So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

[djfmf]

me and another board member were having a serious debate or should i say flame war but i want other peoples opinions. I've been overweight all my life, i decided to take my coworkers advice last July 2005 at 235lbs. i stayed on induction till february 2006 and dropped all the way to 166lbs. i was on and off the diet until may/june while still maintaining my weight when i deicided to let loose and eat whatever i want before i left the states. let's just say i went back to my old ways. reason why is because i got word i was deploying to Iraq, i was stressed, i wanted to try certain foods before i left etc... so anyways i ate whatever i wanted on one condition, that when i came to Iraq i would go back on induction and finish the diet from where i left off back in february. i come out to Iraq Mid July at 185lbs, the first week i slowly cut out the carbs, then the second week when i felt ready i cut them out entirely focusing on eating less than 20-25 carbs a day. i started taking the recommended supplements, i exercised everyday, i drank 9 1.5 liters of bottled water each day. the results? i went from 185lbs to 163lbs by 11SEP06 and i'm still losing weight. i did take a day off my diet in august because of my birthday but that's wasn't a pretty picture. anyways three to four weeks ago me my friend were craving cheesecake. it was my fault for telling him, i'll get one if you get one in which we proceeded. afterwards i didn't feel guilty and the scale the next day didn't show any weight gain. so i proceeded with my induction diet as usual and pretended that it never happened. with my strict diet, daily exercise, 9 1.5 liters of water and daily supplements i believe my metabolism is still on fire. so the day that i cheated and had that cheesecake i set out to reward myself twice a month on the 1st and the 15th by having whatever i wanted at one meal while all the other meals of the week were low carb/induction approved(in other words 20/21 was low carb meals). my reward day is coming up, but a few days ago i had another idea, why not reward myself once a week instead. i'm doing so well on this induction style diet that with my metabolism it shouldn't affect my weight loss goals. when i posted my sample meal list and stated that i was going to eat whatever i wanted for one meal this friday this lady had a fit. she made it sound like what i was doing was entirely wrong but i beg to differ. i dont have carb or sweet cravings one bit, i "DECIDED" to reward myself, it was "ME" who made that decision. i can continue on with my diet but i like the fact that i can now reward myself once a week and still lose weight and not feel guilty. i know a lot of people on this site is like "WTF? you are doing atkins totally wrong and you should be doing it by the book". i did... at first but i've also changed my eating lifestyle. Some people have an easy time losing weight on atkins while others struggle and have a much harder time, i happen to be one of those few who made losing weight seem easy. it's hard to write how i lost all this weight so quickly but if you spent time with me in person, saw what i did, what i ate etc... you would realize i put a lot of effort into reaching my goal. My goal weight is 145lbs, i'm practically there. eating low carb is nothing new to me and i'm sorry that other people seem to have a harder time than what i went through to lose weight but like i said i was determined, very strict with myself and my diet. maybe the lady is right, that one reward meal of the week isn't induction. while that may be true i really don't need to be on it right now, i just use it more as a guide line 95% of the time. i just don't see what's wrong with rewarding myself the way i'm doing it, i'm still losing weight, i'm not overeating like before, what makes how i'm doing the atkins diet wrong? i'm not giving in to the carb monster, i'm actually chilling out with the guy and enjoying it. atkins was designed to help people lose weight and to eat in a certain lifestyle which he deemed healthier. i agree on some points but look at society today, not all of them are on a diet and the majority of people eat whatever is avaliable. this world would be a horrible place if everyone was on an atkins diet, french fries would be non existant, no more pizzas or fried chicken and pecan pie. not everyone gains weight from eating that type of food; genetics, metabolism, race have a big role in a persons life on whether or not they will gain weight, am i right? i love the atkins diet, it's a great meal plan for me and simple to follow, but with my active lifestyle and metabolism i believe i can also afford to let loose every once in a while and have whatever i want without feeling guilty. so far no negative weight gain so why all the hating on my diet and how i reward myself? people should not feel guilty for eating this type of food, they should however feel guilty when they eat too much of a good thing and gain weight though. i thought i would be congradulated and welcome when i first came here but ever since i've been defending myself and what i do with my diet. so please give me your thoughts.

[Desertthorn]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

I certainly understand where you are coming from and I also understand what the lady was talking about.
The problem with some of us is that once we give ourselves permission to cheat, it cycles around and pretty soon we have given ourselves permission to cheat on a daily basis.
1)

i set out to reward myself twice a month on the 1st and the 15th by having whatever i wanted at one meal while all the other meals of the week were low carb/induction approved

2)

why not reward myself once a week instead

.

Now if that were me, it would be, twice a month, once a week, "why not reward myself one meal a day" and then my blood sugar would sore and "why not eat that gallon of ice cream"
Personally I can't give myself permission to cheat, but if you can, it's the way that you have tweeked this diet to suit your lifestyle, we all do to some extent.
I think what the lady was saying to you, is that this is an ATKINS board and we follow the Atkins rules and play the Atkins game. As you yourself point out, what your doing isn't Atkins, its something that works for you, based on Atkins.
What if newby comes on board and you tell her/him that you cheat once a week and have lost 68 pounds. She will think that its okay to cheat because you do it and lose, but most of your weight was lost on strict induction.
Now I'm rambling. LOL. We have a Low Carb Sister board that talks about all types of low carb plans but this board is stickly Atkins By The Book.

[Jasmain]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

The earlier thread you started was available to anyone who cared to comment, what it looks like to me is that you want someone here to say it's okay for you to butcher the atkins diet, and then applaud you for it. None of the foods you mention would be anything we couldn't live without, all filled with nasty carbs that bloated us and made us fat and sick feeling to begin with.

I will say one more time. THIS IS AN ATKINS WEBSITE, and no one here should even give you the slightest idea that this site condones anything other than doing this BY THE BOOK.

There is no applause for not doing it by the book, there is no OKAY to be given for you not following the plan as prescribed in the book, in fact, the mere fact that you opened up another thread concerning your "version" of the plan that is tried, tested, and scientifically proven by doctors so that you can hype up the people here in your very first 20 posts ever on this site speaks VOLUMES for you as a person. Are you just trying to stir up trouble, or looking for some sort of emotional validation for something you know is wrong?

There is an old saying, The lady doth protest too much. If you truly believed in what you were doing, you wouldn't need to be lauded and praised for it, nor would you look for that validation in a site dedicated to the diet of a great man and doctor, and try to stir up some sort of controversy. Why do you need our approval if you feel that strongly? I think it's more about attention than it is anyone's health or well being.

As a great woman who I think is wonderful once said (Desertthorn), "We have a Low Carb Sister board that talks about all types of low carb plans but this board is stickly Atkins By The Book."

[jimmie 48]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

i will add, along with the answers you got here and elsewhere, we have members here that deal not only with the everyday plan but have added problems such as PCOS, diabetes and so on. they struggle day to day and when they see another member getting away with cheating (which in my opinion you are not, it will catch up with you) these other struggling losers think, if djfmf can do it, then maybe i can too.

you state you are a 23 year old male, in the marines as a doc, stationed in iraq, right? some of our members are 40 and 50 year old ladies, housewives with sedentary lives. perhaps your cheats didn't affect you because of age, sex and the station in life you find yourself in right now.

[Bren]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

As per my post in your other thread. There is nothing wrong with "your" diet, as it is yours and it is obviously working for you! Good on ya!
But, here we are ADBB. A board for those doing Atkins. Not "your" diet or "John Doe's Diet".....ATKINS. You, are not doing Atkins. Plain and simple. Not trying to be mean here, just stating facts!
The moderators here try very hard to keep it Atkins, so no one is confused!

[bizzlekitty]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

Mozilla WYSIWYG

i agree on some points but look at society today, not all of them are on a diet and the majority of people eat whatever is avaliable. this world would be a horrible place if everyone was on an atkins diet, french fries would be non existant, no more pizzas or fried chicken and pecan pie. not everyone gains weight from eating that type of food; genetics, metabolism, race have a big role in a persons life on whether or not they will gain weight, am i right?

I will disagree with you on this point. Weight isn't the only factor in health, though it is a big one. People at or near healthy weights develop degenerative diseases including heart disease and diabetes, and many studies are now showing this is due to diet. I have know a number of people who have had heart attacks, yet appeared to be at a healthy weight and exercised, but yet these people ate poorly assuming they could eat whateve they wanted since they didn't gain weight they were okay. Some people genetically are able to maintain weight without watching what they eat. But who has a camera to look on the insides? The build up of plaque hardening the arteries, the lack of sufficient calcium and nutrients to slow the aging process, the use of prescription drugs to fix what ails us long after the damage has been done.

While I don't think having the occasional treat of pizza or pecan pie is bad for the normal person on occasion, but our society has turned these occasion treats into part of the normal diet, ignoring eating healthy the rest of the time. That's where I think the issue is.

Also, I agree with the others that you are not doing the Atkins diet, you are doing low-carb, if you are not following the program. You might feel and think its okay to not do the programs on certain days, but I think you should consider the impact that those days have on your body. 2big could describe it better, but basically you are shocking your body with a bunch of foods that you aren't eating normally, probably kicking yourself out of ketosis and overloading your body with a big dose of insulin. Look at it from a biochemical perspective. Is it bad for your body? Maybe a little bit, sorta like filling a sports car with the best of gas all the time then all of a sudden giving it a bunch of leaded low grade fuel. Will it run? Probably, but it might not run as good or might end up clogging up a few things along the way.

In the end, it's your body and your choices on how to feed and maintain it. Dr. Atkins designed a specific program based on scientific study. Just don't expect people here to approve it since we follow Atkins By The Book because that is what works best for people learning how to do Atkins right.

[MotherOfGizmo]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

I just wanted to say that I'd love to comment but my eyes are old and I need some paragraph seperations or something to break up your post so I can read it

I did see that Jimmie said you were 23 years old and already a doctor and a marine! WOW!

[Heidi3]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

wow that was a lot of words

[Miss Phode]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

wow that was a lot of words

Uh huh.

[ttdriver]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

I second everything Jasmain said.

This is an Atkins board and you'll never hear anyone here encourage otherwise.

Betty

[jimmie 48]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

I did see that Jimmie said you were 23 years old and already a doctor and a marine! WOW!

that's what he said in another thread, mog. just clarifiying for those who have not read the other threads

[Elsie150]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

Your body...your choice...wrong board. Congrats on finding a WOE that works for you.

[djfmf]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

well it was nice to hear some constructive critisism from other peoples views. like i said, i did lose weight doing atkins it changed my life. i've been following it by the book until a few weeks ago when i started rewarding myself. my body just works differently than everyone elses right now that's why what i eat hasn't affected me even though it defeats the purpose of the atkins diet. i just wanted to point out that what i eat on a daily basis is low carb/atkins but whatever i eat for that reward meal is totally out of the question, i'll take full responsibilty of those actions. i apologize if it seemed like i was promoting "cheating" is ok because it's not, especially for people who are on the diet or beginning to start the diet. i was only trying to refer to myself and what i did, that's why it's my reward system. i agree that we shouldn't agree rewarding myself the way i do, but with my health, active lifestyle, age it won't really affect it and thats why i can get away with it. i just wanted to get this stuff off my chest, it's worse to be judged for eating food not good for you. i like this board, it has a lot of great ideas, recommendations and info i use or need when i'm lost on my diet and that's why i joined. so that's why i feel like i should be a part of this website. the impression i was getting when you were trying to turn me away is that when someone turns their back on atkins or aren't following the rules correctly they are not welcome anymore, that's what it feels like to me. so let's start off on a fresh foot. if it seems like i'm trying to force some other diet in the future then let me know. i'll still give advice/info on atkins related stuff that worked for me but i won't promote my way of rewarding myself, how others choose to reward themseves if up to them and their responsibility.

[2big4mysize]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

First off thank you very much for your service in IRAQ

reward meals if you need them or reward days are availible in other weight loss plans like the Boody For Life program of course you also have to exercise like crazy to earn theat reward day.

Seems you have a very high CCLL. I'm curious why you don't move from the very food restrictive induction to OWL and get back the foods you say you want. Cheeses cake is very very doable on Atkins as are fruit, grains, and other item you seem to think aren't Atkins. Have you read all the chapters in Dr Atkins book Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution 2002 edition the last one written before his death? there are 4 phases to Atkins and when we are vigorous exercisers and have a low metabolic resistance many of us can do Atkins eating over 100 net carbs and lose inches and pounds.

Since you are a doctor, wow at 23 I'm very impressed you have already graduated med school at such a young age, I hope you learned about the cummulative effects of high blood sugar vascular and neurological damage done every time blood sugars are too high because when you do Atkins low carb you will respond to a carb surge with blood sugar levels elevated enough to get yourself labeled a diabetic if you were tested.

I wish you much success with your weight loss plan and better health as you grow older then you are creating with the on again off agasin plan you are doing.

happy low carbing

[djfmf]

Re: So Whats Wrong With My Diet?

i like the structure of induction, it's easy to follow and only allows me to eat only certain foods. i have a history of overeating and eating when i'm not hungry, i know it sounds weird but eating like i'm on induction controls my #1 appetite, #2 my portions and #3 my eating habits. i have tried the other levels of 2-4 but it got really complicated and i messed up a few times when i first started out on this diet. that's the reason why i eat "Induction Style" 95% of the time and just recently implemented the reward system even though i'm fully capable of living without it. i no longer have cravings for carbs or sweets with how i'm doing induction, i just decided to reward myself once a week, that's all. like i said, i'm not craving carbs or sweets one bit, no withdrawl syptoms or anything you might expect. i just have the ability to reward myself and work it off and continue with my diet. i don't even cheat when i'm eating low carb because i have a set meal and date for that. it's my way of not feeling guilty about eating carbs or sweets anymore. you see, the atkins diet teaches you how to eat a much healthier lifestyle right? i totally agree, that's what i'm doing 95% of the time, i just take one meal off the week where i can have whatever i want. as long as i go back on track afterwards and not cheat on the other 20/21 meals of the week i'll be just fine. did i confuse you? ok, this is my way of eating healthy and having a good thing every once in a while. i know it seems i make my life so complicated that others just won't understand but that's ok.

i wish i was a doctor, thanks for the compliments but i'm not. i'm more on the line of an LVN nurse, but i'm currently working on my RN degree.