My question is, can your body go into starvation mode and you not even notice it? I work really weird hours, sometimes in an 8 hour period, I'll only have an apple with peanut butter.. then we get so busy I literally forget to eat and at the end of my shift, my lunch is still packed in the fridge. But, I haven't noticed it... My stomach isn't growling and I'm not getting the shakes .. I'm nervous that when I work my long shifts and get busy, that if I don't remember to eat my body will go into starvation mode and screw up my weightloss.

I mean, how do you know when your body goes into that Mode anyway?

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Also, I cheated for the first time in 3 months last night. I'm not sure how to correct that. When you cheat, or fall off for a day, do you Phase I it all over again? Or just continue where you left off?

Hi, Tracy!

I know how that kind of work can be. That's how my old job was. You just have to make time to eat. Can you set a timer, on Outlook, on your palm pilot, even the old fashioned one, and then go get your lunch? Get a buddy at work to remind you? You do need to eat. Your body can effectively go into starvation mode without your even noticing it, IMHO. And when it does that, your metabolism goes way down!

You can do it, Tracy! And of course, when you don't eat enough, you end up craving later, and that leads to cheats. I think it's great that you noticed this pattern and are stopping it in its tracks! I'm so thrilled to see you in ONEderland, and know you never want to see a 2 at the beginning of your weight again!

As to cheats, depending on how bad it way, you can probably just hop back on. You'll detox, and it'll take a while...you might do better if you avoid things with sugar (like Cool whip) while detoxing, but you can do it even with them. If you go off for a couple days, you should probably head back to Phase 1. I've eaten a couple of wrong things by mistake and have been able to detox and keep losing while still on Phase 2. But that's just my experience. Thoughts, everyone?

Let us know how you are doing, Tracy!

I may be mistaken but our body slips into starvation mode every night which is why breakfast is so important. When we sleep, our body tries to conserve energy until it gets some food. You don't notice it because your body may want you to go hunt for food without being heavily distracted by the strong signals of "feed me feed me". Also, it'll slip into slight starvation mode after just a few hours of not eating. So the important thing to keep your metabolism going is eat, do what you can to get your food.

I agree - if it was just one cheat then continue on with Phase 2. If you cheated for a week straight then I'd say go back to Phase 1 to detox.

UNLESS - unless you feel like the cheat made you want to cheat again. If the cravings got really bad from one cheat then go back to Phase 1 right now!

Thanks for the advice. I'm a dispatcher, so I'm not allowed to leave the desk to eat, unless its to go run and get it, and/or heat it up real quick. I'll have to eat smaller mini meals during long shifts to keep from starvation mode.

I only cheated last night, it was my friends birthday.. today I brought my tush right to the gym, i'm flooding myself with water, and eating extra extra veggies. I won't worry until I finally weigh in next Monday - if I maintain, I'll continue Phase II. If I gain, I'll do a week of Phase I.

Tracy, you have done amazingly well - one cheat in 3 months. WTG, girl. Of course, you have the right idea with the one cheat. Get right back to the eating program.

I have been on SBD for about 5 months now and have a few cheats during that time. However, I have never let that interfere with the eating program. When I know that I will be going to a birthday party, wedding, or some form of special occasion, I plan the "cheat" in advance. More importantly, though, I plan the behaviours around the cheat in advance. I know above anything that the temptation at the event will be too great to resist, so I incorporate a small indulgence, knowing that it is a small detour, that I may pay for it in a small weight increase and that I will be back on program the following meal. This has worked for me and still maintained my weight loss.

One of the things that I usually do before a special occasion is to revert to Phase 1 for the week prior to the event - psychologically it makes me feel like I have earned the small indulgence, and also gives me a bit larger weight loss prior to the event so I don't see the effects of the cheat on the scale following the cheat.

As to the starvation mode...even keep small snacks that don't need refrigeration (cheese stick, nuts, etc). If you are going long periods without eating during your work shift, you are not maintaining a balanced blood sugar level which will cause all the side affects that made us fat in the first place. You can do this and have done so well already. Keep it up.

I would like to add to what sweet tooth said about doing Phase 1 for a few days before an indulgence, if I know something is coming up, I do phase 1 a few days before but I also do Phase 1 after the event. I mostly do it because there is a slippery slope from eating healthy to a few allowances to going back to your old ways. Going back to Phase 1 keeps me on track and makes sure I don't get into the mentality of "well that didn't cause me to stall or gain, maybe I can do that more often".

That's a really great idea, to do Phase I before and after the cheat. I'm not planning any cheats again until New Years Eve [That's my holiday] Not even on Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I've packed individual "grab and go" bags of nuts, triscuits(limited), individual throw-away cups of peanut butter, hard boiled eggs, etc. to rectify the problem of me not eating enough. I'm fine on the weekend or on my days off, but the workdays are the hard ones.

Also, I've decided to toss in extra time at the gym because I cheated. An extra 20 Minutes for each thing I cheated with

(Mcdonalds, chocolate chip muffin, and a mixed drink)

Like I said before, I'll really see next week with how things went.

Thanks again for all the advice!

Great ideas, Tracy! Also, you might invest in a small cooler and some freezer packs, so you can keep some food by your desk...like red bell peppers and hummus, etc.

I know you'll do great!

Traci,

I often get stuck at my desk too. I was on teleconferences yesterday for 4 hours straight (overlapping lunch time) and only had 10 minutes to heat up lunch. I keep a bag with an ice pack right next to me. I always have cut up vegetables in it. Things like red or yellow peppers or cauliflower. I've discovered that raw zucchini is really good too even without any dip.