I've had two MAJOR CHEATS since I started this WOE in July of this year, and after both of them I've had a weight loss after a big time stall!

Go figure??? Why does this occur????

I was at a dog show all day yesterday and ate garbage most of the day because that was the only thing available. I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I stepped on the scale to find out I had LOST weight inside of putting weight on!

From what I've read on here before, one possible explanation is leptin...somehow, after a long period of dieting this substance in the body is depleted, and eating differently for a little while tricks the body out of starvation mode and replenishes the leptin levels, helping the body stop holding onto fat. Doing a search for "leptin" and "refeeding" should turn up some interesting stuff. I'd do it myself but I have to get back to work on school stuff!

Thanks Sango!

Have you experienced the phenomenon also??? Your stats look great! Thanks for replying. I'll do a search!

No, actually...this is my second time back on Atkins. The first time, I cheated twice, and both times my weight was okay the next day, but went up two days after...but it's just temporary water weight, if that happens. I don't think the leptin thing ever applied to me because I was only on atkins a month the first time, and the cheats were at 2 weeks and 4 weeks. This time around, I'm only on day four of Induction.

For some, a cheat can break a stall, but for others it just knocks you out of ketosis and postpones your weight loss for the two days it takes to get back into it, and then the time it takes to shed the water weight (which usually isn't much). Or, it can trigger cravings for other things and turn it into a binge.

My personal opinion is that calling them "cheats" is unfair...things are going to happen. Special occasions, or just a weak moment...I think it's better just to accept it and move on, without the guilt. The only problem with cheating, to me, is when it's done so often that weight loss progress is never made.

My personal goals for atkins are to make it through the two weeks of Induction without any sugar alcohols or splenda, because I'm pretty sure that one of them was reponsible for my skin breaking out terribly, and that was the reason I quit the first time. After two weeks, I'm going to try introducing one or the other in small amounts to see what happens.

After that, I will probably allow myself one high-carb "cheat" meal, or day, every now and then. Once a month, maybe. It all depends on how I'm progressing...it's really important for me to lose the weight by April, when I have to be in a wedding. If my progress isn't as quick as I'd like, the cheats may not seem worth it. Does any of this make sense?

Hi Sango, I would suggest that with this diet plan and what you can eat......just eat what is on the plan and you will slowly not care about the sweet stuff.

I have been on this thing for a week now, lost 8 pounds and last night I had about 8 oz of Diet Pepsi... it tasted wayyyyy tooo sweet.

I like Crystal Light and water......much water...

Keep at it, you'll make it...as we all will.

Max

Hiya JJ....I also had some major off days and dropped significant weight in the week following. I think that Sango is correct. It must have something to do with your body going out of a starvation mode because it worked exactly that way for me.

I wish that happened for me! lol I just gain right away and either stall out for a week or have terrible cravings which threaten my WOL

This happens to me ocassionally too. It's a theory (albeit a well-supported one) that after awhile on LC (or any hypocaloric diet) the body often responds by entering starvation mode...a common cause of stalls.

It is believed that when the body enters this state, leptin levels decrease and you no longer burn stored body fat for energy. Your body slows down metabolic processes to hang onto your fat store...some peripheral effects include a decrease in thyroid production and adrenal disturbances.

Bodybuilders have been aware of this for awhile and, through a bit trial-and-error and scientific self-study, they have determined that a periodic "refeed" can get leptin levels back up, which in turn reignites the burning of stored body fat. They also figured out that the ideal "refeed" is a high carb/high glucose/low fat for 24-48 hours of 10-15% more calories than your maintenance level.

They specifically mention high glucose because it quickly fills liver and muscle glycogen stores, which are usually depleted on a low carb regimen. Apparently glycogen levels regulate leptin in some way. So you'll often see people mention their refeeds consist of things like licorice, soda, sweet-tarts, sugared cereal, etc. and not stuff like pasta, pizza, bread, etc.

Refeeds seem to cause a 2-4lb weight gain in most people, but its really a water change (primarly in glycogen carrying plasma, I assume) and not 2-4lbs of body fat. Within a week of returning to low carb, most of the glycogen is depleted and the 2-4lbs are gone. Often, 3-5lbs may be gone...in addition to depleting the glycogen the letin may allow the body to burn a pund or so of stored body fat.

So it seems, quiote by accident, you may have discovered how to raise your leptin levels...BY CHEATING!

I don't know if I could eat all that junk you mentioned, just a bite of such gets me queasy.
I wanted to mention, Sango, that some people do break out when they first start Atkins, but then it clears up and their skin looks better than ever. I used to have occasional breakouts, but not since I started eating this way. For me it was an improvement, I just breakout on my chin...when I'm about to lose some weight.

bdeeley,

Thanks for the info! It seems you've done your homework!

And, as for the breaking out......I had the same problem starting out with Atkins, but now my skin is really soft. It must be the extra fat I'm consuming.

Hmmm, Ive had this happen too -very subtle-I thought it was my imagination! Not willing to ADD this pattern to my weight loss program but it HAS been a nice side effect to the rare cheat day Ive had AND has helped stay ON this way of eating. I thought it was just me!! LOL!

J.J., I had exactly the same thing happen when we broke the diet one night for some lasagna. I got no gain from it; in fact I lost 4 pounds over the next five days.

It's my opinion that day-to-day, rinkydink cheating is what'll kill your losses. A cheat every 6 weeks or so, even if it's a huge one, doesn't seem to have much effect. I've only pulled this off once, and in fact it had a positive outcome.