Cheat days?

(Empress of the Unexpected) #61

Keto is easy for me because I love meat, cheese, sour cream, just anything fatty in general. Also, I added up a typical day preketo, and I usually did not go above 150 grams of carbs. In addition, I’ve never been a big eater, so if my husband orders a mountain of fries, I on rare occasion have four or five. And that’s it for the day. I’m usually back in ketosis the next day.

Some people can’t just stop there. Everyone needs to be honest with themselves about their limits. I am grateful that a few fries does not set off a chain reaction of carb cravings. If it did, I would definitely not even think about eating off plan. the longer you can go in terms of months before you even think about going off plan, the better. Again, a few bites of something carby is enjoyable, but that’s just me.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #62

Having said all that I just finished a breakfast of bacon and sour cream. Hard to beat that!

(Jeff Henderson) #63

I was stalled out bad for 5-6 weeks at 203 lbs. (6.2 male) my original goal was 194 and I really tired to get under 200 by end of the year. My big issue is I was doing OMAD and 2MAD on weekends eating what I think was reduced calories and correct macros, but I was freezing. I don’t know if I was cold because I lost 50 lbs or I slowed down my metabolic rate even more then it was to start. About a month ago I started doing alternate carb days and keto days for two weeks straight. I then transitioned to carbs one day a week (I took two days at Christmas and adjust my days for the holidays) I’m on my second week of carb meals (nite) once a week.
Low weight at start : 203
High weight after two weeks carb feed : 211.2
This morning: 206

I have been eating more calories and looking to follow the carb nite solution ideas for a couple weeks to see how it goes. Yes the carbs are exciting in the beginning and you do think about what you want on a carb nite, but to be honest I think this will decrease for me because of the way I feel the next day after the carbs. Any input would be appreciated if anyone has similar experience.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #64

It seems to work for some forum folks. Personally I don’t feel bad after eating carbs.

(Amy) #65

I’m waiting for this explanation as well.

(bulkbiker) #66

If you are in ketosis then you are obviously eating a low enough quantity of carbs to maintain your ketones. That is the definition of a ketogenic way of eating. However just because you may be able to eat X number of carbs per day does not mean that everybody can and still maintain ketosis. The 20g per day “limit” came about to try and “guarantee” that even the most metabolically deranged person could achieve a state of ketosis.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #67

I agree with you, myself, but around here, “keto” means under 20 g/day of carbohydrate. You can argue with it, but you aren’t likely to get anywhere. But Dr. Phinney talks about under 100 g/day being a well-formulated ketogenic diet.

P.S.—I’ve never found that particular post again, but one of the early forum members said that Carl and Richard really wanted to set the carb limit at 0 g, but were afaid it would put people off. . . .

(Running from stupidity) #68

Absolutely this

And it’s not overly helpful to noobs to be telling them how it can be for n=1 fat-adapted people without significant disclaimers like that.

The experts say 20g for noobs. LOTS of experiences show that works. I’ll stick with recommending that as a result.

#69

Keto has never been a ‘one size fits all’ diet. Some fast, some don’t, some people can eat certain foods, some can’t. We always throw around the n=1 thing when someone says something works for them and not for others.

If you can vary your carb amount and still stay in ketosis, you’re still keto, imho.

(Garry (Canada)) #70

We should describe the first 3 months as:

STAGE 1 – KETO INITIATION PHASE - Under 20 net carbs/day. No cheating. Strict adherence to macro’s.

(Running from stupidity) #71

Very Atkins :slight_smile:

But yeah, it’s a good point, indeed.

(Leilani) #72

When you feel like having a cheat day, take a look at the desserts on Keto blogs. There are some REALLY good desserts, and I’ve found that they feel like a cheat day even though you’re still keto happy

(Tina Emmons) #73

didnt read all responses
In the old days “cheating” was full fat cream, cheese, rib eye n butter! Every day is cheat day now! Enjoy!:sunglasses:

#74

I just cheated hardcore. Wonder how long this will take to buff out.

(mole person) #76

@Ketonewbie1976 are you after ketosis for weight loss or some other goal?

The reason I ask is having a few ketones show on a meter doesn’t mean you are burning your own fat cells, it just means that you are burning some fat. On the ketogenic diet we eat a lot of fat for energy so it’s easy to still be in ketosis and NOT lose any body fat. I’ve done this many times. I can “cheat” quite a lot and still have ketones in the 0.5-1 range. In fact I can eat a chocolate bar (35 grams of carbs) every single day, have loads of cream in my coffee (25 grams of carbs worth) and loads of veggies and still be in ketosis to a mild degree with a total carb count of 85 grams. But I won’t lose ANY weight. In fact the pounds start to creep back up. So don’t just chase some tiny proof of ketosis. You need to watch how that level is WORKING for your goals and that doesn’t take 2-3 days.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #77

Excellent summary. I’m starting to trust how I feel more the next mornings. I don’t eat much in the way of cheats but I do like some refried beans every week or two. They never bother me but I limit what I eat to 2 to 3 tablespoons and I usually anticipate having them and reducing incidental sources of carbs earlier in the day (aka leafy greens and related).

I do find that I if I drink, evey 1 glass of dry red wine, and have some carb in a meal, staying below 20g I can feel it in the morning.

(mole person) #78

@daddyoh One of the greatest benefits this dietary change has bestowed is that along with all the tracking and paying attention to what’s going into my body has come an intense awareness of the effects various foods have on me.

Although I do still test my ketones occasionally I no longer even need to. I can accurately predict what my ketone level will be just knowing what I’ve been eating in the last four days and tracking the sudden jumps in water weight and inflammation that accompany excess carb intakes.

(Scott) #79

I fasted through breakfast to make room for a noon street festival hog fest. I knew the pork ribs would run out fast so I went from smoker to smoker eating ribs. The cheat day part is the three IPA’s I used to wash them down. :beers: Just got off the scale and didn’t gain a pound. Life is good!

(mole person) #80

I don’t gain weight from a carb-cheat instantly. It takes a few days for the weight to come on. In fact I’m usually at zero weight gain even the morning after. Then I’ll have a couple of days of weight gain even if I’m back to < 20 grams of carbs during that time. I usually gain about 4% of my weight in those following days. Now it isn’t actually fat, at least most isn’t. I’ll lose nearly all of it again over the six days following the end of the gaining period, but it does have an effect on both how I feel and how I look during that time. It also will stall me out completely during that entire six to eight days and often leave me with a small gain as well. It’s usually a very small gain, but then my cheats are also fairly small and short lived.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #81

I track BG and Ketones on longer fasts >50hrs because I’m interested in GKI ratio.

I’m way more sensitive than I used to be with alcohols and even a little amount of wheat. I probably just felt like crap all the time before. Now this WOE is so much better.