This would never work with my personality. It is too taxing on my mind and body. First and foremost, I cannot eat these foods sensibly-- that was the original problem. Secondly, I would feel "guilty" and remorseful for eating them and eating too much of them-- which could lead to an emotional and destructive binge. Thirdly, when I eat off plan, my body pays for it with weight gain, bloat, and cravings...and who knows what other health problems I am switching "on".

I work towards and need to eat in a consistent manner. Weekends off is too haphazard for me.

I don't do weekends off in particular, but I do subscribe to a sort of 90/10 method of eating. About 90% of the time, I eat low-carb maintenance on foods that are safe for me to eat regularly. About 10% of the food I eat will be what would be considered "off plan" - sugar, breads, whatever other higher carb things.

As long as I space those treats out and don't have days of eating off plan strung together, I do okay.

I love the idea of this, but it would never work for me because it would lead to weeks of binge eating. My father on the other hand has been doing this forever. He has never been overweight. He is 6'5" and on Friday's he weighs 200 lbs. By Monday morning he is usually 205 or 206. He is pretty strict during the week, but on weekend he has dessets, coctails, etc... He is 78 years old and physically active. Again, wouldn't work for me but I'm glad he likes it.

I like Valerie's 90/10 explanation. I think this is what I do (with some exceptions. Like, I will never again willingly or comfortably eat bread). If we go out to eat, I'll have some corn tortilla chips. Or, if I'm dying for mozzarella cheese sticks, I'll have them. Just so long as the bulk of my meal comes from protein and fat, I'm comfortable eating a little crap -- but I don't do this every day. Once a week at most.

As for people who go off LC for more than a single meal -- I can't really wrap my head around how that works for them. I count on how I feel to tell me if I've eaten right. If I had two high-carb meals in a row, I think that internal barometer would start to go haywire, all my old cravings would rear their long-hidden heads, and (above all) I'd forget how I'm *supposed* to feel. Eek! The road to doom!!

It is a very personal issue, though. Maybe folks who can take the weekends off just have more discipline than I do, and therefore feel confident that they can force themselves back on the wagon even if their bodies are now telling them that there'd be nothing tastier than french fries.


PS I have a theory about this, actually. Some people have battled their whole lives with monstrous cravings for carby foods. I am one of them. Some people are overweight because they eat crap, indiscriminately and randomly, but they don't crave any particular foods. I think those people are the ones who have a better chance of eating off plan for a couple of days and then hopping right back on. It's people like me, who really can fall in thrall to bread and sugar, that need to exercise more vigilance. (I also think it's people like me who benefit most from LC, and judging by the senior members of the board, they're also the ones who find the most satisfaction from eating LC. People who show up here who are just looking for a way to drop some pounds -- not a way to put an end to mind-wrecking cravings -- tend to find good success with things like WW as well.)

Lately I have been treating myself to 1 "off plan" meal on the weekend, I make sure that I eat all my veggies or have a salad with it so that I get some nutrients. I have done pretty well so far doing this, in fact it is kind of nice, something to look forward to. When I was losing weight, I was VERY strict but once I got to goal I realized that I WILL NOT stick to this diet if I can't have a higher carb meal every once and a while... so I allow myself 1 cheat meal a week and I make it a good one. I still walk my dog daily and do 3 days of cardio a week and have found that this one day doesn't affect my weight too badly, in fact the extra pound I gain has been coming off within 2 days! This weekend I was served mashed potatoes with my "lightly breaded" chicken and even though it was my cheat day I couldn't make myself take more than a few bites LoL. If I ever feel I am getting out of control I will definitely cut out my cheat day for a few weeks.

I can't say it enough, but I truly believe; to each his own when it comes to dieting... as long as it is healthy, why not do what you feel comfortable doing?

I do have a cheat "meal" here and there, but have never gone off plan for the entire day or entire weekend. If I cheat on, say, Sunday, I find if I gained weight it's gone by Tuesday or Wednesday. Just feels like I'm gaining and losing the same 2-2.5 pounds very week.

I'm considering going back on induction for 2 weeks to see if I can get rid of a couple pounds that have been lingering for a while. What do you folks think of that? My brother and his family is coming East the end of July, and I'd LOVE to be at my goal (6 more pounds) by then.

Your plan says that you do M&E? Is this still true?

From my point of view, based on my personal experience, lowering carbs at this point in your weight loss is counter productive. As far as I'm concerned, raising them up a bit and doing OWL phase Atkins is what you need to do...not less carbs but a few more.

So, where are you in terms of your carb level at this point?

Hi Judy,
I'm still staying around 20-30 g per day, most days less. I know it's not the goal of maintenance or pre maintenance, but up until about a month ago I was still losing, albeit slowly, but still losing. I do have a "cheat meal" here and there on the weekends (not every weekend, and not all weekend), but find I lose any weight I might have gained from that within a couple of days. I eat mostly protein during the week with fats..and some veggies here and there, but not alot.

You think I should up my carbs instead? (good carbs obviously)

Yes, I do think you shold be raising them by adding veggies, Induction veggies plus a few others, into your days, every day...not just here and there.... berries are a good way to move into OWL phase.
Also, being that you want to see more weight loss, you will need to not allow cheats on the weekends or you will keep maintaining aka spinning your wheels, by going off then spending the weekdays getting the scale back down as that is how I do it to maintain.
Congrats on your success to date!!

Thanks. I hear you on the cheats. I seem to be sabotoging myself, I know. It's not that I'm gaining, but if I do want to lose a few more pounds, I'll need to stop that.

It's not even that I'm bored with what I eat on plan. Oh well, back to the grindstone. Thanks, Judy!

I don't see it as sabotage....more like you see yourself so close to your goal and not as willing to stay so strict all the time. It can be hard to drum up that emotion to get all gung ho when we are so close to our goal weight.

I've definitely been there! Making my goal weight was huge for me so I did keep my focus on the prize. My weekends off plan goodies were and are not whole meals off plan but one particular food that I may be missing. Even doing that, I still am eating according to my food plan most of the time.

What I do know is that eating only meat and fat during the week is not your best choice at this point in your weight loss. Have you read your Atkins book lately?

And live with Induction Flu every Monday?!....No Way!! Mondays are bad enough!!

Rather than cheat with high-carb junkfood, I eat LC foods that I really enjoy and am always trying new LC foods (real, unprocessed) to expand my options. So every meal feels like an endulgence, but it is ON plan. I may consume more calories of butter, bacon or nuts than I need once in a while day, but in the long run it has no lasting effects.