Failure

(Todd) #1

Hi Guys. Need some help.

I began living the keto lifestyle in January and saw awesome results both in health/wellness & weight loss. I was dedicated until about April. In April I began training for a double century bike race that is in September and I immediately fell off the wagon. I have tried time and time again to get back on but I just seem to be sabotaging myself. I get back from a ride and immediately have this need for sugar- more specifically coke. So I eat some fatty & salty foods to no avail. Pretty soon I’d give in and have a coke - and a burrito - or burger with fries - or ice cream and I’ll end up eating myself to death. I’ve eliminated this stuff from the house but I’ll find something else to eat. And it’s not a little I end up eating. It’s a lot. I’ve gained back 15 lbs, can’t sleep, feel lethargic and foggy all day - the opposite of what keto makes me feel. And even with all of that - knowing how I could be feeling with more self control - I cannot make myself stop. Please help me understand how to beat these cravings. Please help me get this back on track. Please tell me what you guys did to get this going to get back on track. I am so frustrated and discouraged…sorry for the sob story.

Thanks.

(Linda) #3

I have a long and ugly history with low carb/keto. Back in about 1988 stumbled on the original Atkins book and lost 40 pounds. Then I gained that back plus when I went off. Then in 1996 I did it again and and lost 65 pounds. Then I went off and gained that back plus. Then in 2004 I lost 60 pounds and went off and gained that back plus. (Yes, I’m an idiot). Then in 2013 I lost about 35 pounds and went off and gained that back plus. Then blood sugar started going up. Now I’ve been adhering for 2 and a half years and lost about 60 pounds from my all time high. It will never work as well again as it did the first three or four times.

There is a lesson here for you. The older you get, the harder it is.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #4

So you’ve been out of consistent ketosis since April? And you have a double century bike ride in September?

Not to be pessimistic, but if I were you, I would wait until you’re donw with your bike ride and then make a fresh start. If you get back into it now, you may have to go through adaptation all over again and your energy/endurance levels could be really low for your bike ride.

I wouldn’t go hog wild with the carbs. I’d keep it low for typical meals, but I’d carb up like a typical athlete for your training days and for your double century.

I also think once you take this pressure off yourself to make this deadline, you will be able to come back to Keto more mentally prepared to pick it back up again.

Just my humble opinion.

#5

If you’re feeling cravings for sugar, maybe you should consider getting some good sugar-free treats? It’s not ideal but it might help you to avoid binging on sugar and carbs.

Chocorite make some incredible low carb candy bars which are sweetened with erythritol. I have one every now and then when I feel like it and I can confirm they taste very good! And I find them very filling for some reason.

#6

There seem to be two types of people in this world. One set would have a treat like this and be done and satisfied. The other set (which I’m in), would eat one. Then another. Finish the bag. Repeat. So, I’d recommend caution and recognizing that, for many of us, sugar-free ends in a sugar-free-for-all.

(Todd) #7

I have 8 weeks to race day and Keto makes me drop weight quickly so I was thinking of going keto and getting back into adaptation phase until race week and introduce carbs slowly until race day. This worked for me during my last Half Ironman race really well. After the race I will be knee deep into adaptation and can use the following weeks to focus on nailing it down going into winter. Thoughts?

Any thoughts as to why I crave coke or simple sugars after exercise?

#8

Yeah, thats very true - your mileage may vary with sugar-free chocolate and it’s a minefield of malitol and other carb-filled nasties. About the best you can say is that at least it’s better than binging on the real thing.

[edit] although! For what it’s worth, I’ve found the Chocorite stuff to be the best of the lot so far. Russel Stover is the one to avoid at all costs.

(Todd) #9

Amen to that @PrimalBrian. I’m in this group along with you.

(Ron) #10

Exercise has depleted your glycogen stores and your body wants to refill them.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #11

I have similar cravings for Diet Coke if it’s a really hot, grueling run.
It was all I could think about my last two miles last time I ran when it was super hot. I was also puffed up like a blow fish from dehydration and lack of salt (kind of crazy that you swell up from too little sodium, but I did), so I wonder if the dehydration has something to do with the craving for sweets.

(Aimee Moisa) #12

Todd, I have spent my life with binge eating disorder and last year I spent 8 months in intensive therapy to finally work on it. What you posted sounds very familiar to me so I’m going to give you the advice that was given to me.

My non-professional but highly-examined opinion is that you should not try to restrict right now, and get your headspace to a more stable place. You might need to learn to trust your eating instincts again after being on keto then falling off. Right now you don’t trust yourself, you try to restrict, then you rebound and go overboard. If you are hungry and you feel like eating something not keto, eat it. LET yourself eat it without guilt, without judgement, but with self-compassion and self-caring. Let yourself eat what your stomach and your heart needs until you relearn how to trust that you will eat what’s right for you when you want it and when you need it. This won’t happen immediately, it will take time, but you’re probably already used to putting long-term goals into practice considering the work you are doing to train for the race. The stress of the race training isn’t helping, you might even be unconsciously sabotaging yourself, don’t worry about the carbs until after the race. Trust yourself, be kind to yourself.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #13

Since you are not fat-adapted, you deplete your store of available energy, which is glucose/glycogen. The body can hold a tablespoon or two of this fuel in the muscles and the liver. When this is depleted, the body must either make or eat more. When you are glycolytic the brain expects all of its energy needs to be met from available glucose. When you bonk, it is because your glucose supply has been depleted.

When one becomes fat-adapted, one has access to all the fat stored in the body, something like 50,000 calories’ worth of energy. This is why people like Tim Olsen and Zach Bitter are bonk-proof: Though lean, they still have a body’s worth of fat deposits to deploy. True, the brain needs a certain irreducible quantity of glucose, but it is quite happy burning ketone bodies for all the rest of its needs, and the liver can easily keep up with its glucose requirment.

The key is fat adaptation, and your muscles cannot become accustomed to burning fat so long as you keep giving them carbohydrate (glucose) to burn. Hence the carb/sugar cravings.

(Todd) #14

I have always been able to switch the desire for carbs on and off when I’ve needed to in the past and this time I do exactly what you said @ladylyssa - I’m stressed by this race and am not giving myself any leeway and each failure seems to compound on itself. Thank you for that insight.

(Todd) #15

@PaulL in your opinion, if I was able to get on track, would 6-8 weeks be enough time to Become fat adapted? I burn through my glucose stores pretty quick especially with my weekend rides being in the 6-8 hr range. And I know what to expect since I became fat adapted earlier this year training for an Ironman.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #16

We tell people that it takes 6-8 weeks, but sometimes it takes longer. @Anniegirl9’s advice to wait till after the race is not bad. It probably also depends on just how important winning this race is to you, and the level of value you place on metabolic health. It might help put things into perspective to bear in mind that a well-formulated ketogenic diet is not about losing weight, it’s about regaining metabolic health, with the loss of excess stored fat as a nifty part of the return to health. It’s definitely not a quick-fix diet, but rather a long-term way of eating.

(Ron) #17

You say it so much better than I do.:grimacing::laughing::laughing:

(Alec) #18

My advice:

  1. Know the cues, like the above, and plan for them. On the ride, take some keto food with you, so when you get back home you are less hungry. And drink lots of electrolytes on your bike. Keep your stomach full of water and electrolytes.
  2. I think the best way to deal with cravings is bacon and eggs. I have a rule: if I start craving anything, I eat bacon and eggs. Any time, any place, anywhere, I will go find bacon and eggs. And if one round doesn’t do it, i do another round. And then another. After the 3rd, my body kinda gets it that it ain’t getting sugar, it is gonna have to live on bacon and eggs. It soon learnt!
#19

I think this is brilliant advise and I should use it

#20

You’ll change when you are ready.

(Todd) #21

Thank you guys. @Anniegirl9 - I think you are right. I need to wait until after this race to get back on track. I want to resist that but I know it’s what I should do.

@ladylyssa - everything you said is what I do not do. I do not trust myself - but at the same time I don’t put a whole lot of value in food. It’s fuel to me and I’m adjusting my thinking to value “good food” that will be good for me long term. Thanks for the insight. I may follow up with you in the future to get some additional thoughts from you as my mind set adjusts.

@PaulL - thank you for the clarification on the craving.