a question about cheating??

[Jonniboy]

Ive been doing a lot of background research into the atkins diet and from what Ive discovered, cheating for a day or two every two weeks will simply slow your progress. It will not stop it.

This is because the atkins diet is generally 'forgiving' to cheat meals. And why is this you may ask? Well, when you eat high carb foods whilst your glycogen stores are completly depleted, almost all of the carbs you ingest are rushed into your muscles and the liver to refill the body's glycogen stores allowing some of the carbs and most of the fat you eat to be used as energy.

This means that for the next couple of days (eating low carb), you will not be burning body fat, but using your glycogen stores for energy and so hence, slowing your weight loss progress since you have been out of ketosis for a couple of days.

Also, when you cheat, it may seem like you have gained a lot of weight if you weigh yourself but the truth of the matter is that you've most likely put on minimal fat gains but put on alot of water mass. (it takes 4 parts water to bind to 1 part glycogen).

Anyway, although cheating every two weeks may not cause fat gains, it will cause cravings which will likely lead onto to days of binges unless of course you have strong willpower.

Hope this has answered your question...

[liv]

OK Jonniboy
I am sorry but I think your research has left out the most important ingredient - carb addiction.
If you and I counted the people on this board who cheat and fail. I am willing to bet that cheating for most people led to them failing on the diet not because of things that has to do with loss or water or muscels or stuff like that. Cheating is a kiss of death for people becasause we are addicts to foods and one bite leads to eating the whole bag and then the rest of the bags in the neighbourhood. That is one of the main reasons why cheating is problematic. Many of us need to treat carbs like this.

So go back read all posts - Yes people come here and are so sure that I can do this and that but in really they cannot not and they will end up leaving the diet becasue they cannot stick to it.

There is no way I would do that for me personally. Looking at my size 18 pants in my closet hanging beside my size 4 tells me no friggen bite of anything is worth me balooning up again.

[neutronnorman]

Originally Posted by liv

OK Jonniboy

- Yes people come here and are so sure that I can do this and that but in really they cannot not and they will end up leaving the diet becasue they cannot stick to it.

Wanna bet?

[Empyre]

Originally Posted by neutronnorman

Wanna bet?

hehe , funny.

I think I see a lot of people come to a diet and then analyze it for a way to short cut it or try to abuse it and still get results. Case in point, the Johnathan smith post about using Ephedra as a "short cut" essentially. The most powerful supplement you can add to keto is ambition..you have to want it.

I love how honest keto is to me. In my mind, keto is a cheat. I started this uncomfortably overweight seemingly helpless to do anything about it.

I put myself on keto and the weight flew off me. The times I freely cheated on keto was my Mom's birthday where she had a cookout and I ate whatever I wanted...1 month later a friend came to see me from up north and we went out the chinese and I ate freely. My weight at both those times slowed at first and then continued to drop.

I think cheating is possible when someone is at goal as defined by weight,sex, and height. If your uncomfortably overweight than keto should be your cheat until you've hit your body's ideal state.

Currently my cheat is bacon, anytime I'm bored or have the munchies beyond just regular hunger I make some crispy bacon and eat it like potatoe chips.

[Tenntech]

Originally Posted by Empyre

Currently my cheat is bacon, anytime I'm bored or have the munchies beyond just regular hunger I make some crispy bacon and eat it like potatoe chips.

Is that really cheating? If so,im in trouble

[liv]

I want to bet. It would be based on statistics though. Maybe some people can do a few things. But most of us, like me, started in the obese category - we are the ones who have destroyed our ability to deal with carbs. We are the ones who need to be in this study. Yes there are people here who do not belong in the category becasue they are not really doing the diet but those are not the ones I am referring too. They are just hanging around here because they love us so much. God Bless them .

[pagliaccia]

Just take a stroll in the Second Time Around Club... By far, the most common reason for failing on this diet once is That First Cheat. There are 3 common outcomes of the first cheat - 1) completely going off the tracks pretty much immediately, 2) being perfectly fine, going right back on the diet (not that common), and 3) sorta getting back on track, but then being able to justify the next cheat ("Oh well, I was fine the first time I went off-plan. Clearly my body can take it..."). I fell victim to the 3rd outcome.

[Jonniboy]

Yes, I had already covered the part about carb / sugar addictions in my first post and that it could lead to uncontrollable binge eating lasting days on end.

[neutronnorman]

Originally Posted by liv

They are just hanging around here because they love us so much. God Bless them .

[jeff3298]

Liv you are right about those addictions that just one bite can knock you off track, it happened to me. Now I am extremly careful what I eat and read every lable. I eat only "Real Food", no bars, shakes, etc.