Good afternoon all! I have been reading on different threads your experiences with TO...some good and some not so good. I know LAWL says that you can do a TO every 14 days. I have done a couple and have had really great success, but I am not sure that doing them every 14 days would be wise. What do you guys think? Is that too often? Will it have positive or negative effects on my metabolism? They do help me to stay motivated, but I want this to be a life long loss, so I don't want to mess up my body for continued success. Any thoughts and experiences would be welcomed! Thanks for you time! Have a great Thursday!

[BarbaraB]

Stacy,

I have run both hot and cold on the whole Take Off thing. After a lot of reflection, I decided that they can be a great tool, and they can also be overdone. If you are feeling that your body is on the verge of going into starvation mode (which for me I start feeling cold and hungry all the time, which is a bad, bad sign) then doing a take off is a bad idea.

If you have had a little "break" in following the plan, a Take Off can be a really great refocusing tool. As long as you don't gleefully go off plan with the oh well, I'll just do a take off later. That is a dangerous game to play, since it is impossible to make up for a large slip with just two days...

[Lynx]

Hi Stacy,
Here is something that I wrote recently about my feelings on TO's.

This is solely my opinion, but I think that TO becomes a crutch for many people. After 9 months of reading the posts on this board, I have followed people's success and struggles to eat healthier and to lose weight. LA weight loss is a life style adjustment plan.
I have never done a TO and I have had to adjust to eating differently and learning from my past eating pitfalls. I firmly believe that if someone follows the plan that it is better than if a person falls back on TO.

[Dan2112]

Let me just say I agree with what both Lynn and Barb said... TO can be useful, but if you're not careful, it can be a crutch, and then because of overuse, ineffectual... I do find an occassional TO does help one refocus...

[Ternoway]

I just did TO for the first time this week and can't say it was a good experience. I lost almost 2 pounds but I do often lose almost that if I stick to plan anyways. The biggest problem for me was that it was a recipe for migraines. I figure if I'm restricting my diet enough to trigger a migraine (which I do admit I'm prone to) it can't be good for me, at least not regularily.

[shshshhh]

Sadly, I did a TO this week and found myself in the evil game of doing it to correct a blunder (went majorly off program) and promised myself I will not do that again. Lynx nailed it for me with her post and I want this 'new me' to be a lifelong change, so I will not be doing another TO for quite some time.

[jean2299]

I did a take off after a few days of slip ups and managed to still lose 1 1/2 lbs. even with the cheating. I felt terrible though. I had real trouble concentrating at work and felt like I was going to pass out. I don't think I will do it again. It is easier to stay on plan.