I'm on work travel for almost a full two weeks, and I'm recognizing some of these crazy messages running through my head - I feel schizo - I know these voices are lying!

I deserve it because:
1) they starve you on the planes these days
2) if I order chicken breast they'll probably have marinated it in sugar anyway
3) there's no other food around
4) if I eat my emergency stock of atkins bars for one more meal I'm going to scream
5) i'm barely eating any calories, what's the big diff if I eat the free (I didn't buy it - so no guilt?) chocolate chip cookie they give you at the Doubletree
6) I haven't had pasta, cookies, chips, fries, pizza, etc etc in over 7 weeks.
7) Everyone else cheats, confesses, and gets to go back on - why not me?
8) My fourth city in 7 days, and not one place I've stayed has a scale - so who can tell - maybe I've lost so much weight this trip it doesn't matter.

Ugh.

I don't think my huge problem is the cookie (free at Doubletree check-in!), or the 12 little McDonald's french fries that I had today. My problem is that all I want to do is cheat now. My list of seven above could be 100 reasons.

Anyway, thanks for listening. I'm going to keep reading right now, and reminding myself why I'm doing this. And tomorrow I'm going to find some good food that feels like cheating. (A big cheeseburger with mayo always feels like cheating to me because of my low-cal mindset that refuses to go away.) And I've got to get some veggies - I think it's been two days since I had any.

(And lastly question to self - how on earth could I be wanting more carbs when the few I've had have made me sick all day?)

My two week travels continues (Saturday night I fly back). It's so hard!

I'm in meetings or traveling and unable to stop - not eating at regular times. Don't get any good carbs (no veg or salad), and craving bad carbs like crazy.

Dropped my co-worker at the airport and he said, "bye, have fun with the Plantar's cheese balls. I don't have room for them in my bag." Argh! They're my favorite snack and sometimes hard to find.

Ran through all my normal justifications and then ate all the rest. It was just under 1 serving (34 balls) which has 12 g of carbs (1 g of sugar) - could have been worse.

Brainstormed in car with DH about how/when/if to break Atkins - spoke longingly of Ann Sathers - special place in Chicago which serves only Cinnamon Buns. Made ourselves crazy. Got back to our suite and started slow cooking chicken. I ate cheese and tuna. He had eggs, cheese, and lettuce. Lucky we did all our shopping before we went crazy.

I keep thinking that if I cheat for a few days that I'll "get it out of my system" - this mind-craziness is getting worse.

ok, so I'm the only one replying here.

Doesn't anyone else have trouble on travel?

This cycle of little cheats turning into bigger and bigger ones - is getting hard to control.

Yesterday:
breakfast - skipped
lunch - one cup of ceasar salad
dinner - fondue restaurant with three courses:
cheese fondue (with bread, apple, grapes to dip) - ate some bread
oil fondue (steak, chicken, and veggies)
chocolate fondue (various fruit to dip) - ate some

dinner didn't seem so bad, so then DH and I stopped by Ann Sather's (Chicago place famous for cinnamon buns) and got cinnamon buns and ate one each!

I'm starting to think this all restarts Sunday. And I guess I'm answering that one thread "do you come on here when you're cheating?" for me - yes. It feels like by posting and reading (mostly the reading!) help keep me from just sitting down with a big bag of Doritos and pigging out.

I'm also surprised to see that it is only you in this thread.

I do not travel for work at present, but certainly used to do. Do have various meetings and holidays, so some of what you are going through applies.

I know about those questions in the brain. In fact I'm reading the CAD book at the moment and they highlight just those questions too.

Yes it can be hard at time being low carb, but try to think ahead where you can. If you really feel like cheating then you will, but is it worth it? Who are you cheating, just yourself? Try not to sabotage your efforts.

If you can think about where you are going to be eating and plan ahead if you don't think there will be anything suitable. Visit the deli is a good idea. Can you contact the places in advance and tell them what your food needs are? This should help. Oh well, I see you are coming home on Saturday. Only one more day to go.

So, have a good weekend.

Hi, Well I dont travel for business or anything like that, but I do travel home alot during the summer months. I am a college student and my work is in my college town, which is pretty much a ghost town during the summer and does get lonesome. So I like to travel home on the weekends and spend time with family and friends, but every damn time I go home I go off LC!! And I really do try hard to resist, and I have also like you every time compiled a list of reasons in my head about why I "should" go off my diet when I go home. And you know what I always promise myself that yes I will go strictly right back on LC when I return to my apartment away from home, but you know it never really works that way. So I got back to my apt on tuesday and didnt start back LC until today! I cant go home this weekend because I have to work, so that should give me some more time to adjust to LC. And if I do go home next weekend hopefully it will be easier to stick with it, but u know its never really easy!!
I just thought I was the only one who thought of all these reasons why it would be ok for me to go off LC. Pretty funny once u read them out loud! Well anyways hang in there with your business trips, just try to stay positive and keep busy! There's gotta be someone out there on those same trips that sticks faithfully to salads or somethin. Dont let the people that are eating anything influence u, I say that because I know I do! Hang in there!

Hi C-Cat,

Hang in there! I'm going to be in the same boat in a few weeks when I leave for a month-long trip. I too am a little worried about what I will do. I'm hoping that my resolve to be in shape again will steel me against the bombardment of Parisian goodies I will face.

By the way, congrats on losing the weight you've lost already. Maybe a quick shopping trip for one new piece of clothing would make you feel a little better about your loss so far, and motivate you to climb back on the wagon? Just a thought...

Athena

No replies - then all these!

Thanks for the understanding and support all! I think that my cheating days are over.

I had a big carb craving this afternoon, and went down to the 24/7 convenience store in the hotel - and suddenly realised I hadn't had any vegetables at all again today. The can of green beans with some butter really hit the spot.

Phew! That was the hard part. Although I've now been cheating a little every day for three days - it really feels like that one choice (green beans instead of Doritos) is the turning point. I started my day ok with eggs/sausage (as I've started most days ok).

It's not just being apart from all my normal stuff, it's the difficulty in eating on a normal schedule. Tonight is a friendly dinner and tomorrow was a planned 10 mile walk down the shore in Chicago.

Thanks again all! And hang in there on travel! I may have been cheating somewhat, but it would have been worse if I hadn't packed all those chicken breasts and Atkins bars.

Sarah