Effects of occasional breaks of LCing?

4 years ago I lost around 180-200 pounds low carbing in about 9 months...
since then I've gained most of it back but that was due to not caring about
being fat more than anything else.

Anyway, I've become so fat again that it's a pain in the ass to do some
common stuff, so I'm going to lose some of the weight. However, this time
around, I don't have 1/5th the motivation I did last time for maintaining a
string LC diet.

As a way to extend my motivation, I was considering having every third
weekend "off" - eating whatever I want for one weekend, every third week. It
would help me get cravings out of my system, enjoy myself occasionally, and
just generally help with motivation.

What are the metabolic effects of this? I know it takes a few days to go
from a high carb diet to going into ketosis - but once your body is used to
a low carb metabolism, does it take as long to kick back over after a 2 day
carb binge?

That is.. if you're starting low carbing from scratch, it might take you 4-5
days to really start ketosis, but I was wondering.. if you're in ketosis,
and you carb binge for 2 days, and then you go back to low carbing - will
your body return to ketosis sooner? Will your body really switch over
completely to a "high carb" type metabolism just from 2 days of eating high
carb food?

Basically, if I did this, would I be starting from scratch every 3 weeks, or
would my body generally stay in a low-carb mode, making the transitions
smoother?

Does anyone have experience doing anything like this? Does it severely
impede weight loss? Any experiences or knowledge you have will be helpful,
thanks.

In article GTsFc.15706$a24.15300@attbi_s03, says...
4 years ago I lost around 180-200 pounds low carbing in about 9 months...
since then I've gained most of it back but that was due to not caring about
being fat more than anything else.

Anyway, I've become so fat again that it's a pain in the ass to do some
common stuff, so I'm going to lose some of the weight. However, this time
around, I don't have 1/5th the motivation I did last time for maintaining a
string LC diet.

As a way to extend my motivation, I was considering having every third
weekend "off" - eating whatever I want for one weekend, every third week. It
would help me get cravings out of my system, enjoy myself occasionally, and
just generally help with motivation.

I'm sorry to hear that you've regained the weight. I understand what it's like
to not care, though.

Given your tendency to regain, I would be leery of high-carbing for 2 days in a
row. Why not ONE day or, at least at first, one MEAL? The problem with going
off-plan for a sustained period is that you will not only be likely to gain a
substantial amount of water weight (which would be VERY discouraging, even if you
DO know it's just water), but the higher carbs will most likely trigger cravings
for more of the same, starting the same vicious cycle all over again.

YMMV -- I haven't done this yet, (although I slipped and had 65 carbs yesterday
for the first time in over a year) so I'm NOT speaking from experience, just by
what I've heard from others here.

BTW, welcome to the group!

--
Saffire
205/152/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

"SenorBeef" wrote:

Does anyone have experience doing anything like this? Does it severely
impede weight loss? Any experiences or knowledge you have will be helpful,
thanks.


What you're describing is better known as a cyclical ketogenic diet
(google for lots of links), although it is generally used in order to
lose weight and build muscle at the same time.

I suppose it would depend on what (and how much) you carb up on as to
whether it will impede weight loss. There are people on this group who
are using it successfully. I'm sure they'll be along shortly.

Welcome to the group!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sh0rtcircuit (Deb)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SenorBeef wrote:

As a way to extend my motivation, I was considering having every third
weekend "off" - eating whatever I want for one weekend, every third week. It
would help me get cravings out of my system, enjoy myself occasionally, and
just generally help with motivation.

(...)

Does anyone have experience doing anything like this? Does it severely
impede weight loss? Any experiences or knowledge you have will be helpful,
thanks.


What you're planning to do is quite similar to my approach of LC.
I wanted to know what happened if I ate whatever I wanted during 1 or 2
days each other week. At first, I found it discouraging, because, as
Saffire mentionned, of the water weight you gain back in a few days (can
be from 2 to 5 pounds).
So I decided not to weight myself again until ketostix would show pink
again.
ANd it works. I never see more than 1 or 2 pounds increase, and I know
that it will wear off in a matter of days.

The good point of this plan is that you slowly understand that nothing
is forbidden. You will have everything you want. If it's low carb, you
can have it *on* plan. If you want french fries, you know that you will
be allowed to eat some in a few days. Nothing is evil.
And, time helping, you realise that during the high carb days, you seek
less and less quantity, and more and more quality.
You will enjoy making yourself a good chocolate cake with whole grain
flour. You will be happy to bake a pizza you made yourself from scratch,
or an apple pie.
I found that 1 day off-plan is usually not enough. 2 days is exactly
what I need to see the carb craving go away for 2 or 3 weeks at last.

If you take care about not eating to late at night and if you exercise
just a little, you will notice almost no impact on the scale.
Most of all: you mustn't force yourself to have these days off. If it
has been more than 2 weeks since the last relapse, then wait for the
real need to appear.
Having understood that, I sometimes don't go off plan during a month.
Most of the time, it is between 15 and 20 days.

Funny thing, but well known thing: if you get stalled, going offplan
during 1 or 2 days is often relaunching the loss process.

Day after day, your body learns that it doesn't have to fear hunger or
craving.

The only thing that's dangerous is to go off plan more than 2 days. It
may be more difficult to get into ketosis after this time.

But I'm telling you: 2 days is quite enough to eat everything that
tempted you during 3 weeks.
Just one rule: don't force yourself to eat something carby just because
you feel like you need a day of high-carb. Listen to your need. You can
have fruits, pasta, rice, chocolate... But only if you need it. Don't
say: ok, high crab day, so I will buy candy bars, cereals, potatoes and
eat everything. No. In France we have a saying that says something like
"having eyes bigger than stomach" (avoir plus grands yeux que grand
ventre). You says that about someone that wants to get much more food
that he can even absorb. This is a trap, because once you have bought
carby food, you may be tempted to force yourself to finish it. And if
you don't , you *will* eat it during several days, until everything is gone.
Never keep carby food at home when you are LCing.

That was my 2 cents.

Huey
========
============================================
Huey / started LC October 27th 2002
(1.74 m) 5ft 8 inch tall
lbs : 234 / 189 / 147 (-45) mini-goal : 182 lbs by August 1st 2004
kg : 106.4 / 86 / 67 (-20.4) mini-goal : 83 kg by August 1st 2004
============================================

SenorBeef wrote:
snip

As a way to extend my motivation, I was considering having every third
weekend "off" - eating whatever I want for one weekend, every third
week. It would help me get cravings out of my system, enjoy myself
occasionally, and just generally help with motivation.
snip

It may help you get over psychological cravings but it's not going to help
you get over the cravings caused by the blood sugar rollercoaster you'll be
setting yourself up for.
--
Jeri
"Change is inevitable, except from vending machines."

Warning, warning, warning: YMMV is truer than usual for ckding.
Anecdotally, this works better for young guys who do a lot of weights
than for middle-aged ladies.

I have carbed up exactly three times in the course of 18 months'
lowcarbing. I gain HUGE amounts of water when I do it, sometimes as
much as 7 pounds, so I feel gross and gigantic. NB: pick a time EARLY
in your menstrual cycle for a cab-up, NOT late in the cycle when it is
a. difficult not to binge and b. more likely to get to be weight. As
well, I find that even on 2 hours fairly tough cardio a day the water
weight can take a few days to shift. Plus, carbs now make me physically
sick. Last time I ate a slice of normal bread - wholegrain - and a
bagel, I had a bellyache all afternoon, and felt tired and grumpy to
boot. I have come to like this WOE not because of weight issues alone,
but because I actually feel much better on it.

In article , Hueyduck
writes


SenorBeef wrote:

As a way to extend my motivation, I was considering having every third
weekend "off" - eating whatever I want for one weekend, every third week. It
would help me get cravings out of my system, enjoy myself occasionally, and
just generally help with motivation.

(...)

Does anyone have experience doing anything like this? Does it severely
impede weight loss? Any experiences or knowledge you have will be helpful,
thanks.


What you're planning to do is quite similar to my approach of LC.
I wanted to know what happened if I ate whatever I wanted during 1 or 2
days each other week. At first, I found it discouraging, because, as
Saffire mentionned, of the water weight you gain back in a few days (can
be from 2 to 5 pounds).
So I decided not to weight myself again until ketostix would show pink
again.
ANd it works. I never see more than 1 or 2 pounds increase, and I know
that it will wear off in a matter of days.

The good point of this plan is that you slowly understand that nothing
is forbidden. You will have everything you want. If it's low carb, you
can have it *on* plan. If you want french fries, you know that you will
be allowed to eat some in a few days. Nothing is evil.
And, time helping, you realise that during the high carb days, you seek
less and less quantity, and more and more quality.
You will enjoy making yourself a good chocolate cake with whole grain
flour. You will be happy to bake a pizza you made yourself from scratch,
or an apple pie.
I found that 1 day off-plan is usually not enough. 2 days is exactly
what I need to see the carb craving go away for 2 or 3 weeks at last.

If you take care about not eating to late at night and if you exercise
just a little, you will notice almost no impact on the scale.
Most of all: you mustn't force yourself to have these days off. If it
has been more than 2 weeks since the last relapse, then wait for the
real need to appear.
Having understood that, I sometimes don't go off plan during a month.
Most of the time, it is between 15 and 20 days.

Funny thing, but well known thing: if you get stalled, going offplan
during 1 or 2 days is often relaunching the loss process.

Day after day, your body learns that it doesn't have to fear hunger or
craving.

The only thing that's dangerous is to go off plan more than 2 days. It
may be more difficult to get into ketosis after this time.

But I'm telling you: 2 days is quite enough to eat everything that
tempted you during 3 weeks.
Just one rule: don't force yourself to eat something carby just because
you feel like you need a day of high-carb. Listen to your need. You can
have fruits, pasta, rice, chocolate... But only if you need it. Don't
say: ok, high crab day, so I will buy candy bars, cereals, potatoes and
eat everything. No. In France we have a saying that says something like
"having eyes bigger than stomach" (avoir plus grands yeux que grand
ventre). You says that about someone that wants to get much more food
that he can even absorb. This is a trap, because once you have bought
carby food, you may be tempted to force yourself to finish it. And if
you don't , you *will* eat it during several days, until everything is gone.
Never keep carby food at home when you are LCing.

That was my 2 cents.

Huey
========
============================================
Huey / started LC October 27th 2002
(1.74 m) 5ft 8 inch tall
lbs : 234 / 189 / 147 (-45) mini-goal : 182 lbs by August 1st 2004
kg : 106.4 / 86 / 67 (-20.4) mini-goal : 83 kg by August 1st 2004
============================================





--
Jane Lumley

It may help you get over psychological cravings but it's not going to help
you get over the cravings caused by the blood sugar rollercoaster you'll be
setting yourself up for.

I know at the very start of my LCing (about 2 months ago), I had a yogurt
smoothie that had waay too much sugar in it. In about 20 minutes I got
lightheaded, sweaty and dizzy. Believe me, you don't want that to happen.

Why bother? You will always be a fat, stupid, weak person.

--
Most people are dumb as bricks; some people are dumber than that. -- MFW


"SenorBeef" wrote in message
news:GTsFc.15706$a24.15300@attbi_s03...
4 years ago I lost around 180-200 pounds low carbing in about 9 months...
since then I've gained most of it back but that was due to not caring
about
being fat more than anything else.

Anyway, I've become so fat again that it's a pain in the ass to do some
common stuff, so I'm going to lose some of the weight. However, this time
around, I don't have 1/5th the motivation I did last time for maintaining
a
string LC diet.

As a way to extend my motivation, I was considering having every third
weekend "off" - eating whatever I want for one weekend, every third week.
It
would help me get cravings out of my system, enjoy myself occasionally,
and
just generally help with motivation.

What are the metabolic effects of this? I know it takes a few days to go
from a high carb diet to going into ketosis - but once your body is used
to
a low carb metabolism, does it take as long to kick back over after a 2
day
carb binge?

That is.. if you're starting low carbing from scratch, it might take you
4-5
days to really start ketosis, but I was wondering.. if you're in ketosis,
and you carb binge for 2 days, and then you go back to low carbing - will
your body return to ketosis sooner? Will your body really switch over
completely to a "high carb" type metabolism just from 2 days of eating
high
carb food?

Basically, if I did this, would I be starting from scratch every 3 weeks,
or
would my body generally stay in a low-carb mode, making the transitions
smoother?

Does anyone have experience doing anything like this? Does it severely
impede weight loss? Any experiences or knowledge you have will be helpful,
thanks.

This is how I did LC and it worked fine for me.............and I never got
the headaches when kicking in again after a weekend off.

My trick was to stop LC on the saturday morning and restart it late
afternoon on sunday, with a high protien breakfast monday morning, this way
the evenings consumed some of the switch back to LC and I was sleeping when
it happened. If you plan around this your eating becomes more flexible but
you gotta watch you dont just binge on crap food when your off LC - thats
really bad for your diet.
--
Regards

John

"SenorBeef" wrote in message
news:GTsFc.15706$a24.15300@attbi_s03...
4 years ago I lost around 180-200 pounds low carbing in about 9 months...
since then I've gained most of it back but that was due to not caring
about
being fat more than anything else.

Anyway, I've become so fat again that it's a pain in the ass to do some
common stuff, so I'm going to lose some of the weight. However, this time
around, I don't have 1/5th the motivation I did last time for maintaining
a
string LC diet.

As a way to extend my motivation, I was considering having every third
weekend "off" - eating whatever I want for one weekend, every third week.
It
would help me get cravings out of my system, enjoy myself occasionally,
and
just generally help with motivation.

What are the metabolic effects of this? I know it takes a few days to go
from a high carb diet to going into ketosis - but once your body is used
to
a low carb metabolism, does it take as long to kick back over after a 2
day
carb binge?

That is.. if you're starting low carbing from scratch, it might take you
4-5
days to really start ketosis, but I was wondering.. if you're in ketosis,
and you carb binge for 2 days, and then you go back to low carbing - will
your body return to ketosis sooner? Will your body really switch over
completely to a "high carb" type metabolism just from 2 days of eating
high
carb food?

Basically, if I did this, would I be starting from scratch every 3 weeks,
or
would my body generally stay in a low-carb mode, making the transitions
smoother?

Does anyone have experience doing anything like this? Does it severely
impede weight loss? Any experiences or knowledge you have will be helpful,
thanks.

4 years ago I lost around 180-200 pounds low carbing in about 9 months...

I don't believe the above.

LC should be a way of life.