how to fight the temptations?

[momof4]

Ok I am starting my new woe today. I am nervous because I always start and do well for a while and then eat something"BAD" and it's all down hill from then on. Anyway I guess I have failed so many times that I dont have the confidence in myself that I can actually do this. I am at my all time high, I am so unhappy with the way I feel and look. I just really struggle with the food choices. I know everyone thinks that with lowcarb the choices are endless and they are if you like that type food. I do like some stuff so I am trying to work with those. Anyhow if anyone has any advice on how you fought the temptations and stuck to this wol that would be great! I just need to stick to this. I am really out of control with my eating! Suggestions, fav foods, tips, anything would be great!

[juls6]

eat something 'legal'. don't worry so much about calories for the first few days. you have to let your body burn off all the sugar stores. once that happens, the cravings will subside, ketosis will arrive, and you will feel a whole lot better.

Hang in there!

[cleochatra]

Hi, mom! Find things you like to eat which you can have, and enjoy the heck out of it. This is a way of life, and you have to like it, or you risk backsliding, regardless of plan.

You can do it!

[flourchild]

Of course you can do it, but is LC the best way for your personally? Is Atkins the right plan choice from among the many? Most of the challenge is mental, and you sound resigned - not happy or hopeful or positive. You need to really think about what's going to make this time different from the last ones, because there's no miracle about weight loss. It's about changing behavior and choices and giving something up, at least temporarily.

All the best to you on this journey.

[pooticus]

Never let yourself get too hungry! Always have something legal, premade and waiting for you in the fridge.

What I mean by this is:

Have a plan for action. Make it daily, weekly, whatever as long as you know what you are going to do in order to fend off the temptations.

Start by having lc ready meals made and waiting for you. Have lc snacks ready and on hand. Then eat 3 square meals a day in the beginning and eat a snack of protein and fat or good veggie and fat if you need to. Your appetite will fall or should fall fairly quickly (within the week usually).

The other thing I found is that the more volume you eat, the more hungry you are (at least for me). I am eating pretty classic Atkins right now 70%Fat, 7%Carb and about 23% Protein. I'm averaging around 1400 cals/day on this and I am not hungry at all. I don't eat between meals but eat about every 4-6 hours. My 4pm "mini-meal" is usually 1oz of walnuts and maybe a slice of cheese and a couple of small carrots.

When I restarted I was eating 6oz servings of protein. Now I'm back down to eating 3-4oz servings. My hunger dropped dramatically. So it's pretty easy to stay on plan this way.

The other thing I have is extreme determination to FINALLY get this weight off once and for all!

[momof4]

Thanks for the advice. I know I sounded blah about starting this and really i am not. The reason I choose atkins is because it works for me well. I just need to stick with it. I remember it working the best when I experimented alot. I need to get back into trying to make new things. Again thanks for the advice and encouragement so far it really does help! Thanks

[HezzieLee]

You dont drown by falling in the water- you drown by staying there!

Pick up and move on after a bad day...forgive yourself, just don't give up.

[Nursie_Stacie]

Anyway I guess I have failed so many times that I dont have the confidence in myself that I can actually do this.

You didn't fail. You back slide. Every day is a new day and no matter how many times you eat of plan, if you get back on, you will be healthier for it in the end.

I could be the atkins poster child for restarts and following the plan wrong. It finally took me learning , it was not about the food, but about my inability to cope that lead to me falling off plan, feelings of guilt, over and over again.The food in only a outlet.

When I restarted in August , it was with a new resolve. The words fail, cheat, were not on my vocabulary, their for their was no reason to feel guilty. I told my self nothing was off limits if I really felt I had to have it. If I wanted it , it would just be a small portion. You would not belive the difference in my ability to stay on woe after that. After a few eating off plan meals, the desire lessened till the point nothing could make me eat off plan. I was so focused. I'm 69 lbs down now, and even though I still struggle, for me food will always be a battle, I feel so much better and more In control.

If you know this woe is right for you, then plan and move forward. You can't fail, you can veer off plan, but their are no failures. Just keep getting back on path and take it a day at a time.

[Zer]

...so glad I drifted by, as I really like what is being offered here, as ways of coping with backsliding and about getting back on board after every slip-up.

LC is definitely a way of life, a way of thinking about nutrition. I'm a believer!

I'm learning to be gentle with myself when I sin (miss the mark). I no longer have to finish off a carby item just because I took a bite. I can STOP, think, act in a responsible way to fuel my body so that it has what it needs to function well. That is what food is about. Food is fuel for my cells, my hard-working cells that are doing what keeps my engine humming. Now that I am getting more protein into me, I can feel the engine (my metabolism) as it hums - and I can feel the energy that I get when I fuel up with protein like sardines or WPP.

Carbs never gave me the sort of lift that I get from the 40g of protein in a hot slosh that kick starts my day. Even a 20g-protein snack of sardines in olive oil has an almost immediate positive effect on my psyche as I feel it fueling up each and every cell that wants energy to do what it alone can do!

I'll be ba-a-ack...to pick up more inspiration for making better LC choices daily!

[Houston Heather]

You are not a bad person because you are overweight. You made bad choices. Eating the way you have has made you unhappy and miserable. Remind yourself of this: Yes, I could eat this but it will just make me unhappy in the long run. I will hate myself, feel bad physically, and get even heavier. I deserve to eat something helpful instead.

You have to look at why you are doing it as well.

To fit into those jeans? To get someone (Dr, husband, freind) off your back? Because you don't want to shop in the women's department (anymore?).

There aren't any bad reasons to start, just remember the main one. You should remember first and foremost, you are doing this for your health. If you set deadlines, if you see yourself as a bad person, if you do it for someone else, I don't think you'll do as well.

I take the approach: I'm doing this because I want a healthy active life. To be brutally honest, I don't want to end up like my mother-in-law. I want a good quality of life.

If I started because my parents are coming to visit, because my husband is complaining about my figure, or I'm tired of wearing those jeans I don't think I would be doing half as well as I am now.

I do it for me. My health. How fast I lose is irrelevant as long as I am eating clean (no cheats), staying active, and drinking my water. I am far, far, less tempted to cheat now than I was the last time when I had an unreasonable goal and did it because I wanted to look hot.

I have to ride the paratransit service (for people who are too disabled to ride the regular bus). I see what will happen to me if I don't take care of myself. It'll be me in that extra-wide electric scooter, gasping for breath, unable to take 2 steps on my own. I'll be so fat I won't even be able to fit into some of the vehicles. I'll lose one limb at a time and my kidneys will go. I may go blind from diabetes. I'll spend all my time going to the doctor and no time on the things that bring me joy.

The only thing I have to do to prevent that future is to stick with my WOE. It's easy for me when I think this way.

Of course you will be tempted. But you shouldn't be doing this to "be skinny". "Skinny" is a lot of hard work for what? Some construction workers to stare at you? A label on a pair of jeans? Remind yourself you are doing it for your health.

Sometimes I use vivid images: The cupcakes are full of broken glass, etc.

I'm in vending , one of the absolute worst jobs for cheating. I have to pick up, touch, smell, and see all the bad foods I love. I have to put them down and say "NO" too.

Generally, after I do so, I see a massively obese person walking by, eating a candy bar.