Has Keto made me a slave to sugar?

[Saphire]

I used to drink it often but stopped about 4-5 months ago.

I think that may be the answer. Took a few months for those bacteria to die from lack of support and suddenlly you had sugar cravings

[Saphire]

One more thing. My understanding of how cravings is that they last for 3 days after your last carb indulgence so you could eat poorly on Sunday and not have a craving until Wednesday. It may seem out of the blue but is not. So I would say if you can last until the fourth day it may go away.

Also, I would keep a food log to see if there are hidden carbs such as maltodextrin that are causing the indulgence

[LizinLowell]

You may want to explore the gut bacteria. Did anything else change? Did you get sick? Food poisoning? Antibiotics or other medication? All that can change the gut flora and supposedly changing the gut flora changes what we crave.

This was my thought too! I hope adding the fermented food back in helps! That addiction feeling is no joke. And it’s not something you can really control just by thinking about it. It like, takes over. Ugh. I hope you can get regulated again and kick the cravings to the curb.

[Madeleine]

@allan
I know this is not in line with most of the suggestions (except maybe Cloudy’s) but maybe this is happening because at this time you actually need more carbs. I realize that’s not the usual suggestion on this forum so I should probably say that I believe that keto’s amazing for so many people and situations, and many many folks do well on full keto for years. However, there are others who thrive long-term on a more cyclical approach. Maybe you’re getting sweets cravings because sweets are the hyper palatable version of carbs, but actually just raising your carbs a few times a week would help?

Or not! I don’t know, but since this is so unusual for you and you’ve been keto for a while it might be worth a try.

[allan]

Or not! I don’t know, but since this is so unusual for you and you’ve been keto for a while it might be worth a try.

Thanks for the advise. I think I will go with what worked when I first started keto in June last year and worked well for me. So back to basics for a month with a focus on gut health and making sure I’m properly fat adapted. If the cravings do not go away I will certainly take your recommendation into account and try light but healthy/slow release carb cycling rather than hitting those sugar treats!

Just admitting the problem today has helped me 1000000x focus on the bigger picture.

[Pete_A]

• Forget about fasting for the moment, keep myself full on keto food until I can start recognising true hunger signals again

This. Unlimited. Stuff your face for 4 days, pound steaks, 6 egg omelettes etc.

I bring this up as a possible solution as my first week on Keto I did gorge on high fat no carb foods and then by day 5 craved nothing.

GOOD LUCK!

[allan]

I bring this up as a possible solution as my first week on Keto I did gorge on high fat no carb foods and then by day 5 craved nothing.

I also did this on my 1st few weeks starting out. So back to basics for me. Thanks for helping confirm the sanity in my plan!

[allan]

My understanding of how cravings is that they last for 3 days after your last carb indulgence

This is very true. The first few days are the worst and I offset this by overeating keto food. Helps kill those nasty sugar re-feeding cravings. This weekend I will look like a drug addict in withdrawals as I am going cold turkey with that sugar.

[Moo]

There are these 2 voices in my head arguing with each other, one saying “EAT THE SUGAR” and the other saying “But its too sweet, you’ll not enjoy it, remember last time?” Yet the 1st voice keeps winning.

The voice that speaks in caps, always wins ! ;).

Junk food addict here, specializing in jujubes and chocolates, most of my life, along with potato chips and fast foods. Started Keto Jan 1, 2018, and just flew through 20 pounds in the first month, and then spent the next 3 months hearing the voices you speak of. Off and on every couple of days, eating junk food, then keto, junk food,then keto then slightly disgusted with my lack of willpower, back to the Keto way of eating.

Found in the end that reviewing topics in this site and diet doctor site renewed my motivation for Keto and very quickly removed the “caps lock” on my junk food voice, putting me back into the right mindset to regain that focus of putting my health ahead of my cravings.

This is the only WOE where I have been able to control my cravings for sugary foods, so for you to find the opposite effect, really just blew my mind. If it helps, besides reviewing Keto articles, I make sure that I have certain keto meals that I love ( maybe even addicted to) available at a moment’s notice. Keto chili, air fried chicken wings, keto coleslaw with thick cut tender pork chops all used to throw in the way of some of the “VOICES”, whose names shall remain unspoken.

I am feeling satiated most days now, whew, and i find for me that cravings are gone in about 3 good keto eating days, so stick to it, and work to get past that second day. There are a lot of good suggestions in these responses, so I’m glad that you raised this question, Thanks, it helped me just as much as I hope it helped you.

[Cosmicwolf]

I tried this, last week i did a 3 days fast and then I started to eat keto again and felt great… but I was one sugary drink of falling the horse again… I’ll try to keep up with the fasting but is so hard after you ate carbs. Any suggestions for fasting after eating carbs?

[infromsea]

Emily,

I suggest LOTS of fat and zero carbs when re-feeding. This will prevent an insulin spike and should stop you from getting the carb craze that can lead to a binge.

Good luck!

[Cosmicwolf]

Thanks you! I’ll do my best!

[smilingbee]

This is so me! I’v been falling off the wagon pretty much every week for the past 2 months. I am worried that I am doing more damage to my health and my metabolism with this yo-yo-ing…

After keto, I feel my relationship with food has worsened… I was never a binge eater… I was an overeater… but, with every time I fall off the keto wagon, I go on a bend and binge like junk food is going out of business. Somehow, I feel as if I will never ever get to eat the junk food ever again when I resume keto and I need to eat it all RIGHT.NAOW!! it gets worse when I am PMS-ing. the voices in my head are so strong, its like a siren call… by the time, my mind catches up to the fact that I am eating garbage, I’d have stuffed myself with all the cookies and cakes I can get hold of.

I think I need professional help.

[buxomlass]

I feel ya, @smilingbee (get out of my head, lol). I had a RIGHT.NAOW night tonight. (le sigh)

[Regina]

Binge on parmesan, sour cream, cheddar, cream. That is what I just did and it is so satisfying!

[lenore]

I have a very similar path. That makes me think keto is not for everyone maybe. I put on weight on keto, or rather, can’t just sustain it - my tastebuds call for more and the bingeing comes always wit more force and harsher impact afterwards. I’ve tried to eat just healthier, more paleo than keto and it works for me. Belive me, I was so close to getting professional help also. And still am I think.