Does occasionally straying from LC radically effect your wait loss?

Example.

Mate’s 21'st... Drink lots of alcohol, perhaps even take a night off LC. Does this cause some kind of chemical imbalance in your body?

Is it Dangerous?
I’ve only been LC'ing for 3 days now, finding it ok, had head aches for the 1st 2 days but they seem to have cleared up, I’m also getting some colour on those ketosticks! Yay!

I’m worried about drinking; I work so hard to stay LC’ed and don’t want to ruin everything with one night of boozing. Has anyone out there noticed the pounds stop coming off after one night on the turps?

I want to know the effects of eating lots of carbs say, once or twice a month. Is this going to destroy all the work I’ve put in? or cause me to get sick? Or cause major cravings?

I’m new to this, so help me out

CHEERS!

Going off the diet makes a big difference. I have a slow metabolism and know that any time I go off for a day, I set myself back a week! It's gotten so it's not worth it. Further if you go off for more than a day, you should go back to induction to be assured of getting back to ketosis. Once you have higher level carbs it takes at least two days for your body to use them up.

Not that I'm suggesting you cheat, but if you are going to cheat schedule it for a weekend every 3-4 weeks. That would allow you to get back to induction, work the carbs off and have another good weight loss. Don't abuse it because everyone's body and metabolism is different and you can be setting yourself up for yo yoing and resistance to the diet.

LC is a way of life, not a diet you go off of. It takes committment to the plan and to yourself. That being said, you need to find a plan and a strategy you can live with in the long term.

Thanks for the reply.

Im very motivated and not planning to cheat I just wanted to know what would happen if i should do.

However i would like to hear from somone who drinks alcohol, and to what affect it was on their weight loss.

BTW: Just like to say a big thankyou to everyone who helps out newbie LC'ers like myself.

Im on day 4 of Atkins LC life, and enjoying it. I woke up early this morning (5am) went for a run, then came home and cooked a huge plate of bacon and eggs. Ive felt bloody good today. No head aches, and im full all of the time! not to mention im in ketosis all the time now.

Can you go in and out of ketosis on a daily basis? on my the 2nd day of LC'ing i was only showing colour in the middle of the day.
But now i allways show colour.

Thanks again.

Jake

There are more plans involved in atkins. They have a plan where you lc all week and carb up on weekends. If you go to the home page and scroll down you will find a list of all the plans. In the book you can read the part about alcohol. If you go to http://atkinscenter.com/ that should answer all of your questions. These are the selections on the home page. You'll be ok. You got some homework thats all. Don't worry about the keto sticks all the time either. You just gotta relax a little bit. I was jumping on the scale everyday and keto testing everyday too, I was driving myself crazy. You'll be fine. If you go to search at the right side of the page and put in beer or whatever you want to drink, it will show you other peoples posts that did the same thing.

Daily Low-Carb Support
Discussion of various low-carb plans and daily support and discussion.- General Low-Carb
- Atkins Diet
- Dr.Bernstein's Diabetes
- CAD/CALP
- Go-Diet
- Montignac
- Paleolithic & Neanderthin
- Protein Power
- Schwarzbein Principle
- Somersizing
- Sugar Busters
- Vegetarian Forum
- The Zone
- Best Of

My experience with alcohol while eating low carb has been that it tends to slow my loss down some, but doesn't stop it. If I am going to drink I make extra sure to be strict with my carb intake the rest of the day and I'm careful about WHAT I drink. Vodka, tequila or whiskey, either straight or mixed with diet soda seems to be ok, for me at least.
Hope that helps

The best advice I could give you about drinking is BE CAREFUL!!! Alchohol affects your system much faster and stronger when you are LC'ing. I drink a couple beers every (other) night or so. I also drink red wine or vodka & water. But even after 3 months I can only handle 1/2 of what I used to drink. It doesn't affect my loss. (I think, who knows, maybe I'd loose quicker if I quit). Another reason it is suggested you don't drink is that inhibitions are quite low and you may be more tempted to cheat while under the influence. I don't have that problem either. I guess it is strictly YMMV?

I agree, it's very much YMMV. The alcohol does hit you a lot harder when you are eating low carb. As for cravings.. I know that if I drink at all I really start craving carbs and I'm much less likely to restrain.

When I started Atkins, I decided that I wouldn't have any alcohol to drink at least during the first 2 weeks. That passed, then I decided I'd go two more weeks. That's passed (presently on week 6), now I'm going for another month. Not that I had or have a drinking problem, I just don't want the added carbs and the fat burning delayed. I will no doubt at some point start having a beer once in awhile, after all, one of my hobbies is brewing beer.

Just my thoughts.

BrewWa

Hi Jake,

I think everyone is different, but I can tell you that I did wonderfully well my first 2 weeks but after that basically stayed on induction EXCEPT I added wine a few nights a week. Haven't lost a pound since then and think it is likely that the wine has at least something to do with it. As of next week, I'm going back to wine-free induction levels to try to get things moving south again on the scales.

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy the b-day.

kiwi

before atkins, I was known to go out once or twice or three nights(or more) a week and put down anywhere between 4 to 10+ pints of Guinnesss. Gee, maybe that's why I got so heavy, ya think?

Anyway, I drink less now, but I still enjoy a the bar life, and I just wanted to agree with most of what the kind folks above have said:

1) it hits me harder. I get downright loopy on just 1 or 2 drinks.

2) I can only drink about half of what I used to. I start feeling queasy and crappy and just plain bad, so I stop drinking. Usually.

3) Hangovers are a little bit worse. Doesn't take as much to create one, and I feel worse the next day. Don't sleep very well either. This happens less and less, due to my point # 2.

4) According to everything I've read, it only has a minor effect on your wt. loss. It doesn't really stop ketosis, just puts it on pause for a few hours while your body burns the alchohol instead of fat. Eating a bowl of ice cream would be a lot worse, in that regard, than 4 pints of the dark stuff!
According to the lipostix, I am usually back into ketosis early the next day.

I recently went on a sort of a bender - I had out of town guests, and a series of Rolling Stones concerts to attend, and then some more guests... so I ended up not working out, and drinking (in my idea of moderation) almost every day for almost two weeks. I kept up with the Atkins plan in every other way, but I still ended up gaining a couple of pounds.

Now I am back on track and losing again.

almost forgot...

practically goes without saying, but I only drink from the low carb list of beverages that I like: scotch, lite beer, Guinness (yes, it's relatively low carb! Thank you God!), and wine.

Can't wait to try that new Michelob Ulltra stuff.

Mr. Freddy - one word of advice to you on the Michelob Ultras: DON"T. Especially if you're normally a guiness drinker. The stuff is absolutely appalling. I'd rather drink dishwater. Just save up a day or two and drink the real stuff instead.

For those who normally drink things like Miller Lite, I don't think it would be such a big disappointment.

kiwi

I agree with kiwi. I pass on regular AB products. The LC version scares me. Would much rather save up for one Guinness, a good IPA, or better yet a good Czech Pils. Just my preference.

BrewWa