Atkins - Cheat Meals?
Hey all,
I was just wondering your opinions on a 'cheat meal' if you're on the Atkins diet? I have been very strict this past 2 weeks, every day I have been sticking to the diet, though yesterday I went out for dinner and had chicken with vegetables...followed by a chocolate dessert. I am right back on the plan today, and was wondering if occasional splurges like these will affect my results? Given that they are just once every 2 weeks, tops. I am really proud of my ability to stick to this diet day-to-day because I am a self-confessed sugar junkie, so I think the occasional cheat meal will make it more bearable for me.
Would be great to know your opinions from your experiences. Thanks!
Yes they do which is why if you are following atkins you need to follow it strictly.
Yes I know the overall rules but I am asking for people's experiences of this. Because everybody reacts differently so I am just interested.
When I ate low-carb on Atkins for 7 years I adopted it as a lifestyle, not a diet, and so I don't have any experiences to share about eating a sugar dessert while on Atkins because I didn't do it, not once. It will screw up your efforts.
Sorry, but in my opinion, if you are occasionally indulging in dessert, then you are not really "getting" the Atkins concept. At least not the Induction Phase.
Why not just try to eat nutritious, whole foods with the occasional dessert and eat everything in moderation..I eventually ended up doing that and it works for weight loss and maintenance.
7 years, wow! Thank you for your input, I really value different opinions. I do understand the Atkins concept, and am actually enjoying it so far :-) I am trying to eliminate my sugar dependence and so far I am needing it hardly ever in comparison to just 14 days ago, which in itself is a HUGE deal for me after years of dealing with high sugar intake and then lots of excessive binging...a pattern I seriously wanted to get out of.
Thanks again and I think I will take your advice once I have been doing this a few weeks!
The first weeks of Atkins, you are basically going cold turkey on giving up sugar and all processed carbs. It's really tough!
I did Atkins for 18 months.
On the rare occasions (early on), that I did "cheat" by eating sugar/ traditional dessert or processed carbs, it took me about two weeks to "get clean" again.. two more weeks of cold turkey for the craving to die back down.
Every time I did it, it was like starting the plan all over again and it was no fun at all. So I stopped cheating. It wasn't worth the grief.
Up to you if you want to cheat, I just think you'll be making it much harder for yourself.
I'd recommend following Atkins for weight loss without cheat meals to get the weight loss done with. At the same time start counting calories, because sometimes Atkins can turn into a starvation plan. When you're finished with the weight loss switch to calorie counting to maintain. Just an opinion; take it for what you want.
Original Post by kabellasmile:
Yes I know the overall rules but I am asking for people's experiences of this. Because everybody reacts differently so I am just interested.
Lol I really wouldn`t dole out advice without experience. You screwed up and have to start induction all over. Good Luck! [If you`re young and want to lose weight AND aren`t obese you might not want to try something this extreme]
-R.
I'm on the Paleo diet which I think is like a whole foods version of Atkins. I don't know a lot about Atkins to be honest but on Paleo I have found some really delicious recipes that are within the diet plan AND satisfy those cravings. For instance, tomorrow morning I'm making eggy coconut flour pancakes with banana and almond butter mixed in. Honey and agave nectar with fruit satisfy my sugar fix.
I'm on this diet because of IBS (though it helped with gym performance and my waistline) so when I do cheat I just have to pay for it the next day. I'll tell ya, it sucks. I've been on this diet for 2 months now. The first week I was soooooo tired and sick and cranky.
Moral of the story look for a recipe and I'm clueless about atkins.
Original Post by Primal_Liz:
I'm on the Paleo diet which I think is like a whole foods version of Atkins. I don't know a lot about Atkins to be honest but on Paleo I have found some really delicious recipes that are within the diet plan AND satisfy those cravings. For instance, tomorrow morning I'm making eggy coconut flour pancakes with banana and almond butter mixed in. Honey and agave nectar with fruit satisfy my sugar fix.
I'm on this diet because of IBS (though it helped with gym performance and my waistline) so when I do cheat I just have to pay for it the next day. I'll tell ya, it sucks. I've been on this diet for 2 months now. The first week I was soooooo tired and sick and cranky.
Moral of the story look for a recipe and I'm clueless about atkins.
Liz this is exactly why atkins is so hard to follow. You`re allowed only 20 net grams of carbs a day for the first two weeks[note that a slice of bread has about 21 grams of carbs- so you can kiss any bananas and honey good bye] . I wasn`t overweight when I tried it and so the side effects came alot stronger- feeling cold, headaches and tired alot of the time and dark circles under my eyes, BUT it was all worth it cause I took up the diet in the first place to get rid of carb cravings and that`s what I accomplished! :) Gained a couple of pounds after completing it though, think I introduced carbs too quickly and too many, lol.
Now I`m trying to gain muscle so I`m getting 172g of protein a day and carbs constitute anywhere from 25 to 33% of my total calorie intake [80-120g]. I`m able to control cravings alot better. No refined sugar of any sort, except for the one dessert I have on Sundays when out after church :)
