I was wondering if this bothers anyone besides me when I am out with family or friends and the eat candy or desearts it tends to get my cravings going until it is at a fever pitch! I do well at home using the out of sight out of mind tactics. My dh is lcing to so it is easy but to make lifechanges i need some sugestions for outside influences. Family get togethers such as birthday parties are really hard for me too! My kids just don't get it. At my birthday they had a real cake for me and said, "Mom, it is your birthday you can eat the cake." One piece will not hurt you.! I caved. Then had to start all over with induction. I was so mad at myself for not following my own advice. One bite is all it takes with Atkins! Anyway, has anyone got tips to becom strong when the evil of carbs is thrown in your face, evil temptation is at hand. I just have not mastered saying no and sticking to it yet.
Thanks
Jane

Honestly, it usually doesn't bother me at all. If I'm going to a party, I chew SF gum, say I'm not hungry or that I've already eaten and I'm fine.

I expect my family to be supportive of me through this Induction phase. And they are. My son will ask how I'm doing and makes sure I didn't cheat. My husband eats what I make for dinner along with his usual starchy foods.

He'll say something like, I'm sorry I'm eating potato's in front of you, be strong you can do it. And it helps to know he's not just doing the whole, Oh look what I can have and you can't Na Na Na Na NA thing. You know what I mean!

I can't expect my family to go on a diet too when they aren't the one's in need of it. So it doesn't bother me if my son wants to eat a chocolate bar, I just leave the room till his done and I take my water with me. If my husband is eating cookies while we are watching a movie, I'll say, go eat that in the kitchen in an angle where you can still see movie but I can't see you. And he does it. They don't mean to eat tempting stuff in front of me, they are just allowed to eat them and I'm not. I load up on my water and it keeps me full and free from temptation.

Perhaps you can stress to them how extremly important this is to you. And though you appreciate the gesture of the birthday cake for example, that things like that aren't helping you lose weight buy gain it. Tell them you need them now more than ever and that it won't be forever, so to please support you in every positive way they can. I'm sure that they love you and will help you reach your goal.

Good Luck,
Lily

It depends on how satisfied I am. If i'm at my inlaws and the food sucked then YES I feel deprived.

If I loved my food and feel full I am sincerely grateful for my WOE.

Suggesion: Have a yummy SF treat in your handbag for those time you feel deprived.

Hi there!
I'm just starting Atkins, but I've been diabetic for seven years so I know exactly what you mean. For me, it's more than cravings, it makes me angry... why can they have that and I can't? And the fact that I was still following the CDA recommended diet and eating carbs just didn't help with the temptation at all. When I was first diagnosed, well-meaning family members would "go out of their way" to provide me with dessert, ie plain yogurt, unsweetened frozen fruit or regular sugary cake (but without icing!). And then I was told that I was being rude when I refused, so I ate it, even if I'd already gone beyond my limits for that meal, or didn't even really want it. Eventually, I just told them all, "I appreciate you thinking of me, but I feel like I'm rude to refuse and I really need to be able to control everything that I'm eating, and I need to be able to be free to make all of my food decisions myself". That way, if they still feel obligated to provide these "treats", then I can refuse them without feeling guilty. I'm surprised that your family would give you a cake for your bday, I would think they would realize a greater gift would be a bday celebration where you don't have to avoid a cake! Stay strong!!
A trick to avoid temptation that I saw in someone elses' journal: Tell yourself "maybe later" and then by the time you revisit it, your cravings will have cooled off. I also think of each high carb goodie as less time with my family and loved ones : ( Depressing, but effective for those times when you really feel like you want to cheat!

It doesn't usually bother me. I keep candy in a dish for guests and buy treats for co-workers who aren't trying to avoid them. The only time it bothers me is when I feel left out. When I know that others will be eating something I avoid, it helps to bring food I can eat. My husband and I go to my parents house a lot and the three of them have popcorn, ice cream or cake every time. I always make something I can have. It isn't usually something sweet (since I don't use many artificial sweeteners) but just having something I like helps. As for things like birthdays I would give your kids a few low carb recipes that you like and tell them that you appreciate their thoughtfullness but these are the only kinds of treats you can eat. At first I told my Mom not to try to make anything special for me because I didn't want her to go out of her way just because I'm low-carbing. However, she kept saying that she wanted me to have "treats" when she cooks for us. I gave her a bunch of my favorite recipes and now she has fun cooking things I can have. It makes it easier to see others eating things I don't want to eat when I have plenty of foods I enjoy. If I know there won't be foods I can have, I now bring my own.

It drives me crazy! I am not a strong person when it comes to chocolate. The only way I can handle this is by staying deep into ketosis and stuffing myself on the allowed foods. And I try to not make eye contact with chocolate. When I restarted I committed myself to not having cheats until my birthday which was 6 months away. Once a week I have my lowcarb chocolate day, and I treat myself to atkins products, and it just happens to be today

You have to teach the people around you how serious you are about this. If they see you caving in this one time then they will not take you as seriously. So if you are going cheat, don't do it in from of anyone. No that's not the lesson, just don't cheat!

Not everyone has superhuman strength... the trick is to set things up so you don't NEED it!

Sometimes it bothers me, sometimes not... those times it DOES, and I don't have an alternative handy, I have to excuse myself from teh area of the temptation until I "talk myself down" from the craving.

I highly recommend the new Dr Phil book to anyone trying to deal with their environment. Lots of good ideas!

Most of the time it doesn't bother me at all. Just don't eat chocolate in front of me when TOM is visiting and I don't have any sugar-free chocolate handy. It could get ugly.
Seriously...there are lots and lots of recipes for homemade low carb treats that are very, very yummy. I wouldn't recommend eating things like that every day, but once a week or so or when you are faced with a temptation that is more than you can bear, keep some low carb treats in the freezer ready to be thawed and eaten when those situations arise.
Another option is to get some L-Glutamine and/or Chromium to help with the cravings. Many people report that these two supplements do wonders to help reduce cravings and increase resistance to high carb goodies being waved under your nose.

I think bottom line is that someone who is Low carb'in is choosing to no longer eat like that, don't let it get to you , if you feel cheated cause someone else is having what you think you want, then this will be just a diet not a woe and you'll feel deprived, no one wants to feel deprived.
Hope that makes sense, Kathy

Another trick is to regularly read as many low-carb books (or websites like holdthetoast.com or lowcarbluxury.com) as possible and educate yourself about why you absolutely don't want to eat that stuff. It helped me to think of those foods as poison, which made it easier for me to stay away.

Good luck. You can do this!

Kathy, I think you've got a good point. When it comes down to it, the only one making us feel deprived is...US.
A while back, a very good thread was posted about what it really means to be deprived and chosing to not eat something because you know that it will ulitimately harm you, cause you to gain weight, or make you sick was not part of that definition, espcially when you have the choice as to whether you will eat it or not. You may not like the consequences of the choice you have, but it is still your choice.

My take on it is that LCing is a choice I make and - just like I don't expect others to try and change me - I don't think it's fair to make others change their eating patterns and behaviors to placate me. In fact, it took me a long time to get my BF to realize that I was okay with him ordering French Fries when we go to a restaurant. Yes, they smell absolutely wonderful, but I would rather have the health benefits I've gained since I started this WOE/WOL than a french fry. If I really really want a "treat," there are plenty of alternatives out there for me. I keep a small stash of SF candy if the mood strikes - but I rarely ever touch it (it takes about a month for me to finish a Ross chocolate bar).

If someone is deliberately trying to sabotage me, that's a different matter altogether, but I've not come across that yet.

It's weird, but I seem to have found a sense of willpower and determination on this WOL that I've never posessed before.

We keep a big bowl of candy in the office for everyone. I've recently been nominated to buy new stock so I have also been buying sugar free to put out as well. Funny thing is the SF goes faster than the other because alot of the girls choose it first. I'm glad they do too. It doesn't bother me that the candy is there because I know that I don't want it in my body. But I have to admit when I was in a store today I saw a chocolate display that induced a wicked chocolate craving so I picked up a pack of SF gum. I think for me it's just knowing what sugar does in the body so I can pass it by.