I cheat occassionally by eating breaded chicken or seafood without any change to the scale or my sugar cravings. But I did cheat at a birthday party because there were no LC food. So pizza, cake and ice cream cost me a three pound gain that took two weeks to lose. You have to see how your body is going to react. Everybody's body is different so you have to experience it for yourself.

I've been on Atkins for almost 3 months now, and have had ok steady loss. I decided tonight that when we went out I would allow myself to order anything on the menu regardless of carb or calorie count as a treat, then be back on program completely. I know perfectly well I will gain back these 2 pounds I have been fighting tooth and nail, maybe more. But in the long run I don't think I will completely gain back all the weight I've lost (I don't have problems with cravings or getting sent into binges please note), and I can continue to lose, though it may be a week or more before I start again.

I ended up having chicken fajitas with no tortilla and veggies instead of rice (Some habits are hard to break). I did have a coffee drink with a mix of higher carb liquers in it though, including baily's, kalua, ameretto and a couple of others. I also had 3 of my SO's small ribbletts that had BBQ sauce on them. Then for dessert I had 1 bite of his apple chimichanga, and 1/2 a recees cheesecake.

Conclusions: I really liked the coffee drink and the apple dessert. I may have those for my b-day treat in December. The cheesecake wasn't that great at all. The only good part was the carmel on top. I can make a much smoother, creamier, LC cheesecake at home with almond butter or peanut butter.

I've had over 200 oz of water since, and over 40oz at dinner. I know the alcohol isprobably fairly well flushed out, though the carbs are no where near. I'm out of ketosis of course. I also have my reflux back full swing, bloating, and an overstuffed tummy achy feeling.

Like I said I know I will gain a small amount of weight back, and won't lose anything for a few days, but I knew this before walking into the resteraunt and made a concious decision to try some new things and accept the concequences.

OMG yes I have done three/four carb blowouts!!! The first two weeks of August were just hellacious for me. I lost five friends and attended funeral after funeral. Needless to say, the foods were not exactly what Dr A would have recommended. I went berserk. However, my doctor did recommend I go off on a tangent a couple of times here and there to reboot my system, as it were. I think Dr A would disapprove but it did work for me. I lost 26 pds despite the variances in diet. Now I am sluggishly losing but at least not gaining. Frnakly I am sick to death of meats.. Anyone else feel that way?
hugs,
Fibronurse
*************

I went off Atkins 3 days ago and instead went on a reduced calorie vegetarian diet with the fat intake being olive oil and 1 ounce of nuts a day....I did this because I was getting sick of meat, most of my life I have lived as a vegetarian.

My calories were 1400, 1100, and 1300 on these 3 days so not really a starvation diet...but... I lost 2 pounds after just the first 2 days and in the morning will see the results after 3 days... I really thought that my weight would go up but it has not... neither have my cravings but I was never really bad into sweets and am not eating them now....this is my TOM when I usually go up at least 2 pounds but instead I am going down....I was 236 this morning...I was stuck at 238 for about 2 weeks and although I knew that was not considered a stall, to me it was hard to deal with.

I will probably go back to Atkins when I stop losing on this.... I just needed a break for awhile from all the meat....I just want the weight off and will do whatever gets me there as long as its healthy.

My blood pressure used to run between 126/82 to around 142/92 before Atkins and after a couple of weeks on Atkins it was staying around 113/72....now it is going as low as 98/62 on the vegetarian diet.... I monitor it several times a day just out of curiousity because I do not want it to be on the high side as both my parents have had problems with high blood pressure.

I had a 'planned' cheat day and it has lasted for the last four days I am determined to get back on the straight and narrow today however! My advice is that if you have a cheat day or meal, make sure that you have plenty of will power and get back LCing straight away.

I don't have a day, or even an hour... I just plan to have the one thing I really miss once every coupleof weeks... I slice of apple pie and some quality icecream... yum... other than that I am perfectly happy with my diet.

The other evening I had a blt with 1 slice of homemade ww bread, and two ears of sweet corn.
I am up two pounds, but I figure I will get back down eventually. The blt was good, the corn I really could leave alone again for another year. Also, that day for lunch I went with a friend for lunch to Applebees. I had a Sante Fe Chicken salad without the torillia strips. VERY GOOD.

I can tell you that for me personally this is the equivalent of an alcoholic going on a one day binge and then being able to get up the next day and maintain his abstinence with no problem. I think it is different though for different people. I am without a doubt a carbohydrate addict and a compulsive overeater. My whole life I thought it was me. That I had some character defect or a lack of willpower. When I read that the carbs were spiking my insulin and screwing with my blood sugar and that if I would cut them down that I'd stop feeling the cravings I didn't believe it. Then I tried it....AMAZING....now I know for a fact that if I put something like a donut in my body it would be like poison to me. Total poison....I'd be fighting off cravings like a freakin crack addict for at least 3 days...I know this because I am now highly in tune with how certain foods do this to me....I noticed I was having cravings after my lunch and couldn't figure out why...somoene pointed out it was my salad dressing and that sugar was one of the first 4 ingredients...so yet another thing I am highly addicted to and my body reacts to like crazy....I switched salad dressing and no more cravings...I would no sooner eat a donut now or anything like that than I would eat rat poison. I know for a fact that it would restart the cravings and I never ever ever want to fight off those cravings again. I am so thankful to be rid of them.

This has been so interesting to read! I, too, would be afraid to "cheat", mostly because it has taken me almost a month to feel good enough to finally give up my beloved Diet Coke. I've been on Atkins' Induction for a month (tomorrow) and have lost only lost 10 lbs, but have exercised religiously and lost inches, too...the weight loss is okay...the inches are better, but I feel so much better I am afraid of taking in more carbs because of the bloating, exhaustion and nasty disposition. And water retention is a big problem for me, so if I cheat, I would be hard pressed to know if it was water or actually pounds, either.

I had my carb-blowout weekend last weekend. My husband took me to New York to visit this restaurant there called Babbo's for my birthday. Its chef is Mario Battali, one of those oh-so-hot celebrity chefs du jour.

The restaurant was everything we'd dreamed, and more. Intimate setting, delicious food, fabulous selection of wines, amazing service. I had an insalata caprese there (just tomatoes, olive oil, basil, and mozarella di bufala) that changed my life. I COULD have it every day on Atkins -- if I could ever find truly vine-ripened tomatoes and real mozarella di bufala.

If anyone has a chance to go to Babbo -- do so! And carbs be damned. But you have to call 4 weeks in advance for reservations.

When I weighed myself on Tuesday, I had gained ten pounds. TEN pounds! But eight pounds of that weight has already disappeared, and I'm sure the rest will disappear quickly, too. It's true what they way about glycogen storing a lot of water.

The carb blowout day DID set me back at least a week -- but it was worth it. And it wasn't hard to return to low carbing -- especially since the blowout was, in my mind, planned for and confined to this one lavish weekend away.

I lost another pound this morning making it 3 pounds since Monday now that I am eating vegetarian...I have still kept the calories between 1100-1400 a day and in 4 days lost 3 pounds....I never gained anything and my TOM is due tomorrow and usually I go up at least 2 pounds for that so this is really great for me....I figure I will stay on this until it stops working then go back to the Induction and see how it goes....another thing is that I am still staying away from sugar because like armywife said it can cause cravings for me and I am not really into sweets that much anyway...I have been eating the good carbs like beans and whole grain and will always stay away from trans fats, white flour and sugar.

I just got sooo tired of meat and needed a break from it....but if it would have made my weight go up at all then I would have not done it any longer because I am determined to lose this weight.

I so relate to this. If I never lost another pound and stayed overweight I would still never put another bad carb in my mouth because I feel like I have been healed from a terminal disease. I had no idea but the high carbs I was eating for breakfast (pancakes, cereal etc) was causing me to have zero energy, feel like a slug and barely be able to stay awake. I felt so bloated, so crappy. I felt an inch from death by 9 am. We moved into a house with stairs last year and I thought we were going to have to move because I couldn't make it up the stairs without a lot of effort. It almost killed me going up and down the stairs. I literally had to stop 3 times to catch my breath. Now I am still well over 100 lbs overweight. I have lost 52 lbs but I am still needing to lost a good 130 however I can go up and down the stairs like a 15 year old. I have so much energy it is amazing. If I never lost another pound I'd still stay away from those types of foods because they were killing me. I have laid on the couch so much in the last 8 years there were times I felt I was morphing into the couch and becoming the couch. I had no energy and not only that I was spacing out in a fog. I wish I knew about the carb fog like I know now. Dr. Atkins has saved my life. I don't care what people say about him. He is my angel in heaven.

What is the problem with the diet Coke? Is it the caffeine or the sweetener?

The biggest problem, for me I am sure, is the sheer number per day. They gave me a huge energy boost and cut my appetite but I could never drink "just one". Given the controversy over the sweetener, and the effect of the caffeine at night, it has been way past time to wean myself off. Having grown up in the Deep South (and lived a good portion of my life there) I drank Coke, and later Diet Coke, like the English drink tea! A Coke was never far from my hand. When I finally "cut back", it was to 6 or 7 a day, mostly from late afternoon until I went to bed. And then couldn't sleep well from too much caffeine. I got in the habit of drinking so many a day when I was on a low-fat diet for high blood pressure and was starving 24/7. And I gained weight on the diet, too. Of course.