When will it finally sink in??

[wannabethintoo]

Certain foods are addictive (carbs for example). We become food addicts and even though addicts (any type) get clean for a certain period of time, many fall off the wagon and go back to their old ways. It's not that they don't know that being clean is better for them....they know that all too well. In a lot of cases being an addict is more comforting than being clean. It all depends on what tools (support system, emotional stability....) the person has available to him/her as to whether or not they will remain clean.

[tickletussler]

Isn't doing Atkins and adapting to this WOE similar to finding a new habit and trying to stick with it?

If you've been doing something for years - anything from the way you sort out your linen cupboard to the way you wake up in the mornings, put the percolator on, head into the shower, get dressed and wake up as you are eating breakfast?

What about picking a certain spot in your garden, getting a really good book to read and cuddling up with a doona for the rest of the afternoon?

These are all habits that have taken us years to develop and many have emotional connections to them. So if we were to suddenly decide to change them, a person who is extremely determined, could make these changes pretty much overnight. But most of us aren't "type A" determined straight forward creatures. Most of us take a while to change and we have a tendency to fall back into the spots we are most comfortable with, esp if there are other stresses in our life - we like to "fall back" to within our comfort zones during this time

Hence, eating, drinking or smoking would be the same. We could all try to strive our best to adapt to new WOE, to give up the drink or to quit smoking, but when things are going badly for us, some of us have little or no support to fall back onto, so we fall back to our "comfort zones" which are usually old habits.... that is why many of us fall off the wagon.

the key is, as with AA or NA, one drink or one smoke is enough to set us back. If for some of us food is THAT much of an addiction, perhaps the one cheat will also set us back which means as AA or NA suggests, we should try and avoid these cheats at all cost - otherwise we would constantly fall off the wagon.

[Momtofour]

I think sometimes we just want to taste the ice cream. I had an ice cream at an amusement park on Sunday. I just like the taste of ice cream and it was hot. I still lost 2 pounds the next day, and I'm back to my WOE. If I totally deny myself, I will fall off the wagon hard. If I have a "cheat" every few weeks, then I don't feel like I am deprived. If I was able to stick to this WOE without cheating once, I would have to ask how in the world did I get fat to begin with.

I am envious of those people on this board who say that sugar doesn't tempt them anymore. I am tempted daily, but most of the time I choose to not indulge. Atkins makes the temptations bearable and I have control. Without Atkins, control is very difficult for me. I guess what it comes down to is choices. I have been overweight for 15 years and it is not going to change overnight. I am sure there will be ups and downs, but as long as I keep to this WOE, I will succeed. You may say that I'm not keeping to this WOE because I cheat occasionally. All I can say is---I'm not perfect.

[AllieCat0817]

Re: When will it finally sink in??

I read over and over the same posts ... and ask myself the same question!

"I did Atkins a few years ago and did well. Lost ____ pounds and felt great. Then I fell off the wagon and gained it all back and more!"

I ask myself every time I read these posts: "Why?"

I don't understand what drives people to abandon such an empowering way of eating. A sure-proven way to conquer the sugar demon once and for all time and yet they give it up and return to their old ways and habits. Why is that?

Why do people think they can go back to white sugar and flour without paying the price? What makes them think "it won't happen to me?" What allows them to drop their guard against refined JUNK?

I just don't get it.

Betty

I don't get it either.

[AllieCat0817]

You see that people should stick to this WOE through thick and thin.

I say there are circumstances we revert to old habits for primal comfort/survival and then we go back to doing what works in the end.

Well, one could argue that you need to make this WOE a habit of primal comfort/survival. Because if you don't, you are not changing the way you are eating for life, you just doing it temporarily until things get bad again.

I agree with Betty on this, BUT, I do understand how people can go back to their old ways.

Emotions can cause some serious mental fogginess causing the wrong decisions to made. Its not an excuse though to make it a habit of jumping on and off again of the wagon. Its detrimental to your Mind,Body and Soul.

exactly, totally!

[k5commando]

True we are all human and will be tempted but what I don't understand is the people who lose a lot of weight on this diet and then start thinking the lettuce is greener on the other side of the fence and start doing another diet. Makes no sense at all. On a recent post a woman lost 50 lbs and decided she missed fruit so it was time to change diets and go to a calorie based diet alone. HELLO!!!!! You can eat that stuff on Atkins upper levels but why consciously give up on a diet that obviously WORKS?!?!?!? :confused

[ttdriver]

I truly believe alot of what we choose to eat is emotionally-connected. We have been brought up by well-meaning parents who rewarded us with food when we were well-behaved, got good grades, etc. Holidays have become synonymous with food. We show our love for our families by making sugary treats, etc.

Then there's that 'entitlement mentality' ... I worked hard today, so I deserve _____________. Yes, you worked hard. So reward yourself in a non-food related way. "I've stayed cheat-free for ____ months, so therefore, I can afford one small little __________". Yes, you've stayed cheat-free, so why screw it up now? Celebrate the empowerment that you now have over crap foods!! Go buy yourself a new outfit!

When life is difficult (as it is for *all* of us at one time or another), we somehow believe we need those so-called 'comfort foods' to get us through. Where did that concept come from??

We've *GOT* to change our thinking in order to be successful long-term on this or any other lifestyle change. We aren't ENTITLED to eat; we eat to fuel our bodies. We eat to safeguard our health. We eat to ensure a healthy future.

Food is fuel; not an emotional pillow. (thanks Alliecat0817 for that quote).

Betty

[AllieCat0817]

You got it babe.

[LOWCARBINCLEVELANDOH]

I am glad to see that some people can havae that "Never go Back" mentality. I had it too, for a while. I lost 160 Lbs (started at 440) and just COULD NOT BREAK through 280. I hit my head against the wall for an entire year. I know no what my errors were....TOO MUCH PRODUCT! and too much Diet Coke.

So I am sitting here back at around 380. This is my last day on a clean ...Diet Coke free induction. I know what my errors were now, and I believe in the Atkins WOE & WOL. BUt I believed in it every Thursday for the past year when I ordered a pizza.

It's like any other backslide. You know something is true and right, but you just can't do it.

As far as that goes, I am working my way back, and intent on using this board to help me get through. I hope to feel supported. This post certainly didn't make me feel that way. It is a very very long road ahead of me, and scary...and daunting...

If you can't understand this, then you are lucky as ****. I salute you in your success, fortitude and sticktuitiveness.

Coming back after regaining weight is a heartbreaking and humbling thing. But I want to live. Feeling sad about a post from someone who has reached their goal is not going to stop me.

[AllieCat0817]

Good luck LOWCARBINCLEVELANDOH, you shouldn't let it stop you. You can do it. Everyone has their opinion and everyone is entitled to it.

[not2late]

If I have a "cheat" every few weeks, then I don't feel like I am deprived. If I was able to stick to this WOE without cheating once, I would have to ask how in the world did I get fat to begin with.

I'm a potatoes/rice/pasta junkie. When I decided to go on Atkins, I knew I had to say good-bye to these foods during Induction. After the first day, I didn't feel "satisfied" with my low carb meal because I felt deprived of my starchy pals. That's when it hit me. If I allowed myself to focus on the foods I couldn't have, I would never be satisfied with this diet even if I lost tons of weight. So, I began to concentrate on the foods I can have. After years of low fat and low fat vegetarian eating, I rediscovered how good some forbidden foods were. That was the only way I managed not to eat potatoes until I reached the starchy veggie rung of OWL. But I know if I kept thinking "I can't have potatoes. I can't have rice. I can't have pasta." I wouldn't have been able stick to this diet.

I won't lie, for the first 6 months on this WOE, I couldn't walk by the potato bins at the supermarket without feeling emptiness. So I avoided walking through there. Out of sight, out of mind---it kept me sane and on track.

On a recent post a woman lost 50 lbs and decided she missed fruit so it was time to change diets and go to a calorie based diet alone. HELLO!!!!! You can eat that stuff on Atkins upper levels but why consciously give up on a diet that obviously WORKS?!?!?!?

People think that the Induction phase is the entire Atkins Nutritional Approach. It's like their copies of the book begins and ends with Chapter 11.

[AllieCat0817]

People think that the Induction phase is the entire Atkins Nutritional Approach. It's like their copies of the book begins and ends with Chapter 11.

YES, they totally do. Drives me insane.

[BreakfastSurreal]

I think it's all about believing in yourself. If you ARE what you believe you CAN be, then you have succeeded. But sometimes we doubt ourselves...when that mentality is weakened and we have doubts, cheating and temptation becomes easier and easier. A strong mind is key to sticking with anything. Before a few years ago I would have never been able to stick with something like this. I was a drug addict, who cared nothing about herself, and didn't believe I could do anything. I was at the mercy of my cravings (being drugs). But I finally picked myself up out of it, and I really really don't think I did it alone...in the state I was in, I know God helped me. Without him I wouldn't have been able to do it. He is what made me start believing in myself, because I know there was a reason he saved me. He believed in me! And just that knowledge was enough to drive me to stay clean, and now I have been clean for over a year and a half. Slowly, I began to fall into food traps...I began gorging myself in food, and before I knew it I was over 200lbs. Same thing happened again! I didn't come up with the motivation myself thats for sure...I prayed and prayed, and then it was there. All of a sudden I was motivated to lose weight. Like all of my challenges I have stumbled along the way a little bit, but because God has believed in me, I choose to believe in myself. Sorry a lot of this sounded like some kind of personal testimony, but the point is, if you believe in yourself, you can stay on the wagon!

[k5commando]

As far as that goes, I am working my way back, and intent on using this board to help me get through. I hope to feel supported. This post certainly didn't make me feel that way. It is a very very long road ahead of me, and scary...and daunting...

....Feeling sad about a post from someone who has reached their goal is not going to stop me.

The people on this board are extremely supportive and you should feel like you can use us to lean on. You'd be amazed how many peope here were, or are still, facing the same problems you have. Regardless of how much or how little each person on this board has chosen to try to lose we all still have the same reason for being here. I think ttdrivers post is relevent and has a lot of good points, nobody should take offense to anything posted or as you said "feeling sad about a post from someone who has reached their goal...". We all have the same goal. I ask myself all the time why anyone would want to go back to their old way of eating or to "fall off the wagon". (I do understand cravings, believe me)! I think once you hit goal (and you will) you will ask the same thing.

[ttdriver]

As far as that goes, I am working my way back, and intent on using this board to help me get through. I hope to feel supported. This post certainly didn't make me feel that way. It is a very very long road ahead of me, and scary...and daunting...

I'm sorry you didn't feel support with this post. I didn't mean to make anyone feel bad. Just don't understand why people do what they do. It makes no sense to me. Its like discovering gold and going back to costume jewelry... Or trading real cash for counterfeit ...

Atkins is truly the key to a full, healthy life. Sure, its work. It takes diligence and discipline .. FOR ALL OF US, at goal or not. Actually, its harder once you hit your goal, believe that or not.

But we are a support board and I, of all people, am here to be supportive and encouraging. If I can help motivate people to stay on track and reach for their goals, I will be very happy.

Betty