I am having big troules today, there is a cake mix and a can of frosting and some store boughten choc chip cookies in the kitchen. They have all been calling my name for the last couple days and I think its because I fell from my plan for 4 days starting from my daughters birthday party and all that fresh fruit. That started on the 4th, took me a week to get it all under control and back on plan but I'm still having the cravings. Its there and I tell you, I'm finding every excuse to eat the cake mix.

sexym2: Stick the cake mix in the deep freeze and get it out of sight.

Its way up in the pantry, I don't see it, I have a dam good memory though. I should have sent it to the farm like my son wanted me to do. I thought I was better than this and so far I am. I turned on a western and am chewing some cinnamen gum trying to keep "relaxed." I've calmed down but I was jittery and felt like I was on caffien and I have only had fresh ham steak for lunch today.

All because I went off plan on my daughters birthday on lousy fruit!

I have decided that for me it's just not worth it to go off plan. I wouldn't even call it about cheating - for me, it's eating anything that is not on my current plan. It just doesn't work for me - and I have decided that I am not going to lose any more time on this!

If I am losing at a decent rate - let's say just 1lb a week - and I go off plan and gain 5 lbs. - that means I have just wasted 10 weeks of work! The first 5 weeks that I worked to lose it, and the next 5 weeks it's going to take me to lose it again.

I might have lost it quicker than 5 weeks, and after going off plan, I might lose lose it quick than 5 weeks... but what a waste of time either way!

It doesnt matter to me about weight anymore, I feel better not eating junk food. I get arthritis, IBS and eczema if I do. I dont see it as depriving myself and it certainly doesnt mean I dont enjoy myself just cos I dont have any!

For me, a cheat day/week would be as silly as giving up smoking and then having a packet of cigarettes

Jo xxx

Exactly. I think of getting into ketosis and losing weight and ditching cravings... like an 18 wheeler. You don't get those things up to speed right away. You have to work your way through the gears, graining momentum, getting everything rolling.

One cheat, and you slam on the brakes.

That's not what happened to me. I posted the data a few pages ago.

To the OP: This is a lifestyle - and you need to make it work for you. It's not for us to say to do or don't. We just give our experiences. We like to share what we have learned. You know yourself and whether you will get back on track after the week in October. You know how long it took you to get into ketosis at the outset. I would think it would take you at least that long to get back into it after a week off plan. And you'll have to re-lose weight you've already lost. If all goes well, you'll "be starting over" from a much lower weight after your vacation.

You're reading meaning into the data that is not there. I was 100% everyday <20g carbs from 8/19/12 to 12/16/13. No let-up for a year and a half. On 9/26/13 I went no dairy. There was a sudden jump in ketostick and ketoblood readings, first-time keto breath and a sudden drop in water weight then a slow climb back up to where I started. Over Christmas I went normal carb, gained 4.2 lbs, from 12/16 to 12/29, and was back down to 230.5 by 1/8/14.

As I said, the chart is difficult for me to read. I don't think I read any meaning into the chart. I looked at the numbers and commented on those facts. I did use the knowledge that you'd said you'd went to normal carb.

That said, as I just went back, I realized that you aren't the OP. My bad. Sorry! So my suggestion about watching how many times you go up to normal carbs in a given time doe snot apply. I will delete the post as it applies to you inflammabl.

Kudos to you - inflammabl, for tracking your results.

Really, theres only one way for the OP to know how he reacts to carbs, to jump ship and try to get back into plan when he can.

Hello Whitecrane.

Just thought I would post, I just weighed in this morning after being off LC for a week, and then back on LC for exactly a week, all my gain and losses for you.

I was up 7.5 after being off for 8 days, I ate anything and everything I wanted that week, cruise food is plentiful and tons of carbs.

After the week back on, I have lost 6.5 of the 7.5 gained.

I am thrilled to say the least with my progress.

Would/will I go off for a vacation again, in a heartbeat!

Best of luck to you when you special week arrives.

Roxanne

Hey Whitecrane!

Here's my experience: I gave myself PERMISSION to eat off plan one time since I started back 5 July 2013. I like to call it the "Thanksgiving Fiasco of 2013".

I just let "Fat Jo" (my self-destructive carb-loving out of control alter ego ) have anything she wanted for 3 days straight -- turkey and all the trimmings + everything else, pie, cake.

I promised myself before I let Her loose that I would go back on plan afterward. I gained 9 lbs and it took me 6 days to lose them.

Thank goodness I was in the right frame of mind to get back to business. Would I do it again? You couldn't make me do it with a GUN to my head!! Lesson Learned the hard way... but I did learn..

I have 2 inspirational quotes posted on my frig:

“At the end of the day, I will NOT regret what I DID NOT eat!”

“Nothing Tastes as Good as Being at my Personal Weight Goal Feels!”

I would be the last person to tell you not to eat these things, but think about this. Can an alcoholic stop drinking after a week? We are all in the same book here, we are carb addicts. I know if I even taste sugar or starch all bets are off. My addiction is bad, that is why CAD doesn't work for me. Maybe you could go back after a week, why risk it

Fourteen years. That's how long it took me yo-yoing back and forth due to cheating here and there. I guess I'm dense because it took so long, but I finally realized how destructive the cheats were. I've had to talk to myself a lot to come to a point where I know for certain that it will always be very easy to un-do the losses, and that potential will never disappear. I like certain foods too much, unfortunately.

I finally made up my mind that I was going to finish this straight through to my goal with no cheating, no backtracking. It was almost ridiculously simply to do, and I keep wondering why I didn't do this 12 years ago. The reason was that I wasn't convinced until now that this is how it has to be done. I do see a similarity with an alcoholic, who by virtue of past drinking behavior puts himself/herself into a position of never being able to indulge in alcohol occasionally like so many of us; the alcoholic closed that door. As I have closed the door to making all the sugary goodies part of my life. I don't even go there thinking about it any more! But in this context, each day I go without the junky carbs and other things that might derail my progress, I'm a bit stronger than before. And now it really is effortless to pass on these foods. I don't have to argue with myself any more. This is how it has to be and I'm finally OK with it.