I have a sneaking suspicion that more knowledgeable readers will correct me on this, but it's worth a shot. My question concerns the dark side of all diets - 'ice cream' (And all his cousins).

Day 1 on BFL I have already been set straight on combining carbs and protein during each meal. It is now the end of the day. Having eaten 5 of my six meals, I am considering how to finish off.

Although BFL recommends the old 'clenched fist' guideline for measuring quantities, I am doing it precisely until I get the hang of portion size. To this stage, I have taken in 90% of my target calories, protein ratio is over 50% but the fat is only 15%.

So at this stage I am thinking, 'Hmmmm. A little ice cream, limited to, say, 200 calories, would put me right at my daily calorie limit and even make the ratios closer to 40/40/20.'

Anyway, I'm licking the bowl as my sticky fingers type this, figuring that it is easier to be forgiven than to get permission.

So what is the down side of doing this with BFL? An insulin spike? What effect would that have? Cravings? Putting weight on in my sleep? Is it true that the balance given by protein does lessen this effect?

It's too late for tonight of course, and I only just opened the ice cream. I'd be interested to here from others whether a little treat every now and again, if kept within one's parameters, does have a detrimental effect on weight loss during BFL.

BTW, if it helps, the ice cream I bought was low fat. In 100g (That's like a medium bowl full) there is 160 calories, 27g carbs (20g sugar), 6g protein, 3g fat.

Tornado....

I think you know the answer to your question .

Ice cream, when eating BFL style, will spike your insulin level and can totally mess with your metabolism... it isn't a good food to eat for BFL eating. That being said, don't let one little bowl of ice cream get you down!

Sound's like you're doing a great job of measuring and looking at protein/carb/fat intake. I have not done any of the extent of measuring that you have done and have still seen great success. I work along the size of the portions without measuring. One day I may be over on my fat intake, the next day I may be way under.

When I get those cravings for ice cream, potato chips, Oreos (!) I write them down and save them for my free day..... and I take full advanatage of my free day by eating all those foods that I have been craving. It's a great way to get those cravings out of the way and get back on track to your good eating habits.

Good luck! Enjoy that next bowl of ice cream on your free day.

Kiks

Hmmmm. Well, I can't say. It was reallllly good ice cream, however. Even for the low fat kind.

Anyway, I will find out how much the post Atkins, pre BFL last ditch binge on the weekend cost me, tonight's ice cream included. Weekly weigh in (The first durig BFL) is tomorrow morning. I have been see-sawing around 209 for what seems like forever.

12 weeks to go. I wonder how well behaved I can be...

Good luck with the weigh in! I'm sure that the ice cream won't do you too much harm. Of course if you ate it for your 6th meal every night you might have a small problem...

I'm sure you'll do fine with your 12-weeks. I won't lie and say I was perfect (I wasn't)... but when I had a slip I didn't let it effect the rest of my week or my entire challenge. I just figured that when I had a little slip it was normal for me and I just got right back on my work-out and eating routine.

Keep up the good work!
Kiks

Hey Tornado! I do the exact same thing! Edy's has a wonderful low-fat fudge tracks ice cream. I won't eat something like ice cream by itself, I will eat it with some protein to avoid an insulin spike. But actually ice cream has a fairly low GI, lower than whole wheat bread, most fruit, potatoes and plenty of other "healthy" foods. I also rely heavily on natural pb and macadamia nut butter to bring up my fat if I need to at the end of the day. I'm actually trying to gain weight and am having no luck. So I doubt it will adversely affect your weight loss. If you want to eat cleaner, oatmeal with nuts or nut butter and ricotta or protein powder is a good bedtime choice to up the cals. Good luck!

Jen

Ahhh, my magic number - 209lb.

Am I forever destined to be 209lb? One wonders.

I guess the all weekend mega binge last weekend didn't help. And coming off Atkins, it is true that you instantly put several pounds on. When I went from a two week binge to a two week induction last time I lost 11 pounds in 10 days. Since I put it all on just prior to that, it is clear that this is predominantly water weight.

With BFL I am expecting that my weight will be a better reflection of my true self, not one with my body carb deprived and therefore artificially light.

What I am really hoping for is more energy than I had on Atkins, accompanied by a steady weight loss (fat loss and a little weight) as wekk as some muscle development.

That's exactly what I've experieinced with BFL..... I've done the weight watchers (was successful at losing weight but it came right back on ), I tried a modified Atkins (I couldn't stand the limited variety of food I could eat)...

BFL has been a great program for me. I can't beleive the increase in my energy level. My BFL buddy says that BFL allows you to change your shape while a lot of other weight loss programs simply allow you to lose weight. I was skeptical at first but have been really happy to see some of my muscles coming though my layers of fat!

Good luck with your BFL experieince.... It's been a great program for me so far.

Kiks