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Before you take that one bite
We’ve all been there before: a big bowl of pasta with a snowy cap of grated cheese on the table, a piece of chocolate cake shoved into our faces as our "reward" for sticking to our diet, a pizza with all our favorite toppings and a keg of beer sitting on a coffee table, etc.
Before you take that one bite think about the following:
The Effect of Sugar on our Health
Many of us are overweight for a variety of reasons. According to Dr. Atkins in Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, 2002, one of those reasons is hyperinsulinism. . Glucose, or blood sugar, is required by our bodies. The body must maintain a certain level of glucose in the blood at all times (Ch 5). Insulin is the hormone that helps regulate that certain level. Insulin is the "barge that transports glucose from your body to your cells. Once it reaches the cells, three things can happen to that glucose: it can be mobilized for immediate energy; it can be converted into glycogen for later use as an energy source; or it can be stored as fat." (ch 5)
Excessive carbohydrate intake results in high amounts of blood sugar and may, in turn, overstimulate insulin production. The body attempts to adjust by liberating counter-regulatory hormones—such as adrenaline—to raise the glucose level, but another stiff dose of insulin can overpower the effect of those hormones. (ch5) For some of us, this process has been going on for years. As a result, the natural glucose-regulating mechanism becomes ineffective, leading to hyperinsulinism.
Hyperinsulinism is the condition that results from too much insulin being produced (ch5.) As an overweight person becomes heavier, insulin’s effectiveness may decline and the person becomes insulin resistant. This insulin resistance leads to hyperinsulinism. Studies have shown that obese people are prone to being insulin resistant.
Some consequences of hyperinsulinism:
Salt and water retention leading to high blood pressure.
The relationship between insulin levels and atherosclerotic plaques.
High insulin levels are related to high triglyceride levels.
High insulin levels are associated with risk of breast cancer and polycystic ovary disease.
Delaying Your Weight Loss
When you do Atkins on the weekdays and cheat on the weekends, for several days afterwards, you are no longer burning fat. (Ch17)
Depending on the cheat, it can result in the regain of pounds. The longer you binge, the worse your results. And the longer you are away from Atkins, the longer it will take to start losing weight again.
Effects on Your Metabolism
Dr. Atkins noted "I have heard people say , "I love doing Atkins, because we can cheat on the weekends, then go back to Induction on Monday morning." While this behavior pattern may work for the short-term, it will probably backfire in more ways than one. It is likely that your metabolism will adapt at a certain point—in a sense, developing a tolerance. People who repeatedly regain weight and go back to Induction sometimes find they do not experience the dramatic and easy weight loss they initially enjoyed. Add in the fact that none of us are getting any younger and our metabolisms natural tendency is to slow down with passing years. Finally, your body pays the price healthwise if you dramatically switch back and forth repeatedly from a fat-burning to a glucose-burning metabolism. (Ch 17)
This health effect is overstimulating your insulin response, leading to the problems of insulin resistance/hyperinsulinism.
What you can do instead of taking that one bite.
Identify your triggers. Triggers can be individual foods, emotional situations, environments, and even people.
A partial list of trigger foods includes nuts, peanut butter, pasta, rice, potatoes, anything made with flour, diet soda, ice cream, chocolate, and artificial sweeteners. However, any food has the potential to be a trigger to a person. So it's very important to identify them.
Emotional situations are self-explanatory: bad day at the office, an argument with the spouse or partner, being fired from your job, the defensive driver who almost slams into you on the highway.
Similarily environments can be triggers: birthday parties, picnics, an evening on the town with friends, business lunches or dinners.
And finally people: We all have them in our lives. The people who know you are trying to lose weight but still insist on shoving food in your face. Or worse, the people who purposefully eat a food in front of you in order to torment and discourage your weight loss.
Develop coping strategies
Write it down. If you have a habit of eating when things go wrong. Write down who/what/when you usually have the urge to eat. Either have acceptable foods available for those times, or write down people to turn to (phone them or go to ADBB, whatever). You can't always change the things that happen around you, but you do have control over the way you react to them. If you make a list and put positive ways to react to negative situations, and make yourself do them, then they soon will become a habit.
Make a contract with yourself. Write a contract for weight loss. Include your expectations of yourself and your goals. Sign that contract and keep it in a prominent place.
dreamof145's contract looks like this:
I am going to do this program for the rest of my life. I want to be healthy, thinner and live a fuller and happier life for myself, my husband and my kids. I will not jeopardize this way of life over food. Food is what got me in the predictament I am in now. It is not worth giving up my dreams over.
Find alternatives. Look for Atkins-friendly food alternatives. Can't eat a big gooey piece of cake? Opt for an Atkins friendly cheesecake. You absolutely must have mashed potatoes with roast turkey? Substitute the lower carb mashed "cauliflower". Got to have a sandwich? Use the Atkins Revolution Rolls for bread. Visit the recipe section of this board and our sister recipe board.
Keep emergency foods available and tell yourself beforehand that if you are feeling the need to eat out of comfort...those are the only things you are allowed to munch on.
Take a deep breath and step away. Step away from the food/situation and spend your energies elsewhere. Go for a walk or a jog (alittle extra exercise doesn't hurt). Call a friend for support. Visit ADBB. Spend some "quiet time" away from the trigger to collect your thoughts. Keep your hands busy (and away from food) by knitting, writing, reading a book, or doing weight exercises.
Enlist a support group
Dr. Atkins encouraged us to enlist those people in our lives as our support group. Sit down with them and outline your expectations and goals. Tell them that you need their support in your effort.
Look for additional support online (at ADBB) or in your community through churches, community centers, etc.
Don't be discouraged by the nay-sayers. We all have them in our lives too. Your health and welfare is much more important than their opinions or their discouragement.
We’ve all been there before: a big bowl of pasta with a snowy cap of grated cheese on the table, a piece of chocolate cake shoved into our faces as our "reward" for sticking to our diet, a pizza with all our favorite toppings and a keg of beer sitting on a coffee table, etc.
Before you take that one bite think about the following:
The Effect of Sugar on our Health
Many of us are overweight for a variety of reasons. According to Dr. Atkins in Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, 2002, one of those reasons is hyperinsulinism. . Glucose, or blood sugar, is required by our bodies. The body must maintain a certain level of glucose in the blood at all times (Ch 5). Insulin is the hormone that helps regulate that certain level. Insulin is the "barge that transports glucose from your body to your cells. Once it reaches the cells, three things can happen to that glucose: it can be mobilized for immediate energy; it can be converted into glycogen for later use as an energy source; or it can be stored as fat." (ch 5)
Excessive carbohydrate intake results in high amounts of blood sugar and may, in turn, overstimulate insulin production. The body attempts to adjust by liberating counter-regulatory hormones—such as adrenaline—to raise the glucose level, but another stiff dose of insulin can overpower the effect of those hormones. (ch5) For some of us, this process has been going on for years. As a result, the natural glucose-regulating mechanism becomes ineffective, leading to hyperinsulinism.
Hyperinsulinism is the condition that results from too much insulin being produced (ch5.) As an overweight person becomes heavier, insulin’s effectiveness may decline and the person becomes insulin resistant. This insulin resistance leads to hyperinsulinism. Studies have shown that obese people are prone to being insulin resistant.
Some consequences of hyperinsulinism:
Salt and water retention leading to high blood pressure.
The relationship between insulin levels and atherosclerotic plaques.
High insulin levels are related to high triglyceride levels.
High insulin levels are associated with risk of breast cancer and polycystic ovary disease.
Delaying Your Weight Loss
When you do Atkins on the weekdays and cheat on the weekends, for several days afterwards, you are no longer burning fat. (Ch17)
Depending on the cheat, it can result in the regain of pounds. The longer you binge, the worse your results. And the longer you are away from Atkins, the longer it will take to start losing weight again.
Effects on Your Metabolism
Dr. Atkins noted "I have heard people say , "I love doing Atkins, because we can cheat on the weekends, then go back to Induction on Monday morning." While this behavior pattern may work for the short-term, it will probably backfire in more ways than one. It is likely that your metabolism will adapt at a certain point—in a sense, developing a tolerance. People who repeatedly regain weight and go back to Induction sometimes find they do not experience the dramatic and easy weight loss they initially enjoyed. Add in the fact that none of us are getting any younger and our metabolisms natural tendency is to slow down with passing years. Finally, your body pays the price healthwise if you dramatically switch back and forth repeatedly from a fat-burning to a glucose-burning metabolism. (Ch 17)
This health effect is overstimulating your insulin response, leading to the problems of insulin resistance/hyperinsulinism.
What you can do instead of taking that one bite.
Identify your triggers. Triggers can be individual foods, emotional situations, environments, and even people.
A partial list of trigger foods includes nuts, peanut butter, pasta, rice, potatoes, anything made with flour, diet soda, ice cream, chocolate, and artificial sweeteners. However, any food has the potential to be a trigger to a person. So it's very important to identify them.
Emotional situations are self-explanatory: bad day at the office, an argument with the spouse or partner, being fired from your job, the defensive driver who almost slams into you on the highway.
Similarily environments can be triggers: birthday parties, picnics, an evening on the town with friends, business lunches or dinners.
And finally people: We all have them in our lives. The people who know you are trying to lose weight but still insist on shoving food in your face. Or worse, the people who purposefully eat a food in front of you in order to torment and discourage your weight loss.
Develop coping strategies
Write it down. If you have a habit of eating when things go wrong. Write down who/what/when you usually have the urge to eat. Either have acceptable foods available for those times, or write down people to turn to (phone them or go to ADBB, whatever). You can't always change the things that happen around you, but you do have control over the way you react to them. If you make a list and put positive ways to react to negative situations, and make yourself do them, then they soon will become a habit.
Make a contract with yourself. Write a contract for weight loss. Include your expectations of yourself and your goals. Sign that contract and keep it in a prominent place.
dreamof145's contract looks like this:
I am going to do this program for the rest of my life. I want to be healthy, thinner and live a fuller and happier life for myself, my husband and my kids. I will not jeopardize this way of life over food. Food is what got me in the predictament I am in now. It is not worth giving up my dreams over.
Find alternatives. Look for Atkins-friendly food alternatives. Can't eat a big gooey piece of cake? Opt for an Atkins friendly cheesecake. You absolutely must have mashed potatoes with roast turkey? Substitute the lower carb mashed "cauliflower". Got to have a sandwich? Use the Atkins Revolution Rolls for bread. Visit the recipe section of this board and our sister recipe board.
Keep emergency foods available and tell yourself beforehand that if you are feeling the need to eat out of comfort...those are the only things you are allowed to munch on.
Take a deep breath and step away. Step away from the food/situation and spend your energies elsewhere. Go for a walk or a jog (alittle extra exercise doesn't hurt). Call a friend for support. Visit ADBB. Spend some "quiet time" away from the trigger to collect your thoughts. Keep your hands busy (and away from food) by knitting, writing, reading a book, or doing weight exercises.
Enlist a support group
Dr. Atkins encouraged us to enlist those people in our lives as our support group. Sit down with them and outline your expectations and goals. Tell them that you need their support in your effort.
Look for additional support online (at ADBB) or in your community through churches, community centers, etc.
Don't be discouraged by the nay-sayers. We all have them in our lives too. Your health and welfare is much more important than their opinions or their discouragement.