Thread: Emergency! I'm about to cheat

I've been very good for my first four weeks on Atkens with only SFjello and cream as my treat. But in the back of my mind there's that Cold Stone ice cream with dark cherries hovering and asking when am I going to indulge? I know it's Valentine's Day and I'm tempted to give in. I've had no cheats yet. Can I just do it and get it out of my system? If I do, should I just eat it in one sitting to get it over with rather than stretch out the double scoop over a couple of days which might do more harm? I do plan on staying on the diet. Help.

In the long run, only you can decide if and how you are going to cheat. You know the consequences if it knocks you out of ketosis.

If you know you have this in your reach and you know you want to stay on plan....then run to your freezer and throw it away!!! You'll be proud of yourself in the long run if you take control and not let the craving/cheat win.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atkins as of 1/9/04
340/322/145 (someday I'll see it!!!)

72 sticks of butter GONE and I'm not looking for them!!

First of all, I bet you can fight this craving. Think about how far you've come, how good you feel, and what it will feel like to reach goal. That usually works for me.

Also, remember that if you've been going for this long without going off-plan (I use this instead of "cheating" because "cheating" seems to be refering to my character), then a double scoop of ice cream is probably going to make you sick!

That being said, if you MUST have the ice cream, don't double scoop it--have one small scoop and throw the rest away. Then come here to the forum and let us know that you're back on plan--'kay?

Cherub
304/280/160
5'9"
Started Atkins 01/04/04

I know exactly where you are comming from. If I didn't have an ice cream substitute I wouldn't have made it past October.

I have never heard of, Cold Stone ice cream, but I will assume that it is not low carb. Recently a lot of low carb ice creams have come out. I am going to write a short review of the ones that I have tried.

* Atkins cups, which I have not tried; imo too expensive for so little ice cream. Available in chocolate and vanilla.

* Atkins ice cream bars; less expensive, and has more ice cream than the cups. Comes in vanilla or chocolate, both mixed with chocolate syrup, and coated with chocolate. I like the taste, but they give me stomach problems sometimes.

* Atkins indulge premium pints. Come in many flavors with different combinations of ingredients: think Ben & Jerrys w/o the solid things. So far, my favorite, but they don't sell them close to me .

* Bryers Carb Smart. It pretty good, does have a bit of a yogurt taste to me though. Comes in a half gallon container, choice of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.

* Home made ice cream. Recepie from Dr. Atkins New Diet cookbook. It contains recepies for 7 different flavors, and none of them include any sugar alcohols! Down side is that you need an ice cream maker, and they have turned out to be very hard (physically) to scoop out. I have only tried the vanilla, and a vanilla fudge chunk.

* Sorbee Chocolate syrup. Makes an excelent addition to some of the plain ice creams, and it is low carb as well.

In the cookbook DANDC (written by Dr. Atkins and Fran Gare) it says (I am paraphrasing to avoid copyright issues): Ice cream should be an important part of the diet, it has long been enjoyed during special occasions. Dr. Atkins himself had been known to have some while watching football on sunday afternoons.

These ice creams have 3-5 g per serving if you don't count sugar alcohols, and most are probably below 10 g if you do count SA. The important thing though is, if you are going to have any of these:

1. Limit yourself to one serving preferably a maximum of once a week. If you don't think you can stop yourself at that, or if it causes cravings/binges, then you might need to consider giving it up permenantly.

2. Find out exactly how many carbs are in whatever you decide to eat, and don't let yourself exceed your daily totals.

Started Atkins on 9/20/03
235-->185; 150 goal

How about making some s/f instant Jello pudding and having that instead????? I would hate to see you sabotage yourself. I make mine with 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of water. It turns out fine and has less carbs than if made with milk.

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
www.iwsgroupinc.com - website design and development

Atkins-3/14/03
174/144/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

Just a side-note on the store bought LC ice creams - yesterday I found the Carb Smart in Rocky Road! Color me happy.

Albertsons also had the Skinny Cow low carb ice cream bars in vanilla/pecan/caramel or whatever they are. I've tried the peanut butter/choc combo, and while very mild in flavor, they were tasty, large, and 3 grams carbs per bar.

I also found Keto brand ice cream in a pint, bought some for DH tonight for V-Day dessert - they had several flavors, this one has chunks of caramel and stuff in it - will report back later with a review and the actual flavor name!

Now back on the subject - I'd avoid full-sugar ice cream. It may well set you on a binge, if not at the least cause you to feel badly for a few hours or a day or two. That's been my experience with eating full-sugar or floured items since LCing. I simply don't choose to do that to myself any more when there are perfectly good items that ARE LC I can choose instead! JMHO of course....

Char

Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it....

s/f instant Jello pudding ?? I know s/f jello has something other than splenda in it.. what does the s/f PUDDING have in it?

NEW BLOOD! go easy on me.. i'm a rookie..

SKINNY COWS ARE LOW CARB?? honest? i did eat the fudge bar on my low FAT diet.. but i stopped buying them when i went on atkins... how odd..

NEW BLOOD! go easy on me.. i'm a rookie..

Kim, be careful to BUY the low carb Skinny Cows! You have to check the box, but it DOES say plainly on the front "low carb" - not to be confused with their "low fat" line!

They're good though....

Char

Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it....

s/f Jello pudding is sweetened with aspartame, but once in awhile wouldn't hurt. I hate aspartame, but when I just have to have pudding, I indulge in it ONCE in awhile. It keeps me from cheating. (course, I don't eat a whole bowl in one sitting tho, either.)

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
www.iwsgroupinc.com - website design and development

Atkins-3/14/03
174/144/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER