Cheating on the Ideal Protein Diet? The vicious cycle it will create!

There are many reasons to not cheat on the Ideal Protein Diet. I'm going to share what happened to me and the vicious cycle I've created for myself that I am still trying to dig myself out of.

I've been on the Ideal Protein Diet since November and up until June I had lost 70 pounds. It's now July and my weight loss has slowed down dramatically. 

I still remember the beginning of the diet. I had been trying to follow the diet plan. I may not have had all my water or all the vegetables all of the time, but I was doing fairly well and not cheating with anything not approved. One day I was extra hungry for some reason and there were still some temptations in my kitchen that I had not thrown away yet. 

A pudding cup was calling my name! I caved and ate that pudding cup. Although it wasn't satisfying it still took the temptation away from my train of thought for that night. 

My coach had specifically said that if we cheat we will not lose weight and it will take 3 days for our bodies to return to a state of ketosis. Essentially since the diet is about $13 a day it would cost $39 for 1 cheat. Not generally worth it for most people.

My problem however started when I went in for my weekly weigh in. I had still lost 4 pounds. From that day on I noticed that if I cheat just a little right after my weigh in my body would be able to “recover” enough to still lose weight.

1 pudding cup turned into 4 pudding cups, then a slice of pie. Eventually it was a whole plate of brownies and 4 cups of milk to wash it down.  

This behavior went on and on. My weight loss started to slow down, because my bad behaviors started to increase. Now sometimes I will be driving down the road and suddenly stop at Safeway because I can’t get Brownies out of my head. And I won’t eat just one. I eat the all of them. 6 total! If I get sick and say to myself “I will never do this again, I feel like crap,” that statement will usually last for about a day. Then the next day I will want more brownies.

My sugar addiction is getting out of control. Even though I know that I shouldn't binge eat, I am outright defiant with myself sometimes. I’m working on that though. I’m seeing a dietitian and will hopefully find a therapist soon. I don’t feel comfortable talking to my Ideal Protein Coach because her reality is not something that I feel can help me right now. She doesn't think it’s that hard to stop eating like that and doesn't understand the emotional mind tricks that some people go through to kick an addiction.

I recognize I need more help and pray that I am strong enough to want to change. I do not want this attempt at a diet to be just that, another attempt. Since I have lost 70 pounds, and have another 70 to go, I know it works. And I know I can do it.

So my point is, don’t take that first bite. Find out why you need that particular food and the reasons why you focus on it. I have a lot of work to do, and right now I only know that I have to work extra hard to dig myself out of this hole I've created.

Good luck to you if you are struggling with something like this. I would love to know how you overcame it or if you are still working at it.

****UPDATE****

It took me about a year to dig myself out of that hold I created. And it wasn't easy. I ended up gaining about 50 pounds back, and its because I felt like I needed to make up for lost time. 

The trick to kicking that sugar habit is to go at least 3 weeks without having any sugar or cheating at all. I am now on week 6 again and am happy to report that SUGAR is not a constant thought anymore. Sometime I do want them, but I know that If i cant keep myself on plan this time then I need to quit for good and I'm not ready to give up. So I am going to give you a tip if you don't like veggies:

For this diet my Magic Bullet has been AMAZING!

It's easy to clean, and works quickly everyday!

I use the Mango Smoothie Premade and add it to the large blender. Then I add about a table spoon of Olive Oil (Sometimes, its hard for me to get that in too). After the olive oil I add maybe a few table spoons of water to help with the blending.

This part will turn some people off. I add 4 CUPS (Yes 4) of Kale to the mixture, one cup at a time. Its an easy way to get all the veggies in and I do it every morning. 

Now that was it, I've talked with my coach and she wants me to get at least a cup of something else in (something she just started saying, and it makes me a little annoyed). So because of that I have chopped Jicama and Sweet Peppers for my salads. 

*That's is for my update! Again this diet is not supposed to be going forever so..

"Do it right, get it over with, and move on with your life!"