Cheating: Road to Freedom or Low Carb Ruin?

Cheat days? Reward Meals? Time off-plan? Are these strategies a part of successful Low Carbing? Some people think so; others don't. Before you make up your mind, consider the bigger picture in terms of your long-term goals.

Reward Meals

Newbies sometimes get confused about reward meals. Specifically, someone getting low carb info via word of mouth may hear about a "Reward Meal" and consider it part of what low carbing is about....an opportunity to eat whatever one wants at least once a day or once a week or whatever and still lose weight!  Sounds great, right?

Only one established low carb plan that I know of uses formal Reward Meals - Carbohydrate Addicts Diet (CAD); what many folks miss is that even CAD Reward Meals have restrictions. It's not intended to be a culinary free-for-all. Most times I've heard reward meals discussed, however, the notion of balance or restraint is conspicuously missing.  It seems more of a "I've been good on my diet so I've earned a break" type function for many.

Cheat Days

Cheat days are--what else?--a day off "the diet," where said participant ingests whatever they want. Reward meals time three: an entire day (or more) of eating without rules. The best of both worlds? Literally having your (LC) cake and eating the traditional cake, too?

Some folks say that planning to have a vacation from their eating plan makes it easier for them to follow it the rest of the time. Others say it's an invitation for disaster. Which is it, for you?

What Are You Looking For?

Some frequently heard arguments in favor of the Cheat/Reward:

• It helps me say "No" the rest of the time.
• I'm doing well sticking to my plan, so I've earned it.
• I just can't give up [insert-beloved-food-item-here], so this allows me to control it.
• I want to be able to eat like everybody else.
• I can always lose any weight I've put on by getting stricter on my plan.
• Since this is a lifestyle and not a diet, there will be times I eat off-plan.
• It hasn't kept me from losing.

Arguments against the Cheat/Reward:

• It undoes some of the progress you've made during the time you've remained faithful to your plan.
• It can knock you out of Ketosis and eliminate some of the benefits of Low carbing--reduced appetite, increased energy and lack of cravings for carby foods.
• It reinforces the dieting mindset: your normal menu remains defined as deprivation, whereas unhealthy foods are continued to be defined as "treats" that are to be longed for.
• Many people feel crummy physically if eating significantly more carbs than they are accustomed to consuming.
• Sugar consumption can lead to binges for many.
• A "little here and a little there" quickly adds up, until you find you're eating off-plan more and more. Carb creep, here we go!

The Detox Link

I worked in a county detox for a few years. My first experience with that population, and it was eye-opening, let me tell ya! We saw all kinds there. I met more crackheads and meth junkies than you can shake a stick at, along with a wide variety of alcoholics of all ilk, and people addicted to anything you can imagine. I saw people who drank hair spray (alcohol content), or huffed spray paint until they couldn't string a coherent sentence together.  I've even seen someone chug an entire bottle of Pepto and rinse out a nasal spray bottle with water to try and get another shot out of it. In other words, I've seen addiction.

You notice something common to addicts watching them come and go (and frequently, come back again): they bargain. A lot. They change the definitions of acceptable behavior to support the addiction, and create a set of "rules" in how they will partake as a means of trying to maintain control.

Bargaining I heard on a daily basis at detox:

• It's only beer so it doesn't count. You can't be an alcoholic if you only drink beer.
• I don't do drugs. I just drink. (What do people think alcohol is besides a drug? Duh.)
• I only use on weekends/when I'm stressed out/when I really need to/when somebody else does/etc. ad infinitum
• I could cut back if I wanted to, so it's okay / I've already cut back, so it's okay.
• I'm not as bad as some people I know. Other people can control it--so I can, too.
• Since I'm going to treatment, [insert negative consequence of using here] won't happen.

Seeing the dots yet? Now, I'm not telling you that if you choose to go off-plan, you're a carb addict. What I am suggesting is that you ask the question. It's a worthy question. If the answer is no, you have lost nothing by asking. If the answer is yes, you may have saved yourself much grief.

Confessions of a Carb Addict

When I first heard of low carb, it only took one phrase for me to know I had zero interest: "no bread, no pasta, no sugar." I respondd: "No way!" My reaction was that these people were obviously insane if they thought there was a chance in Hades I was going to give all that up. I simply could not imagine my life without this type of food. I lived for bread. I actually made a point of buying food with sugar in it: the more the better. I'd start getting antsy if we only had one box of Little Debbies in the house, and God help us if we actually ran out. I didn't know it at the time, but yes, I was an addict.

Oh the irony. But it gets worse. You know why I did start taking LC seriously? I was told I could expect to have the Diabetes any time. It ran in both sides of my family and at my weight, inevitable as I aged. So in the end, I ended up getting serious about LC because I was scared of not being able to eat sugar anymore!

Somehow, I didn't put two and two together, figured I'd "diet" my way out of this fix and get on with my life. Just eat less junk. Right?

Yeah. Well, after I started experiencing some success, LC started to click. One of the switches that went off in my head was the realization that "diet" is a dirty word, because it means temporary struggle directed toward temporary ends. I didn't want to go back. I still don't. So forget the temporary ends! And the struggle inherent in the dieting concept based on feelings of restriction and denial, and thus utterly voluntary. My thinking changed and it made all the difference.

And I haven't gone completely back, but I will tell you in all honesty, I've taken a few steps back. I've lost 120 pounds, and over the past few years, regained 40. Ouch. And I'll can tell you exactly how I reversed some of my own hard-won losses in a single word: bargaining!

"Just a little won't hurt. I'm tired/stressed/angry/whatever. If I only buy a single serving package, it's okay. It's still a lot better than I used to eat. If I don't do it every day, then it's not a problem. Everybody else is having some. I deserve it. If I put on a couple pounds, I know how to lose them. I've done it before without problems." The list goes on and on, my friend. Recognize any of 'em?

But not everything I did was a mistake. What I didn't do: I never stopped Low Carbing. I never stopped considering myself a low carber, even when I knew my eating "wasn't what it should be." I considered any off-plan eating as temporary, even when the sloppy habits drug on and added on to my hips. And I saved myself a lot of pain that way--not to mention not needing to order my clothes from a special store, man.

But I am STILL on the journey...friends say, "Dixie, you won't go back to your old weight. You worked too hard to lose it." I want to agree with them--I'd like to--but I know it's not an impossibility. Just like people believe if they have lost the weight, they can lose it again...well, I believe if I have carried the weight, I can gain it again.

It doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't smack you in the face at the time. It's insidious and sneaky. It certainly was the first time. I didn't ever expect ever get that fat...who does? But it can happen, because it did! And I didn't expect to regain an ounce of what I lost. But I did. Instead of wasting time feeling sorry for myself, however, I am determined to use my experiences to help myself--and, I hope, help you!

I can't answer the off-plan question for you, any more than I can tell you if you can stop at one drink. I can give you the answer for me, though--remaining a healthy weight for me is much more REWARDING than eating junk that makes me gain weight and feel lousy. Making the effort to take care of myself is a lot more pleasant than the effort it would take to address one of the multitude of obesity-related health complications. 

I won't tell you I'll never eat something off-plan again, because I'd be a liar. But I sure can tell you that I take the choice much more seriously than I used to.

I guess it depends on your definition of freedom.  I'm not willing to cheat myself out of the true path to freedom I've found in Low Carbing. May each of us find our own path to freedom, and enjoy the journey alone the way.