a day off

[amy8yma]

I was really sick of not losing any weight during week 1 & 2 of OWL rung 1. Someone suggested that I take a day off which i was not prepared to do until i was feeding my daughter some ice cream on a hot summers day!!! Well I had my day off and now doing induction again and can really feel the weight coming off again. Has anyone else done this? I know it's naughty and I'm not saying that it's a good thing to do but is a day off now and again good to kick start the weight loss ( or am I just kidding myself? )

[Slapshot]

Re: a day off

You are kidding yourself. There is no metabolical/physical support for "taking a day off." Consider yourself lucky (and strong) for cheating and getting right back on track. For most folks, that day off would have been the start of either going off plan entirely or days/weeks of pigging out. Glad to hear you're back on track...

[Amylynn920]

Re: a day off

I don't know if a planned day off is the best way to handle controlled cheats.

For some it may work as the other poster said, some can step right back and continue on, some it may be a runaway train that leads back to where people were in the beginning.

It's hard to say "I'll never eat (fill in the blank). It's really hard. I try to keep my plan one day at a time because all I have is today.

Some people will carb cycle, low carb, then a day or two of higher carb, then back to low and see a drop in the scale.

I personally feel this is because metabolic levels tend to get set, and sometimes adding a bit of fuel to the fire stokes our metabolic furnace.

I know for me to eat ice cream or have a "cheat day" is eating suicide.

The additional unhealthy carbs I consume would just set off a chain reaction so I don't do it.

I'm in the OWL phase 1 this week and so far I'm doing fine. I have not had a loss in a few days, but in retrospect I've had days when I didn't gain by eating the way I used to either.

I had the reverse woosh.. A few days of no gain then all of a sudden up a pound or two and it continued on like that for me.

So I would say that if this works for you, awesome. But for me it would be carb suicide.

[imagood1]

Re: a day off

there is a recipe for legal ice cream you could have had instead of "taking a day off" -- I agree with slapshot - you were lucky not to gain anything and for getting back on plan the next day. Read the STAC forum -- you'll see many there who "took a day off" because they believed they could cheat the system -- the only thing you cheated was yourself.

[neutronnorman]

Re: a day off

A.:

You discovered a "heresey"on this forum. You inadvertently discoverd Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale's Metabolic / Anabolic diet, which greatly surpasses the AD for a person who is strenght training intensley.

Basically, you start out doing an extended induction for 3-4 weeks, then you carb load on the weekends for18-48 hours or untill you "smooth out."

During the weekdays, you balance your macronutrients ~ 65% fat, 30% protein, 5% CHO.

In the carb load phase, anything goes. 75% carbs, 10% fat, 15% protein.

When I started induction 11 days ago, I weighed 245 lb and had a fat percentage of ~ 32%. (I go by body fat measurement, not BMI which is a bunch of b.s.) My lean body mass was 162 lb. or so.

Today I weigh 230 lb, but my body fat% is 26.9% and my lean mass is 169 lb. I've gained 7 lb. of muscle.

I strength train extremley high intensity, four days a week. My cardio is also very intense. Depending how I feel this weekend or next, I will carb load.

Well, I hope I don't get kicked off this forum, but another person who posts here has a background in biochemistry, and presently in med. school. I'm working towards a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry, so I'm "in the know" between the research methods of Dr. Atkins and Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale.

Anyway, that my two cents worth.

[not2late]

Re: a day off

If you didn't lose any weight on OWL Rung 1, then you need to do a few things...

1. Review your menu. Some folks think that Rung 1 means you can add whole wheat bread or bagels

2. Review the ingredients of ALL your foods.

3. Make sure you are measuring the foods properly. Some folks think that adding 1 cup of any vegetable is 5 net carbs of a vegetable.

4. Which vegetables did you add in OWL amounts?

5. Did you do the Blood Sugar Symptom Test in the book to monitor any blood sugar symptoms the OWL foods may have caused?

6. Is your TOM approaching?

7. Have you lost inches?

[sweeten09]

Re: a day off

I am so tempted to take a "day off". Television is my worse enemy. The ads are full of food that I can not have. THEN --I remember all the days I have been doing Atkins and all the days that I have been discouraged and throw the idea of going backwards out the window. I know it will work. I have lost inches and 1 dress size. Right now for me, this is o.k.

[Slapshot]

Re: a day off

A.:

You discovered a "heresey"on this forum. You inadvertently discoverd Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale's Metabolic / Anabolic diet, which greatly surpasses the AD for a person who is strenght training intensley.

Basically, you start out doing an extended induction for 3-4 weeks, then you carb load on the weekends for18-48 hours or untill you "smooth out."

During the weekdays, you balance your macronutrients ~ 65% fat, 30% protein, 5% CHO.

In the carb load phase, anything goes. 75% carbs, 10% fat, 15% protein.

When I started induction 11 days ago, I weighed 245 lb and had a fat percentage of ~ 32%. (I go by body fat measurement, not BMI which is a bunch of b.s.) My lean body mass was 162 lb. or so.

Today I weigh 230 lb, but my body fat% is 26.9% and my lean mass is 169 lb. I've gained 7 lb. of muscle.

I strength train extremley high intensity, four days a week. My cardio is also very intense. Depending how I feel this weekend or next, I will carb load.

Well, I hope I don't get kicked off this forum, but another person who posts here has a background in biochemistry, and presently in med. school. I'm working towards a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry, so I'm "in the know" between the research methods of Dr. Atkins and Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale.

Anyway, that my two cents worth.

All of this is true. No heresy there at all.

That being said, I think it's safe for all of us to assume that the original poster is not training as intensely as folks who are following Metabolic/Anabolic Diet. Therefore, her "carb-up" was (a) not Atkins; and (b) metabolically/physically inappropriate given her (likely) activity level.

[not2late]

Re: a day off

A.:

You discovered a "heresey"on this forum. You inadvertently discoverd Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale's Metabolic / Anabolic diet, which greatly surpasses the AD for a person who is strenght training intensley.

Basically, you start out doing an extended induction for 3-4 weeks, then you carb load on the weekends for18-48 hours or untill you "smooth out."

During the weekdays, you balance your macronutrients ~ 65% fat, 30% protein, 5% CHO.

In the carb load phase, anything goes. 75% carbs, 10% fat, 15% protein.

When I started induction 11 days ago, I weighed 245 lb and had a fat percentage of ~ 32%. (I go by body fat measurement, not BMI which is a bunch of b.s.) My lean body mass was 162 lb. or so.

Today I weigh 230 lb, but my body fat% is 26.9% and my lean mass is 169 lb. I've gained 7 lb. of muscle.

I strength train extremley high intensity, four days a week. My cardio is also very intense. Depending how I feel this weekend or next, I will carb load.

Well, I hope I don't get kicked off this forum, but another person who posts here has a background in biochemistry, and presently in med. school. I'm working towards a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry, so I'm "in the know" between the research methods of Dr. Atkins and Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale.

Anyway, that my two cents worth.

Carb cycling does work----if it is done properly. However, will it be as effective for a person who is not doing intense physical training as for a person who is?

Also, Amylynn, is on OWL Phase. So she's not enslaved to the Induction Rule of "no more than 20 net carbs daily." As she and other OWLers progress up the Carb Ladder, the amount of carbs in the diet increase. So if an OWLer has a CCLL of 50, he or she may choose to eat 45 net carbs on one day, and 20 on another, and 30 on another. So there is a bit of "cycling" done within one's CLL range during OWL. Ditto during Pre-Maintenance Phase.

Over the years I've been on ADBB, the folks who tend to "cycle" their carbs are the ones who tend to stay on Induction forever and don't move to OWL/Pre-Maintenance. They cycle to "speed up" a slowed or sluggish weight loss because they have stayed at an abnormally low level of carbs for their bodies and have "stalled" or "slowed". There are two long-term concerns doing this 1. the practitioner gets into a yo-yo/binge-purge habit that they will need to keep up when they get to goal, and 2. they don't learn how to really eat healthfully for their bodies.

[chinadoll]

Re: a day off

And, sadly, for some of us a small stray from low carbing can unleash a torrent of carb cravings that gets us off track for far more than a day or so. I have learned this the hard way. Thats not to say that I haven't occasionally strayed, but by going through the rungs I have learned that some high carb foods don't trigger a long term binge and others do. If I stray, I try to choose a food that isn't going to set me off big time.

[neutronnorman]

Re: a day off

Slapshot: You are totally correct. I've always trained intensley using every bodybuilding scheme through the years. I had to lay-off training for the past few years because of research and school. Sure enough, the pounds stacked up. I drank too much beer and got fat.

Luckily, I never have craved sweets in my life, so a carb up day will not throw me into a binge. In fact, honestly, I can't handle sweets. A piece of cake, pie or even anything high in fructose tastes metallic to me.

I thrive on a modified ketogenic diet. For instance, the night before last and yesterday morning I was coming down with a cold. I felt awful. By yesterday afternoon, I felt great. I felt full of energy, and infact, I know that I was on a natural serotonin high. Anyway, I'm gone now. I have 6 sets of squats to do (free weight until I almost puke, then lunges, then deadlifts). This evening: chest, shoulders and triceps. I'll do abs some time today also. Tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn, on an empty stomach: a 40 minute very brisk walk averaging ~3.5-4.0 mph. I also sprint for 10-12 minutes or so for`~ 150 ft. at an incline of ~30-32 degrees. Thanks to a local pedestrian over pass over a local highway. Tomorrow afternoon: back, biceps and forearms. This weekend: sat-sun: spinning at 18 mph for 45-60 minutes. That's why I justify my carb load.

The thing is, when I'm training, the carb cycle theoretically rings alarms in my body. My muscles should over-compensate glycogen upload, and my growth hormone should sky-rocket. It works. It's not binge eating. AD in everyway is a great way to lose weight. I know that. But after 3 weeks or so, it tends to decrease L.B.M. something I definetly do not want.

Norman

[Slapshot]

Re: a day off

Norman - you're right on to follow your modified diet (which isn't Atkins) given your enormous energy needs and output given your workout. You're also lucky that the carb-ups you do don't cause the problems that so many of us here have dealt with in the past (cravings, slips, slides, falls and crashes). Many of us are here not because of the thousands of crappy meals we ate, but because of the first crappy one we had after losing some weight previously.

Your posts are 100% scientifically and metabolically spot on given that your mileage varies considerably from the others on here. Atkins really is not appropriate for you given your activity level, your desire to retain/grow LBM and your workout routine. Makes total sense to me.

(So that I'm clear, I'm only going in depth a little bit so that folks who might not be as schooled in this as you don't think for a moment that carbing up on Atkins is Ok or appropriate, because it's not. You've been very clear that your approach is tailored to suit your needs/demands, but I wanted to drive it home a little further for folks who aren't following your plan/gym routine.)

[liv]

Re: a day off

Totally off topic but Neutronman did you see the new forum Tom is trying out Weight Lifting Fitness Workout We could use some of the insight there.

On this issue of eating icecream and losing weight I always get the giggles. If you could eat ice cream and lose weight I would be super thin years ago.

[Slapshot]

Re: a day off

Totally off topic but Neutronman did you see the new forum Tom is trying out Weight Lifting Fitness Workout We could use some of the insight there.

On this issue of eating icecream and losing weight I always get the giggles. If you could eat ice cream and lose weight I would be super thin years ago.

I agree- Norman - please go over there and sign up. Your insights there would be most excellent.

[not2late]

Re: a day off

Luckily, I never have craved sweets in my life, so a carb up day will not throw me into a binge. In fact, honestly, I can't handle sweets. A piece of cake, pie or even anything high in fructose tastes metallic to me.

then you are lucky. Alot of folks here, male and female, crave sweets and one taste can send them into a binge.

I thrive on a modified ketogenic diet.

Atkins is a modified ketogenic diet. The standard ketogenic diet is a 4:1 ratio, Atkins is about a 3:1.

The thing is, when I'm training, the carb cycle theoretically rings alarms in my body. My muscles should over-compensate glycogen upload, and my growth hormone should sky-rocket. It works. It's not binge eating.

That happens during OWL Phase: you eat according to suit your body's needs. So some days you may eat your maximum CCLL level, other days you might eat at Induction levels, other days it might be in-between. And in this case, it's not binge eating.

But if you stay at 15 net carbs for weeks at a time, then have a "cheat day" where you eat anything at any amount you want, then it IS binge eating. By definition binge eating is eating large amounts of food over a short period of time.

AD in everyway is a great way to lose weight. I know that. But after 3 weeks or so, it tends to decrease L.B.M. something I definetly do not want.

Not if Atkins is done correctly.