I feel like I'm cheating myself because I don't know what "bump" means. I googled it and think it might mean "bring up my post" but if so, I don't know how to use it. Sigh. Can someone help me out? I've decided that I'll enjoy a good cheat every 10 pound loss. Well that happened today and I can't decide whether or not I think it is worth it. LOL! I'm trying to slow down my losing a little 'cause my facial skin is starting to not only sag but wrinkle. YUCK!

Instead of a cheat - treat yourself to a firming facial at the dermatologist's office or your local spa!! You are worth it!

Don't cheat!!! It is not good for you! You have all of us here ready to help when you feel like cheating.
This diet is a "No Cheat Diet."
It is too hard on your body to jump in and out of ketosis. Ask the senior members. Or read the last few pages of the IP daily thread today. That is what has been said.

you make me laugh... bump you are correct it just brings the post forward to the first page. don't cheat.... wait until your boobs start having droopy skin along the sides... and your arms look like bat wings... oh wait... I am talking about me... have a great night and facials are nice. so I hear... too scary for me.

oh my goodness..thanks for this thread.. i need to confess..I messed up big time..my parents got into town and it was my daughters birthday..need ifor go on? What did we do? We went out for dinner last night..went out for lunch tonite..and then..i had to stand in my kitchen and pipe buttercream icing onto my daughters cupcakes for her birthday..and well i was doing so well...i decided to stick my finger in the icing and taste it..and that was the end..i was hooped..it was all out..eating icing and cupcakes...I ate 3 cupcakes today..stuffed on top was buttercream icing..oh my lawd!! and then it was nacho chips and salsa and then it was a bit of coke..and then and then and then..see my point?

The worst part is: I feel horrible!!!! just horrible!! my stomach doesnt tolerate gluten in the first place..so the cupcakes made me bloat along with the nacho chips..and the icing didnt help..i felt so grose and swore not to cheat..but i did..and it was bad...why is it that when i start a new diet program that people decide to have celebrations or go out to dinner or invite me over??? I should just start saying no!!!

and you know what? i feel guilty as ever now..i need help picking myself up off the floor so i can keep going...i dont even want to look at the scale

Don't beat yourself up about it. I switched from IP products to alternatives and tried to justify that in between the time that I got my other products that I would go off plan. Well that has turned into 2 weeks now and I am so disappointed in myself. I just can't get past the cravings now that I am trying to get back OP to stop the cheating!!! But today I have vowed it will be the start of 100% OP!

You are not alone and we are all here for you when you need us!!!

Thanks Carol, I needed to hear that..i feel so awful about it..it was my first test of endurance and i failed..i was so good at saying no..and then i just couldnt..i didnt even bother to jump on my scale today..

Ooops. So this isn't a huge "cheat" but it was a mistake. I devoured somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of an avocado on a salad today thinking it was a permitted 2x week veggie only to discover it is not permitted at all. I know its not huge, but I also licked my fingers a few times while making kid food and know that wasn't in my favor and then also had 1/2 of a 4th packet today. I fear that all these things might set me back.

I scanned through a few posts here and see comments about how much people gained back after their cheats and the gains seem so disproportionate to the cheat and I am wondering if this is always the way it goes.

I was planning on returning to a life of balanced eating when I finish the IP. Not a superstrict reduced carb lifetime thing. Am I way off base in thinking that is possible?

I'm gonna promise (well sort of and not beat myself up if I fail) that the next time I want to cheat, I'll get that facial! I felt remarkably ill till about 2PM this afternoon. You mention disproportionate post cheat weight gain COLIEP, do you mean high or low. My one day cheats (about 5 in 5 months) have usually shown a 1 lb weight gain which has been gone before I was even back in ketosis. Usually by the day after the day after. Smile.

My doc wanted me to make it to 185 and then stop for a while to make sure I would maintain the loss. I told him I didn't want to stop until I was at 165. Now that I'm at 185, I'm wondering if he might have a good idea. Problem is, I don't know that I will want to begin again in a few month for the last 20. I see that a number of you have done this in a 2 step process. Any thoughts on this anyone?

I thought I saw someone have an 8 pound gain after a short term cheat. I just cannot help but wonder what returning to a lifetime of normal (healthy) eating will do if one day off the wagon causes a pound gain. In another world (the calorie counting world) it should take 3500 excess cals to gain that pound.

How can you tell if you've come out of ketosis? Just trying to figure out what kind of set back I may experience after my oopsy.

Maybe you misread and they said it was an .8 pound gain? I didn't gain any weight during these past few weeks I was off program and believe me, I ate some naughty stuff in that time frame.:devil: And I gain weight just by looking at food. I didn't lose any weight either, of course.

I have the Keto Stix that detect ketones in your urine. After using these I now can tell the difference in how I feel when I am in ketosis and when I'm not.

I know just how hard it is not to cheat and how quickly that moment of weakness can totally ruin your outstanding accomplishments. Take the time to read Dr. Tran Tien Chanh’s booklet (the link can be found at the bottom of the first posting on each Daily Thread). Understand what is happening to your body to allow you to lose this excess weight so quickly. Empower yourself. I speak from experience when I tell you it feels so darn good!

Below are a few informative words of encouragement from my coach……a very successful IPer. Remember, you are worth it.

There is science behind everything that Ideal Protein sets forth in the diet protocol. For example, using a furnace as an analogy, you must have wood and air for a fire to continue to burn. Consider IP protein packets as the wood and your serving of veggies as the air.....you must put the two together at lunch and dinner to get the fire (your metabolism) to continue to burn. Some of you are missing the veggie component....it is best to follow your blue/gray sheet exactly as prescribed. No other diet is this extensive in scientific design...that is why it is called "Your last Diet"!

As many of you know, I have also been on the Ideal Protein program since March. Having moved through Phase 1, 2 & 3, I am now on phase 4. I've studied phase 3 at great length because it is the part of the Ideal Protein diet that really sets it apart from all other diets. I am referring to the reprogramming of the pancreas which occurs in the 3rd phase of the program. What I have learned and experienced in my own body is that cheating does not necessarily cause a weight gain or sometimes not even stop the weight loss, although it usually catches up with you. What cheating does however is break the "hibernation" of the pancreas. If the pancreas wakes up, however briefly, to secrete insulin and lower the effects of the cheat...it can not be resting and reprogramming. Therefore every cheat in phase 1 or 2 will result in two weeks longer in the resting or hibernating stage and ultimately result in remaining on the Ideal Product packets that much longer.

Hope this clarifies and makes you think before you cheat!

YOu know what? Thats exactly what i was thinking: i was thinking. ."i cheated for two days in a row, im going to feel like crap when i restart day 1 all over again".. and you know what?? nothing..NOTHING... i dont feel like crap.. i dont have an appetite..im not irritable and i have no cravings..its shocking..i wonder why? you would think after a cheat you would feel horrible all over again and miserable for restarting day 1 and 2...

CAT what an excellent peace of advice! Thanks to both you and your coach for sharing this. I will definitely fare better next time I'm considering cheating... "and the truth will set you free!" Smile.