Alpaca's stream of consciousness - IS BACK ON THE WAGON!

[Scrumbles]

And the beauty of this is, if you want that pud, then you can have it, completely guilt-free! You're still on plan, it just happens to be a different plan for a couple of weeks

As to why your appetite has diminished, that's interesting. You'd think the added carbs would make you hungrier, wouldn't you? Strange!

And lol @ "full time job" - you're not wrong! You've been living on quite a limited selection of foods for a very long time now, so you've no experience tracking the higher carb stuff. With unlimited choice, it's quite a task working it all out, isn't it? (but a fun one! )

Rather wishing I was on a diet break now...I wanna choc ice!...*winge*...

 

[ladyfelsham]

why aren't I gobbling food like it's going out of fashion!!??

Because we wax and wane - the joy of being of a woman. One day I'm not hungry until supper time, the next, I'm a ravenous beast from the moment I wake up. Makes it a bit difficult to keep a day job when you're gnawing on your co-worker's leg

A thought - I know she's on holibobs right now but have you spoken to Katie about moving through the Atkins stages of reintroducing foods, because she has done it so successfully. Or maybe re-read the book?

I really think that you are so at the stage where you need to bring more foods in to your diet, but it is going to take some experimenting, and not get upset if you go up a little - go with the flow, eat a bit of what you fancy and see what happens.

Or try introducing some of the fat burning foods, apart from protein - higher in carbs, but maybe you're ready for that now? Broccoli, chickpeas (home made hoummus mmmm), and go for the beetroot - it's so jampacked full of Bs and Cs - and defo tomatoes xxx

 

[Alpaca]

hate myself... hate the diet break... hate hate hate...

I was doing fine all day - on top, in control, MFP open and monitoring ...

Then, bing, bang, boom... out to dinner... which was ok-ish... mini salmon tart and greenery for starter and liver and sweet potato for main - no pud...

Then, home to finish a rotten, awful report I have to do before tomorrow (not going to finish so have to sleep now and get up at stupid o clock)... and since I've been home, I've put the equivalent of a great big pile of pooh into my big, ugly mouth and haven't stopped chewing... stress and tiredness are definite triggers... in a big way... and I have a huge meeting to go to first at the end of the pigging Met Line before I schlepp to Hammersmith to be beaten up by the in house lawyer for not getting the report done on time!!

... oK vent over... sorry guys!

Am fine, just going to have a shower and bed... x

and now I HATE myself...

 

[Scrumbles]

((((Di))))

I'm probably not the most credible person to say this since I persisted with JUDDD even though I was heading for a breakdown, but if this is going to make you hate yourself, then stop. It isn't worth it. Take whatever positives you can from it and move on.

Theories are great, but we are people, and we are all so very different. Perhaps diet breaks don't suit you any more than JUDDD suited me, and that's fine. You learnt that you need structure in your eating, and I learnt that I should never starve myself (!) - it's all good.

I think you should probably do what Suze suggested and re-read your Atkins book, then move into OWL one rung at a time. That may well give you the boost you're looking for without sacrificing the framework that you are used to, that you trust and that has given you such stupendous success thus far.

As for today, it was one day. Just one lousy day out of the hundreds of great eating days that you've had in the last year and a half. It won't even have made the tiniest of dents in your massive achievement, so let it go.

Hope you feel better in the morning xxx

 

[ladyfelsham]

What triggered your thing, babes?

 

[triage999]

Oh no Di, I agree with above, just stop...!!!

Reread introducing different Atkins food and maybe incorporate the use of almond and coconut flour instead as you can bake and create millions of different recipes whilst still halo polishing!!!

And just for your information, your mouth is far from ugly! Stop it!! You know that's not true and your just hating yourself because the small detour you took just isn't the right one for you..!

Put it down to trial and error, your a couple of days in not 6 months down the line so all can be reversed very quickly!

Huge hugs sweetie xxxxx

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[moonlights]

Di. Not likely to be very coherent but: you could go off plan for a year (like me) eat crazily and put on two stone (like me) and still get back on track and get where you want to be. Not eating to a strict regimen for a couple of weeks, snacking and putting on a few pounds will be undone in no time. If it's too hard and too scary to risk that and staying strictly on plan right to the end of the line feels best for you then do that but stop kicking yourself for being human please. Xx

 

[Alpaca]

Morning all... Feeling slightly less deranged this morning ... I shall do the 2 weeks but I'm not enjoying it... I guess I don't trust myself ... And I guess the insane eating that possesses me scares me... And I guess the garbage foods trigger everything that I hate about the last 50 odd years ...

I just really hope that I don't jack it all in... I don't think I will but this feels scary territory ...

Sorry to be such a drama queen... Hugs to you all xx

 

[Kat1e]

Morning Di, just checking in and want to give you big ((hugs)). Hope the day goes ok and you can feel better once it's done. Remember - it's not willpower...our bodies do mysterious things and brains can modify and divert but not necessarily control. Key is to find what suits your body/brain balance. Would love to talk about OWL to see if that might suit you- packing up & heading home tomorrow so will check back in.

Love you - plse be as generous and loving to yourself as you are to others xxxxxxx

 

[slaj]

Morning Di, have a good day

 

[Dietkitty]

Right Lady. If it's having such an effect on you stop either now or after one week. Why did you choose 2 weeks anyway? I've been off and on plan for months and including the holiday gain am currently only 6 over the posted weight. I've yo-yoed for 20 years so staying at this weight for a bit longer whilst I get my head in gear after the crappy year I've had is no big deal. Just remember what you felt and looked like just a year ago and remember how long it took you to get to that weight.

If you even consider jacking it all in us southern birds will be on your doorstep to hold an intervention!

We all love you to bits, and for goodness sake add the century badge to your profile, you've earned it! xxxx

 

[Alpaca]

Bless you all!!

I went into complete plonker melt down mode last night... Am getting a grip today ...Really sorry !

Have been up since 4.45 and so far have only managed 3 grande soya lattes from Starbucks ...

Will sort out some food after my next meeting ... Best part of the break so far is red soft fruit and Starbucks lol

Horrible stressful day so far but it has to end at some point... Xx

Next meeting will include a b*ll*cking ... We're never too old to get one! Lol

 

[Scrumbles]

^^^ +1...you SO aren't jacking Atkins in. No way. Not happening.

I think it's pretty clear that what took place last night was stress-eating, and I suspect it would probably have happened even if you weren't on a diet break, it's just the nature of the food you ate was different. Do you think that's fair?

And you need to accept that this doesn't make you a bad person, or weak-willed or any cr@p like that: it actually makes you pretty normal! I'm betting practically everyone stress-eats from time to time because it's a natural response to the chemical upset that's going on in your body when you're under a lot of stress.

What happens is that when we're stressed we release cortisol, part of the age-old mechanism of "fight or flight", and it's a very uncomfortable state to be in for any length of time because it makes the body hyper-alert ready for a crisis that never actually comes. So what do we tend to do about it? If you're a smoker you'll light a cigarette; if you're not, you'll probably reach for high fat and/or sugar foods because those hit the reward centres of the brain, which temporarily damps down the effects of cortisol and makes you feel better. Of course the aftermath isn't pretty (as shown by your post last night), but what you did was what many, many of us would have done, so it's no big deal.

So please disabuse yourself of this idea that you seem to have of somehow possessing a flawed character, because you don't. Our behaviours around food are almost entirely chemically driven, nothing to do with being "weak" or "strong". Just human.

Maybe what you could do (instead of beating yourself up, which will get you absolutely nowhere!) is to look at other strategies for coping with stress. Some kind of relaxation technique like meditation, yoga, deep breathing or even just listening to some calming music might do the trick?

xxx

 

[Dietkitty]

Well said Scrummie!!

 

[Quak]

Agree totally with what Scrummie said, we are all human, you included Di, and sometimes there is no stopping the freight train that is our eating derailment. Hope the bollo@king is not too bad, and please make sure you eat something, too much caffeine will not help in the least. Love and Hugs, you are a very special person and have achieved so much, there is no way you are going back to what you were and deep down you know it xxxx

 

[ladyfelsham]

I echo everything said here, lovely Di.

Work gets me the same way, especially when it's not going to plan. So you knew you had this poxy report to write, without any control over the timing and so forth - but you could reach for food. So you did. So what? Sweetie we all do it xxx

I really do think you are putting a lot of undue pressure on yourself, hub - defo speak to Katie about mananging the introduction of food, and in the meantime why not stick with induction, because you're comfy with it, and spend a few days without the woe pressure and worry?

Sxxx

 

[Alpaca]

Evening all the beautiful special folk on here!

Feeling slightly better about being off the diet and can't wait to go back... But all the stuff I've read says 20% carbs for 2 weeks at 1700/1800 cals... So I'm sticking to it ... I hope as long as I can still get my clothes on! Lol

I'm betting I gain a stone which is a lot to deal with but if it knocks me back into losing normally again it will be worth it... Fingers crossed!

L - cottage cheese with prawns, coleslaw with cheese in it, chicken breast one Greek sausage thingie really small very yum and Beetroot salad OMG SO good!! And finished with raspberries with a dash of single cream

D - similar to lunch except no fruit or sausage or breast but some goats cheese

And cos of all the stress and vileness of the day have poured a glass of brut pretend champers! Lol

Please let my head behave itself and go back onto diet at the end!! That will be my daily mantra! Lol

Have soft music playing in the bath... And candles lol x

 

[moonlights]

Bear in mind that you gaining a stone in 2 weeks is physically impossible. Gaining 10lbs or even more of glycogen stores & water weight is - although I still doubt you'll even get to that with your cals and carbs controlled.

Listen, you're eating at maintenance levels, calorie wise. If you happen to eat say 500 extra calories on 7 out of the 14 days, by calorie counting guidelines you may gain 1 genuine pound of fat. One pound. The rest will be water.

However 100g carbs is pretty much considered maintenance levels in Atkins and paleo too, so I doubt even your water weight gain will be massive. If it is, it's only because you shocked your body by not building up to it slowly - and as far as I know the whole point of the diet break is to shock your body. So, no worries, babe.

When I had one off plan afternoon - consisting 4 slices bread, beans and a chocolate bar - I gained 7lbs water weight 2 days later. 4 days after that it was gone. I gained 10lbs water weight after my jubilee week off - where cals and carbs were both mega high - within 2 weeks that was gone and took some real weight with it.

Go easy on yourself - and if it's upsetting and you want to get back on plan sooner, do that. One week off in June was fine for me. Many people say just one high carb day does the same trick for them. The most important thing is to do what you're comfortable with and to remember it's a marathon not a race. You'll get where you need to because you have the dedication and discipline to keep going. The only thing you can't do - none of us can - is hold your body to a schedule.

Anyway I've spent half a week now living off cough sweets, sorbet and soup. Your diet sounds much better than mine.

 

[Alpaca]

Morning ... Been up since 4.45 again and off to Huntingdon later to help pilot as he's not too good

Have to finish off the attic before Saturday ... Plus a mountain of work today in Hammersmith ... Flipping tough few weeks these! Can't wait til I can breathe again!

B - 2 eggs omelette with 15g cheese, coffee

L - cheese coleslaw, 2 carrots with dips (yum), sweet potato and chickpea salad from marks (double yum), remains of chicken breast, raspberries and a dash of cream

 

[slaj]

Morning Di, food sounds scrummy!