Hi, I need some encouragement please! I have been doing atkins for almost a year. I have lost some pounds and everywhere I go someone says "wow you've lost so much weight".
But now I seem so out of control, my cravings are back. I haven't gained any weight back yet, but if I keep eating like this I am sure I will.
I may know my problem, I can't stop drinking my Diet coke and diet pepsi. I tryed Diet rite, yuck! Do you think that d. coke and pepsi would be enough to make me out of control like this. For a while I had myself drinking alot of water and only a diet coke for a treat.

Has anyone ever experienced feeling their cravings come back with full force? Thanks in advance for your help. Donalee

Yep, I've had those cravings come back full force - I also beleive it was something that I was eating that I didn't think was a big deal at the time, but a few days after I took it out of my diet - the cravings subsided. You may have a trigger food like that too - any newer that you've added to your diet since the cravings started?

I also strongly feel that sometimes the cravings come back - and they are all in our head - emotional issues that turn us back to what many of us do - eat for comfort. We all need to understand that eating does NOT make things better - it usually makes things worse.

So sit down, think of the foods you recently added - and take a look if your mind is trying to sabatoge you

Hi Donalee. Those #(~*#&%^&% cravings can turn up out of apparently 'nowhere'. My best solution for them is to have protein (=meat) always on hand. Then I say to my self that I will eat the sweet I crave IF IF IF I still want it AFTER I eat a good sized piece of protein - don't be stingy or just eat a bit. You know how fast meat fills you up, especially if accmpanied by fat.

I have yet to have a craving survive the 'meat attack'. Some of the cravings are emotional habits, as Talon described. And I believe some of them are chemical when your body decides it wants sugar NOW!

Maybe you are letting yourself go too long without eating? How about a mid-morning or mid-afternoon protein snack to keep the furnace stoked?

The diet colas have lots of interesting things in them: caramel colour, aspartame, caffeine are the things that are commonly problems for people. The caffeine can cause an insulin surge. Caramel colour is derived from sugar and I'd bet your liver knows that instantly. Aspartame is a problem for many people.

You DID reduce your intake for quite a while so you can again. How about announcing to yourself that on a particular date in the next 7 - 10 days, you will again drink at least one glass of water before having the cola and one afterwards? Just think how that would up your water intake & it may affect your ability to resist the cravings.

And if you are eating Advantage Bars or other "LC bars", cut them out first. The glycerine/glycerol content is a big problem for many.

Hugs,

Hi all,

So funny this should come up at the moment when I am just recovering from being in the throes of a "feeling out of control" attack. However, I did beat it by doing exactly what Barb said to do. I ate a big pork steak. Yes, I ate it in the middle of the day, all by itself, totally out of routine for my eating habits. But it sure cured my "FOOC" attack. This was only about the sixth time this has happened to me since I started on 18 June 2002 and I'm not sure what caused it. And before I could get the meat cooked, I stuffed my face with two Carbolite bars which did not satisfy me. I knew I had to do something drastic. Guess it doesn't make any difference what started it, but I sure feel "cured". Hang in there.


Linda
214/179/125

Hi,
Me too, feeling very much out of control...with no real reason.
I had 2 glasses of wine last night at an office outing but I'd already promised myself that if I was going to change my WOE I would not deprive myself of the occasional treat.
I think it's my hormones cos I'm not hungry at all but soooo want to eat CHOCOLATE ..... grrrrr.
Ali

I too just got over a wild binge...lasted almost a week and put me right back up to where I started. Not only was the food making me sick, but the emotional disgust and hopelessness about even bothering to re-start was just too much. I desperately wanted to lose weight MORE than I wanted to satisfy my cravings, but I was out of control too.

It took a good headcold to get me to finally stop eating for a few days, and then gradually I started eating just the right foods. Now the scale says I've lost those 9 pounds this week.

Whatever it takes to not get to that point of utter failure, DO IT!! Because that's one step away from not doing anything!

If you really think the diet soda is doing something, maybe allow yourself that one can after work, or whenever, in a special glass, with ice and a straw, or however you like it...and make it an occasion! Make it a treat, or at least make it feel like something special!

But for heaven's sake...wherever you are in your LC journey, re-adjust and come back to the right way. Every once in a while, a little indulgence will be fine, but as a habit...it's the road to failure.

I have just determined that CREAM is a trigger food for me... it's not awful (does not trigger a binge or anything... but I end up with the "hungries" and eat way more of the legal foods then I really need). I have cut it out this week... and lo and behold... my cravings have subsided... and I am back losing weight (after three weeks of stall). There really ARE certain foods that tend to cause or trigger hunger and insulin reactions for some of us.

Thanks for all of the replies. It really helps alot to know that your not alone in a struggle. Everyone gave me some good ideas. I am going to start trying to add water back in to my diet. I have just about stopped drinking alot of water. Maybe thats the key.

Hey, I have had alot, and I mean alot of stress in my life lately. And thinking back now, it seems like I started getting out of control right at the begining of the stresses... Maybe emotional eating? What do you think?

Thanks again for your support!! Donalee

Here is a typical day for me ( I am not saying that you should follow, but it has worked for me and I am satisfied on it...

breakfast: Atkins blueberry muffin or Advantage bar and h20..ometimes ham and cheese omelette if I have the time.

lunch : chicken ceaser salad or hot Bufallo chicken wings or cheeseburger w/out the bun, tuna cold plate..h20

dinner: same ususally as lunch, or maybe roasted chicken, turkey or steak, salad w/ oil & vinager or blue cheese and a Diet Rite soda (not too bad, c'mon!...no caffine/no aspartame)

I really have done the induction most of the time I have been on it..only eating more if I felt like I was hungry...I didn't obsess over feeling hungry during induction eventually the hunger went away and the routine above, while at times a little boring has worked.

I have found that a lot of the diet Cokes and Pepsies really affected me, once I went back on h20 i felt better and seemed to burn more fat..

I strategically eat the Blueberry muffins or the bars in the am or afternoon to give my body a chance to burn them off...seems to be working...
But the biggest thing for me is to have somewhat of a routine.. Then I am prepared for it and know what's coming..I always seem to be planning the meal out...varying the types of protien, never a lot of red meat and always having some chicken and especially fish...

The routine seems to limit my cravings. but the most motivating is the high of people in disbelief when they see the weight I've lost...It really makes me breakthorough the cravings and helps me keep the eyes on the prize...