carb binges/induction rotation??

[aliciacassarino]

a friend did atkins a while back and told me that she would do 2 weeks on induction, have a carb binge for one day, then go back to another 2 weeks, then binge, etc. etc. she said that she maximized her loss because her body would get back into the induction mode right after the binge and she would lose a lot that way. IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE??? sounds to me that after the binge, the induction results would be the same as if you just cheated, not because you had a TON of carbs.

just wondering if anyone has done this??

[Kent]

I know of people who have done this method in the past, but invariably the carb binge days lasted longer and longer (exceeded 24 hours) and their commitment to the Induction cycle became less and less. Even when they said they were doing Induction, their menu's would look more and more laden with breads, oatmeals, starchy vegetables. They would gain water weight on carb load days as their glycogen rebuilds, so yes they would have a good weight scales afterwards. In the end it became a trick or a crash diet not a lifelong Way of Eating.

My recommendation is to focus on getting a healthy way of eating for the long term, and the weigh will take care of itself. Personally, the diet became the easiest after a a month or so, and then suddenly determining what to eat each meal wasn't a big deal.

[Perry]

Carb loading is a slippery Induction slope. I've done similar - but only during my maintenance phase.

[not2late]

"Binging" isn't an eating habit anyone should develop. But tell your friend to re-read the section in the book called "The Uses and Abuses of Induction", especially the sentence that says that metabolic resistance to weight loss may increase with the yo-ing back and forth.

Perry mentioned doing something like that on Maintenance Phase, but Maintenance Phase has a different goal than the Weight Loss Phases. During Maintenance, Dr. Atkins said it's quite reasonable to cut back on your carbs if you've gained weight or if you've eaten something carb laden and need to prevent weight gain.

[Isabeau]

And to add, she wasn't doing Atkins if she was doing that.