Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

[veggieloverco]

I have been loving this board, trying lots of the recipes and doing really good since I started Induction (Atkins for the first time for me) last Friday.

But...today I was with a group of people and ended up at a Chinese restaurant.

Now I didn't do terrible...I don't think...I passed on the soup, eggroll, rice and ate about 1 cup of my Kung Pao Chicken (Chicken, red chilis, peanuts, celery, onion in brown sauce)

I looked it up online and know that was NOT a good thing to eat on Induction.

Have I screwed it all up? Should I start with Induction again tommorrow? Did that rush of carbs screw up the 5lbs I've lost since I started?

Feeling very upset with myself.

[LateNiteDiner]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

What's done is done. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try to avoid repeating your mistake.

If by "start with Induction again" you mean start on day 1, I would suggest finishing out another week and making a decision at that point. If the cravings disappear and you're happy with your weight loss efforts despite one hiccup, move on to OWL. If you believe the Chinese incident may have derailed you, stick around on Induction for another week. Whether you call it Induction or Extended Induction, another week of strict carb restriction won't hurt.

Of course, that doesn't give you free license to "induct" for a week and then "screw up" just to begin over week to week.

P.S. Although fast food Chinese is not a great option, especially on Induction, you should be able to ask for no sauce when ordering, sticking to just meat and steamed veggies. Good luck!

[liv]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

Chinese restaurants are so tough. The sauces with sugars and starches just are not right for Atkins.
But yes keep going. You will be just fine. Drink your water.

[Elizellen]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

As the others said, if you eat off-plan for one meal (either intentionally, or inadvertently or because you made the best choices available at the time) you do not restart counting your first 14 days of induction .
So if yesterday was day 7, today is day 8.

When you have finished day 14 and weigh yourself to see your 14-day loss to work out your metabolic resistance to weightloss according to the chart in DANDR you will probably have lost a little less than if you had not eaten offplan, but what's done is done.

But for the next couple of days be aware that you might start to experience cravings again, so make sure you have plenty of high-fat 'legal' snacks and meals ready in case you get an attack of the 'munchies'

[Georgiana]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

I looked it up online and know that was NOT a good thing to eat on Induction.

With the sugar and (probably) cornstarch in it, I wouldn't consider a good thing to eat even after Induction.

Have I screwed it all up?

No... you were uninformed and made a bad choice. Atkins is a way of eating for life, not an "all or nothing" diet... so one bad meal doesn't mean you "screwed it all up".

Lesson learned, I believe.

Are you reading Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution (2002)? Chapter 19 discusses "Eating in the Real World". It says there that you should avoid sauces when eating out.

Should I start with Induction again tommorrow?

As the others have said, you should continue with Induction... and not tomorrow, but with your next meal.

Unless the Chinese meal was your dinner, then you should not try to "fix" the damage by not eating anything else that day. Again, Atkins is a way of eating for life, and making a mistake (and mistakes will happen regardless of how well you know Atkins) is not a reason to "punish" yourself.

As for starting Induction again... if by that you mean starting from day 1, that's simply not possible. Day 1 is gone... and, while you can count your days as you wish, there's no way to get day 1 back and just erase this bad meal you had.

Did that rush of carbs screw up the 5lbs I've lost since I started?

Unless you keep repeating the mistake, probably not.

How did you feel after eating that meal? Did you experience any blood sugar issues? There's a table of symptoms in Chapter 12 of DANDR 2002.

[veggieloverco]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

I didn't feel terrible cravings after eating yesterday...though my stomache did ache most of the evening and I only ate a small meal because I didn't feel great.

Started on track this morning again!

I guess it is a lifestyle and of course some days are going to go better than others. It just felt to me that Atkins seemed to work better the MORE perfect you were at it.

I'll get there, just one meal at a time!

Thanks for the feedback.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

>>It just felt to me that Atkins seemed to work better the MORE perfect you were at it.>>

That's true.

>>though my stomache did ache most of the evening>>

That would be the result of eating not such great Atkins choices.

[sosolove]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

I ate some chinese food yesterday (chicken, shrimp and broccoli) and it made my stomach ached like crazy. I was thinking they put MSG in the food. I was under the impression chinese food is okay to eat during induction. I'm done with it since it made my tummy hurt.

[Elizellen]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

I was thinking they put MSG in the food. I was under the impression chinese food is okay to eat during induction.

I think a western-style chinese restaurant is probably one of the most difficult places to eat induction without problems as most sauces have starches and even the meats are glazed or marinaded in sugar, plus as you suspect they do use a lot of MSG.
I have never been to a genuine chinese restaurant serving food like they would in China so don't know if the same would be true of their cuisine.

[BadLuckBetty]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

"One bad meal doesn't make you fat, and one good meal won't make you thin." *My wise mother. Get back up on the horse! We all fall off occasionally.

[veggieloverco]

Re: Day 7 of Induction - Did I screw up too much?

Well I did get back on the horse so to speak. That one meal did seem to completely bloat me up and put on about 2.5 lbs on the scale...but...back to doing things right now and staying positive.

I hated how I felt so that one mistake may have been a great things....I kinda dont' want to feel that way again!