How disasters can happen while you aren't paying attention

[chinadoll]

A CAUTIONARY TALE from someone who should have known better
I have been low carbing for years. I know the rungs fairly well, I follow things pretty closely 95% of the time and I exercise like a demon, but last night I blew it.

I am sitting here like a slug today and hating myself for not being able to control myself last night. At least it wasn't bad processed stuff but I still wound up with too many calories and too many carbs for the day. So the question is WHY?

I started the morning with a normal brekkie but was tired and decided to make this my day off from the gym this week. The listlessness should have been a warning of things to come and had I made a mental note maybe I would not have done what came next.

At lunch I ate leftover fish and veggies but the fish had a sauce with an artificial sweetener in it and the veggies were a frozen pkg that had slightly higher carbs than when I make them fresh. Hmmm. Sooo, bad thing number one. (1)

I was craving food all afternoon. Thought maybe it was TOM or maybe because the fish piece was quite small. I knew dinner was going to be heavy so I resisted a snack, but had a diet cola (this is unusual).(2) Dinner was a fajita salad but the spice mix probably had something wacky in it.(3) Normally it would not have been an issue but after the sweeteners at lunch I guess it did. Still hungry but had saved room in my carb count for yogurt and berries. However, the the two together are too much carbs at one time for my system I guess. (4) And I put a Splenda in the yogurt to boot. (5) The kiss of death was coffee. (6) I have been drinking decaf at night (still have a regular or half calf in the morning) but there was some left in the pot from a.m. and I was lazy so now I was wide awake until late and was hungry all night, so I ate. (7) I ate a hotdog, a slice of cheese, and about 500 calories worth of pork rinds that I didn't need. Oh yeah and another 1/2 cup of berries at 1 a.m.

Not a good day. So today... No sweeteners, lots of water, going to the gym for a good hard workout, and hopefully that will assuage the guilt I am feeling right now, because I know that feeling this way is counterproductive.

Just wanted to share this because even us veterans have bad bad days and sometimes it isn't something as dramatic as ordering a whole pizza and scarfing it down. Sometimes it is a series of tiny little things that add up to a disastrous day like this.

[Slapshot]

Boy, am I glad to see your post! It must have been the date or something yesterday since I had 2 huge bites of peanut butter (the one with sugar in it) as well as a couple of chocolate chips on top. I've decided that peanut butter is my Atkinelles heel...

I know how you feel. Sometimes, this WOE can be so liberating that you can "eat what you want provided it's legal." That's only partially true. Lots of little variations of what's allowed (splenda, caffeine, etc.) can add up, just like you experienced.

Alas, like me today, you are back on the wagon. Until they invent a time machine, you and I can't go back to yesterday and fix it, so here we are, two honest veterans who, believe it or not, are imperfectly human. The difference, though, between *this* time and last time I fell off the Atkins wagon years ago? I'm back on plan today, already worked out, and feel mentally invigorated, notwithstanding the bloat.

[chinadoll]

Thanks Slapshot, I am glad to see YOUR post here too. And I know I will get my mental composure back after a good sweat at the gym today.

[Slapshot]

Keep in mind that we can take advantage of the flip-side of the "you didn't gain it all in a day" coin when people are impatient on this WOE. One day isn't going to put it all back...

Have a good workout, forget about the slips, and I'll forget about the peanut butter and chocolate chips.

[chinadoll]

Deal.

[LageNomAi]

Originally Posted by Slapshot

I know how you feel. Sometimes, this WOE can be so liberating that you can "eat what you want provided it's legal." That's only partially true. Lots of little variations of what's allowed (splenda, caffeine, etc.) can add up, just like you experienced.

And boy am I glad to see someone on here actually admit this because that's so true!

Chinadoll, it must be in the air because I'm having a terrible day. My kids had me up at 5:40am today and it's nearly TOM for me, so I've had two cups of coffee and two diet sodas. Blech. So far my food is on track but the caffeine and aspartame are not making my system happy. Plus, today is my day off from working out so I feel particularly out of sorts.

So long as I can get a decent night's sleep tonight I should be back on track tomorrow but for the time being, I'm just a sleepy wreck.

[chinadoll]

Well, if it is any consolation, I guilted myself into a terrific workout at the gym today and have been eating a clean Induction day as pennance. LOL I feel a million times better physically and mentally as a result. Sooo, if my bad day was contagious, maybe my good day today will be as well.