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  #16   ^
Old Mon, Jun-16-14, 19:52
sexym2's Avatar
sexym2 sexym2 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,850
 
Plan: Depends on the Day
Stats: 221/169.6/145 Female 5' 10"
BF:
Progress: 68%
Location: Southeastern, Iowa USA
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The vibe should be to think differently of foods that cause us to binge and just not eat them. They are not a treat, they are a slow death sentence so why do it?

Most of us are addicted to carbs wheather you want to admit it or not, most are. One bite and its suddenly really hard to not eat more and even harder to go back on plan hence, most people fall off plan and gain a lot of weight before figuring out that, that one bite did more harm than they realized.

People need to rethink what a treat should be, food is here to nourash us not be treats.
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  #17   ^
Old Mon, Jun-16-14, 20:33
Liz53's Avatar
Liz53 Liz53 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 6,140
 
Plan: Mostly Fung/IDM
Stats: 165/138.4/135 Female 63
BF:???/better/???
Progress: 89%
Location: Washington state
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitecrane
Ok. The vibe I'm getting here is that this I simply need to be careful and return to Atkins afterwards.


Really is that what you're hearing?
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  #18   ^
Old Mon, Jun-16-14, 20:59
khrussva's Avatar
khrussva khrussva is offline
Say NO to Diabetes!
Posts: 8,671
 
Plan: My own - < 30 net carbs
Stats: 440/228/210 Male 5' 11"
BF:Energy Unleashed
Progress: 92%
Location: Central Virginia - USA
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I know I can't cheat. I've proven that way too many times. But my wife, who joined me on a LC diet a few weeks ago, had a slice of cake yesterday at my daughter's graduation party and it did not phase her one bit. She went right back to LC eating the rest of the day and is on plan today. She does not get carb cravings - so a cheat for her is not the disaster that it is for me.

Cheating obviously impedes progress - so it is best not to cheat. So if you are thinking about a cheat, I think the most important question is how do you respond to carb loaded food? If it is not a diet killer for you, then do what you gotta do. If one cheat leads to another and another and another, then what you have to do is not cheat. What matters most is that you stay in control and don't let the food control you.

Last edited by khrussva : Tue, Jun-17-14 at 07:07.
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  #19   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 03:39
Whitecrane Whitecrane is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 89
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 254/231/175 Male 5' 11"
BF:
Progress: 29%
Location: Long Island
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sexym2

Most of us are addicted to carbs wheather you want to admit it or not, most are. One bite and its suddenly really hard to not eat more and even harder to go back on plan



Addicted?! I never felt that way... But everyone who thinks it's a bad idea is assuming you can't return to plan. I guess carb addiction is a real thing. Wow. I didn't realize what a problem this can be until now.

Last edited by Whitecrane : Tue, Jun-17-14 at 04:02.
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  #20   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 05:14
DeannaK DeannaK is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 776
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 242/205/180 Female 65
BF:
Progress: 60%
Location: Delaware
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WOW...it really is an addiction. And while I have no first hand experience, I'm thinking because carbs are so accepted and available, they could be more addictive than drugs or alcohol.

The one thing I do know for sure (and was echoed so many times above) is that eating off plan for me means quite a number of days (nearly 10) of getting back to feeling good, the scale weight is back to where it was and I'm in control. I slid Friday and had a few too many cocktails which led to eating some PB cookies. Saturday and Sunday SUCKED!!!!!!!!!

If you haven't already done so, read some good books about LC and how our bodies work. Gary Taubes with "Why we get fat" and "Good Calories, Bad Calories" plus "Wheat Belly", "Grain Brain" and "The Art and Science of Low Carb..." are probably my favorites. It really puts good information out there about why carbs are so bad for us and our bodies.

Except for the very infrequent missteps of my own, I stay on plan 99%. I've gotten to the point of just thinking that stuff off plan is poison and just doesn't need to be eaten.

We all differ in how we react to carbs and maybe YOU can get right back on...but for some of us, it means a number of days of regaining control and then there are a lot who slide and never return.

Best wishes in your journey!
Deanna

Last edited by DeannaK : Tue, Jun-17-14 at 06:23.
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  #21   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 05:22
teaser's Avatar
teaser teaser is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 15,075
 
Plan: mostly milkfat
Stats: 190/152.4/154 Male 67inches
BF:
Progress: 104%
Location: Ontario
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I am not addicted to carbs. Just seem to be better off without them, even on vacation.

If it was relatively easy for you to go into induction, no cravings, withdrawal symptoms, etc., that's good. Maybe you can get away with a diet vacation. But depending how long the vacation is, it will set you back, you will regain some weight, it's impossible to predict how much or how much will be fat or water, that's individual.

One problem is that you can't really predict how easy it will be for you to resist carbs in October. Right now, you're 18 pounds down from your starting body weight. When you started, your fat cells were replete. That has consequences to hormones like leptin and thyroid. So you have a certain reaction to carbohydrate in the diet, based on your current body weight--insulin's the biggy, but it interacts with all the other hormones. What if you lose another fifty pounds? How will you react to carbs then?

At 170 pounds, I had no binging problems. Brought my weight down the the mid 150's--and foods like cheese and nuts became problem foods. I went more ketogenic--kept carbs low, brought protein down to the 60-80 grams range--and that took care of the binging. I'm not saying you'll end up with a binging problem if you diet down--just that there's enough of a hormonal shift that you don't necessarily know how you'll react to carbs at a lower body weight.
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  #22   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 06:59
Whitecrane Whitecrane is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 89
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 254/231/175 Male 5' 11"
BF:
Progress: 29%
Location: Long Island
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Very informative. Thanks everyone.
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  #23   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 09:48
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 14,606
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
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The wine festival might not be a problem. I drank occasionally and still lost, as have many others. Alcohol will stall your weight loss, and be aware that it can affect you more than when you ate high carb. But I've had a few (not driving) while enjoying low carb goodies like shrimp cocktail, steak, and cheese dips with vegetables, and had a wonderful time.

Just be careful of getting too festive and finding the carbs calling you. Many folks say it's not the alcohol so much as the loosening of inhibitions that it is known for. That is what can make us reach for the carbs.

I vividly remember the tale of a bridesmaid who had been looking forward to the wedding weekend of her good friend for months while enjoying the low carb life, and the dresses it let her fit into. She figured a "weekend couldn't hurt" and dived into a Friday evening party to indulge on all the stuff she'd been "missing."

Woke up Saturday morning with the well known "carb crash." Puffy eyes, upset stomach, bloated. She found it hard to stop, even though each indulgence increased her symptoms. It was difficult to have fun when she had to keep running to the ladies' room and had to borrow shoes for the wedding itself because her feet became so swollen. She reported that in photos of this so-looked-forward-to event she was bulging out of her dress with her eyes mere puffy slits.

And she made it back onto the wagon, afterward. Many, don't. It can take them months, or even years, to get back into the swing again, and in the meantime the pounds will all come back.

So be careful what you wish for.
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  #24   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 11:30
Kristine's Avatar
Kristine Kristine is offline
Forum Moderator
Posts: 25,581
 
Plan: Primal/P:E
Stats: 171/146/150 Female 5'7"
BF:
Progress: 119%
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada
Cool

So, it sounds like you're travelling? Dude - you will RUIN your vacation if you overindulge in the wine AND high carbs. You're asking for the hangover of all hangovers, and/or just feeling like garbage. Luckily, I only did it once, and I managed to will myself into feeling better by the afternoon. FTR, I was in Philidelphia and a trip downtown for a bunless cheesesteak was just what the doctor ordered. Went to the Phillies game and I felt 100% by the first pitch. But man - never again. The last time I traveled, I went hungry rather than talk myself into a cheat. I had WAY more fun having the energy to be up early each day, sleep well, and get the most out of my vacation time.
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  #25   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 12:33
Luckyk26's Avatar
Luckyk26 Luckyk26 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 738
 
Plan: Keto
Stats: 227.7/211.8/160 Female 5 ft 4 in
BF:
Progress: 23%
Location: New Jersey
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitecrane
Addicted?! I never felt that way... But everyone who thinks it's a bad idea is assuming you can't return to plan. I guess carb addiction is a real thing. Wow. I didn't realize what a problem this can be until now.


I never thought I was a carb addict either until I stopped eating them. Now I look back at the way I used to eat and the way I used to feel and realize I absolutely was. Kind of like my ex-husband didn't realize he was an alcoholic until he stopped drinking. It's all perspective I guess. You may find your perspective changes...and you may not.

I can't cheat...not even a little. Nor do I have the urge to because I'm pretty sure I would be sick as a dog eating all the crap I used to eat.
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  #26   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 12:51
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,843
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Everyone is different. Sometimes you just need to try things out for yourself and see how it works. Hopefully it won't end up derailing you for a significant period of time.

We have people disappearing off the forum then returning sheepishly describing how a weekend binge led to a couple years of regaining weight.
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  #27   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 13:08
Whofan's Avatar
Whofan Whofan is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 2,550
 
Plan: Low Carb Primal
Stats: 170/135/135 Female 5ft.6in.
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: New York Metro area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KDH
I wonder if there is any way to search the forum for the hundreds, if not thousands of people who started LC, were doing well, then decided they just had to have a "cheat day/meal" because of some impending holiday or celebration, and were never heard from again.

This is not dealing with some kind of credit/debit system, like the gospel of calorie counting, which has been proven wrong anyway. You don't keep carbs low just because "less good, more bad" and make it up the next day if you slip. This is about harnessing and understanding the very complex biological system that is your body. What are the long-term issues with going off plan? Nobody can answer that for YOU. Because what is fine for one person, will completely derail another. Educating yourself (and there is no end to books, videos, podcasts, etc) as to not just what to do but why, and what exactly is going on in your body, for better or worse.



Very well said! When I read the original post my first reaction was "Ah well,
we won't be hearing from him much longer". Whitecrane, I hope you prove me wrong.

Last edited by Whofan : Wed, Jun-18-14 at 12:45.
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  #28   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 13:29
sexym2's Avatar
sexym2 sexym2 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,850
 
Plan: Depends on the Day
Stats: 221/169.6/145 Female 5' 10"
BF:
Progress: 68%
Location: Southeastern, Iowa USA
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I have been on and off plan for. . . 7 years now (my youngest is 7) and I tell you I can not cheat. I remember baking cookies right before christmas and I ate 1 of them. They haunted me the rest of the evening, I had cookie dreams (not kidding) and I had cravings for the next 2 days. All for one dam cookie, it was a good cookie, I'm a hell of a cook

I've been very strict the last 3 months and allowd myself fruit 2 days in a row. It was bad, I binged on that fruit and it took a week of on and off plan to finally get and stay on plan. I am scared to death of going off plan, one bite is the devils work, he knows the rest is history.

I even get insurlin spikes with wine, I make a coctail of half diet soda and half wine and have it on ice and my blood sugar will still spike, its so sad

Anyone that doesn't believe in carb addiction needs to read up on what others have experianced and resurch it, its real. my BF is addicted I don't think as seriousely as I am though. He goes through withdrawls if he doesn't get at least 2 Mt Dews a day and I will catch him snacking on sweets after meals and for snacks just because he can and its there. Not because he's ungry at all.

I don't have carbs sitting around the house if they get a carb its potatoes or veggies or on the rare occasion that I bake it for them. Even if I bake it, they are alloud a small serving and it leaves the house the next day to never, ever return. Usually BF takes it to work and the carb addicted men there will chow down on it and its gone within minutes.
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  #29   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 14:26
s-piper s-piper is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 694
 
Plan: LC Primal
Stats: 290/270/160 Female 5'7
BF:
Progress: 15%
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I think you want us to tell you that yes, its fine to go off plan for vacation.

Yes, it's possible you'll have no trouble returning to plan, but the odds are not in your favor so our advice is don't do it. Find a way to enjoy yourself without bread and ice cream.

It's your choice, though, but we aren't going to tell you everything will be alright when that isn't how we feel about it
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  #30   ^
Old Tue, Jun-17-14, 14:29
jessdamess's Avatar
jessdamess jessdamess is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,904
 
Plan: Keto
Stats: 252/172/165 Female 69.25 inches
BF:
Progress: 92%
Location: Northeast TN
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s-piper
I think you want us to tell you that yes, its fine to go off plan for vacation.

Yes, it's possible you'll have no trouble returning to plan, but the odds are not in your favor so our advice is don't do it. Find a way to enjoy yourself without bread and ice cream.

It's your choice, though, but we aren't going to tell you everything will be alright when that isn't how we feel about it


Exactly.
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