Coming back from a fall off the wagon and need some encouragement

(Sue) #1

So I totally fell off the train 2 days ago. I was traveling for work and picked up pre-packed ‘southwest’ chicken salad for lunch and it turned out to be sweet. It was all down hill from there! Dinner with clients at a Mexican food bar and I just gave in. I could have easily gotten keto options but I got tempted :frowning: :((

Yesterday I woke up hungry and whenever that happens I reach for sugary “healthy” granola bars or crap like that at the office. I let myself eat what I wanted ending with a sushi dinner and dessert. I think I needed a cheat day. It’s also my time of the month (sorry TMI) and that clearly had something to do with it.

I was doing so well with weight loss too (went from 240.8 to 226.4, in 2.5 weeks), but I don’t dare weigh myself till my period is done!

Today, I have been good so far, having coffee for breakers (no time to eat) and will get back to eating keto. All encouragement is highly appreciated :slight_smile:

(Robert C) #2

I think you should review your diet for complete “ketoeness”. Over 14 pounds in two weeks is too much too fast (like calorie restriction or fasting type speeds) and will definitely lead to this sort of rebound behavior. You should probably be at over 2000 calories a day while becoming fat adapted in the first weeks (if you are eating fat to satiety versus limiting yourself).

It has to be done once to stop the yo-yo’ing.

(John) #3

So go back to what you were doing before, if it was working.

Your post has all the answers you need. You need to focus on commitment and change. Until you change your mental approach to eating, you are not going to succeed.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #4

So you messed up yesterday, no big deal. Get back on that train. Remember how this made you feel next time and try to learn from the mistake. None of us here are perfect either. Just read a thread by a sick guy who wants canned tomato soup. Ok, stuff happens in life, just do your best. And I really mean do your best. You’re a strong woman who can do what you know is right for you.

You sound very happy with your weight loss. Treasure that and be proud of it. It took resolve and discipline to do that. Stay strong and true to your course and revel in your accomplishment. Don’t spoil your efforts. You know what’s right and you’ve got this. I believe in you. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Sue) #5

I actually lost 7 lbs in the first 3 days and since then its been less than a lb a day - so I think I might have been carrying a lot of water weight?

Also - my BMR is 2150 (I am 5’7" female and lead a very sedentary lifestyle right now, plan to start working out gradually after PT for lower back pain). I am trying to keep calories around 1700-1800 a day, though I don’t count very well. How do u determine calorie goals?

(Sue) #6

Agree a 100% percent. The main reason I like doing Keto is that it helps me beat the cravings and my sugar addiction. But I feel like the demons still call my name from time to time.

(Mendy) #7

You can do it! If I can do it I honestly believe anyone can. I know how hard it is as I just started the keto on Monday and haven’t done it for eight years.
I don’t know how I’m still alive since I live on 95% carbs and sugar and I’ve been this way my entire life. I don’t like 95% of vegetables and only eat the starchy ones which is not an option now.

I’m in no way a pro on the Keto diet so all I can do is root you on. Everyone makes mistakes and that’s OK as long as you get your mindset straight and begin again! Very best of luck to you!

(Sue) #8

Thank you so much @David_Stilley :heart::orange_heart::yellow_heart::green_heart::blue_heart::purple_heart:

(Sue) #9

Thanks a tonne @Mendy! And good luck to you too! I was eating a tonne of carbs and sugar before too, in fact I consider myself a legit sugar addict. (I am an alcoholic and can recognize the same patterns with certain foods).

Very best of luck to you and hope we can cheer each other along!

(Shanda) #10

You got this chica! KCKO! Two steps forward one step back will still eventually get you to where you want to be … it might just take a little longer lol.

(Robert C) #11

This will make you feel both physically and mentally restricted (and will lead to further failures like the one you describe).

In the beginning of keto you are supposed to let go of calories completely (not matter how difficult that is) and trust that you will start getting satiety signaling back by regularly eating fat to satiety.

The magic is that after about 6 weeks, weight drops and food focus diminishes. You escape from the yo-yo prison.

Otherwise - keto just becomes a high-fat low-carb calorie restrictive diet that will eventually fail (as all calorie restrictive diets eventually do).

(Evi Machova) #12

Hi I wish you the strength, I just started with the keto diet almost two weeks ago and, just learned about this site and find everyone really encouraging. just gone back for holidays in Czech and its hard to follow keto diet in this country but luckily we have plenty of meats in our diet the challenge is to avoid the dumplings and potatoes and heavy sauces that is used with everything over here. but am trying and am sure it might take few tries fr lot of us before we get it perfect and will get used to the right measurements and portions. but we will get there and we will learn from our mistakes!

(John) #13

It took me a good 3-4 weeks of constant diligence to get to that point, and it was probably 2 months before I could really say cravings for sweet things were gone.

I set for myself some hard rules that I just would not break. No sweets, no cheats, no artificially sweetened things. I went from probably drinking 3 or 4 Diet Cokes a day to none at all. No “sugar free” anything.

Whether or not it was an addiction, I chose to treat it that way. It has worked for me so far. I can’t say what will work for you, and being male I don’t have to deal with monthly hormonal changes so I have no idea what that might put you through.

(Sue) #14

At this point, I still eat each time I am hungry, the calories goal isn’t exactly a … goal. More like a guideline to make sure I am not over eating, because I can easily binge on anything. I suffer from BED, so getting in tune with my satiety signals isn’t something that comes easy for me. I need external tools, if that makes sense?

(Sue) #15

Yes! It is all about learning from our mistakes, like most things in life :smiley:
I can imagine it is hard for you especially if u r with family during the holidays and everyone wants to eat the traditional dishes. But I believe that as long as your intention is set and u r taking steps in the right direction, u will get there :slight_smile:

(Sue) #16

I think the monthly stuff throws women off but I can already see that I am still way better off than before. There is no way a binge would have ended in 2 days with me eating 2 large dinners in the past.

I am in fact trying to do 90 days of strict keto, or rather strict no sugar (or no sweet anything, even artificially sweetened), but haven’t been able to do it so far.

(Katie) #17

I don’t dare weigh myself till my period is done!

Good Idea, and perhaps wait a few weeks once you have back into an eating routine that you are happy with. Weight loss is not the only measure of progress.

Today, I have been good so far

You were not a bad person for eating off-plan. Your morality/goodness is not determined by how well you stick to your diet/eating plans.

Give yourself some grace, and just get back to what was working for you before–most likely your body will thank you for it and you will feel better. KCCO :slightly_smiling_face:

(Robert C) #18

If I was starting keto with BED and wanted to tune my satiety signals, this is what I’d do.

My diet would be eggs, bacon and greens (spinach, arugula, broccoli).

I would buy a single dozen eggs and a single pound of bacon and 4 servings of one of those vegetables as well as butter to sautee / add to the vegetable (after emptying my kitchen).

I would make 3-egg + 4 ounces of bacon omelets, without spices of any kind, and have that along with the vegetables (sautéed in butter or steamed with butter melted on top) – again, no spices.

In this scenario, I would have no keto “backups” or snacks like a barrel of cashews from Costco – essentially nothing else.

The two points are, keep it boring by staying away from hyper-palatable foods generally (specifically keep none of your favorites around) and make it an effort to go to the supermarket after every fourth meal.

I would then hope satiety signaling starts and boredom keeps BED in check.

I am not a doctor and have not had BED but, in my imagination, this is how I would slow myself down.

(I think you need resolve the BED issue before any type – restrictive or non-restrictive – of diet will work.)

(*Tame Those Ghrelin Gremlins) #19

Hello, I know that I do not know you but back when I was in Highschool still in my Graphic Design major I had a wise professor. I entered into an art contest ( I had always taken first place) this time around, I missed first place because I decided to go with a new medium out of my comfort zone…I failed. I felt so hard on myself. I was upset and he told me, sometimes it takes a big fall to know where you stand. I don’t remember who the quote was from.

Point being, you can’t learn anything important if everything comes easy for you. It’s our failure that teaches us, if you learn from it then that’s great. Repeated failure on the same issue is the problem imo.

Also that new medium I tried and failed with is my strongest now I guess the hurt of failure was healthy for me. It can be for you too.

(Sue) #20

Thanks a lot for the thoughtful suggestion. I might try this.

My current tools for resolving BED (working with a therapist) include keeping food boring. Exactly “staying away from hyper-palatable foods” like you said, and using no spices except salt and pepper.