Martha,

A little over a year ago, after having wonderful success with mt low-carb ay
of eating, I decided to go off-plan for a holiday meal.  I went with family
to one of those all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants where quanitity of food
definitely takes prececence over quality.  I planned on just sampling a
variety  of things.  Well, it didn't work that way.  Those "samples" turned
into globs, the globs turned into platefuls, and before I knew it I may as
well have strapped on a feedbag.  I figured the next day I would go back to
plan; instead I had unbelievable carb cravings, and went to the grocery
store.  I started in the bakery and worked my way back to the ice cream
section and over to the candy and cookies.

The bottom line -- although I've never discussed this here before -- was
that I was backslidden from my low-carb plan for months on end.  I gained
back much of the weight I had lost.  I really got out of control, then got
depressed and just didn't care.  I stopped posting to ASDLC, but lurked once
in a while to see how my old low-carb friends were doing,  I was too
embarrassed to tell anyone what had happened to me, although I realize now
how foolish this was.  Maybe I could have gotten help sooner in stopping the
rapid downward spiral.So in answer t your question, I for one, cannot go off
plan even for a day.  No way.  No how.  I'm exactly like the alcoholic who
can't have that one drink.  (The only exception I've found is -- and I've
mentioned this in othe posts --  movie popcorn!  I can enjoy it
occassionally; it doesn't set off cravings, and a couple of times it has
actually kick-started my weight loss.)

Then, this past December 15th,  I was diagnosed as T2 diabetic after a
routine physical exam found my fasting BG to be 135 and my Hba1c to be 9;
which is very high.  (I don't want to sound like a broken record;  I
apologize for repeating this so often -- it's just that it was such a major,
life-changing event in my life).  This was the slap upside the head that  I
needed to jolt me out of my apathy (or depression or whatever it was) and
get me back on track.  That was when I re-committed to low-carb as a
lifelong way of eating, and have I ever been faithful to it!  I've hear
people say when they were off plan and then re-started, it was much harder.
Just the opposite for me; it was sooo easy this time!  Maybe because I
already knew what to do, what to eat, etc. without weighing, measuring,
referring to a book to see what I can/can't eat etc.   But I am genuinely
enjoying my foods this time around; I' even taking pleasure in the
preparation.  I see it as a fun challenge to try to maintain my ideal fat to
protein ratios, and to keep my carbs around 5% of my total calories.  In
that 90 days since my diagnosis I've lost nearly 40 pounds (38 to be exact)
, and I feel better than I have in three years!

This year not only was I with family over the Holidays, but I was also on
vacation and ate many meals in restaurants.  What a difference from last
year!  When I got back from vacation I had lost several pounds over that
two-week period!  Absolutely no more off-plan days for me.  This is it --
for life.  (God willing, I guess I ashould add!)

Peter
website:  http://users.thelink.net/marengo

One night while eating out of a resturant, I had a slice of bread before my
meal.  Even though the meal itself was carb friendly, prime rib and string
beans, I way overate.  I didn't even notice until it was too late.

My suggestion is, set your portion controls ahead of time so you'll finish
eating when full because your appestat won't tell you.

Yvonne

Cravings when on carbs are really, really intense... it's something
way beyond hunger for me.  Not that it can't be resisted, but it does
take willpower the first week on low-carbing before my blood sugar
gets straightened out and I can easily eat normally.

I limit my "cheats" to one *meal* a month, not one day.  I can already
see the justifications for overeating if it were an entire day... does
it start at midnight, so if I stay up the night before, I can start
pigging out early?  Or is it based on sleep cycles, so if I stay up
for 28 hours straight, I get to pig out all that time?  No, one *meal*
is easier to handle, I can't justify a meal going longer than 2 hours
max no matter how I try.

A meal once a month doesn't set my cravings in motion.  If it did, I'd
be feeling way different about this.  For me, the switch from a
high-carb to a low-carb diet is unpleasant, and I have no desire to
take another ride on the Week-O'-Cravings rollercoaster.

I think this is why people feel very differently about whether to take
mini-vacations from low-carb or no.  If it causes cravings to kick-in,
then it's just not worth it.

I find that a food item with too many carbs for too little calories ( ie not
enough fat to slow down the insulin spike ) will cause me to have *wicked*
cravings. I had an egg roll about a week ago, and the whole rest of that day
was *horrible* because I was on induction and had 'budgeted' for that egg
roll, but felt like eating EVERYTHING. I stayed 'on the wagon', yes, but it
was *brutal* that day.   So, no more wheat for me, as well as no more 10
carbs for 110 measly calories items.  I think I may have also determined
that nuts - even brazil nuts - set me off towards 'grazing'.

Rev. Melissa Robitille
5'10"
Started Atkins 2/17/04
300/265/160