I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

[misplaced southerner]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

hey! i caught your thread here and i guess i found it really interesting because....i think we ALL struggle with those feelings of GUILT for doing something we have been told forever about eating. you are torn between carrying out a family tradition and the guilt you might feel for doing it. i always worry too about "disappointing" others.

honey, i don't think anyone here was trying to be harsh. i am often guilty of saying what i think straight out and it sometimes comes across as blunt. i think what our friends here are doing is telling you the obvious...it will more than likely throw you off, there is the potential for starting something you can't stop, they have tried to do the same with disasterous results...

only you know what you can deal with and not. so, you asked, you got the input you asked for...now you decide what is best for YOU. nope, it's not gonna kill you. you have lots of options. if you do a low carb dessert, then eat up! if not, enjoy and then drink buckets and work your butt off (makes you feel better!) and know that you will probably have to work a little harer to get back into ketosis. or just pass. the choice is yours. no one from the atkins police will come and take you in. just do what you think YOU can handle. we are all different. whatever you choose to do, enjoy the day with your baby.

your post brings back a happy memory for me. my mom could not be here when my daughter was born but she WAS here when she was 6 months old so we had a big "half a birthday party" for her complete with a BBQ, friends, good etc. she slept in her swing in the shade thru the whole thing but it was a great day!

p.s....i would have to PASS on the ILLEGAL cake because i learned once before, a long time ago, that sugar raises H*LL with my tummy...oooooh it is just not worth it for me....UGH!

[drosa75]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

Speaking from experience...my daughter is always trying to feed me "treats" and my response is that mommy is not hungry and I will save it for later..then I toss it when she is not looking.

I come from a large family 6 bros/sis and we all have kids..that means b'days 2 to 3 times a month..if I cheated or ate cake every celebration or birthday I would be right back at 206 or even worse!

the point is, there is a balancing act...I agree with making a legal dessert and having that while everyone is enjoying the regular, as for frosting on her nose..throw some whip cream on top of her piece of cake..that way you can lick that off and stay legal..

I guess what I and everyone is trying to say..is that you can not offset a cheat..if that was the case we would all have an occasional piece of the forbidden without a fall..the choice is ultimately yours..if you have that cake I hope you are able to fall right back in line without an all out binge, which i can tell you its an awful depressing feeling that feels like FAILURE and I say that again from my own experience...

Anyway I hope your little girl enjoys her party and dont take offense when we as a board attempt to discourage any kind of cheat..many of us have been at this for years, two, three, four re-starts..

Take Care,
Delia

[mirna05]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

I have celebrated all my daughter birdthdays with two cakes one for them and one for me made with flax seeds and wheat bran decorated with cream cheese.

I dont miss the ocassion neither the cake!

No cheating at all

First, I'm not looking for anyone to talk me out of this, just looking for practical suggestions. We have a family tradition of celebrating 1/2 birthdays while the kids are little and today is my daughter's 2 1/2 birthday. We'll make silly hats, she'll help me finish decorating a cake, and we'll sing "Half a birthday to you." And I WILL have a piece of cake with the family. Diet or no diet, I won't miss this special time.

My question is what's the best way to offset this? I'm only on the first rung but my carb count is usually still around 18-20 because I just don't want more. Looking at the cake box and guessing at the buttercream frosting, I'm putting a very small piece of cake somewhere around 40 carbs! I can do a very small piece and let everyone else finish the cake, because I don't really care for sweets, so I'm not worried about bingeing. Should I go ahead and eat normally up until cake time, or should I go carb free until then? Also, do you think really upping my water for the day would help? I also plan on doubling up on my exercise. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[sallyseachange]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

What you do is your own personal choice. You know yourself... you know what's important to you and your family.

Everyone has had their say and it's made interesting reading.

If you feel you're not getting much practical advice on how to cope with a cheat before it has happened... and indeed is planned, I suspect it's because it's really quite hard for all of us who struggle to avoid cheating at all costs, to give such advice. Some of us know that one little slip could be disastrous. For others it might not be so... but we don't want to risk it. And we don't want to advise anyone else to risk it either.

We're all with you...but we don't want you to put your efforts at risk, for you; and we're nervous about looking "planned cheats" in the face, for ourselves.

[TBW]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

Thanks to you all for the support. It means ALOT, as I took things harder than I should have this morning. My apologies again for that. It's just that this is something that I've put alot of consideration into and decided that , yes - it IS that important to me. Is it worth leaving ketosis for a few days? Yes. I understand the logic behind thinking one cheat will lead to another, but I guess I was offended by the implication that I would be too weak to jump back on the wagon. I know that was not anyone's intention. I figure the best way for me to see this is as a challenge to prove to myself that I CAN do it.

If anyone's interested, I will post the consequences of my cake debacle, good or bad. Maybe it can help others make a similar decision. For reference, this morning I weighed in at 145.5 and my (controversial) ketostix read 80. I'll keep my fingers crossed and see where the cake leads me!

[misplaced southerner]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

hi tracy! well sally said it better than i did. she said what i was TRYING to say. yea girl, we are all just trying to look out for you. and about jumping back on the wagon, for some people it is easy and for some it is heck.....only you know you. well, better than we do anyway!

we are all here on the board to share and help and encourage. we all want what is best for each other. eating and food IS a sensitive issue...if it was not, we would not be here.

so for better or for worse, please do let us know how it goes. if you can cheat and recover quickly then that is good for you. if not, then you know that your pals here at the ADBB will beat you with a wet noodle and support you thru the tough spots.

happy half birthday to your baby

[daniejim]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

Definitely, being a lesser person is not an issue here. The thing is that us, people who know how a cheat feels and that it puts pounds per day on (as stated by Dr Atkins) ..we are trying to avoid the minimum possibility of falling off the plan.. here's the perfect example of the extreme things that a little cheat can lead to:

The warmth level we all receive here in ADBB is the same honesty and warning level we get when things are wrong.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46273&highlight=tortilla+fall

Please don't get offended by the best advice you can receive: DON'T CHEAT. You can take it or leave it, but comes from the bottom of our hearts. Trust me, I've seen the scale going up 2 lbs for eating a piece of cake. Feels awful. And that feeling has been about to make me say "no more Atkins or any diet".

[Tired of Chub]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

Hayden- I understand your situation. Culturally, its important to partake. My advice to you.... eat before you attend the function. Eat legal foods. Dont stuff yourself. At your function, have small bites, small amounts. Lots of talking, etc etc. Have a glass of water with you, and with your beer. TRY to drink two waters for every beer (or wine, or heaven forbid, sake. blech). Try and pick out the stuff thats still legal foryou. (sushi without the rice, etc). The next day, get back to your regular way of eating. lots of water etc etc. Your situation, understandable (and in my mind, acceptable. and unavoidable due to culture)

[SandyL2002]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

As someone that took 2 weeks to get back on track from a small cheat.. I would say don't do it... That bite of sweet stuff could be the thing that throws you off for a while..

My stomach hurt me..and my head hurt so bad getting the carbs back out of my system..

You won't die if you have a piece of cake but it could throw you in the wrong direction...

[not2late]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

Also, my daughter is very underweight for her height (5% percentile on the growth curve) and we're following the ped's orders to give her whatever she'll eat. That means peanut butter, chocolate milk, cake, whatever. The last thing I want to do is add to the food issues already swirling in this house!

Just a word about this...my sister Beth was underweight as a child. Our doctor told Mom and Dad to let her eat whatever she wanted in order to gain weight. Well, she gained and got to a normal weight by the following year. And she kept on gaining and gaining and eventually topped the scales at 200 pounds by the time she was 16 years old. When I started Atkins, so did Beth.

So you might want to review the foods you are allowing your child to have with her doctor and even ask for a referral to a nutritionist in order to provide a healthy and well balanced high calorie menu.

[TBW]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

Just a word about this...my sister Beth was underweight as a child. Our doctor told Mom and Dad to let her eat whatever she wanted in order to gain weight. Well, she gained and got to a normal weight by the following year. And she kept on gaining and gaining and eventually topped the scales at 200 pounds by the time she was 16 years old. When I started Atkins, so did Beth.

So you might want to review the foods you are allowing your child to have with her doctor and even ask for a referral to a nutritionist in order to provide a healthy and well balanced high calorie menu.

Thanks for your concern about this. We try to emphasize the healthier foods she'll eat, like peanut butter, cheese, and yogurt. We have consulted her ped and a nutritionist on this, and are following their recommendations. She's in a very typical but frustrating 2 yr old phase of refusing most fruits, vegetables, well most everything. We tried the heavy handed approach of you'll eat what's on your plate because that's all you're getting with poor results. She lost 4 pounds in less than 2 weeks, and when you only weigh 23 pounds that's dangerous, so the ped turned us around on that one.

She has a kidney reflux problem that contributes to slow weight gain and takes medication daily that lists loss of appetite in it's warnings. I do worry about her diet and she's taking a supplement. We're hoping to wean her off the junk and move her to a healthier diet when the ped okays it.

[Sera]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

I would probably go back on induction after such a massive carb bomb and I will do that should I conciously cheat during OWL.
That might happen when I go on holidays to Greece end of August, I will see how it goes when we are there but decided that should I really cheat, Induction right after the holidays will definitely happen.

I can understand your point of view even though I would still try to get around that piece of cake if I can but honestly if my grandmother had spent a day baking cakes she knows I like offering me that cake, I'd decide to cheat.
I don't see her a lot and yes, I'd put not insulting or hurting her before Atkins.
Luckily my whole family knows about me wanting to lose weight and once they see the results, maybe my grandmother gets interested in a low carb cake recipe ;D

I hope for you that you are strong enough to jump right back on the wagon and won't mess your plan up.

Good luck should you really decide to do it and I hope you keep the piece of cake tiny then

[dimar97]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

I am still struggling - HARD - with a decision to cheat on 7-3! Each night I go to bed and tell myself that the next day I will try harder and do better and it is still so hard. The cravings are still so out of control. I've yet to not screw up a day by nightfall. I'd take it all back if I could - nothing that I ate that day was worth the downward spiral it has put me in since then...

and I have to go bridemaid dress shopping tomorrow

UUUGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Momtofour]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

I have had one cheat and then got right back on plan the next day. When I didn't gain from that cheat it made it so much easier to cheat again, and again, until I wasn't following Atkins any more. I started to gain weight. Summer came around and none of the clothes I wore last summer fit. It all started with a little cheat. I got back on the Atkins wagon on 7-05-07. I know that I can't do small cheats and will do everything in my power to avoid them from now on. This board isn't trying to say you can't do this, but they are concerned, because we have all been in the spot you are in right now.

[TBW]

Re: I WILL be cheating today - how to best mitigate the damage?

Well, I had my cake and ate it, too. Our little party was a lot of fun and it was one of the best pieces of cake I've ever had. I expect a couple of posts warning me not to think "I got away" with anything and it will catch up with me in the end, so bring it on if you must. I realize each day will have a food challenge for me to face, especially living in the land of chocolate milk and fish sticks like I do. For me, it's all about learning how to deal with them.

Honestly, I can say that piece of cake has left me feeling a little powerful. I made a decision and came up with a plan to make it work for me. Then I stuck with it. I had a very small piece of cake, but big enough to satisfy me. I only had 2 carbs yesterday prior to the cake, which probably wasn't the wisest thing - but it worked for me. I increased my exercise and had 120 oz of water. And I had plenty of support from this thread and especially from some pm's that helped alot. Thanks to all of you. Now the numbers:

Yesterday: weight 144.5 ketostix heavy (80)
Today: weight 144 ketostix heavy (80)

Yes, I know I dodged a bullet that could still get me in a day or two. But I also found out I'm a little tougher than I thought.