it just seems strange that i read so many times how someone "fell off the wagon" for a holiday.. or special occasion... sometimes for months on end.. how IS it that if this woe stops the cravings.. what causes someone to even consider eating something other than what is allowed?
personally i wonder also about emotional reasons.. perhaps the "excitement" of having people notice your weight loss makes some people sabotage their efforts... or.. perhaps if they stop getting the compliments after people are used to seeing you thin.. that they perhaps sabotage themselves in order to be able to LOSE ALL THAT WEIGHT again.. and thus the complements start coming again..
*puzzled expression*..
ANY THOUGHTS? jes wondering out loud...

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

Kim, I'm not sure what the answer is, but I think it could be a number of factors. I think the emotional issues do a lot of people in. Also, if someone has Candida, it's VERY difficult for them to resist sugar. Candida MAKES people eat sugar, because it's a yeast. Yeast NEEDS sugar in order to survive. Candida is VERY difficult to get rid of.

I haven't had any problems with cheating and falling off the wagon, so I'm definitely no expert on this. (thank goodness)

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

Candida hmmm no expert here either .. strange.. it seems that some people go a year or so before succumbing to cravings... just wish i knew the triggers...

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

IMHO for what it amounts to... it's kinda like any addiction, it never really goes away you just learn to live with it, Kinda like smoking, I havent smoked since Sept of 95 and every once in a while I would just love to WALLOW in them, I have no Idea what triggers the urge but it happens, and I think sweets are the same.

Jackie

Hi Kim,

I know of no scientific research or data on cravings, their causes or their cures. However, there may be some out there. I can only speak from personal experience. Here's how it's worked for me so far...I've been LCing since Sep. 1, 2003.

I never in my 50 years of life dreamed it was possible to live without cravings, especially for sweets, since I was a Top 10 Sugar Junkie. Much to my surprise, after the first two weeks of Atkins, my sugar cravings came to a screeching halt. And to today, I still say that this is one of the biggest benefits of LC for me...'course I like the weight loss too! Now if I ever write a LC book (probably called "The Plumber's Low-Carb Lifestyle Guide"...ha-ha) I would recommend somebody lock you away from society for the first two weeks. 'Cause if you're addicted to ANY food that is not on plan...you WILL turn into a monster until the cravings subside. For me, I would've hurt somebody for a Donut! Yeah, those babies were my weakness.

But once your body rids itself of the stimulant (sugar, in my case) then your body doesn't have the chemical substance there to cause the cravings. What is a craving? And do I ever want sweets now? Trust me, I'm going somewhere with this.

CRAVING is defined as: 1) To have an eager, intense, vehement or urgent desire for something; a succession of cravings and satiety. 2) To call for as a gratification; to long for; to need urgently; to require or demand, e.g., as the stomach craves food. 3) To beg for earnestly or implore.

We can see that craving is very intense, almost uncontrollable. I still find that I occasionally would like to have a taste of something sweet, but mostly when I see something that is very appealing to the eyes. To me that is different. It is no longer an internal chemically induced craving which is uncontrollable. For instance, I still pass by all the donut stores I used to go to...I have even stopped there to buy their coffee. Aren't I afraid I will "give in" and go wild with their donuts. No...it is now a thought or suggestion brought on by two of my five senses, sight and smell. It seems I have the power to resist the temptation because something has changed in my body chemistry which no longer prompts an uncontrollable urge that must be satisfied.

Sweets are really the only thing I feel like could be a problem if I indulged too much. For that reason I try to avoid eating them altogether 'cause I don't ever want to go back to the sugar fight again! Somewhere down the road I might allow myself to go off plan and eat a small sweet if I really feel like it's worth it. Matter of fact, I pretty much even avoid the LC versions of sweets 'cause I don't even want to come close to inducing sugar cravings.

To me there is no such thing as willpower, only varying degrees of commitment. And I have armed myself with as much LC education as possible by reading several respected LC books, joining and participating in this forum and trying to make this a new way of eating for a lifetime.

Kim, it is easy for many of us to follow the LC food guidelines because they are a set of rules, which we humans like. But ya' know what I've learned...this whole thing of changing our bad eating habits into good ones is a battle that's won in the mind! As another thread on this forum said so well...when we can come to the place we say, "I don't eat that," instead of "I can't eat that," then we have arrived! And that's what I'm working toward.

Sorry for such a long post...or rambling...or whatever. But this is along a subject I really like to dive into and learn more about...winning over our mind!

Have a great LC day,

Ron

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LC since 09/01/2003
283/228/180

" Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it." --Horace Mann
"Men don't determine their future. Men determine their habits and their habits determine their future!" -- Mike Murdock

Well said Ron

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

I just wanted to add my 2 cents.

I totally agree that the problem now is in the mind for me, or was. The first time around the physical cessation of cravings made it seem easy to stay on plan so I thought if I plan a cheat (because I resented I couldn't eat anything I wanted plus I hadn't found this site) it would be very easy to start back on plan after a week. WRONG! It took 7 months and I gained back the 50 lbs I had lost.

This time I was mentally prepared for why I had to eat this way. I now know and accept as fact that I can't handle simple carbs, I am a
carb addict. I also had to change the self talk I used to have with myself. "You know you're going to fail, why suffer? or Food is my only pleasure in life so why take it away?"
Also, I had fear of success. I've had bad experiences with men, so I was afraid of being attractive. Fat has been a protective wall.
I could go on and on but wont.

I think actions are preceeded by feelings preceeded by thoughts. So physically the cravings disappear but the real battle is in the mind.

Well said Ron and Kerry!!!!

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

My 7th grade band teacher said something once that has stuck with me all these years. . . "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. You just have to be willing to pay the consequences."
Now let's put it in a food context. I can eat anything I want. The question is, do I want it bad enough to pay the consequences? The critical part of this question is knowing what your personal consequences will be.
For example, I know that I can eat a piece of pizza with the thin crust, or I can eat a piece of chocolate from the Whitman's Sampler, but I can't eat a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins. I'm lucky in that an indulgence doesn't send me off on a bender, but too much carb at once will make me ridiculously sick.
So do I want to devote 3 days of my life to the consequences of the bowl of oatmeal? Absolutely not. Not again, I guess I should say
So I know my consequences, and I make my choices. I try not to think of it as cheating, just simply choosing. And most of the time, I make good choices. But I truly believe I need to get the word "cheat" out of my eating vocabulary, because I need to make these choices for the rest of my life.
And the piece of candy from the Whitman's Sampler - it just wasn't that good. I'll remember that next time I'm faced with such a choice.
Did you ever notice that sometimes you're not consciously aware of something in your head until it's coming out of your fingers in a post?

Stacie
222/154/150

I like what Ron had to say also.

For me, part of changing from "I can't have that" to "I don't eat that" was in changing from "living to eat" to "eating to live". Now everything I put in my mouth has to have good and valid nutritional value for my body. My knowledge of sugar is that is offers me nothing nutritionally. It is not a building block for my body. The same goes for the starchy things that our bodies treat the same way they treat sugar. I can't even eat anything made with flour, rice, pasta, or potato because I have this vision of eating a big bowl of glue, and I wouldn't do that so why would I eat something like that. I definitely don't see what everyone calls "treats" and "treating myself" as either anymore. I would not eat a "real" piece of cake or a cookie ever again. On the other hand, the lc almond cake and cookies do offer my body something good and I will eat those. I have much more discriminating tastes now.

I also wanted to say that I think falling off the wagon may also be caused by not eating enough of the good things.

Joyce(lc since July,2002)
230/175/135



[This message was edited by Joyce on 02-17-04 at 07:02 AM.]

What Ron, Kerry, Barb, Maggie.... said.
Plus...

Personally the times I've fallen of the wagon had nothing to do with cravings. It was most often because I let myself get too hungry or tired.



Always eat your veggies first!
LCE member since March 2002

Brightlady, that is so true. I've found that if I eat well, I don't desire sugary foods. The weekends that we are so busy that we don't make the time to prepare good meals are the worst. Those are the times I find myself ready to eat anything that's handy no matter what it is.

Esther

I have asked myself this question many many times. I agree with everyone's comments too.

My "failings, cheats, falling off, etc" have never really been due to "cravings". After my first go around with LCing, I never really had "cravings" for sweets or pastas even after I stopped counting carbs. My issue was that, if offered, and it tasted good...I overindulged... And since it is easier in today's society to eat carbs than it is to avoid them (processed food society)...I find myself taking the easy route. Maybe its laziness (for me...).

I find that this WOE takes some effort. As much as I look forward to my daily workouts now, I still have to force myself to stop by the gym on my way home from work. I have to force myself to not order a pizza on the weekends. I do not crave the pizza...its just that it taste's so dang good (PS - its more effort to make a LC pizza...)

SO I guess I have convinced myself that my reasons for falling off in the past have been "laziness".

So nowadays, I make an extra effort to make this WOE easier. I work out and pack the house with LC food...if caught out and about..I stop by Hardee's for their LC burger. The working out helps me stay on track if I accidentally spike my carbs one day. I say to myself now "Oh well, nobody is perfect just keep going..." Instead of saying "You blew it..might as well continue eating high carb foods..." (i.e. falling of the wagon...)


PS - Sorry for the long rambling post...the topic made me do alot of thinking...

Wolfman
Restarted Atkins 1-02-04
202/188/175

Tons of great thinking coming out on this topic. Thanks to all! It is so good to be able to "ramble on" on this forum...like Stacie said, it seems like we're not really conscious of many of our problems and their solutions in our head...until the answer comes out our fingers and onto the pages of LCE.

I am trying to totally reprogram my mind concerning eating. I am building new habits. Habits are not necessarily bad...they can be good as well. Just like brushing your teeth, taking a shower...all things that become second nature to you...you don't really have to think too much about them...sort of a conditioned response. I am replacing my bad eating habits with good eating habits...a new nutritional lifestyle, if you will. I am the one who chooses not to stop at Dunkin' Donuts...it is a choice and I am responsible for my own actions and their consequences. I am learning that the things (food) I put in my mouth make a difference...Wrong foods through my lips will show up on my hips!

I also choose not to "cheat" on this WOE. Cheating implies lying or deception. I have chosen not to try to fool myself into believing that a little of this or that won't hurt me. If I eat something "off plan" it is by my own conscious choice...I refuse to beat myself up over something I allowed! Learn from it and go forward! If I just think I gotta' have something and eat it and then find out it wasn't that good...then I'll remember that for future reference so I'll know it ain't worth it next time. I'm trying to make sure a food is something I really, really want.

Brightlady is "Right-On" in saying that many of us fall off the wagon, not because of cravings, but because we're "past" hungry or so tired we're not thinkin' straight! We're all learnin' here so let's just keep at it and we'll all eventually get there and stay there!

And sometimes I have to tell myself..."Hey, lighten up a little...this ain't brain surgery!"

Ron

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LC since 09/01/2003
283/228/180

" Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it." --Horace Mann
"Men don't determine their future. Men determine their habits and their habits determine their future!" -- Mike Murdock

If I can jump in here: I totally agree with everyone who posted here so eloquently about cravings, choices, and conscious eating. Let me just add that the first time around for me trying to adopt the LC lifestyle, I stuck with it for about 3 months and slowly but surely returned my old way of eating and bingeing on mostly sweets. I truly believe the difference between then and now is
1) I was totally bored with what I was eating because I was ignorant of the wide range of menus and recipes
2) I attempted to go it alone and was pretty "closeted" about my woe.

Now, that I've found this forum (and I hope you guys don't get tired of me saying this!) I have solved the two main reasons why I slipped back into my unhealthy routine. I truly believe this has in essence, saved my life. I'm serious. You guys are the BOMB!!

Cherub
304/283/160
5'9"
Started Atkins 01/04/04