Forced Cheat

[NewToAtkins]

I had my first cheat today, but I'm going to refer to it as a forced cheat. At about 1 or 2 this afternoon I started to develop a sharp pain in the left side of my abdomen. By 3 I couldn't stand it and called my doctor. He asked about what I was eating and I told him it was the Atkins diet. He's on board with Atkins, but said that "break days" once a week or every other week are needed in his opinion. He recommended that I eat some form of high fiber carbohydrate to help things move along. He said that something like Grape Nuts cereal would be good.
Well, since grape nuts tastes a lot like eating gravel, I opted for the Grape Nuts trail mix cereal. It had 25 carbs in a bowl, and the milk I poured on it added another 7. The pretzel I ate for no reason had 5. So, I added 37 grams of carbs to an induction diet where I've normally been eating about 15. I know it's not disastrous cheat, but I was wondering if there's a first day diet plan that anyone can recommend for starting induction again...something that really can kick me back into ketosis (didn't check whether or not I lost it...don't care).

Oh, and the cereal worked wonders for me. Within an hour of eating it my stomach pains went away. Anyone else have this kind of experience?

[Georgiana]

I'm glad it worked, BUT... There are ways to eat something high in fiber without cheating. Spinach, broccoli, flax... adding more veggies would have been much better than cheating. In half a cup of grape-nuts trail mix there are 37 carbs and 5 g of fiber, so 32 net carbs. This means that eating 25 carbs from the trail mix only gave you about 4 g of fiber. This is about the same amount you find in two tablespoons of flax meal OR in 1 cup of boiled spinach OR in .75 cup of boiled broccoli. I won't even talk about the milk here, which has pretty much no fiber. Try to include high fiber foods into your daily meals so that you don't run into trouble and look for a quick fix.

To answer your question... Eating more fat is supposed to put you faster into ketosis as I understand from the book (sorry, I borrowed mine and can't check right now). However, your body needs time to burn the carbohydrates you have eaten, so it might take a day or two, depending on your metabolism. There is no magic 1-day plan that guarantees to put you back into ketosis. The best you can do is go back to eating what you ate before the cheat, watch out for cravings and just be patient.

[NewToAtkins]

I know I could have found low carb fiber, but he specifically recommended a carbohydrate with high fiber, and grape nuts by name since they are known for getting things moving. All I know is the pain stopped and I feel great today. Back on track...

Might make a few people mad, but I woke up this morning after the cheat in full ketosis.

[liv]

58 grams of that cereal has 5 fibre and 42 grams of net carbs

5 grams of flax meal has about 5 fibre and no net carbs

What do you think is the best source of fibre?

If my doctor told me to eat cereal with loads of sugar and salt I'd tell him to ......

[tfek70]

NewToAtkins, you are living in a fantasy world of denial. If you woke up this morning in "full ketosis" I assume that you proved this to yourself via ketostick. The ketones that were already in your system prior to your "forced cheat" (more on that later) didn't miracle themselves out of your body after the grape nuts. These are the ones that showed on your ketostick. Ketosticks suck and are inaccurate as often as they are right. Your breath, your urine smell, and your weight/inches lost are far better indicators of ketosis. The ketosticks will still show a positve test after your body is out of ketosis due to stored ketones you burned and haven't eliminated yet. Think of them as sediment in the bottom of your bladder. Every time you void urine, some go, some may stay. The ones that don't get flushed can escape next time you go. You may no longer be in ketosis at this point, but will get a positive indicator.

Now, as far as your "forced cheat" goes, if you were grazing all day long like you are supposed to, ie eating 5 to 6 small meals a day, or 1 every two to three waking hours, you wouldn't have been in the situation you were in. Done properly, unless you are hyperglycemic or have some other underlying medical condition, you don't "need" a cheat day. You seem to be looking for a reason to cheat. You always can find one. Your "forced cheat" was probably the result of failing to plan and having a good supply of varied legal foods to eat. You probably weren't eating enough often enough.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but your story is exactly what other people will use to allow themselves to cheat. You need to take ownership of what you did and try not to let it happen again. Look back at what led up to it and see what you can do to prevent it in the future. I'm glad to see you got right back on the horse though. It shows you really want to do this.

T. J.

[NewToAtkins]

Originally Posted by tfek70

NewToAtkins, you are living in a fantasy world of denial. If you woke up this morning in "full ketosis" I assume that you proved this to yourself via ketostick. The ketones that were already in your system prior to your "forced cheat" (more on that later) didn't miracle themselves out of your body after the grape nuts. These are the ones that showed on your ketostick. Ketosticks suck and are inaccurate as often as they are right. Your breath, your urine smell, and your weight/inches lost are far better indicators of ketosis. The ketosticks will still show a positve test after your body is out of ketosis due to stored ketones you burned and haven't eliminated yet. Think of them as sediment in the bottom of your bladder. Every time you void urine, some go, some may stay. The ones that don't get flushed can escape next time you go. You may no longer be in ketosis at this point, but will get a positive indicator.

Now, as far as your "forced cheat" goes, if you were grazing all day long like you are supposed to, ie eating 5 to 6 small meals a day, or 1 every two to three waking hours, you wouldn't have been in the situation you were in. Done properly, unless you are hyperglycemic or have some other underlying medical condition, you don't "need" a cheat day. You seem to be looking for a reason to cheat. You always can find one. Your "forced cheat" was probably the result of failing to plan and having a good supply of varied legal foods to eat. You probably weren't eating enough often enough.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but your story is exactly what other people will use to allow themselves to cheat. You need to take ownership of what you did and try not to let it happen again. Look back at what led up to it and see what you can do to prevent it in the future. I'm glad to see you got right back on the horse though. It shows you really want to do this.

T. J.

Actually, I wasn't "Looking" for a reason to cheat. The pain was bad enough that I was worried that something serious was wrong. This was the first time on the plan that I felt like this, so I didn't know whether it was the plan or not and I was nervous, so I called the doctor. I did exactly what he told me to do and it worked. This was the quickest and easiest way to try to fix it. If this didn't work he wanted me to call him at home for the next course of action.
As for falling off the horse, put it into perspective. Instead of 15 carbs, I ate 37 because it wasn't a full serving. Although this is more than allowed, it's not exactly dropping off the program completely. If I wanted to use this as an excuse, don't you think I'd choose something a little tastier than friggin' Grape Nuts to eat??? If I wanted to, I would have eaten everything in sight and regrouped the next day. I had never cheated in the full two weeks since I started. I followed the program perfectly, planning my meals, and felt great. This could have been the excuse to eat whatever I wanted...I didn't. I did what the doctor said - a doctor that agrees with Atkins - and it worked.
I understand that Ketostix are only an indicator, and that everything else (urine, breath, etc.) are much better. That's why I was comfortable stating that I was in full. 37 carbs wasn't enough to throw me completely off.
Since Friday night when this happened I've been on the program, had more than my share of the water, I gained nothing, and have dropped 4 more pounds.

[Tanyaskees]

Originally Posted by NewToAtkins

Actually, I wasn't "Looking" for a reason to cheat. The pain was bad enough that I was worried that something serious was wrong. This was the first time on the plan that I felt like this, so I didn't know whether it was the plan or not and I was nervous, so I called the doctor. I did exactly what he told me to do and it worked. This was the quickest and easiest way to try to fix it. If this didn't work he wanted me to call him at home for the next course of action.
As for falling off the horse, put it into perspective. Instead of 15 carbs, I ate 37 because it wasn't a full serving. Although this is more than allowed, it's not exactly dropping off the program completely. If I wanted to use this as an excuse, don't you think I'd choose something a little tastier than friggin' Grape Nuts to eat??? If I wanted to, I would have eaten everything in sight and regrouped the next day. I had never cheated in the full two weeks since I started. I followed the program perfectly, planning my meals, and felt great. This could have been the excuse to eat whatever I wanted...I didn't. I did what the doctor said - a doctor that agrees with Atkins - and it worked.
I understand that Ketostix are only an indicator, and that everything else (urine, breath, etc.) are much better. That's why I was comfortable stating that I was in full. 37 carbs wasn't enough to throw me completely off.
Since Friday night when this happened I've been on the program, had more than my share of the water, I gained nothing, and have dropped 4 more pounds.

Hi NewToAtkins and congrats on the weight loss. Don't beat yourself up over what happened and listen to you doctor. I would have too. Everyone slips up occasionally, I know I do. So move on with the plan and don't worry about it. Hugs....Tanya

[NewToAtkins]

Originally Posted by Tanyaskees

Hi NewToAtkins and congrats on the weight loss. Don't beat yourself up over what happened and listen to you doctor. I would have too. Everyone slips up occasionally, I know I do. So move on with the plan and don't worry about it. Hugs....Tanya

Many Thanks!

[7Miriam]

Hi! Make sure you are drinking enough water - you need a lot while doing this diet. I've gotten sharp pains in my lower left abdomen in the past and a nutritionist told me it was b/c I wasn't having enough water. SUre enough, whenever I get them now I drink water and the pain goes away - though if I drink a lot of water to start with I tend not to get them much.

[NewToAtkins]

Originally Posted by 7Miriam

Hi! Make sure you are drinking enough water - you need a lot while doing this diet. I've gotten sharp pains in my lower left abdomen in the past and a nutritionist told me it was b/c I wasn't having enough water. SUre enough, whenever I get them now I drink water and the pain goes away - though if I drink a lot of water to start with I tend not to get them much.

That was the first thing the doctor asked me, and I had already finished 64 oz for the day (I usually aim for 100).