HELP!!! I just started induction on 7-28-03 and on Sept 15th we are going on a 1 week cruise for vacation. I am so affraid that I will totally loose my will-power once on board. Anyone knows who has been on a cruise that there is food everywhere. I am hoping by the time Sept 15th rolls around I will be close to my goal weight of 190-195. If I do go overboard (no-pun-intended) then will a week off the Atkins diet really mess me up??

Maybe. It depends. If you are at your goal, then it might not be too bad. BUT you should be used to making better and lower carb choices by then.

You could decide to eat LC EXCEPT at one meal per day. And it could be a different meal each day. Just be sure to eat it all within 1 hour so it's like a CAD Reward Meal. Try to balance protein, low carb veggies & salad and 'everything else' so it's one third of each. I know that's not exactly what CAD does but it's close.

Try to choose LC drinks and keep the water up. They always have huge amounts of iced tea available and you could use sweetener. (As a Canadian, it is always surprising to find iced tea everywhere on cruises. We don't have it very much, even in restaurants.)

And you can always go back to eating LC when you get back. YOu may find that sweet & starchy things just aren't as good tasting as you remember. That's what happens when you start LCing.

have a good time.

I sympathize with you. I am also scheduled to go on a 7-day family reunion cruise on December 27th, and I expect to be about 2/3 of my way to my goal-weight then. Worse yet, I will be spending several days in New Orleans after the cruise...a city specializing in food designed to derail the most dedicated of diet intentions.

My plan (hope) is to show reasonable restraint on board, ordering non-battered fish, chicken and beef entrees, refusing high-carb sides, and requesting berries for desserts. I will avoid the midnight buffets at all costs. I also intend to make liberal use of the gym facilities on board.

In New Orleans, I will do my best to concentrate my menu on steaks, chops, prime rib, etc. I will consider my trip a complete success if I gain no more than 5-7 pounds during my travels. Upon my return, I will return to the Induction diet until I am again in ketosis...probably for a week or less. With luck, I can then pick up where I left off, secure in the knowledge that my restraint is well-suited toward a lifetime of good eating, not some crash diet effort.

Have a great time on your cruise, and try not to let your enjoyment be diminished by any feelings of guilt or deprivation. Your holiday can be a wonderful and relaxing experience if you let moderation be your guide.

The whole reason I began this WOE was to drop some weight for a planned cruise this summer.

I returned from my cruise 2 weeks ago. I had the best intentions in the world of controlling myself before the trip, but after just 45 minutes on the ship, I was at the buffet. I did fairly well the first day (there are low-carb choices everywhere) and then completely blew it the remaining 6 days. The only exception is that I stuck with lc alcholic drinks. We went to the Caribbean, so fruity-tooty frozen tropical drinks were being offered left and right, but I resisted that margarita I wanted to badly! I smuggled some vodka and diet tonic (shhh! don't tell) onboard, and had a couple of drinks in my cabin each night. If I ordered a drink at the bar, I ordered vodka and diet sprite (no diet tonic of course). Our ship had an awesome workout facility which I scoped out shortly after boarding (before I found the buffet). Unfortunately, I just couldn't seem to find it again once the ship left port! The final nail in my lc coffin was the pool cafe that offered pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and nachos 24 hours a day. The worst part is that I had to walk right by it to get to my cabin. The cafe servers knew me by name at the end of the cruise! Yep, I completely blew it, but had the time of my life!

Now, here's the score card: I gained 5 pounds in one week! I was sick about it and even posted here the day I returned and saw the scale. HOWEVER, once I got back to eating my normal induction foods and exercising 45 minutes a day, all of the weight I'd gained was gone within 5 days! That's 7 days of eating everything I wanted and 5 days to take it off.

You know yourself better than anyone. If you've got the willpower, go for it! If you lose control like I did, it's not the end of the world. My advice is to enjoy yourself. If you're miserable because you want all the hc foods you see, indulge a little. Oh yeah, and avoid those buffets!

1. Forget induction

If you try to stay on the allowed list only you won't be having fun or enjoying yourself. You may also find some nights there is nothing you can eat, and you end up bitter enough to throw the whole plan out the window and pig out.

2. Go on maintanance

You will be doing a ton of walking around the ship, there are usually health clubs, and a pool. With all the exercise you probably will ahve a little play room with carbs. Don't go hog wild.no samwich for lunch everyday or large plates of pasta for dinner. Instead Have mostly meat and veggies. Learn what the best fruit choices are, and enjoy moderate amounts. Have some cheese or cottage cheese without worry. Stay far far away form the dessert bar. If you just can't bear to totaly abstain, have a bite of your husbands, or get a very small sliver for yoruself and eat it very slowly. Make sure to have a serving of protien with the treat to moderate blood insulin. Above all, enjoy yourself and don't let eating become a source of stress that ruins your cruise. Make the best decisions you can out of the choices your offered

3. Find a buddy.

While you may not find someone else who is on an LC eating plan, it is a statistical be tyou can find someone who is dieting. I think most women spend over 60% of thier lives on a diet. Instead of hitting the dessert bar, encourage each other to take walks around the ship together talking. You may find other people as well and form a small walking group. Make friends with the cruise staff if you can too. Then you can ask for dishes to be made sugar free (with all the diabetics this shouldn't be to unsusual of a request) and all they can recomend what meals have little to no starches or sugars added.

I agree with Ladybelle that trying to stick only with Inductions foods will ruin your trip. Both the dining room and buffet offered plenty of healthy selections. I did avoid pasta and potatoes the entire time. Also, the dessert bar on our ship offered several sugar-free selections. I don't know what the carb counts were, but I figured it was better than the full blown stuff. I indulged in a sugar-free dessert every night, but I only had half of a serving at most.

Have a great time!

I just got back from a 4 day cruise and I was able to stick with it, it's easy. At the buffets, go for the hamburgers, hot dogs and salads. The sit down dinners are even easier. On my cruise the served lobster, steak, prime rib, chicken, your choice. They all came with salads and they even have sugar free desserts if you ask. (Be careful with the desserts, the may not be LC). Most people don't know, but you can even order another dinner if your still hungry after eating the first one. For drinks, I had greygoose vodka (the premium taste better and isn't that much more expensive) with soda water and a lime, or michelob ultra beer.
You'll feel so much better if you stick with LC on the cruise so you don't get bloated or tired from a carb overload. I'll agree with the others, go with pre-maintenance or maintenance instead of induction so you have more to choose from, just don't go crazy.

Good luck and have fun!