I normally try and go a couple of weeks on the diet and come off it at the weekend

In complying with My Atkins request I hide the scales away for a few days afterwards and then get them out a few days after going back on.

However I decided this weekend to face up to the extent and perhaps convince me to go a month of strict atkins'ing !! i.e. no beer !!

Saturday did well during the day but went to BBQ at night and had a few potatoes and bread with burgers as well as 10 cans of stella

The next morning i went for a 'guilt run' and weighed myself - i had lost 2 pounds from the previous morning ( i'd expected to have put loads on)

HOWEVER
the same day ( yesterday) I drove up and took a my friend to Cadburys world!! didnt eat an awful lot of chocolate but did have a mcd's - chips etc.. and a sandwich and crisps .. and a pack of sour mix sweets for the drive home !!!

Weighed myself this morning and had put on 6 pounds !!!!

Back on diet now - not eaten at all yet !! Is this mostly waterweight that will drop off over next couple of days or have i basically setmyself back a week or so due to a mad 24 hour binge???

I'm just going to eat dinner tonight and then see what i am tomorrow - should be interesting.......

I'll be honest with you and say no. I daren't come off this way of eating as I refuse to put back on the weight that I've tried so hard to lose. I will not go back to feeling bloated and lethargic. Nothing, no food no cake is worth that to me.

The odd hiccup here and there okay fair enough but every weekend would be a disaster for me. My blood sugar levels would be all over the place!

I don't think you have set yourself back a week or so, but you do need to get back on track and stay with the plan for a minimum of 14 days, just like Induction again. Kick your body back into burning fat mode.

Good luck!

What your post is telling me is that you are not having enough carbs through the week. The fact that after your small indulgence you lost 2 pounds indicates that your body is crying out for extra carbs to function properly. Try increasing your daily allowance by 10 g carbs a day. Funnily enough it may speed up your weight loss.

Having 2 days off everyweekend is not a good idea as it puts you out of ketosis and you automatically gain weight. Hence those 6 pounds. Whilst I agree with you they are mostly water weight you then have a couple of days combatting them before you are on the downward path again. This will just give you 2 or 3 effective days before you have your binge again. Not what I would see as a great way forward.

Saying that, if you look at the Body For Life website they do allow up to 2 days off, but there is a very strict exercise regime that goes along with that.

Only you can decide how fast you want to lose weight and what is the most important factor to you.

Someone I worked with lost weight on Atkins 2 years ago and he now operates on the principle you propose of having weekends off and low carbing during the week, but that is his maintenance plan now that he is at goal weight.

Totally agree with everything that you'th both said. However thought I'd face up to the reality of how much weight I do actually put on and how harmful these binges are. I didnt eat yesterday until the evening where had a curry at about 14g carbs. Then my usual Diet Pepsi before I went to bed ( even though diet drinks contain no carbs i try to stick too 1 a day )

This morning I had lost 3 pounds. Had sausages this morning ( Waitrose Chipolata's 0.3g carbs each ). Cooked an extra couple and gonna have those with cheese / tomatoe and that nando's sauce for lunch...
and then Just chicken and tomatoes for dinner. So will be under the 20g today but eating 3 times as required. Interesting to see what the scales read tomorrow.

It's good though because I'm sort of exploring what I cant / can do.....

Off to Blackpool this weekend so coming off it again. After that I am gonna do a 3 week strict induction like regime. Then come off it for my birthday!! I guess people's body's work in different ways. It's up to us individually to listen to advise given and also try things for ourself's.

I'm not actually living in Uk but am Brit

What you are doing is similar to a CKD form of low-carb diet, which is the way I live. It mostly used by people doing alot of gym work/weight lifting. And its very effective for fat loss.

Basically one eats low-carb during the week with a calories deficit, then at the weekend for between 12 and 48hrs one eats low-fat high carb foods at maintenance level calories or 10-20% above. The aim is twofold, 1. to replenish muscle glycogen for your coming workouts, and 2. to reset leptin levels and maintain your metabilic rate.

After the carb-up fat minimal if any fat has been added (studies showed about 0.3kg) and the fat loss is quickly resumed the following day or so.

Its not for everyone, but it sounds like you may be getting some of the benefits of it.

One other thing to bear in mind. Your body has converted to using fat for fuel, in the early stages, two weeks or so, this meant muscles etc were using ketones. But after this period most actual convert to using FFA's directly, which is thought of as a way the body reserves ketones for the brain. This conversion takes time, so does converting back. So even if you have a day off and are not technically in ketosis, you will still be a fat burner (in my experience the carb-up can be not so nice as its low-fat and my body wants fat!).

Planned refeeds IMO help fat loss (don't like the term cheat), but require some discipline.

Hope this helps understand what may be happening.

Now if I could only get you guys/gals to pop round and see my family in UK and convince them I'm not nuts