taking a day off, ok?

[Sera]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

when you are in maintenance and can control yourself well enough to not go back to your old ways because of this, I'm absolutely for an OCCASIONAL cheat, believe me.
however, thinking about this kinda thing while someone is on extended induction? come on, whats the use of doing this diet at all then?
this woe is meant to teach ppl to control their portions, overcome carb addictions....this obviously can't work if you plan to cheat once a week or so.
i cant imagine anyone being on this wol for years and not having cheated every now and then, its human and imo its totally ok.
I will definitely have a whopper once in a while when im in maintenance lol but my problem has never been that i overeat fast food, it was more things like maltesers (boohoo) and normal bread.
i found a replacement for the bread and when i can have a little bit of potato and whole grain pasta again i'll live my life pretty much like i did before.

[Hoping]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

Ditto on what Sera said.
When you're in induction you still haven't gotten the hang of this woe. For many it food IS an addiction.
We're just saying that it's very hard to get back on the band wagon once you fall off, for many of us anyway. Pizza, cake, and other food items off plan aren't going anywhere. They'll be there when we're done losing our unwanted weight, so why stop when you have good momentum?

[sallyseachange]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

I've been maintaining now for a good long time and I find that actually, there are very few things that one can't have. Sugar and refined flour are the biggies, but there are substitutes for those:
We have sweetners... and nut flours for cakes, when we want them.

The "never having this and that again" scared me too, at first... but when you actually get where you're going, it suddenly isn't such a big deal. Maybe it's something to do with the satisfaction of having reached goal. I hope you'll be pleasantly surprised, Medusa.

[Chicklady]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

My husbands boss is at least 400 pounds. His entire family is overweight. His BIL went on Atkins, I'd guess aboout a decade ago now, and lost a substantial amount of weight. My husbands boss said he then went back to his regular way of eating and used Atkins again when he go too much weight back on. Well, that worked for a couple of years, and then OOPS! he didn't make it "back on" Atkins soon enough. He has regained all his weight and then some. Odlly enough, my husbands boss didn't lean from his BIL mistakes. he too did Atkins, lost a lot of weight and then started on the rollercoaster.
So you think I'd be smart enough to learn from those two?*slaps self in head* I first went on Atkins when I weighed 250 pounds. Lost 103 pounds. Kept it off for almost 3 years....then went "off" Atkins.....just a "little bit" here, and a taste there....you can see below where I'm starting now. It's a slippery slope all around. Some of you on maintainance will probably be able to do the "occassional" thing.....I don't think I'm one of them.

[chicamarun]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

I agree with a lot. Yes - you can "cheat" on occassion. But don't think about it until you are sure of yourself and your body. I come up with substitutions for just about everything! My in-laws laughed when I was on atkins at the 1st time - but you know, my father-in-law was finally able to eat a dessert because I made an atkin's friendly cheesecake and it tasted awesome! I can't wait to make desserts that are better for people this holiday season.

My treat today was a diet rootbeer with some heavy cream for a "float". It was perfect and yummy for my sweet tooth.

Pizza? A family favorite! I will work on a new crust I can make myself with carb-quick or something like it and make a mini pizza for me.

Don't dread the things you might not be able to have again! You never know.

[shari_dawn]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

you may find that your body just will not tolerate those things that you are craving. Today my friend made chocolate chip cookies with my kids and I had a spoonful of the dough. I literally was ill the moment I got it down and had to run to the bathroom. It came right back up, than I was fine. Especially after you have had such good eating habits for 4 weeks your stomach is accustomed to digesting certain foods. The feeling was similar to when I started the atkins and got the 'atkins flu' except 3 times worse and that was just with a spoonful of cookie dough.

[grovemonkey]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

Chica.. now you got me thinking of pizza. If I may interject into the post, I suggest that if you want pizza, think multigrain whole wheat-type and make the dough yourself. A multigrain dough will not affect your blood sugar as much and if you are not in ketosis it shouldn't ruin your diet. I'd stick with a total dough weight of under 250 grams (for 2 people, 10-12inch). that way you can use about 150 grams of various flours. You could probably combine a almond flour with whole wheat and oats or something like that to make it healthy and a crust that doesn't throw your blood sugar all over the place. This kind of pizza would not be induction or OWL friendly though if had 50 grams of carbs to spare in a day you could get away with eating maybe 1/4 of this pizza or more depending on your exercise level and how many carbs you are allowing yourself to eat. My wife,kid and I eat one of these pizzas with a tomato and avacado salad on the side frequently. I like the idea of using a multigrain for the fiber and adds depth to the pizza.

[chicamarun]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

I love pizza, and 9 times out of 10 I make my own dough. I did find a recipe last night for a white pizza using carb quick and it's only 2 carbs per 1/8 of the pizza. I plan on trying it tomorrow most likely and the rest of the family can have a regular sausage pizza. I make my own sauce too so I know what type and how much sugar is in it

But before this WOE - I would make a 1/2 whole wheat dough as my family didn't like a 100% whole wheat.

[Chicklady]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

Have never tried this, but Atkins does have a "pie crust" recipe in his '77 edition, which looks like an extended version of his "revolution rolls". Don't see why that wouldn't make an acceptable pizza crust.
I still own oat fiber, coconut flour, resistant starch and carbquick from my last go-round. Since none of these things are Induction foods, I don't know yet if they are still good....It's been something like 15-16 months. I wonder how long that stuff stays good?

[mitzimarie]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

Speaking as someone who is currently in Maintenance... I don't, for the life of me, understand why anyone would want to cheat. It feeds the mentality that this is a "diet", and not a way of living. Atkins is not just a diet... it is about changing your whole lifestyle.

There are way too many alternatives to eating garbage. Get a little creative, and find things that will satisfy your urge that are legal. I agree that feeling deprived can lead to straying from the plan. But, there really is NO reason to feel deprived! Put a little energy into finding a legal way to do things... celebrate the magnificent foods that we CAN have.

Why do you want to give your power away to food? NOTHING EXTERNAL TO YOU HAS ANY POWER OVER YOU!

[kellyf48]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

Think of this as your "normal" because obviously our other normals didnt work!

[Sera]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

I would call it changing my life style when I eat low carb 99 times out of a 100 in maintenance.
I don't think anyone here is talking about going back to your way of eating before atkins but I can absolutely not see why we shouldn't be allowed a little something "normal" once in a while.
Now, things might actually look different for you, seeing as you live in the US and I know you guys have tons and tons of low carb and sugar free food over there that can replace almost anything you are used to but here in holland things do look a little different and there are a lot of things I just can't find here, I can only read about them.
But even then...I think a cheat should still be allowed if you can control yourself

[mitzimarie]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

For the overwhelming majority of us, we CAN NOT control ourselves when eating carbage... we wouldn't be here in the first place if we could.

[Chicklady]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

For the overwhelming majority of us, we CAN NOT control ourselves when eating carbage... we wouldn't be here in the first place if we could.

Some of us for the second, third, gazillionth time This is not a case where "better to have tried and lost" applies. Personally, I know I'd never to be able to eat just 1/2 cup of Ben&Jerry's. BTW, if you own stock in them, sell quickly! The have just lost a MAJOR customer

[Sera]

Re: taking a day off, ok?

For the overwhelming majority of us, we CAN NOT control ourselves when eating carbage... we wouldn't be here in the first place if we could.

I know, I've read the posts when ppl fall of the wagon and cant get on again and I myself had some trouble controlling certain foods for some years but I've gained back control after seeing what happens when you completely get back to your old way of eating and I believe or hope many ppl will have the same over time.
In the end, I guess, everyone has to make this decision for themselves