I'm on Phase 4 now, just started last week. But, the idea of cheating will be germane the rest of our lives. Late last Thursday night, after a particularly rough, painful and exhausting day, I grabbed a can of nuts and scarfed down a good 1.5 cups. We can have nuts, but more like 2oz, not 1.5 cups!!! I could not stop myself and was so disgusted. I think that after not having them for 15 months, I just needed to do it and get it out of my system.

I panicked and thought, I can't do this, I'm gonna gain it all back, I'm a loser, bla bla bla. That is the cost of cheating, for me....and as I continued to think about this during my Phase 1 day that followed, I realized that no matter how crappy I feel, I need to find ways to not cheat myself. I was always good at adding that extra little dollop or whatever, before the program. That can add up to loss of control and 300 pds! I never, ever want to do that to my body again. I have been given a gift, in that my body did not fail me, I did not have a heart attack when I was at my heaviest, so how can I abuse it? I am downright grateful to it!

When I went back to Phase 4 the following day, that breakfast was amazing and I truly appreciated what I could have and still stay healthy. I will always have to deal with my health problems and the urge to escape them with food, and this program has given me many tools to help me succeed.

Okay, that's my two-cents worth!

Love this. My husband had few objections to my doing this diet because he knows how cheap I am and how that would motivate me to stay "clean"

As to topic, Have you thought of trying some new recipes? Mixing things up seems to help me keep from looking to other things. The gentleman from Finland has some amazing recipes and many of the cauliflower things grated or pureed read to me like carb. It's helped me stay on track.

Wow I needed this

bump.. i know I've been struggling with thoughts of cheating.

As I enter the third week, I'm finding I'm ok with food temptations. (so far, anyway...)
What I miss the most is having a glass of wine on Friday or Saturday night in the hot tub with hubby. We're both wine connoisseurs.
The good news is... I haven't 'fallen' yet and my coach said that wine is allowed in maintenance, so I have a light at the end of the tunnel.

You'll probably see me posting about this a few more times before my vacation
I am going to Germany at the end of May for 4 WEEKS. Everything revolves around food when I visit family and they try to outdo each other with the dishes they cook. Not eating would be major insult ( I will already insult by eating small portions).
I haven't been home in 6 years and certainly miss some dishes from the past.
At this point, I have about 15 more pounds to lose and 2 months to shed as many of those pounds as possible, I might be in Phase 2 then.
So I'm thinking breakfast and snack I'll stick to IP and lunch and dinner I will consume small portions of what is provided with an emphasis on the proteins and small helpings of carbs. I will also have my Breck's Diet Solution cards to help me stay focused.
Any other Realistic ideas you can throw my way would be greatly appreciated

What are Breck'sDietSolution cards?

I went to DR for holidays for a week, took all my food with me and did great all week - even felt like I lost some weight BUT on the day we were coming home we had a late flight home (midnight) so I was up for almost 30 hours - at about hour 20 I was just so wiped I ate a burger, fries and chocolate, chps - I just couldn't stop. I weighted myself when I got back and I weighted the same as when I went on holidays and since being back I am 100% and have lost another 2lbs but am disappointed that all the weeks hard work was lost because of a 10 hour blowout not to mention the fact that I felt sick after eating all that bad stuff

Sorry, that's supposed to say Beck's. It's a book.
The cards are part of a 6 week to lifetime program. The idea is to use the cards to keep you focused while you're losing and later, to prevent you from gaining weight back. It's a good book and I intend to use it to prevent me from going back to my old ways. I know how to lose weight but I failed so many times in keeping it off.

I feel like there are two things I think about every time I want to cheat...I told my husband to hide his Easter candy so I wouldn't have to be looking at it and I had a moment where I thought about looking for it. But I didn't for three reasons:
1) When I went to my introductory IP meeting the doctor emphasized at least 10 times that this diet will work for you and you will be able to successfully maintain your weight AS LONG AS YOU DON'T CHEAT ON PHASE I. Scared the crap out of me! He said 70% of dieters maintain after two years, and every one in the 30% that didn't cheated during phase 1.

2) My first three days I had a terrible carb detox - even had to miss a day of work. I read in my materials that it will pass after 3-4 days, but the symptoms will come back with cheats. Just knowing how sick I would feel is a good deterrent as well.

3) Perhaps the best deterrent is reading these boards. I feel like I see people posting their successes and struggles so honestly and I want to be able to do the same thing.

This is coming from a NOTORIOUS cheater on every diet in the book who is attempting to reform!

Thanks to all who posted, this was a great thread to read!

I never thought I could say this but I think each time I consider cheating and don't, I feel stronger. Once I'm over the momentary thought, I forget why I even considered it to begin with. Today I had a stressful day, my cats were at the vet for a dental cleaning and I was worried about the anesthesia. I was so relieved to pick them up and see they were fine and happy that I thought I needed some of the medication they got or better yet - tequila. The crave wave came over me and then went away almost as quick. I just shrugged it off and feel better for it.

I wish so much that I could have read this back in January. I had been on program for 8 weeks, more that half way to goal and had to go on a business trip. No one else ate healthy becuase they were on a trip and told me to just enjoy it. The first day I was good, after that it was so hard. I totally went off, got back home and could not stay OP. I would be good for a few day then off again. I gained almost everything back. This has been the longest and easiest it has been since I cheated, I know it has only been a week but I've never been this OP since first starting IP. This post helps me so much. I just ordered a pizza for the rest of the family, pizza night, I served it with out wanting some. Baby steps will move to bigger steps. Thanks so much

When I started IP, it was really quite naive and I had no idea if it would work. I was so hopeless to affect change in my life, that I thought 'what the heck, if my doctor thinks it is sound, I'll try it.' I made a sort of mental pact with myself, to really embrace it and start a new life. I did not cheat until 11 months later, and it was harder after that. But every time I do consider going off the rails, I feel like I would be cheating myself, cheating my vision for my future and my pact with myself. It helps me to get back into my flow and, like somebody else just posted, it makes you a little bit stronger every time you say 'no.'

ITA - It's essential to keep in mind the complex biochemistry of the IP program and how 'cheats' can spoil the progress for beyond that one day itself. Generally more like 3 or so. It's not only essential to stay with the program 100% in order to stay in ketosis, but those 'cheats' can reactivate the pancreas. Any time I start thinking something 'off program' looks tempting, I remind myself of these facts about how this program actually works. I think this is the main reason I've been able to stay 'on target' successfully for this first month on IP. That, and the fact that my hunger has been effectively halted, and I have a nice variety of 'on program' foods that I actually enjoy. I don't feel at all deprived.

Thank you for the eloquent reminder AMYONIP. I just had a god awful cheat day and I know I will be kicking myself tomorrow. So your words are a gentle reminder of what I'm working for.