Setbacks?

[Skin]

Just a quick question,
Lets say that weakness strikes and you have something thats forbidden,like a choc bar or peice of cake when low carbing?
Does it really set you back all that much?,Is it easy to just soldier on and get back on track??

[MaggieBE]

Re: Setbacks?

From my past experience I would say that it isn't easy to get back on track again. However if you have a slip up that is what you should do. Make the next food you put in your mouth Atkins appropriate.

[kylie]

Re: Setbacks?

It depends on a couple of things - if the bad food choice knocks you out of ketosis, your cravings can quickly return making the next slip more likely and that's a slippery slope. If you do slip up, get right back on track and NEVER assume that because you "got away with it" this time (ie, you didn't gain weight) that you will always be able to. It's that thinking that put my first time around 43 pound weightloss right back on my body along with 12 of its friends!

[Lamby-pie]

Re: Setbacks?

Hi Skin,

I don't find it easy at all to get back on track after a cheat. I can't cheat, I lack the will power to pull it together afterwards. It's a mental thing for me, maybe I'm just weak. But one mouthful of the wrong foot sends me into a binge that I just can't put the breaks on.
Christmas '05 I had one pixie. It turned into 10, then cinnamon buns, mashed potatos, cookies, etc. I just lost control with that one pixie. I can't explain it.

[Elizellen]

Re: Setbacks?

The others are right - I often think when I read this board that it isnt only the one choc bar that makes people fall off the Atkins wagon, it is the thought 'I've slipped now so might as well carry on for today and restart tomorrow'. And we all know that tomorrow never comes!

[HeidiE]

Re: Setbacks?

depends on what you want from this ...I think the ideal is ..never to eat the crap again ...but the reality is ..some of us tempt fate and it is hard not to when you are testing your boundaries and trying new foods...

really ...try not to .....but if you do ..do NOT I repeat NOT overthink it ..water under the bridge ..just start again and try to remember what you learned from that moment ...

hope this helps

[colleenmag]

Re: Setbacks?

i completely agree with HeidiE, don't overthink it, get on with starting again. Yeah, it will take a bit longer to get back in ketosis but it will happen eventually and you'l back on track. Ihad a slice of birthday cake at a friends birthday last wkd and it took me about a week and a half to turn those strips purple again, but they turned and i lost another 2lbs, so it worth just getting on with it. good luck.

[iantheace]

Re: Setbacks?

Its quite strange you guys have these problems, i dont seem to get stalls when i cheat. I cheat every couple of days really, and it has little or no effect on me, like today i had a biscuit which was 9 carbs at breakfast. Mind you, that was my entire breakfast. Yesterday i had a 2 cream crackers.. and in the past 2 days ive lost 2 lbs, ive actually done atkins from the start cheating once a week or so at very least.

Ive got to admit im a little bored of having 0 carbs all the time, its been 1.2 yrs since i started this thing, but atm im eating roughtly 55 carbs a day, and im still losing weight a tiny amount (like 3 lbs a week), and gaining muscle mass quite rapidly.

It might have something to do with my excercise patterns (im a right weirdo) i do a 4 mile run at about 3am so that i can sleep, finish it about about 3:30 - 3:35, aye i know 30 mins is a bit slow but it kills me! I noticed if i do my exercise in the mornings or daytime, i dont benefit half as much from it. But just before i sleep = win!

As far as the strips go, i dont see the point really, (at least from my POV) as you can basically out-excercise any carbs you eat (within reason, cake with icing and beer are killer).

I guess my point im trying to get across i, if you cheat, relax, it doesnt rly matter, just add a little extra onto your walk or so, this is just my experience though.

[sallyseachange]

Re: Setbacks?

depends on what you want from this ...I think the ideal is ..never to eat the crap again ...but the reality is ..some of us tempt fate and it is hard not to when you are testing your boundaries and trying new foods...

really ...try not to .....but if you do ..do NOT I repeat NOT overthink it ..water under the bridge ..just start again and try to remember what you learned from that moment ...

hope this helps

I'll ditto what Heidi says. Learn and move on. We're human and can slip up, but we need to strive to improve our mindset and focus on our target in order to avoid pitfalls.

Can't say I agree with Iantheace. I don't think it's strange at all that people get cravings after a cheat. Cheating wrecks havoc with our blood sugar levels which is why most of us do get cravings.

Ian, if you don't get them after a slip up, then that's lucky for you, but it isn't really the norm. Any newbies reading this should be warned that to try the "little cheats often" road can very easily lead to a slide down a very slippery slope, with a big bump (in weight) at the end.

Oh, and btw Ian, what's with the quote: "Ive got to admit im a little bored of having 0 carbs all the time"? Atkins isn't a "no carb" diet... but a "low carb" one. Even in induction we are able to eat 20 grams of carbs, and induction needn't last more than two weeks.
Good going on the exercise though, whatever time you do it. Exercise is an awesome help!

[iantheace]

Re: Setbacks?

By no carb all the time, i mean for example that you cant go out atall and eat a low carb meal, so if i want to take my gf out to dinner, i have to break my diet for that evening. Ill have something low carb as far as thier menu goes, but as you might have guessed, its not particularly easy at a chinese or indian.

[changing]

Re: Setbacks?

I think it's all-or-nothing thinking that gets people into trouble in the first place, but that's just my opinion.

Induction is a world of difference from Ongoing Weight Loss though -- so that's probably where there are issues. As far as anyone on induction goes, (and I know we have a lot because it is January), please remain vigilant and stick to the program very, very well for those 2 weeks. It is only 2 weeks, and you owe yourself that time to get a clean slate and get your body's glucose metabolism to a place where there are very little variables.

Then OWL begins, and experimentation is the name of the game. The point of OWL is one variable at a time. That's the only way to get accurate information about how your body handles/processes different types of food. The whole rung/ladder/food group system gives you a good guideline to move one variable at a time so that you can actually assess what is going on.

There is a time and a place for eating untoward food (in limitied quantities, mind you) but that is really best left when you've exhausted your other experimental options and have to realistically assess what your metabolism, age, and exercise level can tolerate. And it is also limited by your psychological/emotional connection with food and your tendency to addiction of any kind. I think those who are successful (in deep OWL, pre-maintenance, or maintenance) are those who know exactly what they can handle. I, personally, will eat 1 cup (a handful) of General Tso's chicken and a cup of hot and sour soup at a restaurant once a month or every other month because I know my body is fine with it. But here is the important part: I DON'T CALL IT OR CONSIDER IT CHEATING OR A SETBACK. Because it's not. I don't cheat. I make my rules, and I never break them. This is one of my rules. It's a conscious choice. It's part of my body's food tolerance, and I eat it and live with it.

But I did not develop this ability to eat a few things that are a bit dicey as a conscious choice and not bat an eyelash and continue to eat my otherwise less-dicey last-rung OWL fare until I was 6 months in.

So there will come a day for most everyone when they can think outside the box, but please do not put the cart before the horse.