Ok, now that I have that off my chest...

I planned a cheat on Mother's Day. The problem was that it started with Chinese food with the in-laws on Friday. Then my daughter baked cookies on Saturday. Sunday was my all-out pig-out day... which was what I had planned. I had planned on jumping back on induction Monday, but was invited to lunch with a friend. I did ok at lunch - ordered an omlete. But I was tired, so I had a Diet Coke to wake me up. Why? I dunno! I know they don't really wake me up.

Anyway - I stepped on the scale this morning and it was up five pounds!?!?!?!?!? Argh! Whaaa!

Actually, I am not that freaked out. I know the scale does weird things. And I figure all that icky food has to take a few days to work out of my system.

So... back to induction foods this week. The worst part? the fair is this week! My daugher is in 4-H, so we will have to spend all day there on Friday and Sunday. Fair food is evil. Nothing there is Atkins-friendly. Even the ribs and chicken have bad sauce on them. So, I guess I will have to pack some food and take a small ice chest.

And no more stupid diet soda!

Thanks for letting me vent

Hope you got it all out of your system Nothing to do now but get back on the wagon again!

Yeah, Happy Mother's Day, right? Well, I got myself out of ketosis this weekend, back in today and less 2 of the extra 4 pounds the scale was showing me.

As you know, stay away from the sodium and drink lotsa water. I took extra potassium yesterday since I was drinking so much and it really helped with that re- induction ickyness.

I'm like you, hard to get myself back into - NO NOT EVEN JUST ONE BITE, SIP, NIBBLE!! I choose not to eat that, thank you!

You're back now! No worries.
Jinx

It is so funny how many people committed a cheat over the weekend. My cheat started Thursday. I ate 4, you heard it, 4 reese's peanut butter eggs, a pack of peeps, some malted milk eggs, and some cadbury mini eggs. It was soooooo good!!!!! Then on Friday, I kept making trips back and forth to the kitchen getting candy. Saturday wasn't too bad, but Sunday, I made french toast and had 3 pieces (with syrup), then I ate some candy at lunchtime and had mac n cheese for dinner. I really blew it hard this weekend. Plus, I didn't drink hardly any water. Boy am I swollen today!!!!! I was back on yesterday though, and tired!!!!! I am starting to feel better today.

I hope I'm not sounding like I'm preaching, cuz I'm not. I'm just letting you know my perspective so that maybe it will help you if you feel like cheating. I have been on since May 6. I haven't cheated once. I've had temptaions - make breakfast, incl toast and things with _sugar_ for the rest of the family, mother's day takeout from a italian restaurant- yes pasta and bread, going out at night on the weekend. Just for fun (ok, I know I'm sick ), I bought a bag of TGIFriday's Quesadilla Nacho chips for the family and didn't have even 1 crumb.

So why haven't I cheated?

1) I don't want to start induction at day 1 again
2) My belief is that either you want to lose the weight or you are going thru the motions to fool yourself, while you 'cheat'
3) Nothing tastes as good as thin feels! This is my mantra.

So please don't take it the wrong way, this is just what I do to get me thru this learning process.

That's not that I won't cheat- I will when I reach a milestone, but I won't just for any stray (hopefully quick to pass) temptation.

saltnpeppa

Great advice and something to remember, for sure.

I have been "doing Atkins" since March 24th with no cheats. This was something of a test. Granted there were a few things I was missing - or thought I was missing, but I also wanted to see how my body would react to this.

I certainly learned that it is not worth it - at all!

I will keep your wise words in mind, along with the other things I learned from this little experiment.

It definitely was not worth it and it made me realize that I really don't miss those things as much as I thought I might.

I've been doing Atkins since Sept 3, 2002. It didn't take me long to figure out that "holidays" come along alot more often than I realized before LCing. What I mean is it seems about twice a month there is a "good" excuse to tear into the foods I've been trying to avoid. My first biggy was Thanksgiving. Then came the holiday parties and then New Years. Just when you think it's safe, SUPERBOWL! Then came our vacation to Hawaii, Easter and Mum's Day (had a birthday in there some where too). Coming up is Father's Day, Memorial Weekend, the 4th, and Labor Day. These are just the majors. Add to this family gatherings and you get the idea.

My point is that there are going to be many times when you are tempted to "cheat" and go off for just one day or a meal. What you have to decide is what is most important to you. I, like most others, gain too quickly and lose too slowly to go off Atkins very often. Besides, I kind of like the inner satisfaction of saying "no" to temptations.

This is my 2 cents worth. Not trying to preach or offend any one, just saying if we are indeed serious about eating better, we must remain focused.

Cheers!

BrewWA

to only eat low carb cheaties. I started April 20th, and since I am nursing a new baby, I went straight to OWL, never did 20 g carbs. I hover around 35 g daily, and the weight loss is sllllloooowwww. I've only lost 7 lbs. But I am providing nutrition for my baby so I didn't want to do anything that would damage him.

Anyway, I have never touched any starch products at all. The times when I have let myself "cheat" just meant that I had a few more berries than I should have, or an extra Atkins bar. That way, it is not hard to get it right the next day.

I think that if you EVER let yourself eat true high carb, high sugar foods, you are simply setting yourself up for those horrible days 1-3 again.

THAT THOUGHT ALONE, those horrible cravings and sick feelings of the first couple cold turkey days, keep me from any temptations that I see. I cannot believe that I have a carton of donuts on my fridge for the kids and I haven't touched one or even wanted one. I know in my head that they are YUMMY. I also know in my head that I would love one, and two, and three, and would never feel satisfied even if I ate my fill. But my BODY doesn't crave them.

I am now feeling satsified after a good low carb meal or snack. That feeling of being satsified was simply never there for me on high carbs.

Also, the longer you stay away from sugars (and possibly even the sweetness of fake sugars), the more other foods will taste sweet to you, and you don't need the real thing. My berries are such a treat to me. And to think I used to actually SUGAR berries before!

Hang in there!
Yaelle

Well just be sure and pack LOT'S of stuff to keep you going at the Fair. I am on the road a fair bit with one of my jobs, and I take just about everything I need for the day, in a small cooler. I tribute alot of my success, to being prepared, taking the time, which means getting up earlier, just to look after ME

As for Cheating, well I guess the biggest problem is, like the old song says," ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER"

Cheers Kathy

yeah, an old saying:

Fail to plan .. plan to fail

Take whatever you need to get you thru those times at the fair or whereever you might be tempted.

Cheating is not on my list of things to do - ever. I've been eating by the Atkins plan for two months and have not cheated. I cook regular meals for my DH, the kitchen still has ice cream, cookies, and crackers, and all the other no-nos as well in it. I'm not gloating, it just a fact. So far I've been able to resist all those temptations plus cake and ice cream at birthday parties, a gift of Godiva chocolates, and cheesecake at a baby shower.

My 'mantra' is that I'm allergic to those substances - they make me sad, grumpy, and fat! So why would I eat something that only is only superficially satisfying? The results of cheating lead back to an unhealthy, unhappy me. I have committed to a sugar and wheat flour free existence, so cheating, especially planned cheating, has no purpose to me.

It is going to happen no one can be PERFECT on this WOE. Temptations and non-temptations are everywhere. Just get back on the wagon.

That is the wisest, truest words I have ever seen. I did induction for 4 weeks, no cheating at all. In the 3 weeks following, I have cheated BIG 4 times. Every time I LEAP bag on the wagon, and am glad for it. Sometimes, it is very hard to break old habits. Together we can do it!

I 'cheated' on Sunday as we went to dinner at a friend's place and his Japanese wife did all the cooking. Deep fried won ton rolls, rice, chick pea and sweetcorn salad....argh! Then she brought out the home made carrot cake....oh well.

I REFUSE to feel guilty. I was straight back on track on Monday with NO 'bad' feelings at all. In fact, no cravings whatsoever!

I didn't plan to 'cheat', it just happened.

We're all human, but it's our choice whether we carry on the cheat into the next day and the day after that. I chose not to, happily and I feel fine.

DON'T feel guilty, that will head you to the cookie jar faster than ever. Forgive yourself and get back on track as soon as you can.

This was my cheat weekend as well. Mothers day, and my mom pick the Italian restaurant. Ofcourse I was back on the plan on Monday and I just couldnt resist choclates at night. I know I've been pretty good on Induction for the past three weeks. No guilt just back on it today.......If this going to be the way for me then I will cut my self some slack !