterday. I know what that out of control feeling is like and I hope neither of us goes through that again!

Get control of your environment then you won't have to rely on willpower.

It's so powerful isn't it? One tiny amount and suddenly you're wanting to eat everything in sight. It's hard because it goes against conventional wisdom "everything in moderation". But I just can't. Going near to zero carb for a day or so sounds very sensible, the last time I fell off I didn't gain anything the following day but I neither did I stop the slide

Thank you for starting this thread. It has helped me today as I'm going through something similar and, like you, I know where it started.

I am in day 5 of my SECOND YEAR of low carbing (yeah baby!). In the first year - no problem. Now, at the beginning of the second year little stupid bites of carbage have started. Last Friday, I took a few M&Ms from somebody's desk dispenser at the office that I never touched for freakin' 365 days! Well yesterday, Sunday, we had a buffet brunch at a lovely outdoor restaurant on the river. There was of course a desert section and, for some reason I'll never understand, I picked up a small profiterole pastry and popped it into my mouth. My BF stared at me in shocked surprise and asked if it was good. No, it wasn't. But today I walk into our kitchen at work and somebody has put on the counter a large box of Greek pastries (all filo dough, honey, nuts, blah blah blah). Again, I picked up a sugary wheaty thing and just popped it in my mouth! It's like I've been taken over by an alien. What have they done with the real me who wouldn't touch that stuff. I've since been back to the kitchen and had another one. And 2 M & freakin Ms.

Obviously I'm not throwing away a year of sobriety, freedom from carb hell, and a 30lb weight loss. So this ends today. But as the OP said, WTF????

Whofan,
First of all, congratulations on a wonderful year and admirable weight loss! Second of all, I'm glad someone could relate to my momentary lapse of will. I'm happy to say, I did get right back up on the horse, and I'm back in ketosis--doing my thing. The total damage was closer to 2 pounds, which I'm hoping to get off sooner rather than later. Never again will I trade 2 pounds for empty taco shells and stale popcorn.

I made myself some almond flour sesame crackers, which really help me with my salty crunchy craving. They are so good with cream cheese or Rondele cheese smeared on them.

Nancy was so right about controlling the environment. If you have things around that will satisfy, and you don't have the bad stuff, there's no choice to make.

Thanks for sharing your post! I am there right now. Started with an auction with a dessert dash. Our table won and paid $50 bucks for that dessert. I was having a piece. And that turned into taking another huge slice home. We went out for Italian food tonight. It was so full of carbs I could almost feel myself growing. I know that for me this WOE is a life style change and sometimes, I revert to old and bad habits. Usually when something stressful is happening in my life. That's not an excuse, I just know my patterns.

Anyway, thanks for sharing. Because you gave me the courage to do the same.

Congrats for jumping right back on the wagon.

Great way to look at it. I'll think of that if the pod people steal my body again and I start eyeing carbage as though it is not poison. Congratulations on getting back up on the horse and stopping the damage right away. I seem to be back to normal again too, after a night of bloating and a morning of diarrhea (TMI, I know, but it helps to reinforce the consequences of my behavior to expose it here).