IF the worst occurs??

[abstractillusions]

I am starting this thread based on some of the threads going on and because doing this the second time around i found this to be just as important as the rules and foods this plan is all about.

This plan is all about planning. To me this should be incorporated into all possibilities associated with the plan. But one i don't see discussed a lot is planning to get beyond a bad choice/cheat/slip whatnot. What i do see are bad choices/cheats/slips causing people to give up, feel so bad they don't feel they deserve to continue on plan so go back to their way of old eating and remaining fat, beat themselves up so badly they leave the plan, and feel so embarrassed they don't feel deserving of support etc and leave the plan.

I woud like to state clearly here THIS THREAD IS NOT MY ADVOCATING BAD CHOICES/CHEATS/SLIPS.

This thread is about identifying and recognizing a plan to get beyond and continue moving forward IF the worst occurs. I feel this is very important part of the planning. Just as you plan in your life if there is a fire in your house, you plan in case you lose your job, you etc. In all parts of our lives we plan for if the worst happens, so i don't believe we should NOT plan for the worst in this way of eating.

Sooooo lol yes i am in a writing mood today, what is your plan for yourself to help you remain on plan, keep moving forward, not fall so badly you can't keep moving towards success IF the worst occurs.

Mine is a phrase -- its called "constant neverending improvement." This phrase i am using to so ingrain myself to moving forward and not backwards. This phrase helps me because IF the worst occurs i have a system of acknowledging, recognizing, analyzing, tucking away knowledge for future, and getting over it, continuing forward because i have forgiven myself and have planned for the future to get past the obstacle that stopped me for an instant.

We plan for the worst in all facits of our lives, do you in this one and if so, how. I am talking planning for it in case it does happen, not just saying -- i won't do it or it won't happen.

I am hoping maybe some of the experienced atkinsers answers will help the newbies or returners who do run because they feel they have failed that there is a way to stick with it and keep moving forward and you dont have to leave the plan only 2-3 years from now wish you had stuck with it instead.

Again, i am NOT advocating falling off plan, cheating, slipping, making bad choices. I am not saying people should think cheating, slipping, making bad choices are okay. But i do think its beneficial to have in place a plan IN CASE, the worst happens, so you can keep striving forward instead of letting the worst knock you down so far you don't get back up.

Hope this makes sense and no one slams me because they think i am advocating what i am not.

[ValidRouge]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

I understand what you are saying Sher....I'm going to talk in YOU's here because these are my thoughts for "YOU" (whoever YOU might be reading this). I've already planned for staying on plan--see other threads LOL. Anyway...here I go....If you fall, make the VERY VERY VERY next bite Atkins friendly and keep going. Don't wait until tomorrow to get back to it. Don't wait until after the weekend. Dont wait until after Christmas. THE VERY NEXT SECOND, get back on plan.

What might that mean? That might mean that you took one bite and you got back on plan with the very next bite. It might mean that you finished a whole meal that had items not on plan, that very second of reality for you means that the next bite (if that's two hours later, that's what it is) is ON PLAN.

I think you also need to plan for the headache, the fatigue, the bowel symptoms and the CRAVINGS when your blood sugar levels plummet. If you think resisting the first time was bad, fighting to stay on plan after you've gone off plan is much much harder, and you need to be prepared for it. Also keep in mind, the "Worse" the food item, the bigger the blood sugar instability. Example: if you have mashed potatoes, that might not cause the same blood sugar/insulin response as does a big old chunk of pecan pie.

[Chasin2Kids]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

I know what you are saying too. The first time I was on the plan, when I "fell off", I was such a perfectionist that I spent a week beating myself up about that one little bit I had that was wrong (all the while eating crappy food), that it was easier to stay off the plan (regardless of what physical horrors the sugar was causing) than to go back on. I think with any way of eating, there is a fine line between perfectionism and...whatever the other side would be called. Some people can taste something they shouldn't and have the next bite be "good food" - other people take one bite and beat themselves up. I think maybe its another part of the learning we're supposed to do on Atkins? Figuring out which of those people we are, and planning accordingly?

[julirama723]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

Hmmm...good thread, abstract.

I guess the way that I plan is to always be prepared in some way. I always buy more than I think I'll need of acceptable foods...or perhaps it's just that my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I never get around to eating it all?

If I have good food in the house, or in my office, then I don't panic about getting hungry, and I always have something to eat that's healthy and appropriate.

I've noticed the ONLY time I really crave something off-plan (which has been sweets like cookies and chocolate, oddly enough, because I always thought I was a bread and potato person) is when I'm hungry--and luckily I've figured this out early on. If my brain is saying "Oh my gosh I am dying for a piece of chocolate" I step back and admit, yeah for some reason I DO want that chocolate...but then I search out the cause...it's because I'm hungry, not because I'm dying for that item in particular. So that's where being prepared comes in--I rummage in the fridge an find something high-fat to satisfy me...and being an overzealous shopper I always have too much food to pick from!

So I guess my message is to ALWAYS be prepared food wise--don't ever be left in a situation where you don't have acceptable foods...because if a person is starving, and has no food options, then yes, I guess for many a piece of bread seems justifiable...BUT if you've got a baggie full of celery and cream cheese and package of pepperoni, it's a lot harder to rationalize and a lot EASIER to resist.

If something happens where a person DOES go off plan, don't wait for tomorrow or next week. Like Joy says, it's the NEXT BITE that you need to get back on track. And I guess the misery of your body dealing with carbs will be enough (at least for some time) to prevent you from slipping up again!

[wannabethintoo]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

Great post.

[2big4mysize]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

I'm with Joy and even call it carb hard reduction.
as soon as your regain control of yourdelf from those evil alien high carb mind controlling rays make the very next bite Atins correct for your phase.
the more you use carb harm reduction the more you will notice that your chaets are fewer and further in between until they are gone completely.

Happy cheat free low carbing

[abstractillusions]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

Its good to see the responses for this. I was always planning how not to fall off that when i did fall off i lost sight of the wagon, and laid there stunned and forgot all that i was doing. This time, i want to be prepared all the way around. I can't afford to not be prepared for every likely thing because this time around, i need to keep going as this is life, i want this to be a way of life, its not a diet, its a plan, a way for me to move beyond the obsession of food and become addicted and habit of GOOD things, which means unfortunately i have to be prepared for the bad to happen and simply strive for it NOT happening, but if it does, just like a fire drill, i am prepared!

Atkins is all about planning: The good, the bad and the ugly!

[2big4mysize]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

want a really really good plan for quick correction? keep you hugest size pic and your smallest size pic with you at all times. then whenever you are tempted pull them and and tell the biggie you she can eat all she wants of that temping stuff! yep get her a huge serving of it and STICK her in there face first!!! then tell smallest yoiu now lets go work on making me more like you! and walk way.

0f course you either got to laminate the big pic or make lots of copies cause when she is freezing her big butt off in a bowl of ice cream sometimes her print will run.

[boonie stomper]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

....Where is Bren when we need her??? Time and time again she has come to the rescue where planning was deficient and a cheat occured to help them prepare their own personal plan to prevent it happening again.

Search by Key Word: cheat; Search Entire Posts; Search by User Name: Bren; pick 6 months and newer; Display as posts

There's some real widom in her posts on planning ahead to prevent recurrences of the worst happening.

[cleochatra]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

To me, the worst case scenario is that we're attacked by terrorists. At that point, you can say, "All right. I didn't plan for that one", and then you can look at priorities.

If it's not a true worst-case scenario, there is most always a way to plan ahead to some degree. The hard part is putting the game face on, but you can do it. Now, granted, if something goes awry for whatever reason (you didn't know the turkey was injected with Maple Syrup before you ate it), I'd recommend just continuing on as though nothing happened. A lot of people view this as an 'all or nothing', and that's where things go very wrong.

Life's not about all or nothing. It's about degrees of moving forward. Diets don't need a 'restart' switch, and especially not for those honest mistakes and honest-to-goodness emergencies.

Keep going, no matter what.

It's not about perfection.

It's about progress.

[abstractillusions]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

okay to clarify lol before this thread gets off in a direction i was not trying to go. This thread could also be named: I (or insert name here) cheated/made a bad choice, slipped etc, NOW WHAT?

i am not asking advice as to how not or how plan not to cheat, i understand that and as someone pointed out there are MANY posts on that, what i am trying to accomplish here is a plan for IF THE WORST OCCURS (i.e what to do if the damage is done). So many people fall off plan, and because they haven't planned how to come back from this worst case scenerio, they simply give up and quit, slink off in shame and embarrassment and in a year or two after trying other things they try it all over again and have wasted years when they could have been at goal if only they had a plan for if the worst happened and they messed up.

i am trying to give them some options, help etc, that will stop the slink off or give up because they feel the damage is done and they "can't" do it, or they beat themselves up etc. i am not asking for another post on planning so you don't cheat, i am taking it beyond that and trying to help those in which the damage is already done. That's why i have the title if the worst happens.

I hope this helps clarify what direction i was hoping this thread is about and makes a little more sense. Its not something we discuss much because everything is focused on staying on plan, which is good and correct, but as we all see, the worst does happen. This is not a how to plan not to fail thread, its a how to come back if the worst occurs and you for whatever reason cheat, slip, fall off plan etc. Its sad how many people don't come back from something like this and the result is they wait so long to accomplish what they initially set out to do all because they don't plan for if the worst happens.

Hope this helps..

[abstractillusions]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

Hi Cleo, Your statement about how this is life, and progress is what is important is kinda what i am getting at, thank you for helping me find the idea i was looking at. I guess what i am trying to say is how do we explain to people especially those who slip and give up this is more than just putting food in your mouth and exercising, its a whole kitandkaboodle that is part of life and its not all or nothing, its progress.

[Shilorunamok]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

Abstract, I really appreciate the effort you are putting in to get this topic going. I think this is a valid question. There are many good quality threads about how not to cheat, or to get through a craving. Not so much about how to pick yourself back up after a mishap.

I agree with you about not tying in your personal worth and integraty (sp?) to your diet. Why?? Because it's not a diet . . . right. You are changing your way of life, can you cheat on that? Sure you can, you can cheat yourself into thinking one bite wont hurt, you can cheat yourself by messing up and quiting, you can cheat yourself by messing up and making excuses for it (trying to absolve your responsibility), you can cheat yourself by trying to make your own version of the diet and then blaming it when it doesn't work . . . and so on and so on.

I noticed all of these things seem to have a common trend - lying to yourself (that sounds kinda harsh, but I don't know how else to say it). I cheated myself by messing up and falling off track for over a week (over a year many times before), because I believed I was weak and failed.

I think if you can honestly say you are trying (really trying), and being truthful to yourself about whats going on - e.g. "I screwed up big time today (or I ate a potato ), I am totally responsible for that, I wasn't prepared, wow I really feel bloated and headachy now, I really wish I would have brought some legal foods with me (OK, and now idealy: I have learned my lesson and am ready to move forward).

I know the best possible scenario for that example would've been to be prepared - it was just the first thing that popped into my head as an example of how one might've screwed up.

Sorry for the long post, I guess I'm just a bit passionate about this subject because it totally describes my (old) attitude. I'll tie my self worth to whether or not I'm exceeding in whatever I have set out to do. Whether it be diet, work, home, whatever.

OK, I'm done now . . . .

[tinyturtles]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

Good thread! I mainly just read, but this one sparked my interest.

I think, like a few have already said, that you should just get right back on track ASAP. Don't beat yourself up for it. You are a human being and we all make mistakes. It doesn't mean that you don't deserve to lose weight, it means that you're human.

I cheated with sushi rolls on the 3rd week (extended induction) and beat myself up for it, but I didn't go off plan. Instead, I just got right back on and kept moving forward. I know I won't win any points for admitting this, but I allow myself to cheat every now and then, but I do it in extreme moderation. I don't eat a bowl of ice cream, I eat a spoonful. I don't eat an entire candy bar, I have just a bite. This is what I find works for ME. I consider myself one of the lucky ones who can have just a bite or a small portion and be done with it, and I realize that not everyone is like that so I'M IN NO WAY ADVOCATING IT FOR EVERYONE. This is just what works for me. It keeps me going because I believe that denying yourself something completely just isn't right. Again, that's for me.

So, do I beat myself up for it? Absolutly not. I just get right back on with the next bite of legal food and keep on truckin'. No guilt and no self-hating. I think that once you start down that road, you lose focus on what's important in this WOE. It's about improving yourself, not beating yourself up for slip ups.

[Shilorunamok]

Re: IF the worst occurs??

Exactly . . . do what works for you. There are alot of us here who can't take one bite of something and keep right on trucking (I am indeed one of them - one bite of ice cream . . . yeah right). But this is YOUR way of life and you need to do what feels right for YOU (this is a general "YOU" by the way). Just be honest with yourself (one bite of icecream . . . me . . . where's the roflmao icon??) I think it's funny that everytime someone says they had a cheat and moved on, they have to follow it with I'M IN NO WAY ADVOCATING CHEATING. I realize there are alot of newbie's and lurkers out there though, so I agree it's a nessicary evil.

At the end of the day, everyone who stays with this way of life and reaches goal has my complete respect and admiration, whether you had to pick yourself up and dust yourself off 40 times, or you are a complete trooper who can make it through thick & thin. Now lets all hug . . . and drink some water