Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

[Lisa M]

Re: Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

Ok....just for fun I ran across a few quotes in the Atkins for life book! (It's always interesting to see what Dr. Atkins says....It makes the discussion that more interesting.):

1) "Jef Gray, a thirty-seven year old executive keeps a close eye on his carb intake during the week so that on weekends he can eat popcorn or ice cream with his kids." page 107

and the rest

Hi! Sorry to be a nosey person. But when someone quotes something from Dr. A's book I like to look it up so I can see with my own eyes what they are reading to get a better understanding where they're coming from.

I'm confused because my "page 107" doesn't have any of what you have so I was thinking...

Which DR. A book do you have? Could it be possible you have an older version of which DR. A himself went back through and corrected what he thought would work better for the followers of Atkins?

I have the updated NEW edition of Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, printed 2002. That's the one I do believe most people on this board have kept next to their bible/diary/journal. I keep it here on my desk for reference.

Please help me understand that part.

Second, (((Nurti Nut))))) I know first hand at what it means to "cheat" and think I'm getting away with it because my body was losing weight for a minute. However, I didn't learn the lesson of what it took to lose weight, keep out the bad foods that were sabotaging my healthy life that soon crashed and burned because I gave into the temptation of "Oh, it's just one bite, I might as well eat the whole thing."

Cheating is cheating yourself out of unlocking the mystery of how your body works, fuel it needs to survive, lose weight, and keep it off.

I don't know about the rest of the gang on the board. But I for one like knowing cheating hasn't been in the cards since Day 1, July 28th, 2005. Yes, it's been less than 2 months, but it's be a great time.

Best wishes on your low carb journey. And please fill me in on which book you're using.

~Lisa

[Ailinn]

Re: Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

((Nutri))

I know the feeling of turning to food when I'm stressed all too well, so I seriously feel for you here. Recently though, I've changed my way of thinking and maybe (hopefully) it can help you too.

The way I think about it now is that there are so few things in my life that I can control. I take care of a disabled parent, have a teenaged child, quit my job so I can go back to school, etc (yes, my life is chaos right now). But! I can control *myself*. By choosing what I do and don't put in my body, I feel like I have control over something and that in and of itself is a very satisfying feeling.

[AllieCat0817]

Re: Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

Again, I totally disagree.

This sounds like you're saying self-sabotage is a fact of life and without it we aren't whole people. *lol*

I don't think you're weak, though. I just think one of two things:

1) You don't have the blood sugar issues so many people face, and so you do not react adversly to small intakes of high GI foods;

2) You just chose not to follow Atkins to the letter.

Either answer is ok; telling others to follow your lead is not.

I mean, yeah, we all may muck up from time to time. But if I were to say, "I lost 100 pounds in 7 months, and I cheated every week!" what kind of an exmple is that to set, especially when everybody's body reacts differently?

You have a method that works for you; but it's not Atkins and you can't sell it as Atkins. Especially to someone on induction.

Not to be an accolyte for Atkins or overly-proselytize, but this is an Atkins board. If we don't follow Atkins and push for the "whatever works for you" mentality, it ceases to be the special place it is.

Let's stick to Atkins, and leave the other low-carb plans to the Low Carb Bulletin Board.

{{{SCP}}}

What she said. Specially:

This sounds like you're saying self-sabotage is a fact of life and without it we aren't whole people

So many people just accept self-sabotage as 'this is just how it is' and someone who CHOOSES (yup, its a choice) to not self-sabotage are some how not totally human. It kills me. It is about choice. Not perfection/being human etc. Choice, daily renewal and recommitment. No one said that's easy. Anything worth having is worth working for. And I *$#@ sure am worth being true to this WOE. Every day. Because this WOE pays me back ten times fold. I never could have imagined ever being this way, ever.

Thank you Dr. A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[not2late]

Re: Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

I think there is some confusion about the Atkins Diet in general. It's divided into two main phases: the weight loss phases and the weight maintenance phase. The weight loss phases are Induction, OWL and Pre-Maintenance. The weight maintenance phase is described in detail in Atkins for Life, so to apply weight maintenance strategy to the weight loss phases can be potentially disasterous because maintaining weight is different that losing it. By the time you get to maintenance, in fact by the time you get through the rungs of OWL, you know how your body reacts to various foods and you can be more liberal in your food choices. So eating an occasional half a cup of ice cream during the Maintenance phase, most likely isn't as big a deal as it would have been eating that that ice cream during the weight loss phases.

Within the weight loss phases, what's allowed and what's not allowed varies. For example, during Induction strawberries and popcorn aren't allowed, but during OWL and Pre-Maintenance they are. So, I'm in OWL and have gone through all the rungs. If I want I can eat honeydew melon, yogurt and toasted wheat germ because those foods are appropriate for my phase of Atkins. If I were to post that breakfast menu on the Induction boards, I would get a much different reaction than if I were to post it on the OWL/Pre Maintenance board or the Maintenance board. That's why it's very important for those of us reading/responding to the posts here to know what phase the poster is in and if we don't know it, we should ask before making any further comments.

[fawn]

Re: Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

Though all of the different versions can be daunting and confusing for newbies, at the end of the day this is definitely a YMMV with trial and error.

[not2late]

Re: Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

Though all of the different versions can be daunting and confusing for newbies, at the end of the day this is definitely a YMMV with trial and error.

Oh definitely. OWL and Pre-Maintenance are the trial and error phases while you are losing weight. It's just for some reason I get a feeling newbies (and even some oldies) believe that Induction is the only weight loss phase of Atkins and is the entire Atkins diet. Which is really sad because they deprive themselves of the total benefits of this program.

[AllieCat0817]

Re: Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

First of all I think you need to realize that we are all human, and being perfect is not very rational. Although I've learned that there are people on this board who are perfect and never cheat, I don' t believe that this is normal or mentally healthy

Sorry to bring this back up again (well, not really), but it's been on my mind. I wonder how many people read things like this, and use it as an excuse or reason to fall off plan, which can then spiral into days, weeks, months off plan only to come back later bigger than before.

I know in my 'past life- preAtkins days' I would have searched and sought out ANY and EVERY little reason to 'not do the diet'... and a thought like this would be my PERFECT way out.

[ttdriver]

Re: Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

Perfection has NOTHING to do with not cheating. Not cheating involves a CHOICE. Everyone has THE CHOICE to stay on plan at every single meal.

Betty

[Kent]

Re: Got Stressed and Blew it BIG TIME!

Everyone has THE CHOICE to stay on plan at every single meal.

So true. Am I a perfect husband? Hardly... Have I cheated though -- totally different subject. We make choices every day and staying on track eating is just one of them. Some are more important than others, but eating on plan on the continuum of importance of choices ranks up pretty high to me. Given the alternative of bad feelings or self doubt, I will take being faithful.