Bowulf – Atkins Diet Video Blog

Controlled Carb-Splurges on Atkins — Good or bad idea

http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com/2006/03/controlled-cheating-while-low-carb.html

My “controlled-cheating” approach may not be for everyone, but I think it can help alleviate some of the objections people may have towards livin’ la vida low-carb. If they know there is a meal coming up every 6-8 weeks where they can eat whatever they want and desire for just that one meal, then it could give them the kickstart they need to be committed the hundreds of meals in between those times!

Jimmy Moore is a highly successful “loser,” and his Livin’ La Vida Low Carb blog is the best low carb advocate blog on the Internet. His blog is to blogs what Linda’s Low Carb is to low carb recipe sites, which is about as high praise as I can give. Most of the time I find myself saying ditto to what Jimmy says, but I do differ with his latest entry about Controlled Cheating. I don’t believe it works for the majority of low carbers or Atkineers specifically as I have run into them at Atkins Diet Bulletin Board. I have seen far too many fall off the wagon to risk advocating such a policy.

Here was my response to him:

Coming from someone who even at goal never cheats as defined by eating “whites” with fore-knowledge, I would just emphasize you really need to know yourself before partaking of this strategy. Are you the type of person who will take the day off from exercise and not return to it for another week? Are you not the most organized person leading to decision-making in time-sensative environments? If I was honest with myself, I know I would list myself under each of the two categories. I know for myself one Krispy Kreme or pizza or Chinese (not legal options either but General Tzo chicken) day would certainly lead to reevaluation of the diet the other 41 days. Worse yet, what if the weight does respond on those days to “rocking the boat?” How much more license would it be to try it more often. The best result of any such day for my conscience would be a couple pounds of water gain that would leave shortly and confirm that I was on the right course.

For me, it was the more intelligent argument to keep the options the same each and every day. No day is special. No day deserves me wrecking it by returning to old ways of thinking or eating. As I have said in the past, there are certainly enough ways to wreck a day from being living large in the land of low carb by eating too much legal foods or not doing or even not doing more exercise that I don’t need another temptation. This all said, not cheating is simply something that works for me — I am only offering as an viable option and that others are indeed able to do it (two years in my book, much longer in others).

In the end, it just comes down to knowing thyself, and acting accordingly. If you can plan and limit yourself to one meal or one day and that those foods still give you pleasure, having that control is a wonderful thing.

If it works for you great, but I can certainly point to countless examples of those that planned cheats did not work for. The word cheat is also what bothers me. At goal, a number of the formally forbidden foods are back in game if you can eat them in moderation even things like pizza. The idea of splurge however does impart the idea of moderation. It more invokes images of 10 or 12 pizza slices on your one evening without restrictions. How much better would it be to not “splurge” on pizza but to eat pizza in a routine, moderated manner (2 slices and some salad). I would not have either the splurge or moderated amount as I just don’t need pizza or General Tzo chicken anymore.

There are lots of ways to low carb. I can only advocate the one that worked for me and IMO surest way to stay successful.

March 11th, 2006 Posted by admin | Weight Loss / Exercise | no comments