I'm about 3 weeks into the program, and have hit a major stall, even though I am careful and overcount everything!

I met someone who was LCing, and she said when she is at a stall, she "cheats", she takes one day, eats pizza, etc...doesn't watch the carbs. Then, the next morning she goes right back to the plan. She said by the following day, she starts to lose again. I just wondered if anyone else does this. I hate to get in the habit, I have gone this long without cheating, and as much as a cheating day once in awhile sounds great, I don't want to do it unless there's truth to it's benefit.....

three weeks is just a minor blip! hang in there.....i would guess you're losing inches! also, since i cheated a little over the holidays, i didn't get any cravings, but i can't drop the extra two pounds i gained! so, i am not an advocate of "cheating" but again, everyone is totally different!

Major stall? Acc. to your stats you've lost 5 lbs since you started three weeks ago, so you're not even close to a stall.

Just continue following the plan to the t. Most people hover for a while after the initial induction loss (I even gained 1lb week 3). The body "recovers" and adjusts before the next stage.

Congrats to your loss!

/gil

Addressing the issue on carb binging to break a stall (a REAL stall = 4-6 weeks of neither losing lbs or inches), that's a very risky business not meant for everyone. It has been discussed here before, unfortunately I can not find the thread right now. But, I remember someone here trying it and then falling off the wagon completely. It took her a lot of struggle and tears to get back on track again.

If you would ever experience a *real* stall, there are other LC-methods to work around it, binging carbs not being one of them.

Here's a great thread, BTW:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=94619

I would not advise cheating. I've been very good and true to low-carb for 10 months and I think the end result is I don't crave carbs, I am slowly losing weight, my appetite seems normal for the first time in my life. I get full and stop eating for the first time I can remember.

I can only think that if I were jumping off and on the diet everytime I didn't lose weight a few weeks I would probably still be battling the over-eating and cravings I had the first 4-6 months I was on the diet.

Stick to it and don't obsess over the scales. Remember this has to become a way of life, otherwise it'll all just come back anyway.