Beer screwed my whole week? page

[TxAgDuckman]

Ok, first off, I have not read The Primal Blueprint yet. I ordered it last week, so I should have a much more thorough understanding once I get it and read it. That being said, I have a question to which I think I know the answer. Last week was my 4th week of going primal. Weeks one through three were fantastic. Weight loss was amazing and my energy level was through the roof. Week four was not much different, but the weight loss stopped. In fact, I gained a pound after losing 21 pounds during the first three weeks. I was VERY strict for the first three weeks, but decided I wanted to see what would happen if I cheated a bit. Soooo, I decided to drink some beer on Tuesday night (my regular poker night). To be exact, I drank eight Bud Select 55's. Though it may sound like a lot, this was me being VERY restrained. I played poker for eight hours (4pm til midnight) and drank a beer an hour followed by AT LEAST 20 ounces of ice water after every beer. On Wednesday night, I had fajitas and cheated a bit there, too. I ate two corn tortillas, six corn chips and about a half a cup of pinto beans. The only other thing I can think of that MIGHT be considered a cheat is creamed spinach....which I had three times last week. One GOOD thing I did differently, though, was I walked six days (early morning) last week for at least 50 minutes on each walk (fairly fast pace.....HR steady between 140 & 150 bpm). Otherwise, nothing was different from the previous three weeks. Oh yeah, I also had two glasses of pinot noir on Thursday night.

So my question is this: are "cheats" that are that mild THAT detrimental? Or is there something else that caused me to gain (such as muscle building due to the walking)? Don't pull any punches...I can handle the criticism. In fact, I already decided that beer is officially out going forward because I felt like absolute dog crap on Wednesday after playing poker (the only day of the week I didn't exercise). I RARELY get a hangover, but I had one Wednesday after consuming FAR less beer & way more water than I normally would've in a poker night!

[elorajade]

You call that a mild cheat?

8 beer - 80 carbs
Pinto beans 21 carbs
corn chips ?? ~ 10??
corn tortillas ?? ~ 20 carbs
fajitas ?? ~ 30 carbs

Carbs will cause your body to retain water, so it may be water weight.

Can't see creamed spinach a cheat, its what? Spinach and heavy cream?

Get back on the wagon, and next time plan a cheat, instead of beer, try the hard stuff, really good quality scotch or something, same buzz for way less carb load.

Go sign up at fitday.com or sparkpeople to track your carbs/calories/fat/protein to give you a better overall view of what you are eating.

[Mac]

I have always believed that how you live your life is your choice. If you want to "cheat" or "fall off the wagon" that is your choice and how you deal with that choice is also your choice. I had a bag of Skittles yesterday. So what? I made the choice to eat it and I am also making the choice to shrug it off and continue on with my normal life. I think people need to live more consciously and take full responsibility for their lives. If falling away from your lifestyle goals truly bothers you then make the choice to do it less often or not at all, but regardless take ownership of your choices and make the necessary adjustments if your choices aren't in line with your goals. Is occasional "cheating" going to kill you or put 10 lbs of blubber on you - not likely. Like I said before I think how you choose to react to your indulgences is the important factor.

[Stabby]

Cheats can be really bad or not so bad, it depends on what you do and what your goals are. If you're doing very low carb fat loss, you're going to be pretty sensitive to carbs so any carb blasts (8 beers and mexi food) are probably going to throw you off. Then for those with auto-immune problems, the shit that sets them off is going to be off-limits. I had eczema, acne, and mood-disorders since I was young. Turns out it's gluten, although I'm not "celiac" according to doctors, I'm sensitive to it according to a naturopath. Same goes for dairy for me. Gluten, dairy, big ol' heaping helpings of oxidized omega 6 or trans fats. That stuff is not good for cheats. A cheat shouldn't derail your progress, and with the GI irritating stuff or the liver-damaging stuff, it can leave consequences that last a while.

I cheat with a couple of shots of Jagermeister and occasionally some chickpeas.

[TxAgDuckman]

You call that a mild cheat?

8 beer - 80 carbs
Pinto beans 21 carbs
corn chips ?? ~ 10??
corn tortillas ?? ~ 20 carbs
fajitas ?? ~ 30 carbs

Let me fix that for you....
8 BUD SELECT 55 - 15 total carbs
BEEF fajitas (skirt steak) - 0 carbs

Knock about 90 to 95 carbs off that list....that's why I said "mild" cheat.

One other thing I failed to mention...because of the cheats, I did my first intermittent fast on Wednesday. 22 hours from 8pm Wednesday night until 6pm Thursday night. Could the IF put my body into starvation mode causing me to gain?

[Stabby]

That's getting up there in length so it's a possibility. IFs if you've been eating constantly throughout the day for a long time should ideally be shorter to begin with so the body doesn't see it as a famine situation. Perhaps eat breakfast, skip lunch and eat dinner to begin with and do that a few times before launching into a longer one.

[TxAgDuckman]

Thanks for the tip, Stabby. I guess I should've read a little more about IF before taking the plunge.

[Katie82]

To be exact, I drank eight Bud Select 55's. Though it may sound like a lot, this was me being VERY restrained. I played poker for eight hours (4pm til midnight) and drank a beer an hour followed by AT LEAST 20 ounces of ice water after every beer.

Holy crap! Weren't you constantly on the verge of peeing yourself with all that beer and water?!? That's pretty impressive.

Just joking with you. I would say water weight but it sounds like your "cheats" were a few days ago and IF you've been strict for the last few days any water weight should be gone so I don't know. I agree that a few IF's like stabby described should get you losing again (provided there are no more cheats!)

[MikeEnRegalia]

Maybe you're indeed gluten sensitive. In that case, when you eat gluten free for a while and then suddenly expose your body to gluten again, there's usually a strong reaction. It can also involve bloating, which means that you'll experience short term weight gain that's mostly due to water. Add to that the short night (not enough sleep) ...

[TxAgDuckman]

Thanks for all the info & advice. Like I said, I was mainly experimenting to see what I could "get away" with. Now I know.....NOT MUCH! That being said, no more beer for me & no more crap carbs (i.e. corn tortillas) for me!!! To say I was a little disappointed when I stepped on the scale this morning would be a major understatement.