Okay, I will fess up.................. I have messed up big time.
Over vacation and life in general and everything else in between.

How in heaven's name are you staying "cheat free" from the one dayers to the 200 dayers???????????????????

I applaud your accomplishments, yet envy and almost hate you, too!!! LOL. What is it that makes you stay on the straight and narrow and never, ever, ever, falter???????

Today, I came back to this WOL, well, by 10o. I had faltered.
Damn, I could just sit down and cry, but I won't. Instead, I will ask for help.

Share your secrets.
How do you avoid the pitfalls?
How do you wake up each day and remain cheatless?
How do you beat the calling of treats??
How do you do this each and everyday???

I am seriously looking for the answers for my inability. I am trying not to stress out, but it is hard.

Hugs,

ATM

....One temptation at a time.

I can't say I've never cheated, but it has probably been 6 or 7 months since I have and the few times I have, it left me feeling cruddy for 2 or 3 days afterwards. Nothing carby tastes good enough to me anymore to make it worth feeling crappy for a couple of days afterwards and everytime I'm tempted now, I remind myself how I felt the last time.

I have to agree with Lisa. After the first few days of 'withdrawal' I rediscovered health that had been missing for at least 10 years. Feeling good is my greatest motivator (of course losing weight doesn't hurt either!). The first time I cheated (ate a big dish of ice cream) my breathing difficulties and digestion problems were back THAT night. A powerful reminder of what my choices do to me.

Kathy

Hi ATM, I have been LCing for a year. I do fall off the wagon every so often, but I make sure I get right back on with the NEXT meal, not next day or Monday, but the NEXT meal. My biggest downfall is icecream, so I have planned cheats, I eat my icecream and forget about it for about a month or 6 weeks, them I do it again . Those occasional cheats is what has kept me going for so long. I don't have health problems, I am doing this strictly to loose weight. I dont get carb hangovers like people talk about, kind of wish I did, that way maybe I would not cheat . Anyway, just wanted to tell you that the key for is 'get back on right away'. Hope this helps.

Hey there ATM,
No one is perfect and this woe is not a test, it's a personal choice. You have made the choice and you answer to only yourself. YOU are important enough to be true to YOU! "A Thin Me"...set your eyes on that goal. If it is truly what you want for yourself, then it will make the "call of the treats" like a fingernail on a chalkboard. We all digress once in a while, but the beauty of it all is that tommorrow is a new day, a clean slate ready for us to make our mark. Hang in there, put the carby treats in the cabinet so you can't see them, get a project going so you don't eat from boredom(my pitfall) and make sure you have meat in the fridge!

I take a slightly different approach...sure there avoidance...but I think you also need to figure out why you cheated...stressed out? tired? feeling downtrodden and want to do something that feels good? Learning from the cheat is the best way to recover...and getting back to LCing immediately also is a big help. Learn to identify triggers, foods that are hard to resist and situations that cause you to lose sight and have just a little bit.

Check out this link on maintenance (when cheating can really get out of hand): http://store.yahoo.com/carbsmart/whatyouwant.html

Lisa

Lisa is right. If you don't learn something from your mistake then you are doomed to repeat it. WHY did you cheat?

For me, I find pre-planning is really important. I pre-cook chicken and other meats so that I can grab and go in the morning. I hard-boil a whole dozen eggs and make egg salad with 2-3 each day. the trick is to always have something that you can eat right away in the fridge.

If cravings are a problem, I've found that glutamine takes away my cravings really well. Try it.

Oh, and most important, keep coming to this site. It really helps!

Alena.

I don't think of it as 'cheating' but instead, making an unwise food choice (or choices).

Once I knew this was my way of eating forever, it stopped being a 'diet' i.e., ON it for now, then OFF it later, the pressure was off! I am in no hurry to health. It took me 40+ years to get in this poor shape and it will be awhile for me to get back to health.

Every day, every meal is a new choice. If I make a poor choice, I forgive myself and try to make a wiser choice next time. No room for beating myself up, being bummed, falling into a pit or any of that junk. It's too destructive! Been there, done that, not going back!!

That's how I do this!

When I stay "cheat free", which is usually 99% of the time, I simply think of not giving in as an acclomplishments of the day. I give myself a goal, I go for a week at a time. If I thought of eating better as forever, I would go crazy, because to tell you the truth, I love eating and sweet stuff is right at the top of my list. I have been on atkins since April 2002, and I am slowly learning how to eat properly and healthy. It is still hard for me to this day. I love my milk and sweets, but I don't eat them. So keep your head up and don't give up on yourself. You can do it.
Good Luck, Belle

Remove the page in your dictionary with the word "cheat" on it. It no longer exists. It doesn't loom over you. It doesn't control how you feel about your WOL or yourself, regardless of whether you eat that oreo or not.

Eating that "_______" (fill in the blank) isn't the end of the world, the end of LC, the end of your success. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. Don't make it. Why should "X" have more bearing on your day / your self esteeme / your outlook than being a good mother, a good friend, a good husband or wife?

Saying that you are/have been "cheat free until X time" really is a pretty negative statement when you think about it - what happens the day after "X"? Are all bet's off?

Why does one oreo / "X" mean the day is a wash? What about all that nutritious, healthy food you ate the rest of the day? Doesn't it count?

Nat

P.S. Welcome back Pam, I missed you

I also don't like the word "cheat"...

It is SO negative. If I deviate from plan and eat semething that is too high in carbs or sugar, it's a mistake in judgement. But I don't beat myself for it. I try to identify the behavior that brought me to food(s) that I know aren't best for my body.

Donald

Now that I think about it, the word "cheat" really is too negative. I think a better way to put it would be "how do you keep from making choices that are not the best way for you to eat?". Same answer applies, though. When I don't, I pay for it with feeling yucky for a couple of days and I've decided that it just isn't worth it.

Thank you everyone who offered their suggestions.

Today was slightly better, but I stumbled here and there and today I feel better about it.

I just have to do the best I can..............

Thanks again for the ideas and support,

I have missed everyone, too

Just some input from a relative newbie (5 weeks.) Planning is everything for the major meals but for those times when I really want something anything BAD (I know there are those who will disagree with the word bad - how about bad food choice) I make myself a chocolate egg cream - DaVinci SF Chocolate or Vanilla syrup, seltzer, and a bit of heavy cream. Tastes a lot like an ice cream soda with melted ice cream and only one carb for the cream. A good food choice but it tastes so sinful. For those times when I have to pop thing after thing in my mouth, I measure out 1/4 cup of macadamia nuts and eat them slowly.
Catmom

...what everyone else said. Plus this: forgive me for repeating myself from another thread, but I'll use the 'carrot vs stick' analogy again. How crappy I feel after eating carby foods is a powerful stick. It's a real deterrent - to the point where it honestly isn't worth it. The 'carrot' is all the *really good* rich food that I *can* have.

This doesn't mean I never eat those carby foods; I've just learned what I can and can't get away with. I'll incorporate a CAD meal every now and then, for example.

Good luck to you - old habits die hard, but they *will* die.