Occasional Carb Meal?

[dazedkid]

I was wondering how dangerous it was to allow oneself to have a high carb meal once a month. I love the diet and I am doing good with it, but I do think that it is alright to have an occasional meal where you're not obsessing over intake.

What is the deal with that and has anyone used something to that effect?

[not2late]

Originally Posted by dazedkid

I was wondering how dangerous it was to allow oneself to have a high carb meal once a month. I love the diet and I am doing good with it, but I do think that it is alright to have an occasional meal where you're not obsessing over intake.

What is the deal with that and has anyone used something to that effect?

Hi. I know there are folks who do that because it "keeps them on track". It's sort of a bastardized version of the Heller's Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, where those dieters have 2 Atkins Induction style meals and one "reward meal" daily. However, alot of people ignore the fact that the Hellers are very specific about the proportions of carbs/proteins/fats in these "reward meals": it's not eating how much food you want, in whatever combinations you want.

Dr. Atkins didn't mention the CAD in the last edition of DANDR, but he did mention its physiologic drawbacks in the 1992 edition of the book. I can't recall accurately what those drawbacks were, but I can look them up and post them tomorrow.

Personally, I can see a person doing extended Induction wanting a "reward meal" once a month due to the monotony of the Induction phase, but during OWL and Pre-Maintenance, the diet is too varied to become boring---unless you want to gorge on truly non-Atkins foods like cakes, pies, candies or huge portions of starchy foods like potatoes and pasta.

I've gone through all the rungs of the OWL carb ladder and I know my CCLL, so I know what foods I can and can't eat and the amount of these foods I can eat for my body's requirements. Yeah, I can eat alittle potato salad if I want. I can eat a slice of thin crust cheese pizza, if I want. But I also know enough about myself to know that certain foods are triggers for me to fall back into the eating habits that helped make me fat. Frankly, losing weight is a big pain in the a$$ and it's something I don't want to go through again, so I avoid things that will delay or stop losing this fat.

[dazedkid]

Thanks for the advice. I am pretty sure it will be alright for me, as I took to Atkins like a duck to water. As long as the occasional carb meal doesn't cause a repeat incident of my induction flu (wretched) then I think I will be fine. I am only assuming that the flu would be less intense the second or third (etc) time around.

But if you could list the drawbacks, that would be sweet!

[Elizellen]

For a lot of people the main drawback is that they cant get back on Atkins after a highcarb indulgence!!

We see many members posting on the boards that after eating offplan on their birthday/aniversary/Xmas/etc they had great difficulty coping with cravings, and just seemed to keep 'giving in' to temptation, in some cases not being able to get back on Atkins for several months!!

[cypressgirl]

I took like a duck to water with this WOE too. However, one piece of pie about 8 or 10 weeks ago was enough to start those little ripples that turned into waves. It becomes so easy to start to justify more and more. I KNOW Atkins. I can tell you almost anything you want to know. I ENJOY Atkins. The food is so good! But that little slip weeks ago has caused me so much grief - I haven't gained weight but the one foot I have been dragging off the wagon here and there has cost me about 8 weeks of results and countless mental frustration. As with anything, it's up to you - but that's my story!

[ttdriver]

Excuse my bluntness, but...

WHAT IS THE POINT OF EATING THE CRAP THAT MADE US FAT TO BEGIN WITH?

I dunno .. it just makes no sense to me!! If we could control the carb binges, would we need Atkins?

Betty

[rox4jc]

I would have to agree with that bluntness.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by dazedkid

Thanks for the advice. I am pretty sure it will be alright for me, as I took to Atkins like a duck to water. As long as the occasional carb meal doesn't cause a repeat incident of my induction flu (wretched) then I think I will be fine. I am only assuming that the flu would be less intense the second or third (etc) time around.

But if you could list the drawbacks, that would be sweet!

Rats! I forgot to look it up last night. But since you've already made up your mind, I don't feel so bad about forgetting to look up that info. However, I will look it up and post it for the folks reading this thread.

You better go to the STAC forum and read what those folks say about their Induction Flu experiences on their repeat Inductions and how difficult it is for them to get back into ketosis with each subsequent fall. Essentially if you knock yourself out of ketosis with your high carb meal, you will need to go back to Induction for a 2-3 days to get back into ketosis, then you need to resume your OWL diet. The danger to this is what Dr. Atkins wrote in the "Uses and Abuses of Induction" section in the book.

Anoher more serious concern I have is the impact this back-and-forthing can have on your metabolism.

[dazedkid]

Originally Posted by ttdriver

Excuse my bluntness, but...

WHAT IS THE POINT OF EATING THE CRAP THAT MADE US FAT TO BEGIN WITH?

I dunno .. it just makes no sense to me!! If we could control the carb binges, would we need Atkins?

Betty

Because life is not entirely centered around dieting and fat.

I used Atkins to stop my addiction with food, which I have sucessfully done. I used it because I had a problem with food, not just carbs.

[ttdriver]

Food is fuel. When you see it as such, you don't need to reward yourself with it.


Betty