My only "off-plan" food is pizza. It is the only thing I couldn't give up entirely! I allow myself to have pizza once every few weeks or so. It has actually helped to boost weightloss because I don't have a lot of fat/calories in my diet (I don't eat any red meat, so lots of chicken = lean meat). Otherwise, I tend to stall often. The thing is that I don't consider having the pizza cheating or giving up or setting myself back. I am LCing for good now and I can't imagine changing back to how I used to eat. I'm happy I have pizza once every three weeks and LC the rest of the time, compared to stuffing all those carbs into my face every day all the time before. If you can't have "off-plan" days or meals, that's cool...that's what you need to do. If you can have an "off-plan" day or meal, that's great, too. As long as you're LCing overall and feeling better, that's all that matters. Just my .02.

~Kelly Deneen

Way of life
 

When i first started Atkins I fully planned on cheating. But I havent. This has become a way of life for me. Alot of fantastic side-effects too, besides weight loss.....no more acid reflux, Painful intestinal gas, pms has eased up considerably...I got on the scale this morning ..and i cried because i am losing weight. I was so happy. I dont even want to cheat.

I think one reason why we have different ideas of "cheating" or whatever word you want to use for it, is because we are different stages of weight loss. Some of us still have 50 (or 70 or 20) pounds to go, and others have achieved their goals and are doing maintenence.
Now I may have slipped a couple of times, but I go back to my plan immediately because I want to reach my goal weight. I stall VERY easily, so I really pay for every bite that isn't planned. Once I get to my goal, I know it will be easier to have those little indulges, like pie at Christmas, but until then, I cannot cheat.
This is just one of those YMMV things, I guess.

I never plan to cheat, because there are too many things that sneak up on me...like going over to my Dad's house and my stepmom has made her (justly) world famous lasagna...but only for special events like that will I go off plan, and then it's only for one meal.
Often, I'll say to myself, "If this restaurant/event/occasion is too hard to make work as a LC'er, I will go off plan" but then it turns out none of the high carb stuff appeals to me, or I have so many choices in low carb that it's ridiculous to skip one of them.
But then, I'm pretty fortunate in that I don't have too many cravings, and I've found great substitutes for the things I do miss, from low carb candy to a different base for my pizza.
Only you know who much you will stall by indulging, and how much you can indulge before the penalty gets too high.
And don't indulge in nothing! So many times, I look at the treat, and think, "You are so not worth it."
And it's true.

I agree here. when people bug me about not eating something that they consider harmless (why not just one bite of a brownie?), I tell them that if I do eat something like that, it has to be WORTH IT.
Like for me, sometimes one real tortilla chip at a Mexican restaurant is worth it. Or a peanut sized taste of cake at a wedding, or the champagne for the toast.

But that's me. :sunny:

If I cheat it will be all over so I don't!

I have read on the forum that if you are planning to cheat it should only be ONE meal and consumed within one hour. Not all day.

If you can do this, more power to you but I thought Dr. Aktins says that this is too hard on our bodies to go off and on again back into induction?

Well I did a cheat weekend after 5 weeks on induction. I ate bagels and donuts and chocolate and ice-cream... yum! And champagne! But, as others have said, I didn't have as great a desire to eat these foods. Going off the plan worked out fine for me- I ended up losing a kilo- but I am not going to rely on that for weightloss. Every body is different. I think planning to have meals which don't strictly match the woe you are following is a good idea however- just once in a while. I know personally that if I have something to look forward to, it is easier to say no !

I completely agree. I am in the LCing WOL but I have cheats about once or twice a week as long as they aren't sugar. However, the difference is I would never have a white roll with chips or mashed potatoes. Every meal now has protein. My whole way of thinking about food and nutrition has altered and going on a cheat doesnt change that.

i used to plan low-fat cheat days......but now i dont plan
on cheatin at all hehehe

Another reasont I love CAD. Don't have to worry about "cheating". I just work the plan and stay happy, satisfied, and cheat free.

Deb

True...CAD would be the ultimate "cheat" by the standards of Atkins and other plans... while it IS a myth that you can binge on carbs for an hour and not gain. You have a serving of your carb of choice, BALANCED out with protein and low-carb veggies..and the rest of the day is "stricter", so there's no such thing as a free lunch, or in this case free carb!

I just experienced this after a 3 week stall, I gave in to wine and pizza, then chips the next day, the next few days my weight started going down again. I don't want to make a habit of cheating, but maybe once every month or so does help kick start weight loss again!

So this thread is from 2003 and it seems some of these "cheaters" disappeared and well.. it's hard not to notice the OP only lost about 10lbs and hasn't posted in over a year.

Not trying to sound like a bitch but it was just something I noticed. Maybe "cheating" wasn't good in the long run.

We should build some slack in our diet program. The assumptions of 'slack' versus 'cheat day', are subtly different, and I think healthier.

Rob.... there is slack.... it's called the ladder ;)
But I hear you
I think it's an individual thing
me.... personally
I can't "slack" or "cheat" (except for wine :D )
my body is not forgiving.... it would punish me on the scale