How bad is it eating bad carbs here and then in between Keto? I feel so guilty

(Dave Smith) #21

If you in the “losing weight” stage, try try try not to have any cheat foods. It may derail you to see the 5 pounds you lost during the week, come back all in one weekend. If you MUST have cheat meals (try to make them cheat MEALS and not cheat DAYS) then at least try to wait two weeks. If you gain 3 pounds after you lost 10, that’s not as hard to get past as it would be if you lost 5 and gained 4. Make sense?

(Dave Smith) #22

I’d say don’t ever bother feeling “guilty.” Those foods are AMAZINGLY tasty and tempting, and we all know they are really bad for us, but you don’t need to beat yourself up over it. Just say, “Dang it, I like cookie dough ice cream and I’m going to eat some tomorrow night after dinner and get back on track the moment I put the spoon in the dishwasher, and I know it will set me back a little bit.” But you have scheduled it in, and you are choosing to do it. And when you are fat adapted, getting back on track after a sugary treat will be easier because you are in more control of your cravings. But try try try not do do that more than once every two weeks if you are in the weight-loss phase. If you do that every week it’s like a treadmill and you will never get the streak of weight loss that you are looking for.

(Andrew Anderson) #23

I have had my share of intentional stumbles and my body hated me for it. If I fall off the Keto wagon, one Carb makes the next one, then the next one, next 100 easier. A lapse for me turns into an avalanche. I just have to focus on making one good food decision at a time.

(Diane) #24

I don’t think it’s a matter of strong will. I have been keto, for the most part, since June 2017 and felt great. Then Thanksgiving and old feelings about how I hate the holidays so I started into old eating habits. Yes, I felt like crap after. I’m hoping next year I might be able to navigate the holidays better without falling into old patterns. I’m an emotional eater with history of eating disorder so it’s more than just the food.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #25

It takes time to build a habit.

I’ve been LC/keto for years, but still occasionally have something with carbs. The difference now is that I have my family helping me, and a long habit to fall back on.

In prior years, from Halloween to Christmas was usually a mess. This year, while I had the occasional indulgence, it was easier to say no most of the time, and to avoid using and indulgence as an excuse to go nuts.

I certainly hope that over the long haul, I’ll get even better about saying no to carbs entirely.

If you stick with it, you will likely find, as I have, that you will train yourself to want those comfort foods less and less often.

Good luck!

(Brian) #26

Yes, cheating does make a difference. It may make more of a difference if it’s more often or more carbs/sugar ingested, less if less often and less carbs/sugar.

Forget the guilt. There isn’t a think you can do to change what you’ve eaten in the past. Just go forward from the here and now.

Nothing wrong with a burger. It’s the bun that’s most of the problem there. Fries aren’t so good so if you have to have some, make it a small amount.

For stuff that you shouldn’t be eating, but you are going to have some, have very small portions. Maybe eat a tablespoon of ice cream and a single good sized fork full of cake instead of a pint of ice cream and 1/4 of a large cake. If there are times when you can substitute a keto friendly version of something, so much the better. There are some pretty good desserts that can be made keto.

Since it can take several days to move back into ketosis after a significant indiscretion, it’s best not to cheat too often as that can really mess with your progress. I know, life doesn’t always hit you on your keto eating schedule. It happens. Do the best you can, and roll with it.

KCKO, as they say…

:slight_smile:

(Diane) #27

Love this reply. Shows understanding for us who have not been keto that long and still struggle during certain times in life. Thank you.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #28

Keto is a marathon, not a sprint…give yourself the time and space to make it a habit, and keto will treat you right.

(Linda) #29

I’ve been into this WOE for 10 months. When I eat ‘bad’ carbs, I pay a heavy price. Bloat, interrupted sleep and fatigue.

What I’ve noticed is the slip ups became fewer the longer I ate keto. When I track my macros I’m also less inclined to eat those carbs.

I don’t recommend allowing slip ups but if they do happen, get your keto back on ASAP. Every day away from this WOE is a day you’re not as well as you could be!

(Sara ) #30

I like this approach, seems healthy. There is a low carb sugar free pumpkin pie which I have been making for breakfast its amazing.

(Cheryl Meyers) #31

Try adding in more fat to up your satiety. You may find that you don’t crave the sweets as much doing that. kcko!

(Richard Morris) #32

Plenty of great comments … I would add that it’s not a drama if it doesn’t become a habit.

We each seems to have a personal tipping point of carbs, above which we find it easier to keep eating them, and harder to stop eating them. And each of us appear to have a different amount of time it takes of not eating to get back to ketosis.

I personally don’t make a lot of ketones no matter what I do (currently fasted for over 2 days … 0.4 mmol/l), I fall out of ketosis over about 40-50g of carbs, and it takes me about 5 days at or below 20 to get back.

So if you are in a position where you have to eat above Xg of carbs , accept that it’s going to be tough for the next Y number of days under Z g of carbs a day … and what your personal XY&Z are will be unique to your circumstance. For me X=50 g, Y=5 days, Z=20 g

Guilt is a waste of energy. It’s just a biochemical state you have gotten yourself into, not a moral crisis.

(Sara ) #33

Thanks :smile:

(Dave Smith) #34

I was instructed by my wife yesterday to buy donuts for Chanukah, apparently that is a thing. But then we got pizza for some reason, and I could not resist all this stuff so I grazed on that all day, and man it was yummy, and I made SURE to weigh myself today and I found THREE EXTRA POUNDS. Wow. Tonight we have to go to a party where there will be tons of that stuff, but luckily that 3 pounds will remind me to just stay away from that stuff and look for the meats and cheeses which will be there too. And I DO NOT feel guilty about that. My worst feeling is “nice one, dummy.”

I’m back on LCHF/Keto this morning and for the rest of my days anyway.

(Ken) #35

Meh, that three pounds is just water/glycogen/bulk. It’ll go away quickly. Do you remember your initial glycogen drop weight when you first started keto? Depending on body size, it can be as much as 10-15lbs. You have to get that all back first before there was even a possibility of regaining fat.

For me, the gluten in the crust would have made me feel crappy, and even have a very unpleasant laxative effect.

(Sharon A Peters) #36

As I learn more about metabolism, my body, Thermonuclear Energy Effect of the Standard American Diet, etc. I am realizing that a carb indulgence - and here I do not mean getting jiggy with the creamed spinach or the roasted cauliflower or Brussels sprouts - is an horrific whiplash to my staggering, teetering, exhausted pancreas that are now, that are now on the road to recovery - thanks to following a keto eating plan. It is the equivalent of sending your body to Fight Club every time you indulge. And, a negative sidecar to that is that your carb craving never goes away.

(Sara ) #37

I know them chanuka donuts …

#38

According to Michael Eades (old post, but no studies that I’m aware of have contracted it since then), being low-carb most of the time and then “falling face down in the donuts” is worse than being high-carb all the time.
https://proteinpower.com/drmike/2006/04/19/low-carb-caveat/

(Marie Dantoni) #39

OMG …_this is interesting.

Blockquote

(Daryl G Jackson ) #40

My thoughts are that low carb diets such as this FANTASTIC keto diet are NOT forgiving. One can cheat on most diets and keep going although most other diets require calorie counting, starving and excruciating slow weight loss. If one is in ketosis and CHEATS it could throw one out of ketosis, and could take days of not cheating to get back in. Why cheat? There is low carb ice cream, low carb bread and bagels (have you tried a low carb grilled in butter sandwich? BEST EVER TASTED!!), low carb pasta, keto deserts, fat head pizza, etc, etc and etc! I and my fiance are truck drivers, it’s a little harder out here but its being done. Chin up, keep calm and keto on.