on days like today, I feel it's anything BUT that! My children received the tradition Easter baskets from moi. I always make a small one for my husband as well. Then there's me -- eating cheese.

I have a close friend/trainer who has lived low carb for an extremely long time now. He retrained his body and the way it processes food. Now he CAN have carbs, but not with every meal and he eats a large dose of protein before he ingests any carbohydrates. His body is amazing, but before he switched to this WOL, he was always overweight.

I told him that I don't know if I could happily handle not eating on major holidays and birthdays. My children and I all like cake ... not daily or even weekly, but when birthdays come along (4 a year), it's a staple.

I so want this to be a WOL for me, but I'm not sure if on special occasions depriving myself of anything would be a good thing. Anyhow, I told this to my friend and he said that it's a set up for a binge. He also said, "Eating a good amount of carbohydrates 10 days out of a whole year is NOT how you put on this weight." Made sense.

So, I'm asking ... do any of you just take special days off? Just to regain some sense of normalcy? I'm really curious.

I think this is exactly what I will do today. Not high carb, but eating carbohydrates with my Easter dinner. I have many high protein, no carbohydrate foods planned, but actually ... I would like to see what one day a month does to me. It would mean beginning induction all over again tomorrow, but if I begin it gaining all 5 pounds back, perhaps it will be with a lesson attached ... and the next birthday isn't until the beginning of May. Decisions, decisions.

Ann, I think that if LC is to be a WOL then it must be flexible. Saying "I'm never eating X again" is setting yourself up for something - most definitely. You didnt used to eat cake every day before LC, so what makes you think having it 4 times a year would mean you're blowing it? "Way of Life" implies its something we can sustain and maintain for the remainder of our lives - it has to grow with us.

That being said, there may be certain things it would be best to avoid - for the rest of your life - because they do you harm (like smoking, or skydiving ) For my boyfriend its grains - he has crohn's and grains make him sick - VERY SICK. Yet he still drinks beer and eats the odd peanut butter cup. But he's a LCer for life. Avoiding trigger foods is probably a good idea - if it's chocolate then have a slice of key lime pie instead. Does this make sense?

As for restarting induction - I think that's a bad idea. Dr. A recommends that after an indiscretion going back to Induction over and over confuses your body to the point where eventually even LC induction levels wont work for you. And unless you ingest over 17,500 calories during that meal, gaining 5 lbs of fat ain't likely

HTH
Nat

In the Atkins book, under the maintenance, he talks about eating the occasional wedding cake or birthday cake is not a problem...as long as limited to special occasions.

OK, so I can have a special occasion everyday, however I know what he means. I don't know what I will do when I reach goal. I just know that I will protect and not gain back! I want to be thin, with a cute butt and happy!


Dee

All things in moderation - the problem is that carb addicts have a hard time doing carbs in moderation. But "hard time" does not mean "impossible".

I know that I plan to enjoy the truly special occasions - and I'm talking about six or so times a year. But I also plan to use moderation during those occasions. This next Holiday Season will be the true test - but I think I can handle the no-no foods, in moderation, at the few parties I go to if I avoid the no-no foods in between the parties.

I will be looking for trigger foods and either how to handle them or at least identify and avoid them. But another thing I am going to watch is foods, either type or quantity, that make me feel bad as I transition back to normal eating (and by normal, I mean LC). I do so remember the misery associated with my switch to LC and that is a lesson this puppy wants to only be taught once.

Thanks, Nat! Great advice and I will follow it.

I want a WOL that really fits into all my areas of life. It'll happen.

Everyone's different, of course, but my "just this one special occasion" turned into a big binge for me. Lesson learned...no more "special occasions" until I get to my goal and maybe not even then if I can't do it without binging. A carb addict is still an addict and just a little of what you were addicted to can send you off the deep end all over again. If you can handle it, great...more power to ya! As for me...I must not be made of stuff that strong.

Hi,
i agree with Lisa......just a "little" cheat sends me into the attitude of whats just one more bite! i have been messing around with Sommersizing and then read "TSP", but truly lose the most when following Atkins. sugar is NOT my friend, and i just need to remember that when its calling my name. Tomorrow is a new day, and i know i will be paying the price by having withdrawals again, after 3 days of indulgence. YUCK!!!! havent done that since Christmas, but also havent lost any more weight since then, i think the other 2 plans are great, but maybe for maintenance. Summer is getting TOO close and i need to just rebuckle down and DO IT!!!!!!

also thanks for the thots on not always going back to induction. whats a normal amount of carbs a day? 25-30? seems like a place to restart.

Good luck!
kimberly

I agree with you all...I have read were many LCers think I'll just eat one little candy bar or slice of cake or piece of pie and then POW, they are instantly back into the cravings etc. And then have real problems getting started on LCing again.

I believe that sugar is a poison to my system, I am sure that I will start craving again with the first bite. So I will be very very careful IF I do decide to eat something with real sugar.

Dee

Oh let me count they times I have had just "one day" of cheating and that day somehow seemed to last wekks upons weeks!! I had to learn the hard way that Just one bite won't cut it for me. It just leads to the thinking that well tomorrow I will be good!! YEAH RIGHT!!

It's tomorrow and I am being good-for good!!

Sonja

My thoughts on this thread:

On special occasions I have a low carb dessert/treat. Karen's Vancouver No Bake Cheesecake is fabulous - and high carb eaters don't even know it's low carb. But even this wonderful dessert can set off cravings in me for more and more sweets - which means another piece of cheesecake .

So I too have reached the conclusion that I can't indulge in just a taste or 1 serving of regular sugar concoctions.

Why not check out the recipe pages for some great dessert ideas? I'll bet your family won't mind - and if it's only 4 special occasions a year, feeding them artificial sweeteners shouldn't be a problem.

On the other hand, if you can eat cake without it setting off cravings & other 'indulgences', more power to you!

i guess i just haven't really experineced cravngs except for the first couple of weeks weaning off of the carbs and sugar. since then, i haven't felt deprived or anything. i used to hardly ever eat meat, butlots of pastas and rice (gumbo, to be exact, i am origianlly from cajun country). i never understood why i always felt bloated and hungry. with this wol my dh and i feel better than we have in 10 years, and we really aren't that old (27 and 29). it has made ahuge difference in our lives. t

i read this post prior to going to my mil. i haven't indulged or cheated in 2 months...i wasn't rewarding myself, but i did have a small serving of potatoes and a piece of strawberry shortcake. after eating it i didn't beat myself up b/c i new that what i normally eat tastes much better than what i had eaten, but also that i knew this wouldn't effect the rest of my week. i guess i am a pretty disciplined person for the most part. no, i haven't lost a lot of weight in the time i have been on this woe, but the health benefits far out weigh the scale.

i see this as a wol for me and my family. so the occasional treat, slip up, etc. isn't going to make me beat myself up like i used ot when i did weight watchers and ate over my points. when this would happen, i would just binge on chips, bread etc. today, i ate the small portion and that was that...it felt so could to be in control and not to be controlled.

everyone knows their bodies and what sets off triggers. for me, since there wasn't bread, i was ok....that was such a great feeling, only eating a small portion...so cool

For myself, I have found if I have even one piece of PureDelite choc. (only 3 grams carb per bar), I want more. So best for me not even to start. Maybe later!!

Well, that happened for me this weekend! I have been SOOO good since Jan 1 - not one little cheat at all. I went to my folks house for Easter, only had some fresh ham and salad. I turned my head on the chocolate cake and raspberry cheesecake they had for dessert. I was IN CONTROL.

Yeah right....got home and decided that my Ross' low carb chocolate bar would not hurt. Haven't had chocolate in over 3 months. Well, ate that one, then began to rummage in my chocolates I bought the last time I was in Germany on business (chocolates SUPPOSEDLY to give away!) and ate 3 MORE BARS!!!

After all of this, all I could think of was that my body was slowly blowing up and I was gaining back all of my 30+ pounds that I have done so well on losing.

Well, today is another day - chocolate is my enemy now. I really do have to avoid this like the plague

I just hope that I can find at least one snack that will not start me binging!

I agree it was hard yesterday to resist just a bite of the kids chocolate bunnies.. But I did... I am like the rest of you I am so scared to eat the real sugar... I was highly addicted to my chocolate and candies... Its easier to resist the potatoe chips and potaotes than it is the candy..I have made me a couple of chocolate legal treats during this time to see how I did... Made some heavy cream whipped iwth bakers chocolae.. It tasted alright not the same sweet taste but so far so good.. We went to my aunts house yesterday as to gather all the kids for their egg hunt.. My kids had a great time.. Well dinner was a cookout of steaks potaotes salad and desserts.. Yes desserts.. I had the steak and salad and Brought my own strawberries in heavycream to eat for dessert and believe it or not everyone was wanting my strawberries in cream... But only had enought for me... But they were very understanding about me and what I can eat...

Its hard to resist but RESIST and in the end we will have our rewards.... YEAH...

I understand your take on it, but I believe I am made of stronger stuff. LOL I mean, I used to be able not to even eat a drop of food for months in my early twenties. Believe me, it isn't will power that is my problem ... it is the thought of not having a way of life, but a restriction on life that bothers me.

The friend I wrote about has 7% body fat and eats carbohydrates daily, but has retrained the way he eats. He said that someday I will be the same way. Yesterday he told me to eat my veggies and high protein stuff first before ANY carbohydrate and today, I had the same five pound loss. No gain. I just don't think special occasions, heck, even once a month would hurt anyone's program as long as they got back to business the a day later.