Cheated on purpose and don't hate myself

(Jay AM) #1

Alright, so, I’ve posted before about my job. I am a semi truck driver primarily in the Midwestern and southern states. Ironically, I haul a certain unnamed brand of yogurt. 45,000 lbs of sugary starch thickened milk. On the truck, my food choices are controlled by the places I drive and wherever I think I can fit a 70 foot vehicle. This happens to mean that my Cronometer has several custom entries for Wendy’s, Arby’s, and my 5 star restaurant meal choice…Denny’s. I also have a pizza place I order from where I proceed to take all the toppings off and send pictures of the naked crust to non keto friends and relish in their horror. I also tend to do a 16+ hour fast daily.

I drive for 6 weeks on the road and earn 4 days off. In that time off, I usually take Lyft and Uber to get places and it’s cost prohibitive to just go out all over and eat all the things. So, I’ve stayed keto on time off.

This time was different. I was able to rent a car for three days and madness ensued. I started off good and it descended from there. So, I made the decision to not be keto until I leave again. A reminder of why I’m doing this to begin with. I’ve had sweets and sugared sodas and all the things I crave and love. Except…I don’t love them anymore. Sugary sodas taste flat, sweets taste off, the tortilla on my quesadilla was perfectly cooked but, it’s ruined the delicious filling with its blandness. Not only that but a lot of my old (and sometimes scary) health concerns came back. Peeing a lot more, open mouth snoring while wearing a CPAP mask, restlessness, tired eyes, no motivation to accomplish anything, slowness of reaction and movement, blurred vision, eye twitch. Tonight I just couldn’t cheat anymore and had a buttered steak. I needed this reminder and proof to myself that what I’m doing is important and that all the junk I’m craving isn’t even that good. KCKO

#2

I’m only 2 weeks in & already noticing how different things taste- 2 teenage boys constantly eating sweet stuff, I licked the spoon of a very expensive brand of Belgian chocolate icecream after dishing up, it tasted of chemicals! And I can drink coffee with no sugar now, amazing! Just waiting for more energy, & a clearer mind!
Sounds like you do well to stick to it with your job!

#3

So, my wife and I had real pizza and ice cream for the first time in eight months this past weekend. We had no difficulty getting back at it and enjoyed our treat thoroughly. Our craving, it seems, was significantly more psychological than anything else.

#4

And now you know :slightly_smiling_face:. And that kind of information is what makes keto effortless. Everytime I’m at an event with the sweet and starchy, I’m always asked “don’t you find it hard?” “How do you resist?” etc. I can only say is that 1. No - not really, its really quite easy and 2. All I have to do is think about what will happen to my insulin level and the related ‘yuk’ and that takes care of the rest.
Good on yah! Not easy to do this on the road for sure.

(Sophie) #5

Having been low carb for a number of years before going Keto, I’ve also found that 9 times out of 10 when I try something, it tastes like crap and is not worth it. But how to explain this to my carb burning friends. :roll_eyes:

(ANNE ) #6

With Easter Sunday coming up I am planning on allowing myself some homemade Xmas pudding. It is a carbohydrate laden deal, home made with suet (beef fat) and IrishStout. I hope it tastes as I remember it.
I get that I will break all carb limits, but if it is the only thing I eat all day, perhaps my body will forgive me and shift back to ketosis the following day.
My daily Keto blood levels are ranging from 1.2 - 3.4 so not going too badly here. If nothing else I can do a N=1 experiment on myself.

(Karen) #7

You know what is hard is the disappointment at how some of your favs now taste. Oddly I am starting to not like cheese.

K

(Doug) #8

@J_A-M Hey JAM. :slightly_smiling_face: I drive a tractor-trailer too, about 25% of the time for my job. Just got back from a big swing from the midwestern U.S. to southern California, then Denver, Colorado, finally east to Pennsylvania, and back to home base in West Virginia.

It certainly makes things more challenging - that not having handy transportation. Fasting fits in really well, there. A big plus for me is not getting sleepy nearly as much as I used to - I attribute that to much less of the eat/insulin response/blood sugar changes than I used to have.

(Brian) #9

Oh, bless your heart. :frowning:

I have this little thing running through my brain when I read that of Wallace hearing that Gwendoline doesn’t like cheese. “Can’t stand the stuff.” And then the disappointed look when he says in reply, “Not even Wensleydale?” (You have to know Wallace & Grommet to get the reference.) :slight_smile:

(Karen) #10

Lol, And I do love Wallace and Grommet. I wonder if I just liked cheese more with bread, crackers, tortillas.:worried:

K

(Brian) #11

I had to stop and think about it. I don’t really eat cheese by itself much. Occasionally, when I’m making something with cheese, I’ll have a little slice of it to munch on. But mostly, it’s in other stuff. I like it in my eggs. I like it with broccoli or spinach, like I’d have in something kinda like a quiche. I like it in a sauce like you’d put over broccoli or cauliflower. I like it (probably cream cheese) in creamed spinach. I like it over a chicken patty with a little tomato sauce, like chicken parm, but often with a mixture of cheeses, some kind of smoky cheese, if I can. And I enjoy a piece of cheesecake from time to time, haven’t had one in a month or two, but maybe soon I’ll get the gumption to make one.

Sorry, rattled on there a bit. :slight_smile:

Wallace & Grommet are a couple of my favorite characters. :slight_smile: Glad I’m not the only one who enjoys a bit of their silliness. Need to laugh at silliness often, laughter is good for us.

(Jay AM) #12

I experienced this too. Before, I’d sometimes have to take a nap a few hours in even though I’d already slept because I was so tired.

(Jay AM) #13

Not the case for me oh no. I love cheese alone or with things like pepperoni. I do find that strong cheeses can be too strong now like, an extra sharp cheddar used to be like a medium to me and now it’s overwhelming.

(Troy) #14

My Cheating and visual food porn addiction

I just watch Carnival Eats on the Food Network :laughing:
All the time

Those that are not familiar. The host just tours all the carnivals around the States. Tasting all the yummy carby treats! Lots of sugary carby frying etc

#15

I might have a burger (with the bun) & fries when I get to 6 months. I think I earned that.

(Jay AM) #16

I find that rewarding myself with junk food is counterintuitive for me just like on any eating plan. It’s like what I’m doing isn’t good enough so I feel the need to cheat and that’s just not a good mindset for me. Like, this cheat wasn’t a reward it just kind of happened. I prefer rewards that aren’t food based or are fancier keto food like a prime rib. Honestly, cheats usually make many dedicated ketoers feel crappy. I feel like death today.

(Trish) #17

I found that the few times I “cheated” I didn’t enjoy the food nearly as much as I thought I would based on how much I recalled loving X item before. The anticipation was better than the actual food. And the one time I had a cheat meal (Japanese restaurant with tempura and rolls and teryaki etc.) I ended up praying at the porcelain alter at 3 a.m. so that totally wasn’t worth it.

(Brian) #18

Nothing wrong with the burger!!! Eat the burger and enjoy the burger!!

I am intending to try something new soon… I want another stuffed burger, something about the cheese oozing out from the inside of it. But along with it, I want a keto bun and some jicama fries.

I think I can make it work and be low carb, too! (I was just surprised to actually find jicama at my local Kroger store.)

(Candy Lind) #19

Gimme a “K!” :ok_woman: Gimme an “E!” :ok_woman: Gimme a “T!” :no_good_woman: Gimme an “O!” :ok_woman: RAH, RAH, RAH! This is the most awesome post I’ve read today. :grin: :grin: :grin:
(those emos were the closest thing to cheerleaders I could find! :rofl: )

(Mike W.) #20

The definition of cheating is essentially “getting closer to your goal with less effort”. It’s not cheating it’s sabotage. As long as you know that it’s obviously your choice to make.