I have seen people writing about car blow out days, or adding carbs from time to time to shake up the body and get the scale moving again.

Have any of you out there done this lately, and if so have you been able to quickly (like right after) get back on the wagon?? and if you were able to do that did the scale move down in the next few days???

Just curious, as I like the idea of having ice cream (regular mint choclate chip no LC, low fat or light) maybe once a month or so, but am really afraid of getting off track.

Susan

Susan, I tried this two weeks ago -- had breaded chicken fingers, fries and garlic toast for lunch. It wasn't even as good as I had expected it to be, and it left me sluggish and tired for the rest of the day. The good news is it didn't trigger any cravings, I had no desire to go off-plan again. The bad news -- that was two weeks ago and I'm still up three pounds!

It does apparently work for some people, but it did not work for me. I'd only try it as a last resort, if you haven't had any inches or pounds lost in at least 5 or 6 weeks.

IMO (hardline view) I think that a lot of people try to justify or rationalize a cheat with this kind of talk.

If you can stay away from it, do so. The longer you go without all that carbage, the less you want it, and also less likely to go off track and never return.

I'd make it even lower than a last resort.

Well, I read the same posts and thought what a great idea. I tried it, and tried it again, and again.....

I'm one of the ones who can't handle it. I never did lose, just gained and had to work even harder to get it back off. Eventually I completely left LC for a few days.

So, be careful and don't fool yourself if you are going to try it. As one post said, it seems to work for some of us. But it's a trap for many of us.

I think it depends on the person. I usually keep my carbs in the ~30-40 gram range(OWL), but once every few weeks I eat someting that is higher in carbs than it shold be. I am still losing weight. Mind you I don't go nuts, and I keep away from sugar altogether. I am also not watching the scale anymore, if you watch it daily you go nuts. i check the scale about once a month.

Your mileage may vary, but I think once and a while some extra sensible carbs don't hurt. All depens on the person though.

I think it is a way to put your system in shock after a couple months of being stalled both in inches and pound loss. It works for some people. For me, when I tried it, it didn't trigger binging or cravings, but I felt like a truck ran me over for about a week after. Plus I put on 2 pounds!

IMHO - and ONLY my opinion...

With all the research Dr A did to establish DANDR, and all the studies that continue to be done... don't you think he woulda let us in on this lil secret of carb blowouts to "shock" our bodies?

I'm stickin to what has been proven over and over again.

IMHO

lissame, you're wrong and you're right!

you're wrong about this:



it's my opinion too

you're right about this:



that's a great way to put it!! I agree wholeheartedly!

I've been on Atkins for 16 days. After 10 days I had lost 5 pounds. On days 11, 12 and 13 I went up north with a happy bunch.

I ate some macaroni salad, 3 cookies, a pancake with syrup and worst of all, I drank pina coladas(sp?). Mind you, I did not pig out on any of this stuff, just normal eating.

When I got home I was up 6 pounds!!!! Also, I knocked myself out of ketosis and I felt bloated and tired for a couple of days. Lesson learned - don't cheat.

I jumped right back on the Atkins wagon on day 14 ( no problems or cravings) and have lost 5 of the 6 pounds I gained (took 3 days), but I don't see a big 'woosh' coming.

I also go to Curves every other day.

I ended up totally blowing the WOE during a five-day trip to Las Vegas. Gained 12 pounds! Took five days to lose it again. So that was 10 days that I could have been losing instead of making up ground.

I'm getting ready for another trip. Ya'll please send positive energy my way so I'll be faithful to the WOE while I'm on a cruise ship.

Suzie, I totally agree with saltnpepper about using 'excuses'. If you're doing low carb, stick to low carb or you are going to be in for a 'nasty surprise' as Dr A. says when you go back to induction and find that you don't lose like you did before. I've learnt the hard way.

I just went off the my low-carbing for my birthday (turned thirty and I felt I had to feed my sorrow). Like the rest I felt really poorly. I compared it to a hang-over for the next week. When I went back on LC I kicked up my exercise a notch and I lowered my carb in-take, which made me lose more wieght. I wonder if it isn't the carb's that make anyone lose weight after a binge but rather the guilt putting us back on track.
Just a thought.

This message isn't directed at anyone in particular, it's just a warning for those coming along reading and wondering if perhaps they should try this.

Do you know how you get a little annoyed when people come up to you, when they know you're on Atkins, and tell you that they tried it once but they couldn't handle giving up vegetables and fruit and they don't understand how you could possibly do it?

The term "Carb blow out days" kinda makes me bristle that way. Just as people out there 'doing Atkins' w/o having read the book don't have their information straight, people using carb loading, as they think it should be done, to bust a stall, haven't got their information straight either.

Carb loading is part of two plans, used by bodybuilders to retain lean muscle mass while dieting down. These plans are called BodyOpus and the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD). They involve a keto phase (think very strict Induction) and a carb up phase (weekends for 24-48 hours). Many bodybuilders swear by them - they work very well.

Recent scientific information has revealed a little information on why these plans work so well. This information was not available when these plans were created, btw. This information has also caused a bit of a stir in the popular media (and on message boards, like this one). Science has uncovered another hormone that works along with insulin and glucagon to regulate body fat, called Leptin. Essentially, restricting calories lowers your leptin levels signaling the body to conserve fat reserves. Overfeeding for 24-36 hours stuffs fat cells and causes leptin production to rise. This turns off the flashing sign "conserve, conserve, conserve" and allows fat burning to continue again.

It is much more complicated than that, of course. And there are guidelines and rules about refeeds - eating donuts, icecream, mcdonalds burgers w/ fries and drinking beer aren't part of them.

If you don't do Atkins right it's not going to work the way it's supposed to. It could even make things worse. If you try a 'carb blow out day' w/o the basic, correct information you could make your own situation worse.

Please do your research. And if you are a carb addict, and you know you're a carb addict, stay very far away from this, it's not for you.

-Nat

Amen. In DANDR, Dr. Atkins gives 3 different types of people this diet could be for. Type B. and C. responders. Both of which would probably suffer bad results from this "refeed" concept. Type C's would be the most likely to use this as an excuse. Type B's, would react badly to the old poison flowing through the body again.
Dr. Atkins, God bless him, has left us with clear instructions.
Also, think of it like this. If induction, (which basically switches your body from a carb burning state to a fat burning state while it levels out your blood sugar: ketosis) works to accomplish the basis for your new WOE, why would you decide to go against the basic principle of the diet?

My suggestion to anyone is get DANDR on audio cassette and listen to it as much as you can ..over and over. I listen to the side A of tape 1 almost daily for a recharge/reminder of what a wonderful solution I have found to my problem. The more you listen, the more it makes sense and the more "technical" side of how it works, eventually sinks in.