I started induction August 4th and had gone from 216.2 to 207.4. i was going to do induction for a full month to try to drop as much weight as possible but after 3 weeks of no cheating and following everything to the Tee, tonight i ate 2 slices pizza and a piece of red velvet cake AND drank a regular coke. i feel so horrible right now. Guilty and hopeless like, i'm never going to be able to do it again.

My question is, i've heard it takes 48hours to get back into ketosis and start burning my stored fat all over again - so should i do induction for a whole 'nother 2 weeks? or just finish off this week (which would make it four weeks) minus the one day screw up and then go on to OWL?

If it increases your motivation why not just stay on induction just to be on the safe side? The book says you can be at induction levels for 6 mos. The 2 week is a minimum.

i've been on induction for slightly over 2 months now. i feel fine. I plan to be on it for another 3 months.

Fastlanes, if you slipped off induction, the best thing for you to do is get right back on it and start over with your counting (meaning now is day one). Don't think about the past 2 weeks and please don't overguilt yourself.

It is not the end of the world it is a minor setback. You can do this. I know you can!

Two weeks, at minimum, is what your body needs to detox. Some people prefer to continue induction for longer, but only those first two weeks are absolutely required.

Thank you all for your replies. I'm not sure if it's my imagination or what but today i felt so bloated and almost my intestines almost felt bruised or sore. it was a strange feeling, still hard to explain. Very uncomfortable.

i'm back on track today. Started by riding my stationary bike for 20 minutes this morning and so far today i've had:

B: Coffee w heavy Cream and Stevia
S: String Cheese and some celery sticks
L: Cesar Salad with Chicken Breast seasoned with Jerk Season
S: Turkey slice rolled up with slice of Havarti cheese with Dill
D: Flounder baked in oven with lemon/butter/spinach and onions

Today was a good day. I planned it out and i'm doing some cooking now to have stuff for the week(Turkey burger patties, cheeseburger quiche, roasted some vegetables (onions, zucchini, mushrooms, and broccoli)

I sooooo want this to work for me. I love the WOE. I have done basically every diet out there - spent thousands of dollars on pills, shakes, pre packaged foods, you name it, ive done it and this has been the only plan i can stick to. I want this to work

Thanks again

I've done the same thing and am now back on induction. Had something REALLY stressful happen in my life and drank a bunch of vodka. I am sure I am out of ketosis. So I get back on the horse and try try again. Afterall.. no one is perfect right?

i think everyone falls off the wagon to some degree. use this to motivate you to be stricter in the future, and turn the negative into a positive. works for me and helps tighten up my discipline.

i am trying lc again...i did it for about a month last summer and then stopped losing got frustrated and life got in the way...excuses excuses i know....anyways i cannot give up fruit, which may have been my downfall last time, but want to try it again since i have a trip coming up at the holidays and will be seeing a lot of family and am not losing enough with my current 1400 calories a day and 3 times a wk workouts....i know i need to bump up my exercise but what is the absolute max amt of carbs for you all where you can still lose a good 2-5 pounds a week. thanks

p.s my other concern is that if i do eat carbs over the holidays, which even being careful is bound to happen, will i just gain everything back?

I just wanted to admit my guilt here, too.... this weekend I fell off the LC wagon by eating 5 pieces of pie, yes 5 pieces (not a typo)! I weighed myself on Monday and was up 1.5 pounds, but today Thursday, I have lost all that plus another 1/2 pound. I just jumped back on the LC wagon and it seemed to have kicked in! All weekend I felt sluggish and yucky! I am still craving sweets and hope this will pass soon, so I can get back to where I was....
Keep up the good work everyone, life is worth it!

I too like to cheat every now & then & found a maybe good/bad solution, Phase 2 starch neutralizer powder, we went to dinner w/friends, Chinese, of course one of the most offending places to a low carber LOL! I sprinkled this on each dish I had on my plate from the buffet, I had sesame ckn, honey ckn, mayo shrimp, mongolian beef & fried rice & egg drop soup, this was 1 plate no seconds but satisfying portions, I sprinkled a small amount on my food & mixed 2 scoops into my diet drink & I was not kicked out of ketosis when I checked the next day, I was still in mid range, my sugar however wasn't so good. This is something I don't make a habit of but its nice to know I can still be "normal" every once in a while. I don't know how this works but it did for me.

Anyone with more/better information on carb blockers please post, i'd like to know.

From one cheat meal I don't know that you need 2 weeks of induction to get back to ketosis - are you testing for ketones?

I was off my diet a little bit every other day for 8 days and then it did take me a week to get back into ketosis, but I don't think one meal would have taken me so long.

On the other hand, I eat around 30 grams of carbs as my 'regular' level (more fresh cheese, nuts and veggies than Atkins would call 'induction'). I find that eating this way I can eat comfortably and still lose weight. Some days I go over that level, but some days I'm closer to 20, so over a 3 or 4 day period my average is around 30 and that seems to be working for me. I don't feel the need to go up because I'm happy with the foods I'm eating.

I need nuts as an "emergency food" in my purse (I eat them maybe 2 times a week) and the cheeses and dairy products in France are different than in the US - I eat several kinds of fresh cheeses which have higher carb counts than the more aged kinds. Plus I love vegges and don't like to limit them as much as Atkins Induction would have you do.

If you find the Atkins Induction phase too hard to stick to long term, I'd do it for a few days to get back to ketosis after your slip, but then start to move to the level of carbs that you'll be able to live with longer while still losing weight -- BUT NOT FEELING DEPRIVED. There is no benefit to staying on induction level carbs but feeling constantly tempted to cheat when it's perfectly within Atkins to move the carbs up a bit and still lose and feel more comfortable about your diet and your choices. Don't make this harder on yourself than it needs to be.

And next time you're tempted by pizza? Try eating just the tops (ok low-carb wise) and then you won't feel you 'cheated' and will probably turn down the coke and the cake.

I cheated one weekend after a night of drinking (only mixing with sugar free, 0carb drinks, if that makes anyone feel better) but I had the worst hangover the next morning and got a chicken quesadilla from taco bell (it's generally seemed to be "the cure" and I knew something with bread would be good for my liver...)

But in any case, I bought those ketone strips, got right back into atkins, and did some extra exercise. I was back in ketosis within 2 days

exactly my thoughts. I think we all have relapses, we need to use them as motivation to keep going.