[jmari816]

Hi all! I'm new to this forum and fairly new to IP as well. I started on 1/14 @ 219lbs. In January of 2012 i was 235 so i did okay last year losing 15lbs! I've done pretty well on IP so far, last weigh in i was down to 202. Well, I had a huge cheat this weekend. Hubby bought surprise tickets to Bon Jovi so i planned to make it a cheat day so we could go out to dinner. Well, we got a huge snow storm this weekend (CT) and we were snowed in at a friends house until this morning! So I cheated all weekend! I'm kind of glad i did because I saw that it was easy to revert back to my old overeating lazy ways. I'm back on 100% this morning! The only thing really getting me down is that i hopped on the scale at home today and it said i was up 7-8 lbs!!!!! How is that even possible??? I didn't eat THAT bad this weekend. No fast food, no take out. Okay, maybe a little too much ice cream or chocolate but not enough to warrant that kind of gain. I'm wondering if i'm retaining water because i didn't drink much water, or much of anything this weekend. Any thoughts on this? I'm super nervous for my weigh in on thursday! I didn't tell my coach I was planning on cheating, but i'll obviously be telling her after the fact. I just hope that its not an actual gain, that its a mix of using a different scale and hopefully water retention. Anyway, i'm glad to have somewhere i can share this stuff and get some feedback. Looking forward to watching everyone else accomplish these awesome goals!!

[HillaryJH]

Hello,
I live in Connecticut too, so I feel your pain with the snow! My dad and I shoveled/snow blowed our driveway (loooong driveway) for more than six hours so my dad could get to work...and then the people we PAY to plow our driveway showed up! Argh!

Chances are, you did not gain eight pounds of actual fat, but you did gain water weight. Remember, in order to gain a pound of fat, you have to eat 3500 calories! Do you think you ate 28000 calories over the weekend? Probably not.

Take this as a learning experience. Yes, it is disappointing that you were stuck in a house for so long without the ability to leave and go to the grocery store, but hey, that's life. Stay 100% on plan with this new found motivation and rock it!

[maezy1]

Going off for a whole week is very detrimental as u have found out. U may have some water weight but definitely some fat gain as well. cheating on IP is hard to do without seeing a big weight gain and having to go through ketosis all over again. live and learn and get back on program. I really, really would recommend no more planned cheats. I have been eating out at least once a week since I began IP and haven't cheated so it can be done.

[scorbett1103]

As others have mentioned, your gain is probably mostly water weight - you have to eat 3500 calories to gain a pound of actual fat. BUT you may have thrown yourself out of ketosis, which is going to affect your losses. The best thing you can do is to get back on the horse and look forward.

I want to address something though - you are a month into the program and planned a cheat. This is a no-cheat diet for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that we need to learn to make better food choices in ALL situations, not just the everyday. I have been on IP since the end of July 2012, and we have had quite a few wonderful dinners out - I stayed 100% OP for every single one. I went to my 20th HS reunion and stayed OP. I got through Thanskgiving and Christmas 100% OP. And I am not unique.

It is not only POSSIBLE to have "Special" times without going off plan, it's NECESSARY. Ultimately you have to weigh the pros and the cons of any cheat, but I have always felt that I didn't want to spend one extra minute on Phase 1 than absolutely necessary. If I had cheated along the way, I wouldn't be in Phase 2 right now - and I am VERY glad to be there

[goldilocksinct]

Good advice here. I agree that you should not plan a "cheat day". I am also in CT and was glad my coach got me in a couple of days early so I was set with my packets for the weekend of snow. I plan to stay OP through a variety of special events, but it will take pre-planning. I have a long way to go and do not want to have to stay so restricted for so long, nor do I want to continue my pattern of going down and up and down and up. I always end up more up than down in the end.

Were you able to see the Bon Jovi's impromptu concert for those snowed in to see him at Mohegan Sun, or were you stuck at a house?

[IP43]

The whole "ketosis" thing does actually take 3-5 pounds off (that's why the big "whoosh" that first week. When you go off ketosis, that 3-5 pounds comes back equally quickly, which is why some people will lose an extra couple of pounds before phasing off. There is a reason, but, rusty brain and limited room = I don't remember the 'science' of it. But yup - you probably did put 7 lbs. on. Not all fat, but you'll need the 3 days of getting into ketosis to get rid of some of it. It's not worth the time or money to cheat. Believe me -- I know of what I speak! LOL (kettle NOT calling the pot black -- I struggle to stay OP quite often)