Any harm reduction strategies for an unavoidable break from keto?

(Charlotte) #1

So I’m going on this 6-day yoga & silent meditation retreat in 3 weeks. I’ve been looking forward to it all year. The only issue is that all meals are provided, and they are “healthy, locally-sourced organic vegetarian meals”, and the only special dietary accommodations they’re able to make are gluten-free and/or dairy free. I requested gluten free, figuring that would at least be healthier and possibly, though not necessarily, lower carb. I don’t really know what precisely to expect from the meals–I’m hoping salads and fatty dressings will be available, as well as eggs in the morning, and tofu isn’t too bad on carbs as long as it isn’t breaded, but I’ve also accepted the strong likelihood that I won’t be able to maintain ketosis while on on this retreat.

So far I’m planning to do my absolute best with the food choices available, bring along a bottle of mct oil and maybe some pecans, and implement intermittent fasting to the extent that feels doable. I’m trying not to stress too much about it–the whole point of this retreat is to relax, renew, practice mindfulness, seek balance, all that hippy dippy stuff–and I don’t want hand-wringing over my diet to detract from that. I also plan to stock my freezer with cauliflower rice and those amazing organic frozen chicken wings from Trader Joe’s so that I can jump right back into a keto diet upon my return.

But does anyone have any other suggestions or strategies? Has anyone else experienced something like this before? Worrying over organic food at a meditation retreat is definitely a luxury problem, but the keto lifestyle is very important to me, and I’ve lost a little over 20 pounds in the last 3 months, which I’m very proud of, and I’d like to mitigate any possible weight gain or other issues. Folks in my life roll their eyes at the silliness of this ‘problem’ if I bring it up (so, generally, I don’t), but I know y’all won’t judge me for it, so any advice or helpful anecdotes would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!!!

#2

As long as no one is monitoring your eating, you could take a few other things along with the MCT oil (macadamias? MCT powder for coffee/tea, coconut cream or flakes, maybe even some beef jerky) for at least one of your meals each day, and try to time your most carb-heavy meal right after or before a more intense class. You’ll use some of your glycogen stores in a hard yoga class, so you’ll probably get less of a sugar rise from carbs eaten right after.
I would think that even a warm up (on your own) of some tabata-style bodyweight exercises right before a meal would help as well.

Or you could have small enough portions that no matter what you won’t get a huge carb hit.

But the point is to have a relaxing retreat, so maybe that’s all too much fuss. Your best bet is probably to just go, make the best choices you can and have a wonderful time, then come back and dive back into keto.

(icky) #3

Absolutely take food along like nuts and stuff.

And email them before hand saying you have a medical issue that means you need to eat some non-carb food additionally.

If they say no or try to “monitor” you they are NUTS!

Tell em you are pre-diabetic and have insulin issues.

(Charlotte) #4

Update (in case anyone sees this): I went on the retreat with some snacks, but soon realized that trying to keep even quasi-keto was going to heavily detract from the overall experience, so I decided to just eat what was provided for the week and get right back on track when I got home.

The food provided was definitely carb-heavy, but fiber-heavy as well: lots of legumes, some whole grains and nuts, tons of fresh vegetables, and some fruit (no refined sugar except for honey offered for tea. I did use liquid stevia for that purpose instead). I was served 3 meals a day, with no snacks, and I didn’t eat any of the snacks I’d brought. My eating wasn’t “monitored” (this really wasn’t an uptight kind of place at all, lol), I just didn’t feel the need to supplement with snacks.

I was more active than usual on the retreat and was mindful about not overeating. The morning after I got home I weighed myself, to discover I had maintained the same weight as before I left for my trip, which I was VERY pleased about (I had decided just to accept any incremental weight gain & move on, but ngl, it was awesome to see that my week of healthy-but-high-carb eating hadn’t set me back weight-wise). I did get right back to keto as soon as I got home (on the last day I ate a whole-grain-based breakfast at the retreat, then didn’t eat again until dinner at home, at which time I had a very satisfying keto meal). Switching back to keto was surprisingly easy–nothing like starting up from scratch or after a long period of deviating to a SAD, and no keto flu symptoms. I think the key elements of this experience were: A planned break (as opposed to “giving in” or “cheating”, which, for me anyway, are just slippery slopes back to a SAD), a time-limited break (a week was fine, but much more than that would likely have caused issues), an established commitment to getting back on track with a plan to do so (I made sure my pantry and freezer at home were well-stocked with ingredients for throwing together something simple upon my return, with no non-keto foods available in my apartment), and no highly processed, refined foods to give my sugar beast too much juice (everything at the retreat was made from scratch using whole foods).

So there you go–taking a break can be just fine under the right circumstances, and I’m glad I didn’t spend the week wringing my hands over my diet or weight, and instead spent the week enjoying the peace, beauty and renewal that the retreat offered.

Cheers!

(Ken) #5

Congratulations. Your experience provides a nice refutation of Nutty Keto Dogma.

(Charlotte) #6

Aw, thanks! I’m all on board with the strictness of keto in general, but any type of extremism about any lifestyle choice just doesn’t gel with me. Life is to be lived, and sometimes having a special experience means letting go of the rigidity of every day life.

#7

Sounds great, Charlotte! Congratulations :slight_smile:

(Charlotte) #8

Thanks so much!