Doug why is it harder

[Joagain]

Doug why does it seem harder when you restart FTS for the second time  or third or .......
Is there any science behind why  it is harder or is really just a mind thing
 Just seems so much harder to stick too ,not just for me and Tyler's put from others post I see as well

[umpa]

Doug will answer you Jo but I think the answer is detox my friend.You have to detox and break your old carb habits.

[Doug Varrieur]

It's all in your head, suck it up and get through detox....it's only food Jo...don't let food control your life...YOU need to control your life 

[Joagain]

That's what I was thinking and told Tyler our minds are very powerful !! I remember my first 2 weeks when I first started FTS .

[shawn116]

Sending hugs Jo...it will pass soon enough...hang in there girl 

[Elizabeth779]

Dangggggg -- I crawled online to ask the very same question.....remember my binge about 1.5 weeks ago and last week I got back on track and was almost down to previous weight, and THEN I started messing up AGAIN!!!  Had some bread (subway sandwich) on Sunday

Then today had went to lunch (I even got to pick the restaurant) and picked CHINESE place and even at that picked my FAVPORITE CHINESE place and ordered chinese chicken salad (major sugar in dressing) egg rolls AND THEN REALLY REALLY messed up and ordered fried rice !!!! 

WHAT am I doing?  Sigh.....

Then came home and ate ice cream

So as you answered Jo, again, I'm getting back to detox and to get straight on detox, no flirting with disaster

You know, this is not an excuse BUT I know that I'm very overtired, very overwhelmed by all the stuff I am responsible for right now, so I need to lighten up that load so I'm less stressed, and pay more attention to getting more sleep (can imagine Tony, Umpa, Toosweet etc nodding their heads when they read that BECAUSE they have been advising that for months)....

And I will get down to the menu section where I can list my foods for a while to have some accountability. 

I wish i could just post my fitday account.....is there a way to do that here?  Fitday is a great tool (WHEN USED...sigh) to track carbs, nutrition, etc. 

and last but NOT least, i really really need to get back to the gym.  Haven't been going. 

Well thanks Jo for asking the same question I was having because for some dumb and unknown reason it does seem harder to get to detox stage again this time than before.....

but the authorities have said it's in the mind, so it's in the mind, and it's up to me to  be more careful with the carbs...

Question:  did any of you experience a slip up and had to get back on detox and it was hard and seemed hard to get back the way it was at first?  What I mean is this.....when I did detox in January, I was just there, did not look right or left but once I was under 20 grams on the first day, the cravings went away and I was just able to sustain that, and easily sustain that.....

but now, it just seems a struggle, and food is calling to me (screaming at times even) .......

answering my own questions....I was focused then, I'm not focused on the goal now....

oh, have I told you guys lately how wonderful you and the forum us so I can come here when I need help.  You know I've lost nearly 50 on FTS, and I need to lose about 100 more, so it's no time to start fooling with the system that brought me success...I've got to detox and detox like my life depends on it (it does)...

Thanks...FTS Team hug!    And now I'll say my prayers and go to sleep (since that's part of the problem...)

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH P.S.  I KNOW what it is that is going wrong....two nights ago my CPAP mask messed up and has been having leaks which means I'm not getting rest even when I may be "asleep"....that's why I'm more tired, overwhelmed, emotional.....also haven't been taking my vitamins......

so just think I've sort of fixed mask....and just went online and ordered new mask to be delivered, and.....

now I'll go to sleep....REALLY!  appreciate you!  (smile)

[shawn116]

Nodding my head Elizabeth    Haha  I like how you just talk things through and answer your own questions    Don't be so hard on yourself though.  This isn't a race it's a lifestyle.     Maybe try and step back a minute and think about what you are thinking when you make those decisions.  What were you telling yourself when you ate that bread with your Subway? It might help to realize what your triggers are.  Are you waiting until you are "about to starve"?  I find it hard to make good decisions when I'm at that point.  When I go out to eat now I make it kinda like a game to see what I can find that I can eat.  I see a new place and I'm thinking "challenge accepted"     Hang in there girl....You are probably right.   Sleep or the lack thereof can make things sooo much harder in more ways than one.  Sending hugs to you as well 

[Doug Varrieur]

Addiction is addiction is addiction. It doesn't matter whether it's drugs, booze, gambling, tobacco or food. We LOVE LOVE LOVE our addictions...that's why we're addicted to them. BUT our addictions have very very bad side affects;

1-Drug addictions will rot your brain and kidneys then kill you
2-Alcohol addictions will rot your liver and then kill you
3-Gambling addictions will rot your bank account and you'll go broke
4-Tobacco addictions will give you cancer which will rot your body away then kill you
5-Food addictions will make you fat, raise your blood sugar, raise your blood pressure, give you a number of different nasty diseases then


KILL YOU
So is all this in your head, YES and NO. You do indeed have a physical need for your addictions BUT those physical needs are truly controllable by your brain. You need to ask yourself a very simple question... Does my brain control my body or does my body control my brain? The reason you have a physical need is very simple. You LOVE the rush you get when dopamine, the nuerotransmitter feel good hormone is released in your brain....that's the addiction common thread   

Once you go through detox for any of your addictions dopamine returns to normal levels and those physical cravings end. BUT the memories of how good they made you feel eat away at you. THAT is full within your mental control. The longer you stay away from those memories the more they fade away until you get to the point like myself where you can't remember them at all.

Crying about it won't help...whining about it won't help....complaining about it won't help. Yo simply need to go cold turkey on your addictions, make a commitment, suck it up and develop self control. The potato chip bag doesn't jump of the shelf into you mouth, you open it and you eat them.......

It's all up to you, is you is or is you isn't?     

[morgan]

I differ with Doug only on one point and that is with the crying, because with women that can be a very cleansing and defining moment.  As women emotions build up, we release them and usually put our big girl panties on and deal with the situation. We make decisions and plans.  I presume you have done so, dealt with your 'detour' and ready to stand firm.   in your heart you know what you have to do to get the result you want - GO GET IT. 

[shawn116]

Great point Morgan     This is the best place to come and do the crying too....we all understand and probably have felt the same way at some point or another.....I'm betting the guys in some way too...they just don't like to admit it   

[umpa]

We can do anything we put our minds to!
I gotta tell you Morgan when you say big girl panties,my visual in my head is granny panties!!!

[morgan]

Bridget Jones here we come 

[Snobles]

Gonna have to agree with Doug!  In every since, it's totally up to us! Heck, I live with a constant, nagging food pusher, who literally stands and watches us make our plates! And then questions us, when we don't put any carbs on it! (I don't look at mashed potatoes or mac and cheese anymore, to me they're just a plate of carbs) I now, just tell her I'm good. (Basicly don't worry about me, I can take care of myself!)
Living with a food pusher has been a total growing process. I used to "whine and cry" a lot! My husband and I couldn't figure out how to make the mil change her ways! But instead, it was us who needed to change our ways!( Like Umpa once said, if we don't eat it, and it goes to waste, she'll realize how much money she's wasteing and will stop.....not yet, but not my money!)
In a nutshell, I'm just tired of going along to get along, you know? I'm tired of pleasing everybody but myself. Besides, you can't find victory without a "little" battle?! 

[Joagain]

Umps that because that's what most big girls wear is GRANNY PANTIES !!!!

Elizabeth if you fall just keep getting up . We Just have to know everytme we fall it is just making everything harder .it is a true addiction ,and the mistake is listening to others saying oh come on just one little taste is not going to hurt you .
Then that one taste leads to another and another .
As Doug says we have to suck it up but I didn't need a suck it up talk I was asking if there was a real physical reason why it seems harder because I have seen on Atkins forums and other low cab forums that people lose a lot of weight and when they come back to lose what the regained they say it is hard for them

[TabyTaby]

Oh friend...I can SO relate on SO many levels. As you've probably read, I went from 286 to 186 in like 4 to 5 months on FTS...I was motivated and determined...then I donated a kidney and when I did that part of the testing was to double the average person's carbs a day to see how kidneys handled the stress, because carbs stress out our kidneys...whodathunkit? Once I got a taste..I couldn't go back. The good Lord knows I tried...but I couldn't. Then I got pregnant...then I almost died and I thought, well if I'm going to die I might as well enjoy the sugar ride along the way...too bad for me, not only did I not die (that's a good thing) but I couldn't get off the fricken sugar train...it turned into a daily festival of "This is my last sugar meal...I promise" and everyday I made that promise. So I gave myself two months post partum to get it together...So June 1rst came. I made a commitment...I was doing really well, then two weeks in I got in a bad position with no low-carb food at a party and caved. I tried to go back the next day...same story, stuck on the sugar train. Sigh. So for a week I did well, then not so well, and my mom and husband kept offering me food I wasn't supposed to have (I cook all the meals in this house and I'm the only one needing to lose weight and get healthier...100 pound hubby eats whatever he wants >:O but I have to cook it). So, now I have restarted AGAIN on July 1 because I kept yo-yoing. Sigh. I know plenty about addictions, I am a licensed master level social worker (LMSW) and was addiction counselor at a methadone clinic...the same advice I gave to my clients, I now give myself. I was driving with my hubby the other day and I broke down in tears...this is kind of what I said, I'm going to share it because it might inspire someone, "I'm going to have to admit to myself, that there's always going to be a thought of just one more meal, just one more bite, just one more dessert...it's not going to go away, I must beat it into submission. It is simply my flesh rising up against me, and I must make it mind it's master. There will always be a fabulous, carb-loaded meal that is new and improved coming out, a new cake I've never tried, a new bread, something that will always be a source of temptation...each time I give into it, I pay the high cost of stomach ache, diarrhea, cramping, bloating, headaches, weight gain, and cravings. I'm going to have to get over it. I'm going to have to get over the fact that there are people (like my hubby and son) that can eat whatever they want and their body reacts differently than mine. I cannot change that...I simply must accept that I am different and thus must adhere to different lifestyle. As long as there is a restaurant open, a party, a holiday, a gathering of friends, fellowship, and food, there will be a temptation and craving...I must chose my fate and stick to it. I can only change myself, my desires, I cannot change what other people do or offer." I seriously said all of that, out loud to myself, and cried while I did it. What is different this time around? What is different July 1, than June 1...I'm a very faith based and devout person to my faith, so I had my husband pray with me and he decided to abstain from video games for 1 month and I decided I would low-carb for a whole month without going over 20 net carbs a day for a month and we prayed together and took an oath before God, and that is the ONLY reason I haven't caved. I know that I will not break an oath to my Lord...but I'll break one to myself. I figure, if I can make it a month, by then my cravings and weak moments will be lessened and I can battle against it by that point. Sometimes we have to get a little running start and some strength behind us to finish the race You can do it...and we'll be doing it with you!