Sooooo... did we do okeedokee artichokies?

[cleochatra]

How was your Thanksgiving?

If you had a day and a half and you ate what you ought not have, now is the time to just pick it up and keep going. Drink yourt water, exercise and eat a high-fat breakfast to keep those cravings at bay! You can do this!

If you made it through, congratulations! You've earned your jumpwings!

We're here to support you no matter what, so don't leave if you had a bad eating experience. Let us show you how to fight through it! Believe you me, next Thanksgiving you will be a whole new person!

I'd bank my handle on it.

If you did, perchance fall off the wagon,

Congratulations.

The official prognosis? You're human

It happens to many of us at one time or another. For some unknown reason we jump ship and find ourselves face to face with the mirror... and your reflection is showing you ate the blueberry pie.

Uhn uhn uhn.

Well, honey, you know you made a mistake, you feel sick, and you're saying, "well what the heck do I do now?" Faced with the pizza sitting in the kitchen, more pie yet to make your upper lip and a litre of egg nog singing to you like the proverbial sirens waiting to pull you off course and drown you in a sea of adipose tissue, you don't know how to get back on the wagon and eat the whole foods again.

It's crucial to look at the first four days back on induction as days you're going to be successful on this way of eating.

Your job, first and foremost, is to get back on track by being prepared. While you might still be having relations with Chef Boy Ardee in the back of the kitchen, also prepare foods you can have prepared when you go back into induction again. When you're on induction you're going to be tired, cranky and craving. Having nothing prepared to eat, especially towards evening, is going to be an amazing mistake.

You have your food prepped. Now what? Well, survey. Does exercise make you feel like you're doing something good after being oh so bad? If so, get right back to it. Do you feel so lousy that you couldn't get on the exercise program the next couple days? Rest if you need to. Take it easy. Focus on staying on track. Remember, these next few days are a focus on eating right. You don't have to be perfect. You have to be perfectly happy on induction while you're switching into ketosis again. If you can, start exerising right away, but focus first and foremost should be getting on track nutritionally.

You now have to deal with very real emotions and resulting mood swings. Your body is de-toxing. For the next few days you are going to make a day of PMS look like someone's done opened up the fairgrounds and declared hunting season on every happy thought you've ever had in your life. In even Annette Funacello's life! You are going to be mad, mean, nasty, cranky, grouchy, tired, bloated, and your husbands are going to work late or hide under the bed (or your wives, gentlemen) because they know you are a force of nature to be reckoned with.

The night time is going to be heck for you because of blood sugar destabilization and feelings of tiredness. Stay out of the kitchen and go read a book. Go to bed. I don't care. Just get thee from the kitchen and know that no matter what your blood sugars are coaxing you to do, you won't do it. You're working on the rational being portion of yourself again.

Remember. Water and fat and protein are the mainstay after a binge. If you were in OWL, or remember all too well the flavor of cholocate on your tongue you are not going to be excited about going back into a strict induction mode. Neither was I. I used every reason in the book that I could have a bowl of oatmeal or needed some rice, but I'm glad I stayed with the strict induction. It was my blood sugar telling me I wanted those things. Thankfully, I knew better.

Supplements, Supplements, Supplements! Look, you can't always prepare for loss or a catastrophic event, and there are times you're going to melt down emotionally. Supplements, especially those which are mood enhancers or which lessen cravings do help. They have a residual effect so taking them now and allowing them to work in your body will help you to fight off the cravings as they start to kick in. L-Carnitine, B-6 and chromium picolinate are essential for mood enhancement and craving control. Start taking them now.

Support. You fell off. So talk about it. Your emotions are valid, and others can help you out. It's ok to mess up from time to time. Just don't plan to screw up. Planning to fail is failing to plan. For success.

And watch out for the pop tarts. The food you bite bites back.

We're here for you.

[soliwit]

Well, I didn't fall off, didn't eat any foods that aren't allowed to me, but.........I over-ate, so I still feel awfull
Lessons learned:
-prepare even better
-never forget your psyllium on a trip
-don't make more than you need on 'dangerdays' like this
I still feel quite good about myself cause I didn't fall in any carbtrap
but yikes......the heartburn, I forgot how it felt, so punishment is mine

[sogamusicman]

I'm so excited....And I just can't hide it........

Sorry, just lost control for a moment. I survived Thanksgiving and didn't eat 10,000 calories for the first time since the womb! I fixed only things that were OK and controlled portions. I've been on extended induction for 4 1/2 months and was very concerned. I managed to make it through with 20 carbs and 2000 calories. And that includes a really nifty pumpkin cheesecake dessert I found (I ate one portion and made the family eat the rest. It's all gone, thank God). My first dessert since I started.

Interesting to note for those of you who are just beginning, after I lost my sweet tooth (and I'm a big cookie monster!), I really didn't want a lot of junk this year. I made faux potatoes, broccoli, turkey, devilled eggs, a nice salad, and my cheesecake. Some might say that they would miss the dressing, but I reminded myself that the meal I had was better than 90% of the world was eating and I should be careful about my thoughts. Thanksgiving implies thankfulness. So, in that spirit, Thanks, God, for helping me find this WOE!

SOGA

[2big4mysize]

woo hoo for you soliwit and a double woo hoo for sogamusicman.

One clarification you only have to return to induction IF YOU ARE OUT OF KETOSIS and ONLY FOR THE NUMBER OF DAYS IT TAKES YOUR BODY TO GET BACK INTO KETOIS. be it 1 or 4 then you jump right basck to where you were in your Atkins plan before you lost ketosis and continue your WOE training so you can be a life long big loser.

[qbu]

I only ate foods that were allowed....even though there were a lot of others...and I got to cook them all!!!

Even though we had our traditional Thanksgiving--turkey, gravy, stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, corn, broccoli, pumpkin pie, apple pie, cranberry sauce and homemeade cranberry relish, I only ate turkey, mashed cauliflower (new addition this year, was a hit with everyone), broccoli, crustless pumpkin pie. I made gravy for myself by thickening with butter rather than a starch.

I didn't feel stuffed when I left the table.

The crustless pumpkin pie was a hit with everyone! More of that went than the regular pumpkin pie.

I am very thankful I found Atkins. I feel better than I have in a very looooong time.

Just as an aside, Cleo, thank you for being such an inspiration. I truly enjoy reading your posts. They help so much. They are direct and to the point with humor thrown in.

[not2late]

I made it through. I was handed a dessert plate with 1 piece of pumpkin pie, 1 piece of pecan pie and 1 piece of a chocolate cake. The ultra-skinny wife of a cousin handed that death plate to me, knowing full well I can't eat any of that stuff. Then when she saw that I nonchalantly put it on the table, she asked me "innocently", "Megs, you don't eat dessert????" I replied, "I stopped eating that stuff 3 years ago. It's bad for your health."

[soliwit]

wow not2, that was a cool reply
ooooooh, I would have hated the woman to bits at that point, well at least for a second or two, hehehe, cause hatin' is not my thing really LOL
But you managed that really well !!!
Congrats on not eating the stuff !

[not2late]

Originally Posted by soliwit

wow not2, that was a cool reply
ooooooh, I would have hated the woman to bits at that point, well at least for a second or two, hehehe, cause hatin' is not my thing really LOL
But you managed that really well !!!
Congrats on not eating the stuff !

My cousins and siblings have married some very "interesting" people. So I'm used to their games. They're really into sabotage and the fine art of denigrating people. That pie plate of death is nothing compared to what I've been through in the past.

We got to be able to spot those people and deal with them too.