Sometimes I just feel like I'm the only one in the world who faces this daily struggle to "be good" and gets overwhelmed by the amount of time it takes to shed pounds. I have to admit that I'm disappointed to be where I am in my third week of Atkins but it's really my own fault. Before I broke and ate carbs this past weekend I was down 4 pounds to 158...I guess that is okay for two weeks? I'm back up to about 160 now after the cheat, but I'm hoping it's just water, and will go away...I was aiming for 157 this week.

I also want to know, is chocolate off-limits? I was a bit worried that the sugar alcohols were causing me to not lose weight, but 4lbs is still enough of a loss that I don't need to worry about that, right? And I just printed off this recipe I found here for chocolate cheesecake and homemade peanut butter cups that I really want to try...can I do that yet? Technically I'm done with induction...but from the beginning I was eating the SF chocolate and natural peanut butter which aren't on the list...

I can totally identify with you. I've been there many times. Its taken a while but I've learned that perseverance is the key to success.

Check out this link http://www.tinakaye.com/
it says more than I can.

I can relate to that too. I feel sometimes like Iam surrounded by people who don't have weight issues or who just don't care about being healthy and try to get others in to the same mind set. Most of the time, I can focus on the fact that this is for myself and those others don't have to live with my body until death! (Except maybe dh, hee hee).
Sometimes though I feel like screaming and eating a dozen donuts!

I would say that the 4 lb loss is enough that you are probalby fine with sugar alcohols. Later on if you stall though you may try giving them up to see if it helps.

The people I work with (for the last 6 years) have never seen me heavy. (Check out the link under my signature to see heavy and thin pictutes of me.) Technically I am not overweight right now either, but I'm still trying to get into the lower half of the "normal" range for my height.

So when people find out that I'm watching what I eat (which they take as dieting) they always will say "You don't need to lose weight." Aah, but they DON'T know that if I don't eat this way I will gain weight very, very, very very very easily. And since the school year usually means less exercise for me, the weight will creep on over the school year. The past few years I have weighted 15-20 lbs more in May than in August. Bummer.

So it is frustrating to have people react like I can eat whatever I want, and worse, try and get me to eat whatever sugary temptation is at hand. I can't eat that way. I have binge eating disorder and this WOE is the only thing I've found so far that enables me to avoid binging. Between the low carbs and the l-glutamine supplements I don't get the cravings that are easily triggered by stress situations. Part of the weight gain during school year is the 2-3 day binges I would go on when stressed out. I haven't done that while following Dr. Atkins eating plan.

So I just keep turning down the coffee cakes, donuts, cookies, and other "teacher treats" offered at school. And keep taking my supplements. And keep eating low carb. When I do shed my last 8 lbs and keep it off this school year, maybe they'll understand.

Joan

I doubt there is anyone in this forum who does not know how you (we all) feel. If you were feeling alone, then you came to the right place. This is the entire reason I found a forum to join, cause I need the support. ((I also feel much stronger for giving support to others))

You really have to decide what you want to eat on a personal level. How far are you willing to push it? Even though there are some things that are ok for you, are you willing to loose a little less just to eat them?

Either way, I think 4 lbs is great. Let;s be honest... for must of us, until this WOE, the scales only went the opposite way Stay Positive!

Thanks everyone for replying...it really does help to know I'm not alone with this hidden inner struggle. Some days I'm just so tired of it I don't see how I can keep going...but the only other choice is to quit and accept the weight I'm at now...and there is no way I can do that.

god yes, i know what its like to try and be"good" every day. even now, after a long time at goal, i still feel theres a fat person inside just waiting for the chance to get out.
its easy to say ,just don,t cheat but life gets in the way of perfection sometimes.the best thing to do is just get back on the programme as soon as possible and don,t beat yourself up about it.think positive, you,ve lost 4 pounds so far and thats great.
none of us is perfect, thats why we,re here, we just have to do our best and to be honest, the binges get less and less the longer you stick to this woe.
stay strong.

christine

Hi Sango!

I understand what you mean that some people just do not realize how hard it can be to lose weight.

I was on a weightloss chatroom the other day and someone asked if anyone in there had lost a lot of weight. I replied that I had lost 50 pounds. They said '50? That's not a lot'. Really stung me, to me 50 IS a lot. 10 is a lot, 20, etc. I think that anyone who has tried to lose weight realizes how much every pound means.

I would wait til after your first two weeks and then try the peanut butter cups. They're super chocolately!

PepsiMax: Thanks for the "pep" talk. Haha! I kill me! J/K. Seriously, you are right, I need to let go of the guilt. I really did do the best I could last weekend.



50 lbs is a ton! Well, not literally. But that is a huge accomplishment, and you should be thrilled with that. Every pound is at least 3500 calories worth of effort...and each one is hard enough to lose. I'm sorry that someone belittled your progress. To me, the 25 or so I want to lose is a lot, and you've already doubled that! I just finished my two weeks, and am debating whether or not to come off of induction...hmm. I guess it's a trade off, faster weight loss vs. more variety, right?