maintaining and eating off plan on the weekends?
 

Can you eat whatever you want to eat on the weeknds...meaning several desserts....breads, pastries, pasta....and then be able to work your weight back down during the week?

Is this a strategy that anyone here uses?

I can't do this at all.....I will have a treat food maybe once a week...but its just one thing and a small amount at that.

If I eat out, the salt used in cooking causes me to see a 2-3 lb bounce on my scale just from water retention.

Just wondering!! :wave:

Sorry Judy, this would never work for me. I can't even imagine having several deserts, pastries and pasta like in my past life.

Bo

Thanks Bo.....I can't either. :)

I worry about those who do try to maintain with this kind of strategy.

Judy - been doing that the last couple of weekends, but it wasn't planned, just happened and family stuff...

It is a lot easier for me during the week, because of the routine and being busy at work etc...

However, this reminded me that a long time ago that's exactly what I used to do - not when I low carbed, but in general my strategy was to be extra careful during the week, and at the weekend eat what I like.. I even had cake for breakfast on Saturdays lol ... but then I was 10 years younger and had a better metabolism.

Now I am maintaining I would like to take it easy at the weekends, so will experiment and see what happens…

Oh forgot to add, when I refeed at the weekends I am hoping not to reach out for the cake and pasta, but eat more rice/potato/fruit/beans and home made deserts/pudings....

i dont know who it was but i saw someone say they eat whatever they want either thurs or fri through to sunday then induction the other days

Do you think this is a good strategy for maintenance? Is this what you plan to do when you eventually get to your goal weight?

Doesn't work for me. However being in maintenance my diet is quite varied, and sometimes the amount of carbohydrates are higher (usually from sweet fruit, occasionally from not glutenous whole grains), but I i don't "cheat" since I still always avoid sugar, and all gluten. I actually have to watch myself that I don't go to low of carb now, because lately I have had a hard time with trying to keep a healthy weight (I am close to being underweight).

I don't think this is a good stategy for maintenance..not at all. But I have had weekends where I ended up going very off plan and always manage to drop any extra weight after being strict for just a couple days. For me that is one of the thinks that makes Atkins "work" for me. I finally have a foolproof system to go back to and so I never go too far off track.
For the most part though, I enjoy the foods on my plan enough that I don't really want to go off plan.

I have gone from one "treat" meal a month to two. The other 28 or 29 days of the month I keep to a low carb standard. Not to say that every once in a while I might have a cookie or a candy bar. But for the most part, I keep my high carb meals on a very strict timetable.

I look at it this way, since I do not have thyroid problems, insulin resistance, emotional issues with food, or any of the other problems so many others here suffer with, I can have an off plan meal knowing that I can have another in a few weeks with out falling off the wagon and going on a two week binge.

That knowledge makes it easy for me to stay with this WOE. If I had to live with the knowledge that I could never have spaghetti (Dreamfields, of course) and meatballs ever again, I would question whether or not I could continue eating this way forever. Or a small bit of whole wheat bread. Or some roasted red potatoes. I still have some high carb foods, but the amounts I eat are SO different from what I used to eat.

I think I have found the perfect plan for my maintenance diet. Luckily, with my weekly weigh ins, I can judge how it is working in real time, hopefully for a long time. :)

I'm a little more liberal on the weekends. If I want some higher carb food, I have it. It's easier for me through the week when we are not eating out.

We do a lot of buffets on the weekends. I might have a serving or two of something high carb.

It usually causes a couple pound gain for me but I think some of that is my portion sizes. I tend to eat a lot more on the weekends than I do through the week.

When I was actively losing, I would never have had some of the food I'm eating now.

I figure this is what maintenance is all about.....

A six inch subway sandwich can cause me to gain 5 pounds overnight. A six inch whole wheat, turkey, ham and pepperoni with lettuce, onion, jalapeno, Swiss cheese, extra mayo, mustard and oil. The only thing non-Atkins is the darn bread. It only takes me about two days to lose the five pounds so I am going to assume it is water weight.

Amazing how a little bit of whole wheat bread can make your body react, isn't it?

Actually, a 6" whole wheat roll like that is quite a lot of flour....and its water weight that you see on the scale as your body will hold onto it as it processes through your body.

What I do when I do eat a roll or bagel like that, is to scoop out the middle of the roll first. :idea:

I know that for me, going through life never eating a piece of bread is just too much for my brain to wrap itself around. I don't eat at Subway as I avoid wheat as much as possible. But if I'm out to eat in a good restaurant, where they have fresh baked good breads, I will allow myself 1 piece of it. ;)

I eat high carb foods as part of my plan, but I never go off plan on the weekends or vacations or events. I can work within my plan.

If I went 'off' I am scared that I would slide off totally. This is too important to me- I need the structure.

oh my gosh I thought I was the only one that had problems gaining after eating subway.

I try and allow myself a treat once a week, or I allow myself to have that piece of cake at a birthday party but then remind myself that the rest of the day I will eat on plan, and that does not give me an excuse to go all out on the carbs and such.

For me the key is only having one treat during a designated day, and then the rest of the day eating on plan.

edited to add.. There are days when I have too many sweets and carbs. Hey, I'm human and normally I get a whoosh the day after. i think it shakes up my system a bit from my normal routine but boy does it m ake me feel like caca