I blew it on Thanksgiving and now I am struggling. Five days later and it's a free-for-all food fest.

Nothing looks good. I don't want to eat and yet I want to eat everything! So far my inner governor hasn't been very successful in getting me to stop eating whatever it is I think I want.

And what has eating junk food done for me? I feel tired; my joints ache; I can see the bloat in my face and ankles; I need at least 9 hours of sleep a night once again; my face is red; my eyes burn; my nose is stuffed up; I'm having to take a daily Zyrtec antihistimine; I want to isolate and do nothing after work but read. I certainly don't want to prepare a healthy meal. I feel like shit, but does that stop me? I think I finally really and truly realized that I am a carb addict. I simply cannot consume anything that has flour or sugar. I am one of those can cannot go off plan.

Today I emptied my wallet and left my credit cards and checkbook at home so I could not get any food after work. That may sound pathetic, but I know myself and have to do whatever it takes. My first day on Induction is always the hardest for me and I find it just easier to remove all temptation!

BUT! There was a stupid, freaking free breakfast in the lobby from 8:30-10:00. I managed to avoid it completely (even took the long way around to the toilet) ... but later I went to the kitchenette to empty my cold coffee and saw that they had moved all the stuff on platters into the mini kitchens! I didn't manage to avoid eating it this time round!

I just read the Did you make it through Thanksgiving thread and, while I was amazed and happy by so many of you who made it through without cheating, it only made me more frustrated with myself. Oh yeah, and I made a really caustic reply to one of our posters.

I think it's time to start that damned journal.

I feel for you, and I know it sucks. To make matters worst Christmas is right on the door step which means more and more crap around to eat! I can't think of a harder time to do induction.

Nothing to do but take it one hour at a time, hopefully those hours add up to days and days. Maybe you can bring a lot of snacks to work? Like hard boiled eggs and pork rinds and such. I find it easier to avoid the "no no" foods if I am filled. And I can't even promise that this will work.

I keep telling myself that I am eating to much food, put on 4 pounds suddenly for payment. I know 4 pounds might not sound like much, but you are at goal seeing it dump back on is hard to take. SO I keep telling myself, I will stop snacking. And does this work? NO...I might get through one day, then pick a little the next. Come the third day I am once again digging in the bowls of low carb ice cream!

I guess my advice is to try to get through the holidays as best you can. Once the new year starts, everyone will be dieting and life will seem easier.

Oddly enough, Christmas has stopped being about food. Right around the time mom and I stopped baking cookies together, which was ... high school, I think.

Looong time ago!

Our traditional holiday menu is very Atkins friendly:

Christmas Eve
shrimp cocktail
various quiches (I can avoid the crust)
tomatoes stuffed with spinach, cheese and bacon
baked peaches (I can easiliy pass up)

Christmas Dinner
Filet mignon
haricort vert with toasted almonds
glazed carrots (I'll substitute or skip)
green salad

Desserts (my downfall) don't tempt me at Christmas as much as at other holidays. Once I get on Induction, and stay there the full two weeks, I hope to have few problems.

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm less worried about the holidays than just day-to-day challenges.

Badgergirl, it seems like you learned a good lesson about yourself and your carb tolerance! Unfortunately, many of us have trouble on special occasions, and Thanksgiving seems to be one of the worst. Fortunately it only comes once a year .

I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling so bad! That's the biggest reason why I refused to allow myself to 'cheat' on Thanksgiving. I knew it would just spiral me right out of control and I'd be back where I started.
You have to get your mind ready as much as your physical self. Just remember that 2 weeks isn't that long, and after a week your carb cravings will be gone forever and you'll FEEL so much better, and you'll know never to even go there again and risk 'falling off.'
I feel for you, and I know what you're going through. I lost 40 lbs last year on Atkins, and I thought I could keep control of myself by just having a 'little bit' of this or a 'little bit' of that, and before I knew it was I was back to my old habits and I gained every single pound back.
You are definitely not alone, I would venture to say there's probably more people here that have experienced the reverting back to old habits and gaining weight than not!
Just remember, we are not perfect, we just have to do the best we can!

You can do it!!!! Have faith in yourself!!

Well I understand what you are going through also. My husband and I went to my inlaws for the 4 day weekend and it was very hard. We both cheated some what. I gained 5lbs and he gained about 10lb. He pigged out almost the entire weekend. But fortunatly for us it hasn't been to hard to get back on the diet. I have already lost 3lbs again and him 5lbs. So just try and keep the faith in yourself and try and get back on track.

Oh I feel for you! But all the bad things you listed as feeling now, make me think that you do know how good it feels to be on track with your low carbing.
I can't believe all the energy I have now. I feel such optimism and I wake up refreshed and clear headed. Doing exercise in the morning has also helped me stay resolved with my food choices later in the day (why waste all that good exercise, right?)
Anyways . . . . I hope you get back on board really soon.

Thanks for everyone's support. <kiss>

I started a long response but decided to put it in my journal instead. For an abbreviated version:

I'm sticking! I'm on Induction!

You can do it! Make a goal for yourself that if you eat well with no cheats for 10 days that you get a new sweater or some other non-food goodie. I always ask myself, "Self, do you want this carby food, or do you wan't to be skinny?" How about stripping down naked and eating in front of the mirror? That would surely get me to eat better. lol!
Good Luck!

Badgergirl you aren't the only one!I screwed up big time t-day and a few days afterward!I kicked myself into gear Sun,and I have cheated only once since then.Two cookies.Yesterday I bought my self a nice outfit,a size smaller than I am now and wrapped it in christmas wrap.I can only open it on christmas if I stay on plan.I hope my plan works!

You can do this. You can, you can, you can.

Stick to induction like you've planned. Stuff yourself on the allowed food for a few days if you need to. You not flawed, you've just high insulin controlling you. In a few days you'll be back to normal. Think positively!

Two days down with no cheating!!

Well I'm in the same boat, but I never got off the ground. I was going to start the end of Oct... did good for a few days, went away and off big time.. I don't know why I feel I should eat junk food when I go away, but it seems like if I'm going to have a good time I want to eat certain foods. Okay, Friday I started again ~ 201 lbs (worse than before) but an losing my fluid. I'll get weighed again Friday and see how I do, but flubbed up last night again. Just a bite, but still flubbed. I am going to have to start a journal also. I think it's a good idea and maybe will help with motivation. I told the kids I'd go on a shopping trip with them this weekend and I'm going to try and stay on. I do find that taking selenium and my B vitamins helps with my "feel good" impulse eating. I forgot to take them yesterday and I was tired to boot. That's when I have the most difficulty. I'm going to keep plugging away.

Well, it looks like I have lots of company with my t-day flub-up! This same thing happened to me last year too. Although I did make it thru Thanksgiving last year, Xmas snagged me. I went to my parents for Xmas and I just couldn't keep it together. But the worst part is that it took me 5 months to get back to controlling my diet. 5 MONTHS!!! So this year I did not stay on plan for Thanksgiving, but am just now getting it back together and will not be visiting relatives for xmas so maybe I can keep control of things better this year. There's just something about the holidays that really messes with your head. I'm sure it's all deep-seated emotional stuff. But this year, i'm not as focused on not cheating on the holidays as I am on getting back on track FAST afterwards. It's also the holiday treats and gifts that people give at work... that is really brutal. I also agree that you have to get your head in the right place and not rely on sheer will power alone - it's short lived at best.

Good luck to everyone!

I read the other comments from you all. At least I don't feel alone. We can do this! I got weighed.. 197... I can see it's going to come off slow and I'm not a patient person when it comes to me. Of course I messed up day before yesterday so will see what happens this next week. Usually my first week is 8 lbs or more because of fluid. I'm still puffy, but have had to work strange hours this week too, so I'm not resting on a regular basis. It's okay, I feel much better on than I do off so I will do better this week. Good luck everyone.