Help! Did I just ruin my hard work!?

[AggieScottie08]

I have been on Atkins for almost 2 months now. I have lost about 25 lbs and for the last 3 weeks, I have been in HEAVY ketosis. Things were looking good.

However, this past weekend, I went on a trip and was good the entire time. Until the last meal. I gave in and ate several pieces of bread on the table. I then ate rice and then attempted to eat a brownie sundae. However, I couldn't eat anything else b/c of my conscience.

My question is this: Will my body resort back to step one of my diet? Meaning, Will I be able to REMAIN in ketosis. The sad thing is that people were telling me that I was losing weight, yet why would I resort back to old eating habits? GAH!

I have mentally beat myself up about this. I am back to very strict Induction. In fact, I did not cheat before this major slip-up. Anyway, do I still have a chance of remaining where I started?

[Elizellen]

If you got straight back on Atkins eating after your lapse you may be lucky enough to continue your weightloss.

But you may experience cravings after eating sugar etc so be prepared with induction-legal snacks and meals and drink plenty of water.
Also maybe step up the exercise too to burn off some extra calories.

If you can work out why you slipped it may help you understand why you decided to sabotage yourself and work out a plan so as not to have it happen in a similar situation in the future.

[shadewolf]

even if it did knock you out of ketosis, remember it only takes a few days to get back into it. just think, you're in this for the long haul and there's bound to be a ruffle or two (no pun intended) along the way. Don't berate yourself, and definitely try to figure out what it was that caused that decision in your mind to pick up the carbs, then correct/remove the cause. With my carb cravings, (which are now thankfully gone) I had to make sure to have protein snacks at the ready in convenient places...my work bag, gym bag, coat pockets etc. so, if i ever got caught out and had a cravings or just went too long without food I could eat one of those instead. i also made an effort to get really busy when a craving or temptation hit, usually with heavy exercise. that preparation has paid off and saved me from a number of cheats till the cravings were completely gone. now i just make sure i pack enough food with me to last the day even if something delays me and i get home late. i'm also doing alot of food prep on the weekend cooking ahead as i get very tired after work and exercise during the week and don't have the energy to get into cooking then. hope these ideas can help you out!

[tabekat]

Use it to strenthen your resolve

This experience could be useful to you if you use the memory of it to remind yourself how addictive the wrong kind of carbs can be. Notice how one piece of bread wasn't enough? I have had, in the past, the same kind of experiences. I tell myself just one, just one little fy, or chip or roll. But here is the truth. I have never in my entire life been able to stop at just one when it came to a high carb food. I have a sick and twisted love affair with those kinds of foods and I will chase them to my grave trying to get more of them if I don't stop. I choose to stop. I want my health, my life, my sanity back. Thats why I am better off just deleting those troublesome foods from my life.

[IrishIrish]

I agree that the lesson here is that we have to stay diligent about good eating. One carb leads to another carb leads to another ... it was pretty easy, wasn't it?

Drink your water, plan your eating ... even when you go out, remind yourself that it isn't worth derailing something you want so badly as losing weight!

Oh ... and congratulations on the weight loss to date!!!!

[AmyinVail]

Just wanted to say that you're not alone! I just did the same thing. I came down with a nasty stomach bug on Monday, was out of it for a good 48 hours and HAD to eat Chicken Noodle soup (only thing I could hold down and NOT in the mood for protein), concentrating on mostly broth. Well, I'm out of the woods with the bug, mix in a little PMS and Bam! Ate a cinnamon roll this morning, 3 cookies this afternoon and feel like crap. It's true, you can't eat "just one" bad thing, it snowballs. I feel terrible and like a failure - so, I guess we can pull each other up and get back into it! My goal was to do the best I could until my b-day, and now it's only 14 days away and I'm in a deep carb funk! ugh!!!

Anyway, sorry to vent myself, but wanted you to know that it happens, even to the best of us Atkineers!

[2big4mysize]

depeneding on how high your CCLL is you may not have done anything other then realize how easy it is to give up on your goals. If you are out of ketosis you just do a few days of induction level eating get back in ketosis and jump back to where you were before you jumped off your Atkins journey.

COngrats on your great job working your Atkins up to that point.

one think you really need to think about is that chapter in DADNR where Dr Atkins tells you to recruit your friends family nad coworkers to be your support network can really help in a time like that. opbviously you hadn't set any safety net up for yourself for that weekend event and it resulted in a hard fall for you. Talk to folk about asssiting you in times when you are not strong to stay on your program. every body likes to help and they could have nudged you away form the bread or the bread away from you. My little nephew announced very proudly in June 2003 I will have to eat your french fries for you because you can not eat them on your diet.

[oletaterhead]

I have found that my body doesn't just "turn off" ketosis after one cheat. It take a couple of really big cheats to do it. In fact, I did it on purpose just to try it out. I pigged out one Friday through Sunday on carb loaded junk. I was still in the purple Sunday morning...finally on Monday I turned out a negative keto strip. No change is weight over the weekend. Sure, I lost those days of weight loss getting back in ketosis, but I learned that a piece of bread every now and then isn't gonna kill me.

I am not giving you an excuse to cheat, but freaking out after a slight cheat doesn't help anything. You aren't back to where you started...you are 25 pounds lighter. :nod