Fell off the wagon. Do I start over?

[Adena]

I was on day 13 and fell off the wagon. I won't bore you with why -- I know you've heard all the excuses before...!

My question is... Do my 14 days start over again today?

Also, I had noticed my loss had slowed (stopped) actually in the past few days. I was still in ketosis, and not straying from the program. Could it be possible that my body needs to move into OWL to continue its weight loss, or was the stall likely for some other reason? (Yes, I was using sugar substitutes and drinking some diet sodas, both of which I'm avoiding this go round.)

[Elizellen]

If it was just today or yesterday then No - you just continue with your eating plan so if today is your 14th day then you are on day 14 still.

If it was a week or more ago and you have been indulging on highcarb foods ever since then, then you might benefit from starting induction again to get back into ketosis.

I think one reason Dr Atkins suggested we didnt measure during the 14 days was that our weightloss does fluctuate from day to day and if we dont weigh during induction we cant get disappointed in a temporary weightloss 'halt'. Remember he defined a 'stall' as no inches OR pounds lost for a four week period!!

With nearly a third of your hoped for weight gone already (Well done you!!) I would suggest moving to OWL after your 14 days on induction.

[boonie stomper]

It looks to me like Ellizen misread your SW/CW/GW and you still have quite a lot to lose. Depending on how "hard" you fell off the wagon, and how long you've been off, you may/may not need to get back into ketosis. But as Dora the fish would say, "just keep swimming, just keeeeep swimming!"

Do you know what led to your tumble? Try to recognise the pitfall(s) next before you get too close to avoid. If you were content with being in induction, you can continue, if boredom with the menu was a factor, consider going to OWL, once you are sure you are in ketosis.

[2big4mysize]

as Elizellen said if you just cheasted a day then keep going knowing your 14 day numbers will be off for the charts. read chapter 13 of DANDR and answer those questions to know if it is timew for you toi move to OWL or do extended induction.

Happy low carbing

[Adena]

Gosh, I was sure you guys would stay I had to start over completely... glad to hear that's not the case. Although I guess if I was considering extended induction, it wouldn't matter anyway, right? I haven't really decided yet -- I'll go back to DANAR tonight and decide for sure.

What led to the tumble? I was sick and felt yucky. My throat was killing me, and I only had lozengers. The fact that I was a little disappointed by not losing the past few days probably played into it as well, I'm sure.

How hard did I fall? I ate about 10 (sugar-containing) throat lozengers, which is what started the spiral. (I have since bought the sugar free kind -- which say they have no carbs, but do have 3 g sugar alcohol.) After several of them, knowing I had probably already thrown myself out of Ketosis, I thought, what the heck, and had a cheese danish for breakfast, and a bagel as a mid-morning snack (I was in an all-day meeting where the food just sits there and looks at you from a table in the back of the room...). For lunch, I had salad...and half of a croissont... and a piece of key lime pie. For dinner, I got back on the bandwagon and ate on program.

[2big4mysize]

wow next time instead of saying I blew it so let the feasting begin practice carb harm reduction and make the next bite Atkins low carb. I'm sure they had some cream cheese for that bagel so you could have eatten some of that and been right back on plan.

Happy low carbing

[Adena]

I DID eat creamcheese... with the bagel.

You make a good point, though -- that's something I know I need to get better about. I'm very all or nothing. Which is why I typically DON'T cheat -- I know it's a downhill slide from there.

Thanks, all, for your input and support.

[ttdriver]

Take "what the heck" out of your vocabulary!


Betty

[Elizellen]

Oops - bonnie stoomper is right - I misread your minigoal as being your endgoal!!

Yes, do re-read the section in DANDR (chapter 13) about making the decision to stay on induction for a while or move straight to OWL. Though Dr Atkins does suggest moving to OWL will slow down weightloss he doesnt mean that it will stop, and many members here found their loss increased once they moved on up the carbohydrate ladder.

And by increasing our food variety options OWL allows us to stick with the plan more easily.