10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

[Effie]

Sorry, You'll have to tell ME!

I'm stuck in a horrible "One day on, one day off" pattern. I've tried journaling, I've tried new recipes, but nothing lasts for more than a day. This week I've even had fast food twice, something I never really did even before Atkins. What's with the self-sabotage???

Quick, all you second time arounders, give me ideas that will snap me back to Atkins reality.

[loser4life]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

YIKES! I wish I had some great advice, but I don't. I know for myself if I cheat once it leads to more and more cheating... Conquering this reality has been hard. I have to push myself not to cheat once, not because I think it would be bad for the one time(OK-I KNOW IT WOULD) but because I know I cannot control myself if I let myself go and cheat. It is NEVER a one time deal with me!!! I will binge for a week or more. Until I finally decide to jump back on the wagon... After gaining 10lbs...

[cleochatra]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

1. Start over at induction. A clean slate. Get rid of those carb cravings again and renew your committment to staying away from carb creep and to get away from the foods you are craving too many of. Even if it's for a week, give induction another consideration. Sometimes wiping the slate clean makes a big diufference even if the first couple days are incredibly hard.

2. Ask yourself why you don't want to really lose this weight badly enough to stick with it. Are you starting to sense problems up ahead and are giving yourself more and more license to cheat over the holidays?

3. Ask yourself how eating the wrong foods has benefitted you. Have you been medicating boredom? Depression? A feeling of stress or of being overwhelmed?

4. Ask yourself if you are falling back into an old routine. Have you gone back to snacking while cooking dinner? Has your schedule fallen apart lately and you're seeking solace? Is the onset of colder weather kicking off some kind of internal alarm to eat?

5. Today you can look at yourself and you can say, "Why do I really want to eat this". Really think about how you'll feel 20 minutes from now. Will it have mattered that you ate the donut, or does life still stink, the bills keep coming and the job still give you stress?

6. Analyze why you feel what you do. BOOM! You're already taking the first huge step! You always used to just feed that emotion. Now you are thinking this through. You're already a new person, and you're retraining your brain to know that to a problem there is a solution, and it doesn't involve that poptart.

7. After you Analyze, next you'll Look at Response: What can you do, now that you know you feel crabby? Are you going to write a letter you plan to rip up? Are you going to make faces in the mirror? What will you do?

8. Next you'll take Action. You will do something about your emotion or circumstance. If you're tired, sleep! For me, a huge issue is boredom. So I read, or I post at a low-carb support group or I volunteer.

9. Be reasonable. There's always a honeymoon phase. Everything after that can become drudgery. The thrill of the initial induction is gone and we're here in the middle of Trudgeyland trusging along. Where's the excitement and the romance in it?

10. Be thankful. Losing weight is hard. Maintenance phase is a right stressful place to be. Now we're working towards something while we're losing weight. We hit goal and then the hard work REALLY begins.


Nowhere in any of these steps is "eat chocolate"...and you'll find, soon enough, that when you come home and you are ready to collapse on the floor and cry, you'll do just that. You won't stop on the way to Kentucky Fried Frankfurters and drown yourself in french fry doom the way you may have in the past.

Live a new life starting now! But you have to live that life from the inside out, especially if you're an emotional or compulsive eater as I have been.

You know, I've been on and off Atkins for over 22 years... I'm still learning. It was only when I learned to get control, to take control of life and stop letting life control me (or at least manage life without medicating myself with food) that I've been able to take off these 100 pounds. And because of these tools for self-awareness and analyzation, I know I'll be able to keep them off.

For me the journey has truly been the reward. And so it will be for you as well.

[Spikette]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

Wow, Cleo...what a great post! I can sure relate to a lot of those steps....an enlightening "nudge"

[Starmaker]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

ahem sticky?

[cleochatra]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

OK. Just for you.

But don't go getting any funny ideas.

[miss_muffet]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

Hi Effie,
I have the same problem.I just got to a stage were I could'nt bare the thought of eating meat even though I like it.I would start my day being good but by mid afternoon I would snack on some sugary carbs and think to myself its ok I'll just start again tomorrow.But I would just do the same thing the next day and then I realised I'd been doing it for about 2 months and all my new clothes I bought after losing forty pounds started getting tighter and that was it.I started by setting a new goal for myself one that I hadnt done before for example I spotted a new dress that I 'd like to wear for my partners christmas party but I cant buy it unless I reach my goal.I guess what ever works for you ,you have to find the driving force behind the motivation that you had when you first begun.
Missy

[Starmaker]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

Cleo you FOX!!! Lookatchoo!!!!!!!
I am at 209, right beside ya girlie! Might even get brave and post some pics!

[Beekel]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

My trick is to set a date a week-ish away that I will be binging (thanks giving) and try to hold on, usually the date will come and I won't want to ruin all of my good work. Try not to act in the moment (easier said than done). The food will always be there. I have to keep telling myself that. You can do it!

[barbarainholland]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

I start the day off fine, with eggs and a few slices of bacon. Then I lose it. Nothing ready to eat, so I start with the wrong thing. Or I make it past noon, I lose it after dinner, as my husband eats bags of peanuts or candy. No excuse, and so I thought back to when I've accomplished other nearly-impossible things. One time I was hooked on ice cream, so I put off eating it until the weekend, and then didn't want it. My instant gratification is so strong, and that is what I must conquer. I have the desire to lose, the books, the food, but then, when I need gratification in any area, I succumb. Back to basics...stop being a child...I want it NOW, and get with the program of being good to myself. Hopefully, I'll get some support here, as I am now 200 lbs., bad knees, high blood pressure...need I say more? Thanks for being here for me and others.

[artangel]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

WOW...great thread! Just what I need to read...apparently I'm not alone ...
artangel

[barbarainholland]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

Good Luck Artangel, you are not alone. Sometimes this is a hourly struggle for me, but one day at a time should get me back on track. Hopefully, you will be able to learn what it takes for you to lose those dreaded pounds we carry around with us.

[pierce894]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

Thank you, Cleochatra, for those steps. That's going to help me a lot too! You're awesome!

[boonie stomper]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

Effie - you remind me of me after I quit the old Atkins diet a while back. Sugary / starchy foods can treat you like coke / crank / heroin. They will always be easy to find. If they are sitting next to you on the couch, they will be like a snake in your pocket, ready to strike if you so much as look at it. Don't challenge yourself to try and prove you aren't addicted that's like an alcoholic going for that one drink. Once you decide it's blown, your binge will become an all-out blow-out, taking with it your waistline and self-esteem.
Then you are off of Atkins. You have to get started over to be on it.
That 2nd Day is always tough - if you go on a day, off a day, you are going to keep going through that 2nd day over and over. You will feel crummy, weak, and overwhelmed with cravings over and over; that's much worse than the much milder yearnings you occasionally face beyond that bumpy switch-time.
Hang in there! You probably already know where your level is; accept it, climb back up to where you need to be and watch your portion sizes. If you keep riding the yo-yo, you will have a story like my introduction before long.
Sorry for the ramble...
Cleo - you are teriffic!

[barbarainholland]

Re: 10 Ways to Get Out Of a Carb Funk

Good words Boonie...I copy and pasted them to read daily. The second day is my downfall, every other day so I will read this to remind me to keep on trucking. Thanks.