Fell off the wagon well sort of

(Karla Sykes) #1

I haven’t been eating so I guess that’s classified as fasting. But when I do eat it’s been tich carbohydrate and I feel a difference in my body. I mean I have not gained weight but I think it’s due to my sporadic eating time and patterns. I really need to get back on track and get back to my keto Foods. What do you guys do when you fall off the wagon? I usually don’t have this problem because I have a controlled environment. But lately and my life I’ve been spiraling out of control

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #2

Carbs are a great temporary fix to emotional turmoil. The temptation is real and the gratification is immediate. I totally do not blame you for succumbing. Maybe a bit of self indulgence in a time of grief is healthy.

But your commenting on it makes me think it may be time to reign it in and take control. Because controlling your sugar (carb) intake will help you keep in comand of your emotions. Even perfectly valid ones. Eating keto will not make the loss of your son easier. But it very well could help you maintain your own mental health through the process.

(Karla Sykes) #3

I totally agree with you. And I think the only reason why I haven’t gained weight is because I have days of fasting not eating. Before fasting was difficult to me and now I can go two or three days without even eating and not realize it. And then when I do eat in sporadic and and have not affected my weight yet maybe because of my sporadic eating habit. I’m going to try to really man tomorrow

#4

It’s possible that because of the grief fasting, your carb feasting/bingeing is much less damaging/destabilizing, so keep that in mind. Minimal windows of eating allow for more flex. Dr. Jason Fung often talks about how with fasting, it’s not so much what we eat but when we eat it - so there’s that. Grief fasting probably has its own biochemistry (ghrelin crashes, lack of gastrin and enzymes, etc). As does grief binge eating. A lot of factors are involved in the way food and grief combine - the body knows the truth of our experience - so there are normal processes with their own timing.

Since you’re already fat-adapted, your body will get back into ketosis within hours or days after higher carbs - it’s not like you have to start over. And fasting boosts ketosis anyway.

For eating, maybe focus on keto/ketofied comfort foods that nourish your soul and/or bring back happy memories for you or others? If there are special dishes that inspire your appetite, a quick internet search will give you ways to keto-fy it. Like, macaroni and cheese?

Otherwise, healthy fasting (with good hydration, electrolytes/salt/lemon, herbal teas and/or nourishing broths) is not a bad thing and can be a very good thing if you have body fat to burn. The body can draw whatever energy it needs from the stored fat, as it’s designed to do! In fact fasting can be an important spiritual and emotional realm of healing (especially when accompanied by napping or retreating). A lot of physical recomposition too because autophagy starts around the 36 hour mark of water/tea-only fasting for cellular clean up. But once you reach 48 hours of fasting it’s good to try to eat a few good meals before fasting again, to make sure your minerals are good. Medical supervision is usually advised for longer fasting, because minerals can be very tricky, etc.

To stimulate the appetite, you might try making good smelling fry bases like some onion cooked in good fat, then adding some garlic or ginger for aromas that can inspire further cooking… Or, if you don’t have to cook, you can use simple superfoods for quick small meals that bring concentrated nourishment without having to eat much of it (probiotic yogurt and berries with keto syrup, several hard boiled eggs chopped w/ mayo/salt/pepper, cheese & berries, eggs and quick fried baby spinach/kale, broth with collagen & egg yolks, avocado & bacon & nori seaweed snacks, etc. Or some protein with a big bowl of salad greens dressed with other interesting additions like chilli oil, pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, moderate portions of salted nuts/seeds, half of a chopped apple or pear to sweeten your spirit, feta cheese, olives, etc)

Other things that’ve really helped me in the past with severe grief (though I can never know what it is to experience what you’re going through) are heavy use of the essential oil of Lavender, inhaled on hankies, used on the body, sprinkled on linens before sleep, put into baths, diffused in the car or at the desk, etc. And, the herbal tincture Motherwort (for nervous exhaustion and female emotional overwhelm, esp for maternal stress, and as a physical & emotional heart tonic - with a long history of usage in midwifery). And/or the homeopathic called Ignatia Amara (also called the natural Prozac), here’s an article with many references about it:

Be very kind to yourself Karla, regardless of the wagon :purple_heart: