<font color="blue"><b>Actually, abstaining from chocolate cake, ice cream, or apple pie for the rest of my life is totally realistic for me. I do not, nor never have, cared for sweets. HOWEVER....I can't imagine going the rest of my life without a hamburger on a REAL bun or pasta made with semolina flour! That's what I still miss terribly.

I'm having a difficult time wrapping my arms around eating this way the rest of my life. Right now I'm sticking to it STRICTLY but can't tell you what the rest of my life will bring...I just can't think that far ahead. JMO

Morgan

<font color="Blue"><b>Well, I haven't lost an ounce in almost two weeks, but hubby just reminded me that I'm an exercising fool and also do weight training! Soooooooo, hopefully, I'm gaining muscle and losing fat; leaving the scales at the same mark! "Thanks, hubby! That's why I love you!"

Well, I'm on my 4th week. Spent 3 weeks on induction instead of two because I wasn't losing anything but water yet. I'm losing steady now. About a pound every 3 days. I'm uping my carbs to 30 but some days are still more like 20 by choice. About once a week, I have a 40-45 carb day=not on junk food either. It has not made me stop losing at all. I think that if I did that every day at this point, I wouldn't lose. I am taking it day by day. I have been very strict with what I eat and do eat every 2 1/2 hours. I do have the crosstrainer program on my computer. That keeps me in check every day. I do jump on the scales first thing every morning and last thing every night. I have done that forever. I eat accordingly.

Don't be concerned about not losing weight. My son has been weight training for 3 years. He told me that you build muscle which of course becomes more weight but it's in the right places. The fat will come off accordingly. Because you are excercising and training, I would not be concerned with weight loss. Of course you have to monitor your diet, including plenty of protein. You will get there, don't worry. Just remember , do you want less weight or more muscle? It sort of comes together like a puzzle. Good luck.

Anais are you going to try to up your carbs? How many carbs will you eat during that so called "cheat day?"..I`m trying to go up to 50....not too bad...let me know how it turns out, i`d love to be able to see if there`s anything to this. I`m up for the challenge and i`d love to see my body be shocked a little into losing some weight again. Keep me up to date ok?

I have been on this WOE since Dec 29th... and lost 15lb pounds during intro... and nothing since... so I figure my stall has been about... 5 months long....

I have tryed a kazillion methods to tweek the program... cutting out caffine... uping water to over a gallon a day... eliminating frankenfoods... ect... and nothing...

I AM STUCK!!!!

so I wonder'd... if this really was a good idea to try???

has any one else been in the same boat??

Would love to hear... if this worked??

thanx... Shell

i will be back to tell of the lose or gain results in a couple days... but what i can tell you is that i know i have been backed up badly(never had this problem in my life) until my pancakes... i have used psyllium husk, flax seed, benefiber... nothing is working.... but wow the pancakes got things moving...oh my
i don't know what i am going to do for dinner...whether or not i will have good carbs or just leave it at the breakfast meal. i am at 58 carbs right now after breakfast and lunch. those of u who lost 2- 5lbs... how many carbs did u eat on the day of your blowout

just a reminder: i am willing to be a guinnea pig because i have not lost inches or lbs in five weeks. in fact i have gained 5 of the 10 lbs and lost them and gained them and lost them over the course of the last 4 weeks. i drink at least 122 oz of water daily and i workout pretty heavily...weights, kickboxing, pilates, walking. i have lots of concerns over the fiber thing and i will start a new thread to ask those questions be back later
-catherine

yes, my results are posted in thread titled

lab rats carb blowout results.

my experiment was a success-in the next 3 days after my big blow-out I lost 2 more pounds and I am still losing even though I occasionally do the extra carb days. It seems to be all right as long I generally maintain a nice low-carb lifestyle. I occasionally eat fig bars- yummm, and I do eat peanut-butter frequently. I am not in ketosis as I am breastfeeding, but I am losing weight. Before the Atkins I wasn't losing anything!

Selphie,

What did you eat on your big blowout carb day?

Peg

I am too scared to blow it! I better stick with the plan I suppose...Maybe after I hit 199 I will try one

Hey Morgan1974,

Once you have started your maintenance diet and figure out how many carbs per day you can eat without gaining, then you can eat whatever you want. Just make sure you keep within your carb limit. So you can have that chocolate cake and apple pie slices. This is my understanding. Everything in moderation.

I have not been on Atkins long enough to be able to give you guys any advice on cheat days...however, I have been on a general diet for a while, and, I have found that cheat days helped me to lose more weight than I could before. Actually, most of my cheat days weren't planned and would usually be a couple of days. When I would get on the scale, I would find that I lost a couple of pounds.

And, the few times I got off my diet for a week at the time? Well, I didn't lose (and didn't gain), but, when I did start dieting again....I would drop like 4 pounds in a day or two. It's like my body was saying, "Ok, we can let go of this fat...she's not starving."

I think it has to do with keeping your body guessing and not knowing what you are doing. Your body can't get used to a set pattern, so it can't get so efficient that weight loss stops.

However, if you are the type of person that can't stop with just one...I wouldn't do it. It would be better to lose weight very slowly, than to take a chance going back to old eating habits.

JMHO, and I just started induction yesterday....I plan on having a cheat this Sunday (my birthday) and will let you know how it goes.

let's see- I ate fig bars, graham crackers with honey on them, ice cream and an Ethnic Cuisine Indian food dinner- I believe it was tandoori chicken and basmati rice-

mmmmmmmm..basmati rice.....

I was just sick, and didnt start getting better til I had a couple of days of increased carbs-Wed was a grilled cheese, Thursday was a bowl of pho and Friday was a matzo ball soup. No headache, no penalties whatsoever (shockingly) Since then Ive stuck around 30 carbs...and am feeling TONS better. Too soon to tell if its stalled the weight loss or helped. ...more on thursday when I weight myself.

I think this is a good tool...if used judiciously.

JC