Good morning. So I just have a question got y’all that have cheated. I usually cheat once a week and sometimes twice and eat very bad. It’s usually a lot of pizza and some milk duds or any candy I can get a hold of. I guess I’m a lazy ketoer. Lol. So I usually check myself the next day, via urine test and I’m kicked out of ketosis. Well yesterday I had some 7-11 buffalo wings and a big bad of baked hot Cheetos. So I took in around 200 carbs for the whole day. It’s green about 16 hours since and my test is still coming up with ketosis. Way lighter than I was on for a few days, but still there. Has anyone had this happen before? I’ve been on keto for about 6 weeks and lost around 20 pounds already. I feel way better than I used to. Although today I feel a little sluggish because of the meal yesterday. I guess not having all that bread from the pizza that I way once a week, helped me stay on light ketosis. Maybe it’ll drop more throughout the day and I’ll get kicked out of ketosis. I hope not. Thanks and have a good Saturday peeps.
Cheated but still ketoing
Just keep at it Ralph, I did the same for the first 5 months of this year. I ate off the grid, about 30% of the time, and I could never keep it to just one day, always 2 and sometimes 3. I’d go back to eating strict for about 2 weeks max before I ended up cheating again.
The times that I remained in ketosis for a day after carbing out didn’t last more than that day, and the ketones eventually disappeared. I would just keep at it, to get back into ketosis and feel better even though i was failing to remain in that state for as long as I’d hoped.
Being some what able to lose weight quickly, like you, I lost 17 pounds including water weight but it took me 5 months. That’s 3 lbs per month, WHAT!!, so I am not going to get my weight down to an acceptable goal at that rate ?
I am now 14 weeks in, strict, fat adapted, and during this time I have lost another 28 lbs, which is 2 lbs a week, NOW I"M TALKING, much preferred over my previous loss rate.
Someone, I don’t know who, on this wonderful site posted the following excerpt from https://www.wunderlist.com/blog/get-fit-in-2014-with-wunderlist/ and I took it to heart, to get past those 6-8 weeks to see what fat adapted really felt like, and I did it.
It’s so much easier now, and imo non-breaded buffalo wings are simply amazing. Not only this, but I seem to be able to eat up to about 40 grams carbs and still remain in ketosis whereas before over 20 would kick me out. The sooner you get strict the better you will like the results.
It reads
What would you trade?
If you could trade your body for one that is 50-100% better in a year, what would you give?
The secret? I’m not selling anything. It’s just truth. Choose any non-bullshit system and actually stick with it for 6 months and you can and will experience life-changing results. You can extend your lifespan significantly.
After 20 days, you’re almost 1/6 of the way through a major transformation. You have probably gone down one clothing size or are close to it. How far do you want to go?
I"m halfway there already !
Thanks. I usually eat non-breaded wings, but yesterday I figured it’ll be ok. It’s so tough to really start on track when I’m the only one doing it here. I’m not strong willed when it comes to snacking. I’ve surprised myself that I do really well throughout the week and the the wknd comes and I fall off. Gonna give it another shot and hopefully I can go longer.
You might want to rethink your cheating a little bit.
High fat and very low carb (i.e. Keto) is going to help you (the longer sustained, the better).
A bunch of carbs is not going to hurt too much - might burn away quickly depending on activity level and metabolism.
But, adding carbs and Keto meals together is bad. Carbs send the hormonal signal to store fat and the Keto meal is right there supplying it.
So, a bunch of Cheetos will do a little harm but a bunch of Cheetos and a Ribeye fried in butter will do some real good fat storing.
Simply eating the Cheetos for lunch and a Keto meal for dinner would probably be much better (keeping the insulin spike away from the introduction of a large amount of dietary fat) while still satisfying a Cheetos craving.
@RobC. I have heard conflicting opinions on “if you must eat a carby meal” whether first thing in the morning or last meal of the day is best. What is your opinion?
Cheating by definition means you get the results you want through dishonesty, trickery, or deception. Taking a victory that is not rightly yours through unfair advantage. You aren’t cheating KETO, the way of eating has nothing to lose. When you eat off plan the only “cheat” happening is you cheating (sabotaging) yourself. There is no advantage to be gained by an off plan meal. The more you do it, the less you get from your efforts. As much as you do it I have serious doubts about how much time per week you would be in ketosis. If you white knuckle it through carb withdrawal and feeling crappy note how you feel. Is the pleasure of taste for 30 minutes worth the cost of feeling sluggish all the next day or two? Is it worth constantly resetting the fat adaptation clock to zero? The sooner you realize that carbs = sugar and sugar = a drug you are addicted to the better success you will have with weight loss and turning around the metabolic and hormonal derangement that our modern diet promotes. This is KETO in it’s essence. The idea is to stay in ketosis and become fat adapted. You will never do that cheating yourself with food that isn’t really food, it’s a recipe for bad health. Leaving junky processed carb heavy crap behind and eating properly the way people were meant to eat should everyone’s goal. You need to start looking at them as anti foods, seed oils and processed grains are poison to your body. Only humans create total junk to try and get good tastes first and no thought towards sustenance. 
If I remember correctly, Ben Greenfield has said several times that carbs before bedtime help with sleep - so if better sleep is your goal - you should look into that more.
If weight loss is your goal, I am not sure it matters. I think what would matter is the meals and activities around it. Per my response above - the carb heavy meal should be low in calories / fat so its resulting insulin response doesn’t have much to work with in terms of fat storage.
If you have breakfast and then work out - probably a carb heavy low fat breakfast would be fine - burned off quickly.
I think the same for dinner, if you happen to work out after dinner - have that carb heavy dinner and then get the glycogen burned off with exercise to make the through-the-night fast more effective.
So I guess my overall message would be keep high calorie and high fat intake away from the single low fat high carb meal of the day and try to put the that low fat high carb meal in front of a workout.
If you don’t exercise and cannot see a way to keep higher fat and calorie intake confined (i.e. you’re eating when hungry so can’t predict timing of your Keto meals) then I would go with Ben Greenfield’s suggestion (after more research to ensure it is the case for you) to at least get the benefit of better sleep.
I think you will continue to hear conflicting opinions on this - I think there is no “one size fits all”. Different people will get better or worse results between morning and evening high carb meals not due to time of day - but due to these other lifestyle things.
I totally agree. I am cheating myself. I follow keto all week. My body doesn’t go into ketosis until about tue or wed and then I mess up Fri or Saturday. It’s just a bad habit that I need to break. I went 3 weeks on keto and felt awesome. I’m trying to get my wife to do it too so that temptation wouldn’t be there. I see what she eats and it gets me craving. Like I said, I’m weak in the will-power area. I’ll get there though. Starting today I’m gonna give it my best. Thanks
On the whole, I find a ketogenic diet highly satisfying. I find that my tastes have adjusted, so that high-carbohydrate food, whenever I do indulge, doesn’t taste nearly as good as I remember.
As a sugar/carb addict, I still get cravings, even when not hungry. This is to be expected, and it is never a good idea to yield. I can’t always manage to stand firm, but the experiences I’ve had serve as good reminders why not to give in to the urge to eat lots of carbohydrate. Another factor is that I am highly vulnerable to developing diabetes, and I am excessively fond of my fingers and toes . . .
You “normal people” kill me.
One cheat would be the end of my Keto, and new found health. Carry on with that “control dial”. Wish I had one too.
If I used artificial sweeteners, I would gain weight and would consider that a screw up for the day, so each of us is different =).
You are singing my song. I’m all in or all out. Addictive personality probably. I quit alcohol and cigarettes and know that one of soother would lead a bender… the same for sugar/carbs.
Best idea – for one meal – is to eat meat or vegetables first, then carbs last. That will help to limit your blood sugar and insulin hit.
As to WHEN to eat that meal, that I can’t say.