Most Frequently Asked....When or How Do I Cheat?

Visitor at Pine Mountain Tree

I have been on a quest to become a low carb coach.  I've been talking up a storm to almost anyone who will listen to me.  I have had some great conversations, heard other people's successes and trials and I realize and understand that low carb may not be right for everyone, especially for those with certain health issues. However, what has come up the most is the desire or the need for people to have an outlet to cheat.

I must admit, I've had this desire before but I didn't allow myself to cheat until I met my first goal.  It was not the experience I wanted to have and I believe if people truly try the low carb lifestyle and get over the hump of having a lot of excess sugar and carbs in their system, they won't need to cheat with food. 

In the past,  I decided to reward myself with FOOD.   To reward myself with the highest carb containing item I used to LOVE to eat.  A biscuit.  I had made my weight goal.  Right..why not?   You can read about that experience in my blog on March 7 titled: Taste Bud Sensations.  Long story short, once I had gotten the carbs and sugar lowered in my system, the food I used to love ...didn't taste so good anymore.   The only way to keep that from happening and keep you from being successful at your lifestyle change is to keep from cheating with food during the first months of trying to make this lifestyle change.

What about birthdays, or special occasions?  In the beginning, I didn't do it.  I didn't cheat.  Later, I'd have a little.  A spoonful.  Like the Mary Poppins song; "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."  Believe me, if you are successful in making the change...that spoonful will taste like medicine and you won't want anymore.   However, the toughest part is to get to that point.

The other fuzzy area of cheating that is brought up is on exercise.  I realize many don't have the time but I do believe it's because they have not embraced the opportunity to TAKE the time.  Moving to a low carb lifestyle or any lifestyle change for that matter means CHANGE.  I was thinking about my journey recently and I realized that I need to share with people how I came to my formula that works for me.  That is key, every one's formula will be different.

When I was told by my doctor to start watching my carbs, I found most websites like this one at Mayo Clinic http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/weight-loss/in-depth/low-carb-diet/art-20045831, state a low carb diet is one in which a person limits their carb intake to under 130 carbs a day.  Most people take in usually 300-370 carbs a day.  So by limiting to 130 you are cutting not only 1/3 carbs but also likely your calories.

I started at 100 carbs a day paired with 10,000 steps of exercise.  I did not lose any weight that week.  I did not gain either.   I went down to 75 carbs with 10,000 steps a day of exercise the next week.  I lost .5 lbs.  I wasn't happy with that, I could have continued at that, but I decided to go to 50 carbs.  I am now at the most extreme level of low-carb diet.  I lost 1 lb. that week and I've pretty much kept to this diet for the next 52 weeks.  I experienced plateaus and had periods of lower than ideal exercise which kept my weight steady for several weeks from December to March.  I am literally down to my last pound.   I am determined to get there this week!  I'm increasing my exercise to 12,000 steps and keeping my carbs at 50 or below each day this week to make it happen.

I wouldn't be able to write this blog for you if I built in a day of cheating.  My cheating on exercise only kept me from gaining weight.  My exercise is light...but it's long.   It's this way for my personal reasons.  I have a heart murmur so I can't actually be overly energetic.  I need to be consistent and not overdo things.  This kinda sucks because I can't go to an incredible spin class and sweat 3 lbs off in a 45 minute setting.  So I walk.  I hike.  I wear a pedometer and I like to go on a hike near my house.  It takes me 91 minutes to do this hike right.   Some days I have to break the hike up into 2 sections because of schedule.  I rarely have the opportunity to do this hike if school is not in session or if it's the weekend because 90 minutes away from my kids is too much time.  Technically, that's when I cheat.  I cheat on exercise.

Steps up to Pine Mountain

I believe most people only walk about 2500 steps a day.  Even those who exercise for  20 - 30 minutes.  I know that because it takes me 35 minutes to climb my mountain and the steps in that are only 3878.  Here is my pedometer reading at the top of Pine Mountain.

Here it is at the bottom of the mountain before I start Blue Oak Trail: I'm 58 minutes in and I'm only at: 5876.  I'm home now and I'm at 9587 steps, I've walked 4 miles.  The rest of the day, doing everyday things, I should get to 11000 or if I'm lucky 12000 steps.  That is why I recommend people who truly want to lose weight should exercise for at least 1 hour to 1 hour and a half and that's almost equivalent to 10000 steps, which is where we all should be and whatever else you do over that is extra.

So...my advice to those who want to cheat with food on the low carb diet...go ahead.  For every 10 extra carbs you take in, just know how many extra steps you'll have to take to get them off.   If it were me..and my formula that works for me.  Another 10 carbs would mean 2000 more steps.  If I want to eat 100 carbs, I need to take 20,000 steps.  It will be important to find your personal formula.

If we cheat, we can't say something didn't work...because we cheated.  So don't cheat, find your formula, make your adjustments.  If you know you are going to walk more..eat more.  If you know you won't be able to exercise more than 2500 steps a day...you may need to really watch your food intake.  I don't know how else to make this point clearer other than that.   Let's hope you have fabulous metabolism and you lose weight by eating 130 carbs and taking 2500 steps a day.  If you are successful at losing a .5 to 1 lb a week doing that...I'll send you a gold star.


Happy Carb Counting!