How do you resist the urge to cheat?

[Jonniboy]

As the question states because Ive been trying to restart for a month but I guess my willpower is not strong and I keep giving in...

[mission to lose]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

I really don't think there is any secret to how to stay motivated and not cheat. To me, I believe what matters is just how much you really want it. If you want it bad enough, it's simple...you go for it and you make it a priority to stay on plan. You don't make any excuses.

If you really want to lose the weight, DO IT. If you can not stay motivated, you might not be ready. I am not saying that to discourage you, because I have been there. Only YOU can make that decision. I AM ready now, and I am going for it.

In the past, I would do everything in my power to avoid exercise and now I am going to my park district gym and classes 6 days a week--- and liking it! So good luck! And Go For It!!!!

[atkinsgal08]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

Have you DECIDED to do Atkins?

Or are you just trying?

I've found that once I've DECIDED to do something, it's a lot easier to DO it.

Also ... until you want to change your life, you won't.

[liv]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

What is your biggest problem right now you think?

[bizzlekitty]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

I've learned to:

• Eat legal foods sufficient that I'm not hungry
• identified what are my triggers that might cause me to cheat (stress, hunger, certain foods. Making sure everything I am eating is legal and correct according to plan
• Know that every cheat is slowing or stopping my weight loss and it's going to take a while to get where I'm going
• Knowing that those cheats are unstabilizing my blood glucose and making insulin spike, etc., possibly knocking my out of ketosis
• Examining why I want to cheat and trying to find alternatives and reasons to keep me focus
• exercise and drink water to help
• Try and avoid situations where I might be tempted, including hiding of getting rid of illegal foods around the house
• Plan out meals ahead of time. Not planning makes it easier to just go get something bad
• Know that my health depends on losing this weight. With diabetes, heart disease, arthritis in my family, I'm not going to be miserable when I'm older

Cheating is what sets me off track every time.

One thing that works is to make it a daily challenge... get through one day.. then the next and the next. The more and longer you do it, the easier it becomes to avoid all those bad things.

Make a list of reasons if you need to and keep it handy so you can re-read it next time you're tempted.

This WOE works, but you have to follow it correctly. the longer you do it, the easier it becomes. Foods that I used to cheat on no longer sound or taste the same to me.

Good luck!

[FwL]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

For me a big fator has been NO SWEETS from the beginning. Kick the sweet tooth instead of feeding it with diet drinks and "fake" desserts.


I can't discount the roll that DECIDING vs TRYING has made, either. The same thing happened years ago when I kicked my cigarette habit. Something changed inside me and instead of trying to quit, I just quit.

[chinadoll]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

I agree there is an internal switch that has to turn on. Last February I was trying to get back on plan. Every day I would wake up and start Induction and by nightfall I would have stumbled somewhere. Then one day something clicked and I finally had a perfect day, then two, then three...

Keep trying and keep examining what you want and how badly you want it. At some point, what you want will win over what is sitting in the fridge in front of you.

It is a matter of truly committing. Deep down. That is something you have to do and it can't be forced. In the meantime keep working at starting and don't beat yourself up if you stumble. It may all be part of the process to get to a real commitment. Sometimes getting frustrated with yourself for your halfhearted attempts is what forces you to make the final commitment.

Once there. there is no magic. I go from day to day and some times hour to hour. If I have a bad day I get back on my game the next morning and don't feel guilty about it. It's a new day and a new chance to get it right.

[JulieB]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

I look at the scale, or my before and during photos. Or a graph of my weight loss. or recall that I haven't weighed this little since High School!

I think about the things that I am looking forward to...cute clothes, fitting in an airplane seat properly, etc.

I agree with the people above...I yo-yo dieted most of my life - this time the switch just clicked, and I was READY.

[ErinB]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

I agree with everyone above that one day something just clicks. You move from trying to do something, whether it is losing weight, quitting smoking or whatever, and you commit to just doing it, doing it right, no excuses. If you do stumble, it is accidental and you admit it, then move quickly back to just doing it right.

Trying is a different thing. In my experience, it tends to fail and yet it has its value. Every time you try and fail, learn from the experience and then, one day, you become wise enough to commit and just do it because you already know how to avoid the pitfalls along the way.

Never give up if you really want it. Never.

[Aways2Go]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

I agree 100% - you just have to decide this is what you are doing and do it, and it was almost like changing a channel in my brain. When asked by several people why I was having no problems staying with this, I have (exactly like others posting here) explained that it was like something just clicked in my brain and said "ok, that's enough, now I'm going to follow Atkins and that's it." It almost wouldn't matter what food was sitting out in front of me at this point, I wouldn't go crazy indulging in it. I have no desire to. I just started Atkins and decided I was not eating this or that which I shouldn't be eating and that was the end of it. It was a little more difficult the first several weeks, but honestly I have struggled very little with trying to eat this way - I've made mistakes, but it wasn't due to cravings or giving in or whatever, it was just a lack of understanding what was okay and what wasn't. And when I realized I was doing something wrong, I didn't throw my hands up and quit, I just changed that part and kept rolling along. I want to lose now more than I ever wanted to in the past, and I think that is the difference. I have made losing weight and eating right a priority in my life for the last several years and have been making changes throughout that time. And I take it a day at a time, and don't think of it as a diet but as a healthy way to eat. And I feel like I get better at it all the time.

I have basically made Atkins and losing weight one of my "hobbies" now. I spend some time every single day writing down what I have eaten, reading parts of the Atkins book(s), charting my weight or exercise, planning ahead for what I am going to eat or what I am taking with me to eat when I leave the house next, etc. I think this keeps me focused on what I am doing, and I enjoy reviewing my progress.

Take the 'Nike" approach - just do it!

[barrnone]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

I agree with everyone above...something just clicks. I have been heavy for years, didn't like it, tried every kind of diet...just didn't get it. Then one day, driving with my sister [who is low-carb] - I just made a decision, I'm starting Atkins TODAY and have never looked back. Have I failed at times? Yes. It happens. The key is - don't let it derail you...keep moving forward. Every day is a struggle, a challenge - you have to be in the frame of mind to deal with it - tell yourself YOU ARE WORTH IT!

[SouLThinKing]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

I agree so much with the previous posters about the "switch being flipped". The first time I did Atkins in 2004. The switch was stuck on ON for 8 months. I got pregnant and when I re-started..the switch well it was broke LOL. I know I was majorly hormonal and had a lot of other stuff going on. But since then I have had 2 of those moments where the switch got flipped and it's like you look at the illegal foods as something that is just that illegal and you simply don't care enough about the good taste or whatever to derail you. Last night was hard for me. Halloween has never gotten to me until this year. I am not sure why. But I didn't give in. I didn't want candy. I was at a big festival and wanted a piece of cake ..and I am not a sweet person. I am a potato, bread, pasta person. So that was strange. I just walked away and was a little irritated but I woke up this morning and felt VICTORY that I didn't cheat at all this week. 7 days down ...5lbs lighter. I will do this. You can do this. It might be corny but the saying "Nothing tastes as good as THIN FEELS" really is so true. I have never gotten as much pleasure from any food as I did the day I walked into a store and bought a size 12 for the first time since high school. This time my first goal is to buy a 10. That would be awesome. God Bless. Good Luck.

[blwoods]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

Its a simple line for me actually:

NOTHING tastes as good as thin and healthy feels!

[Shrew2u]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

Having quit smoking cold turkey after a 15-year, pack-a-day habit, I agree that deciding to do something is much more powerful mentally than *trying* to do something. I read something on another board a few years ago that got me into the mindset to be able to quit smoking: Be-Do-Have.

BE - you are the person you want to be. It's not off in the distance at some future time when you achieve some future weight. The person you should want to be is *healthy*, because the healthy person is not only at an appropriate and maintainable weight for their size, but also has good mobility and endurance, optimal numbers for blood pressure and blood work without prescription meds and fuels his/her body with a mix of foods that provide sound nutrition, give sustainable energy and keep him/her feeling good. As soon as you decide to be that person - you *are* that person; the benefits of being that person will follow naturally.

DO - since you have decided to *be* a healthy person, you *do* what healthy people do. Eat for optimal health, keep yourself properly hydrated, exercise - that's it. This isn't about giving things up, denying yourself or attaching negativity to your actions. You are simply doing what other healthy people do. In DANDR 2002, Dr. Atkins provided a very powerful image of the foods occupying the table of an Atkins WOL eater. Crack open your copy and read over that paragraph - does that look like anything close to "denying yourself"?

HAVE - In deciding to *be* a healthy person and *doing* what a healthy person does, you will *have* the benefits of a healthy person. Some benefits will come quickly, others will come later. You'll begin to have more energy. You'll start sleeping more soundly and waking more refreshed. You'll begin to move easier and be able to sustain activity for longer periods of time. Your clothes will fit better; then worse; then you'll have to invest in some major alterations or buy new clothes - or dig out the clothes you were wearing years ago that you never thought you'd wear again!

Your doctor will be pleased with your progress. Friends and family will be astonished with how great you look - they haven't seen you that perky in a long time. And so on, and so forth. Make yourself a checklist of every benefit of being healthy you can think of, because those are your true goals. The numbers on the scale are hardly worth consideration in comparison to every other benefit you'll have.

When in doubt, keep motivational items on hand. I printed up this Star Wars quote, which pretty much says it all for me:

[EverLosing]

Re: How do you resist the urge to cheat?

You FOCUS on the things you have to look forward to!! I wore size 18 jeans when I started. I now wear a size 8. I don't want to give that up. It is a little easier sometimes when you're further along in the journey because you've experienced a certain amount of success and you don't want to let it go. Little jeans that fit me like a glove are good motivation not to cheat. I also spend LOTS of time remembering how cheat foods make me feel. They make me feel ROTTEN. Now, I'm going to attempt a diplomatic response here without feeling pure guilt for saying it. Quite frankly, when I weighed 70 pounds more, I had a pretty much non existent libido. SO not the case anymore. Possibilities I never dreamed of. Agility. Acrobatics. Feels good. Nuff said. Wish I'd known how great it was going to get. I would have run more miles. Might have done some marathon training!!!