Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

[canucme]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

i did the 2 week induction and took off almost 20 pounds. 17 to be exact. this past weekend i went to a barbeque and thought i did really good. i had a couple of cheeseburgers without the bread and some sausage right off the grill without any bread or pasta. i avoided the birthday cake and was very proud. i guess the one mistake i made was drinking rum and diet coke through the afternoon and into the night. so i weighed myself at work this morning and saw i gained back 5 pounds. i tried to rewind the entire week in my head and can't really think of where i went wrong other than probably drinking a little too much. it was really disheartening as i have been running 3, 10 minute miles every day at the gym along with a 4 day weight training program.
i thought i would be okay with the rum and diet but i guess maybe it was just too much. i read earlier that it doesn't matter what diet you are on. to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume. it doesn't matter atkins, south beach, low fat, low carb whatever. if this is true maybe i just had too many calories?

[Greeneggs&ham]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

I've seen it over and over and over again the people here who sneak/cheat/tweak Atkins to suit them and I see them here over and over again, restarting over and over again.

Why do I feel like not2late is looking in my direction when she says that?!

But regardless, I enjoy seeing the two of you posting back and forth since mckcomplex looks attractive in her beach pics. I know, I know -- typical male response.

[mckcomplex]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

Slapshot--congrats on your weight loss and condolences on your stall.

However, one day of cheating isn't going to take five weeks to work off. It sounds as if after you cheated that one day, perhaps you lost nerve since you felt you'd already cheated? This is a mental block--whatever one day of cheating does physically should NOT take more than four days to work off. After all, most of the time, "cheating weight" is water weight. It's pretty much impossible to gain five pounds in one day!

To Canucme, who drank the rum: oftentimes, rum can be sugary and can set you back worse than a few drinks of a whiskey or vodka. But, yes, what you say is true: calories in must be less than calories out, toot sweet!

And thank you for the compliment, Greeneggsandham! I plan to post some more pictures as soon as I figure out how!

[liv]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

Maybe it is easy for you and that is great that you can come here and tell us that. But for some this would not be easy. There is so much dependency attached to some foods. Put a can of salted nuts in front of me and whatever I have of reason and will is gone in a flash. For some a fall like that may cause them not to get up again. Please respect that.
Atkins has a rule in the induction chapter that says that one taste can be the kiss of death and therefore there is not cheating on induction. Please support people's efforts to stick with the rules. Some of us really need them.

[Slapshot]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

Slapshot--congrats on your weight loss and condolences on your stall.

However, one day of cheating isn't going to take five weeks to work off. It sounds as if after you cheated that one day, perhaps you lost nerve since you felt you'd already cheated? This is a mental block--whatever one day of cheating does physically should NOT take more than four days to work off. After all, most of the time, "cheating weight" is water weight. It's pretty much impossible to gain five pounds in one day!

Sorry I wasn't clear in my post. Whether it was a mental block or anything else wasn't really my point. My point was that I made a conscious choice on Father's Day to cheat, and that for whatever the reason (mental, cockiness, "one day won't derail me") it's taken 5 weeks for me to get back to a start. It doesn't mean that one cheat day/meal undoes weeks or months of work. My point was that if you told me the day before Father's Day that I would cheat and stop losing and be pissed at myself for 5 weeks trying to get cravings back under control, I wouldn't have knowingly cheated (like many posters come here for permission to do). So, when people come here on their own personal "Day Before Father's Day," they won't get much blessing from folks here because many of us know that, as Dr. Atkins pointed out, cheat(s) are indeed the kisses of death.

For the 95% of us who one cheat derails, that's why we're here. For the 5% who can cheat/drink and get back on track the next day, I'm very jealous. As someone who was cheat free for 90 days, look what one massive cheat day did to me. That was really my point (just a warning).

[mckcomplex]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

I realize that dieting is a very personal subject, and I applaud everyone on this board; after all, we're all here for the same reason. I respect all of the different ways that work, and I understand exactly what you guys are saying. We each of us have different ways (mentally and physically) of getting to our goals.

I suppose as an extremely stubborn and rebellious person, I chafe at rules. If I want a handful of nuts; I have them. For me, making that choice is important. But then again, making that choice too often is what put me here in the first place!

I didn't mean to step on anyone's toes.

[not2late]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

For me, making that choice is important. But then again, making that choice too often is what put me here in the first place!

And that's why we don't encourage or enable anyone to make the bad choices. Let's face it, if we didn't have problem with making bad food choices we wouldn't be here trying to lose the weight.

As Slapshot said, 95% of the people experience that kiss of death. From what I've noticed, of them at least 95% will continue making that choice of self-sabotage and subsequent failure.

In a way, I'm happy Pharmgirl experienced what she did and had the courage to post it----because other people will be able to hopefully learn from it.

[pharmgirl]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

So, yes it was a choice that I made. No one said it was the right choice. And I understand that these boards are not designed to "enable" people like me, but I thought they were a resource for us to find other people in similar situations. I merely wanted to know if anyone else out there had been in my shoes. I know we are not all saints out there, and I'm SURE there are plenty of people who may have been in my situation. Maybe they don't want to admit it like I did. And maybe it totally derailed them. Maybe they absolutely regretted it. Or maybe, just maybe they made it through and they still lost weight! Who knows!! I still have yet to find out if it messed me up.... I'll keep you posted!

The bottom line is, we all need to find what works for us. I know there will be many challenges in my life and I will not be able to be perfect every day. And no one should expect that for themselves either. I think it sets you up for failure if you can't be honest with yourself and know where your weaknesses are. I knew I was making a choice (that is definitely frowned upon) and I wanted to know if anyone else had done the same. And maybe I'll be perfect and follow atkins to the letter for the next 3 or 4 weeks until the next challenge presents itself. Life will be full of challenges and I'm aware of them. Many of you may disagree but I knew that if I had made the choice not to drink (on what I deemed a very important occasion.....and I really wanted to drink---so sue me!!) that I may have decided after that night that I didn't want to stick to it because I felt like I was being deprived of a pleasure in life that I enjoy. So in the end I chose to indulge in one night of fun and woke up the next day feeling like I wasn't deprived and I had a renewed enthusiasm to keep going. Yes, maybe it set me back a few days or a week. That's ok for me. It may not be for everyone....but I'm ok with that decision.

[mckcomplex]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

Hear, Hear!

[Slapshot]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

woke up the next day feeling like I wasn't deprived and I had a renewed enthusiasm to keep going.

This is a good point here, and one that I hope someday I can relate to. I've seen many people (probably in the 5% I note above) who can veer off plan now and then, and such veering off keeps them sane in the grand scheme of this "diet" being a WOE. I see the logic in that, particularly since we're pledging to eat this way for decades. The trick for me is going to not stray so far off the highway when I go barrelling down the ramp.

[Zarabelle]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

I totally understand all view in this thread.

Thing is, there is temptation all the time and if we give in, we will maintain our weight at best and not lose - I know, I have been there.

If you can get thru a clean two week induction and then move up the ladder as intended, life will become easier as your cravings will diminish.

[Zarabelle]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

This is a good point here, and one that I hope someday I can relate to. I've seen many people (probably in the 5% I note above) who can veer off plan now and then, and such veering off keeps them sane in the grand scheme of this "diet" being a WOE. I see the logic in that, particularly since we're pledging to eat this way for decades. The trick for me is going to not stray so far off the highway when I go barrelling down the ramp.

and the problem is that we never know when that ramp is going to be so appealing that we just can't get back. I am so hoping that when I hit target, I can veer off every couple of weeks and maintain my weight. I so, so hope but I just never know as I have thought I could do that before. x

[pinkfusion]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

To the OP. I assume you are doing Atkins solely to lose weight - not due to Diabetes or blood sugar problems. Given that, I feel you should make your own choice about whether or not and how much to drink. Thanks to all the posters before me you now can make a very informed decision. Having a few drinks is clearly against the rules of induction. Your two week numbers will be inaccurate and you will have a hard time determining you level of metabolic resistance based on Atkins' formula. You may also find your hunger level is up - you'll have to use willpower to hang in there.

But my goodness - it's your life! The worst that will happen is that you will be back to square one - 4 days ago. I have used alcohol while doing Atkins and still lost weight. It's even included as a rung in OWL. I have no doubt that at times my weight loss would have been better without the alcohol, but I made my own choices and was willing to live with the consequences.

You're not a "bad" person if you do drink and your not necessarily a "good" person if you don't drink. You just need to be prepared for less than optimum results for your induction and proceed accordingly. Don't let bad results make you think Atkins won't work for you. You can't know that if you haven't followed the rules. So maybe do an extra week of induction? Many many people do extended induction.

Good luck!

I don't drink but I so agree with this post!

[Nick.Alpert]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

I realize that dieting is a very personal subject, and I applaud everyone on this board; after all, we're all here for the same reason. I respect all of the different ways that work, and I understand exactly what you guys are saying. We each of us have different ways (mentally and physically) of getting to our goals.

I suppose as an extremely stubborn and rebellious person, I chafe at rules. If I want a handful of nuts; I have them. For me, making that choice is important. But then again, making that choice too often is what put me here in the first place!

I didn't mean to step on anyone's toes.

And no offense to you, but it looks like you had about 15 lbs you wanted to lose. So cheating for a day and slowing your results isn't going to be that big of a deal. I'm sure you still looked great at 120 or 135. But for many people that want to lose a considerable amount of weight they can't take that carefree attitude of 'hey if i want something I'm going to have it'.

If you're going to cheat what's the point of being on the diet in the first place? Maybe it's not the right diet for that particular person if they can't adhere.

I think when people come to a board about the Atkins diet they should get straight answers and if they're really determined to lose the weight then they should stick to the plan/rules. The point is you might cheat one time and it doesn't effect your weight at all, so then next time when an event comes up you will think cheating isn't so bad. It just gets that train rolling.. you get the drift.

[imagood1]

Re: Planning on drinking alcohol during induction

If you are going to cheat why post it here?