LCC, you dog. I was beginning to think we’re twins separated at birth except I suspect there’s 14 years or so between us.I cheated last night. I’d finished my second martini, the wife had headed up to bed, and I was reading a magazine. Suddenly, I got the urge to nosh (Merriam-Webster defines this as “eating on the sly;” interesting, yes?)
Now, it’s not that I was hungry. My wife had created a fabulous shrimp and clam stew we’d finished not too much earlier (watch for the recipe here soon). But it’s been a month since I started re-induction. I’ve been on a plateau for two weeks. I miss my old low carb goodies.
So, I made a third martini and began rummaging through the cupboard. My intent was really to have only one thing, and nothing “bad.” I ate an Atkins Peanut Caramel candy bar.
Then I had a Breyer’s Carb Smart ice cream bar. That leftover Italian sausage link taunted me when I opened the fridge, so I polished that off (polish sausage?) with some Dijon mustard while finishing the magazine article I was reading. I wanted more sweet after that and scarfed an Atkins Caramel Nut Chew. Why I finished it all off with a slice of Swiss cheese, I’ll never know. I swallowed the last of my cocktail and went to bed.
You said, “You don’t lose weight by eating right for one day – and you don’t gain weight by eating wrong one day.” I got up this morning and checked my ketones; medium light color on the stick. Then I got on the scale. I ignored the first readings; I’ve found I have to step on and off several times before getting what I think is a true result (the new scale is going back to BB&B today, by the way!) When I stepped on the last couple times, I found I’d gained 1.3 pounds from yesterday.
I plugged the previous evening’s dinner and munchfest into my food diary this morning and figured I’d had over 40 net carbs and over 3000 calories yesterday. My dinner, which was a larger portion than it should have been, accounted for 21 net carbs all by itself. I now know I should not have eaten this during induction, but we didn’t have the time to calculate everything before she put it all together. I wrote up the recipe afterward as she dictated to me and then figured out what the net carbs were.
Beside gaining over a pound on this, the first day of induction month number 2, I crossed the graph line of my 2003 weight loss. I now weigh 2 pounds more than I was at this point when I did Atkins the first time, and I started out 8 pounds heavier back then.
Beat myself up? No. Give up? Never. OK, I had a moment of weakness; that’s yesterday’s news. Here’s what I personally think is important:
- I could have eaten worse things than I did; I maintained SOME sort of control (I still have three cans of roasted almonds in my car!)
- I’ve lost SOME weight in four weeks, despite wishing it were more.
- I’ve lost SOME size; I no longer have to stretch my trousers’ amazing expand-o waistband to get it buttoned. My rings are loose again.
- I still feel better than I did a month ago; no mid-afternoon yawns from a blood sugar dip, no cravings for starchy junk. I feel… tighter. Some of this is no doubt due to the small amount of exercising I’ve been doing.
- I had my share of minor ups and downs in 2003, along with lengthy stalls; I came out of the gate roaring down the track back then, but it actually took me nine months to lose 30 pounds. For whatever reason I’m not tracking the same this time, I have to keep in mind that it’s not a race with a finish line. That’s the kind of thinking that usually foils other diets. A low carb, or more accurately, a controlled carbohydrate nutrition plan should be what becomes a new way of living as a result of understanding the science behind the approach.
- My fear of carbs (bad carbs, let’s call them) has returned. I’d somehow lost that last year, and that was my real downfall.
When I quit smoking 24 years ago, I didn’t then have as much fear of disease and death as a result of using tobacco as I do today of ingesting bad carbs. I gave up smokes “cold turkey” back then, but it was probably the fourth or fifth time I’d seriously attempted it over a period of 20 years, and I even had a two year stretch where I quit and then resumed smoking for several more years.
“Taking the long view,” as was cited in the previous post on this subject, I’m obviously better off a quarter century later, and I made a lasting change that became a way of life for me. I see the same cycles in my life with regard to my weight loss attempts and what I’ve eaten to lose and then gain it all back. My long range goal is to look back on this 20 years from now and feel the same sense of accomplishment and health improvement from eating a controlled carb diet as I do when I consider having overcome my addiction to cigarettes.
Keep the faith, stay the course. Time can be your enemy or your friend depending on what you do with it.
Low Carb Confidential 
How did u get started again? I had two brick and moter low carb stores and a web site 3 yrs ago and now have fallen off the wagon to the tune of 25 maybe 30 lbs 😦 I know exactly what to do but just can’t seem to get started. Having a problem exercising too as I am really run down and worried that I have chronic fatigue (have an app with a doc next month to see) My husbeand of a year and a half says I have become a comfortable married woman lol (I am 57) and thats part of mine and his problem. I was a size 2 when I met him 7 yrs ago and now am a size 10 😦 By the way I am with you on the almonds (almonds are really cheap at Sams but they are unsalted however you can make great almond flour with them at 1/4 the price of Krogers) and I am also there about the scale. My friend thought I was nuts to get on and off 6 times in themorn lol. However the battery died a couple months ago I got a new one and it died so I gave up and I am sure I have gained 10 lbs. 😦
Linda, I’m having a problem understanding how you can be married to someone one and a half years old yet have known him for seven years. This not only breaks moral boundaries, it stretches the time-space continuum to new limits.
Barring those issues (by the way, LOL, I’m just messing with your head), seriously, you had TWO low carb B&Ms? I’m telling you, I am sick and tired of being crowded out at the supermarket, I could USE a dedicated B&M right now. Calorie Countdown milk is down to two versions, one row each, at Wegmans, and last week they decided that four flavors of Dannon Carb and Sugar Control yogurt was WAY too much variety for the low carbers, so they cut it to two (vanilla and strawberry, how typical) and shoved them on the bottom shelf to make room for yet ANOTHER fifteen flavors of YET ANOTHER fat-free no-sugar-added version of the same old yogurt. GRRRR!!!
Enough ranting. How have you fallen off the wagon? Were you pretty much eating low carb but too many carbs, or had you fallen like me, into the pit of empty carbs consisting of potatoes and all the garbage that goes with them? Don’t worry about exercising, you don’t have to go crazy. I’m 56, the first thing that comes to mind when I wake up is NOT going for a run. There’s plenty of controversy over whether exercise is actually going to help you lose weight and may even cause you to GAIN weight (see Gary Taubes’ articles). I’m doing minimal weight work just to get a little more fit, not lose pounds.
You obviously know what low carb and Atkins is all about. You can do induction again. I am. LCC is. We fell down, and we’re picking ourselves up and dusting ourselves off. You can do this. It’s a lot easier than trying to cut out fat and calories. It’s healthier, too.
Are you on any medications that might account for a weight gain? My wife and I both fell victim to this. Anything that slows your metabolism down will make you gain weight even if you ARE eating a controlled carb diet. Other factors could be responsible as well. When you see your doctor about the CFS, ask him to check your thyroid for proper function just to be on the safe side.
I have the almonds under control for now with the 1/2 ounce per day routine. FOR NOW.
The Weight Watchers scale has been returned to BB&B today and replaced with the highly rated Tantita BF-679W. We’ll see how well it performs in the morning rituals this week!
Megamas
Linda,
Is the problem what you eat, or how much you eat?
The 2 are very different, and sometimes you can attack one without the other – it might make getting started a bit easier.
For example: if you find yourself eating a lot of junk carbs, but you can’t seem to find the groove when you try Atkins Induction, try the diet backwards. Eat a maintenance diet like the one found in Atkins for Life.
It’s a lot easier to follow, with a lot of variety, yet still very low carb.
Don’t even *try* to lose weight – you are just weaning yourself off of bad habits at this point.
do this and you might find that, while you don’t lose any weight, you might feel better, feel better about yourself, and regain the energy you need to transition into induction and lose the weight.
It might not work – but it seems to me you just need to get the ball rolling, and anything that moves you in the right direction is better than nothing at all.
Keep us updated on how you’re doing.
LCC
Watch the martinis, Mega. Martini is my drink of choice after a gin and tonic or a glass of red wine, but regardless of the no-carb aspect of gin, the alcohol will burn before your fat does. It can (and will) cause a plateau. So cheat by all means, but figure your alcohol consumption into the cheat if you are having more than one.
Just my own two cents….