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I did a bit of cheating on Christmas. The day after, I went back to my usual ways. The strange thing is that I dropped four (of ten pounds that I have had an impossible time trying to lose) since then. I haven't changed anything else, so I wonder if cheating may have caused this to happen? Any insight?

That, and I felt instantly sick to my stomach after eating all of that Chinese food. Really sick...

Has anyone else noticed any holiday cheat related side effects?

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27 Answers

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This may be an overfeed, calorie cycling effect type result. A lot of people tend to cyle higher calorie days, with low ones to help break through weight stalls. I have used this practice with success.

In regards to your other question. I drank more than usual (mostly whiskey), and had a lot more sugar than I normally do (I usually try to keep 15gms or lower per day) and noticed last night that I had a minor acne breakout. Also, I have been a bit congested the last few days.

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I have heard of calorie cycling. I thought I was doing that on Sundays by adding cheese to my menu. I guess I just need to do a bit more of that now and then. Thanks for the response. Hope you feel better soon. – jenna Dec 28 2010 at 17:50
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Thanks, Jenna. In my own personal experience, I have had success with adding about 800 - 1500 calories more on these days (also, these are my workout days), followed by a longer fast / rest day. Not sure how much cheese you are adding, but might try allowing more overall calories. It's kind of neat that you can eat more, to lose more. :) – Todd Dec 28 2010 at 18:35
Neat indeed! ;) – jenna Dec 29 2010 at 0:11
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Gas. Lots of gas.

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Oooh, this one too. – Todd Dec 28 2010 at 18:31
Totally. It's pathetic. And to think I used to think it was NORMAL to be gassy all the time! – Jessica Jan 1 2011 at 20:06
Laughing about the gassy comment! My hubs is fairly amazed by my gassiness the past couple of days due to my huge holiday cheat. So many wheat crackers, apple pie, and cheesy potatoes. So much tootin'. – Deborah105 Dec 26 2011 at 12:05
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I gained 6 pounds >> I blame wine, I drank like 3 bottles in a two-day period. And that's in addition to the Christmas pud, cake, breads, cheeses, chocolate... But it's two days post binge and I've gone with 2 of those so I'm not to put out about the whole thing. At least I said no to the lasagna and pastas ^^ Stark difference with Thanksgiving, seeing as I spent hours prepping several paleo friendly dishes and ended up losing weight. Bah, humbug.

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Yes, my digestion is all out of whack. Feels like food sits in my stomach very heavily for hours. I did a lot of cheating (gluten and sugar) after six months of clean eating and I have gained four pounds. I really hope to remember this feeling next year and not repeat the experience! I signed up for Gluten-free January just as an added measure of motivation, but I am definitely back on the straight and narrow.

(how nice that you LOST four pounds!)

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This is me, except much more sugar than gluten (plus more weight gain, ugh). – Marisa Dec 28 2010 at 17:47
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I've gained a solid 3 lbs from 1 day of eating some bread, some chocolate, couple of cookies, a slice of cheesecake, but also lots of protein (turkey, brisket) & fats (cheese). Sucks. And since then I've gone back to my VLC lacto-paleo diet, but continue to feel "mentaly hungry", even though I know I'm not physically hungry. Hard to get back in balance.

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This is me, but a little more weight because the carbs make me retain water like crazy. – sherpamelissa Dec 29 2010 at 14:32
My fingers are so swollen I could barely get my wedding rings off last night. Blech. – Deborah105 Dec 26 2011 at 12:08
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I succumbed to the social pressures of bread. Paid for it with flu like aches, crabby mood, stomach upset. I asked my husband to slap the bread out of my hand the next time this happens.

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A bit wierd. Scale indicates a pound heavier, but a subjective gut pinch feels like a lot more fat... :( I'm assuming I've got a bit of water retention from the carbs.

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I know what you mean. – texasleah Dec 28 2010 at 19:49
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I tried to avoid gluten but there must have been some cross contamination as my usually "flat as a pancake" stomach looked about 5 months pregnant. I did eat way more sugar than usaul and felt sick as a pig for it. Next year we will have a "paleo" christmas at home. Oh one more side affect was irritation die to relatives sheer ignorance to our (me my partner and my 3 year old daughter) new way of eating..... they'll see :D :D

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Have you managed to full convert your three year old? I am struggling with that. My four year old loves so many things that are and are NOT Paleo. My two year old is already adjusted, but I feel so bad about making a formal switch for Joshua. Ahh! Did you do it gradually? – jenna Dec 29 2010 at 0:28
Hi Jenna, Yes Chloe is fully converted, unless we are at realtives that is!! I'm not going to make her the weird child that doesn't eat cake so if she is at a kids party on nan's a grandad's she can eat what she wants, I just make sure she only eats "paleo" foods at home. Although if it is her birthday or a party at school or something I'll bake her some gluten free goodies but that is very occasional. I didn't do it gradually, ripped off the plaster in one as they say, she's always been a good eater any way so didn't have any problems really. – Carly Dec 31 2010 at 11:56
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My allergies are bothering me :/

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About 50 g of 85% organic chocolate caused 3 days of constipation. And the wine and champagne added 2 pounds on the scale, even after the constipation problem is solved.

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I had sugar. I took a bite out of a several chocolates from a box someone gave me and had a little gluten free muffin/cake. I got a mild sugar headache, but that's it! I feel fatter, but I felt this way before Christmas, haha.

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sucktastic sleep.

gas.

terrible recovery from an average-intensity workout.

a condition linked to inflammation flared up, hard.

and most annoying:

a gnawing, constant desire to keep eating the shit that is making me feel like shit.

enough.

if i wasn't convinced before, i sure am now.

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Are you aware Melissa here and at huntgatherlove.com is co organizer of NYC Paleo Eating Meetup? – Dexter Dec 29 2010 at 15:58
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Sugar and carb consuption = massive and uncontrolled increase in the appetite. I had a couple of pieces of Pumpkin Pie and large pieces of chocolate along with some rice on Christmas Eve. I was shocked at how ravenously hungry I was after eating that crap. Woke up the next morning 4 lbs heavier (I think it was just water retention, back to my normal weight today).

Also woke up with a Christmas morning zit after the Christmas Eve carb and sugar binge (my skin, which has always been problematic) had been clear for several months with paleo eating and some medication.

Totally not worth it. No more, not ever again. It wasn't even really enjoyable, I felt like crap 2 minutes after eating the junk. Lesson learned.

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I felt sick two minutes after eating too! Insane. – jenna Dec 29 2010 at 0:01
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I drank a ton (bourbon and wine) and ate good amount of sugar (damn gluten free treats). A little bit of back acne and a little bit of tension followed (plus a mild hangover one night). All expected, all treated resolved themselves quickly with some smart supplementation and hydrotherapy (ie taking a bath). A weird outlier side effect has been a decreased appetizer these following days. I'm currently sitting staring at an unfinished four egg omelet. The hypothalamus is telling me not to finish it but screw him! It's mine.

UPDATE/EDIT/Slash something I just read: I was reading 4 Hour Body and Ferris had another neat hack for getting over binges. He recommends a binge day as a part of his slow carb diet. The part of his binge day that caught my eye was "gastric emptying." He doesn't care about the quality of the food on the binge day so he doesn't care if it gets digested; he just wants to keep metabolism spiked. Since the food is crap he wants to crap it out ASAP. To do this he recommends taking diuretics like yerba mate and coffee (looking for a level of 100-200mg of caffeine; he weighed his poo to make sure mate sped digestion. It did.) Regularly scheduled binge days aren't my thing but this is a good step to help minimize damage when accidental binge days occur.

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Lol, after 3 days of a cloric surplus, I found the perfect opportunity to go for my longest fast. Hit 36 hours for the first time. Absolutely effortless. When I did eat, I almost felt nauseous (sp?). Still havent had hunger pangs since, but forcing myself to eat maintenance calories – Todd Dec 28 2010 at 21:39
Interesting update! Thanks! – jenna Dec 29 2010 at 13:28
Todd, I am glad someone else posted about fasting. I was really able to mitigita the effects I had from my Xmas cheating through fasting (in laws were here and they eat very high carb/sugar + 2 big dinner parties with friends). My two plans of attack were: fast until dinner or if it had been a whole day's infraction like on the 25th (total binge on xmas cookies and ice cream), i would just cease to eat the next day. I find this a very good way to mitigate the effects of non paleo days, as it essentially cuts all the infractions in half, especially the carbs. As long as not done chronically... – carne Dec 30 2010 at 16:18
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I had similar results as you, Jenna. It was over Thanksgiving that I had a lot of sugar and carbs. While I was bloated, feeling horrible, and generally unhappy with myself, I had finally moved past my weight plateau. As an added bonus, I shrunk as well. I mostly maintained my diet over Christmas except for one cheat meal and I have again dropped a few more pounds.

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I fell face-first into a dish of sugar these past couple days, and my digestive system is not letting me hear the end of it. Ugh. Painful, bloated tummy combined with...uhm...unpleasant lavatory interactions is steering me back to the path of the clean eating. I'm also up a couple pounds, and I'm willing to blame sugar-induced edema for that one. Oh, and my face itches now. (Am I reacting to all the sugar I ate? Yeesh.) Either way, I'm cleaning up my act and hopefully this water weight will fall off ASAP. =)

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It was inevitable for me that I'd consume some sugar and wheat/grain based things over this period. I added a lot of high quality cinnamon to ameliorate the effects - of the sugar, anyway - not had any side effects, but glad to be back.

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I've never heard of cinnamon ameliorating sugar side effects. Do you possibly have a link? Sounds like a lot of people might be able to benefit from this info – Todd Dec 28 2010 at 21:36
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newscientist.com/article/… – Stephen Dec 28 2010 at 22:12
For a while I took loads of cinnamon supplements. Puritan's Pride has them for cheap. I stopped taking them because my doctor told me they'd make my cholesterol numbers better. Turns out I have little regard or concern for cholesterol numbers these days. However, I did enjoy the post-supplementation burps that smelled of cinnamon! – wjones3044 Dec 29 2010 at 20:25
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Cookies= uh oh. I finally caved in and ate the little buggers- like seven in a very short time. Now I feel bloated dizzy and weird.

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I committed carbocide and ended up getting salmonella because of it...

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On boxing day, I ate wheat and sugar for the first time in 6 months (homemade christmas cookies)

No immediate effects, but the next day I woke up with a very puffy face/lips/eyelids, creaky feeling joints and fingers, and I was up about 2kg. The whole body swelling has subsided though, and I went straight back into paleo + intermittent fasting which got rid of the water retention quick. Lots of gas too, after having not farted in months!

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All of the farting comments is making me feel a bit better! It's weird how when you're eating paleo you just don't have gas. I never thought about it much and then when I eat badly I toot like a horn. Never put the two together before. – Deborah105 Dec 26 2011 at 12:12
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I threw up at 1:30 AM on the night to monday and my skin is acting up too. Damn those bought christmas cookies. But if I hadn't eaten them, my grandma would've been mad at me.

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The skin is my barometer, along with digestion. What we do for family... – wjones3044 Dec 29 2010 at 20:22
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I got weight gain and water retention for Christmas. Woo!

I'll get it off next week. I'm not thrilled about it, but arguing with my mother is much less fun.

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Sorry to hear that your mother is not supportive. Mine tries, although I don't think a low carb meal is in her repertoire. – wjones3044 Dec 29 2010 at 20:21
Thank you. :) Honestly, no one in my life is supportive. Sad, considering I used to be morbidly obese and now I'm not. It's hard for them to deal with the new me, though. I try to be understanding. – sherpamelissa Dec 30 2010 at 12:18
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I didn't feel well after pigging out on holiday food, then I had a burger/fries Sunday...and Monday.

Now I have the poops.

Bad.

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Gained a few pounds from gluten-free chocolate chip cookies mom made, some GF pancakes shaped like Yoda--a Christmas present I had to try out--and subsisting on corn chips and chocolate milk for about a week. I did eat a giant turkey leg/thigh for dinner on Christmas with a side of mashed turnips. Probably my most paleo meal the entire time I was visiting.

Other side effects include not fending off everyone's colds which I am now getting I think and a sore back from shoveling the foot of snow on Cape Cod of all places.

Positives include my dad reading about half of Good Calories Bad Calories already--my present to him. Also I got Robb Wolf levels of sleep in. And when the power went out, my family all sat by our fire and played board games which is sort of paleo.

The good thing about Paleo is that I was so lean going into the holiday, the few pounds I gained are not a threat at all and I know, as I fry up my bacon this morning, they are not going to be permanent fixtures on my body.

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Violent, sudden illness befell me the night after a rather reckless neolithic food binge and I wound up praying to the porcelain God for a while.

I'd say I'll never do it again, but it would be a lie.

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I hear that! I never learn. I was praying the porcelain god after a few buffalo wings last night! haha – jenna Dec 29 2010 at 22:13
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Body odor. This from just two really bad meal choices in three days. (I'm on vacation.) (Damn dry roasted peanuts, among other things, including some not-so-heinous vegetarian meals.) I didn't pack any deodorant because I've stopped using the stuff. Otherwise I just feel "off."

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i had cookies, beer, wine, aguardiente (type of a spirit), but i also tried pigs ears! Notorius side effects, gain a few pounds, articulation aches, gas, tons of gas!.

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