I love keto, but I turn into a raging carb monster when I cheat just a little bit


(Matt M) #1

Hi guys. First time on the forums, and I need some advice.

I’m a pharmacist by trade, so I know my way around scientific literature and the machinations of my own body, and there is no doubt that keto is the lifestyle for me. I always feel better eating this way, I always have more energy and I love everything about how it affects me (lower BP, higher HDL, less weight, etc.).

Usually, when I make it one week on a keto regimen I’m locked in. Until…something happens. Like, I will go to a relative’s house and convince myself that one spoonful of mashed potatoes is cool. Or that I can have a cookie or something similar because I’ve been doing so well.

And then, like feeding Gizmo after midnight, I turn into an insatiable carb-eating machine. I eat all the carbs with reckless abandon. Candy, ice cream, breads, pasta, rice, all the “comfort foods” I’ve been programmed to love all my life…they take over. And I feel miserable. And I gain weight and get mad at myself. And then I start over, which is difficult.

I’m back in the carb-eating frenzy currently and I am looking to start fresh once and for all tomorrow, because I’m not getting any younger and refuse to allow myself to become sick with metabolic diseases (currently I’m just hypertensive but worry about other things down the road with my eating habits).

My question: What can I do to combat this urge? I know in my mind that I shouldn’t eat bad carbs and as soon as I do I know it’s going to spiral out of control. I desperately want to break this cycle. What do you forum folks do to prevent these lapses? Is there a thread addressing this?

I appreciate your time and insight. It’s such a great way to live and I love being keto but I just can’t stay on the wagon. Hopefully you all can help me stay there. Thank you!


(Ron) #2

How do you feel about pork rinds?:slightly_smiling_face:


#3

I think you answered your own question: don’t have that one spoonful of mashed potatoes or that one cookie. Your problem doesn’t seem to be so much in avoiding the “cheats” as it does moderating and them and keeping them to a minimum. If your cheats tend to be all or nothing, you’re going to have to teach yourself to stay with nothing. Hard, but not as hard as getting back on once you’ve fallen off.

I wish I liked pork rinds, but I just can’t stomach them. I’ve tried several times. Maybe you’ll be OK with them… worth a try.
Sue


#4

It seems like you might be one of the unlucky ones who has an addictive component to your intolerance for carbs. I’m one too- even a small amount of bread, pasta, potato and I am ravenous for all the carbage. So I just can’t deviate from my plan.

The Diet Doctor has some informative (if not exactly science heavy) videos about this- I sat through all of the sugar addict videos, and while they aren’t exactly teeming with evidence, they do help to recondition the way you think about it


(Ken) #5

How often does this happen? If it only happens once a week you’re fine. If it happens often enough to refill your glycogen, you’re in trouble. If you’re trying to lose fat, keep it to one or two days on the Weekend, or wait five or six days between’em.

It’s not a cheat.


#6

It happens to many of us and not just on keto. Many people fall off whatever diet they on and turn it into a full-on binge as a result. Myself included. You just have to break the all or none mentality. When I go over on my carbs, I tell myself I’m still better off than I was before I did keto, as long as I stop right there.


(Steve) #7

I’ll take something from back when I quit smoking (finally, for good) - a little over 9 years ago. If you DO fall off the horse, don’t admit defeat, simply say to yourself “It was a slip…I’m done with it” and don’t have another one. One shrink that tried to hypnotize me (and failed) said that it takes 14 days to make or break a habit.

Well, to actually get to the point of being fat adapted can take 6, 8 or even 12 weeks for some people.

And, ultimately, you really need to decide that this is something that you want and then commit to make it happen. I know lots of friends still smoking and still having a hell of a time trying to quit. Their problem is lack of commitment. They think it’s ok to sneak one every so often.

Addicts can’t. Not ever. I found that out the one time I quit (via hypnosis that time) for 4 years. All it took one one cigar - it was like flipping a switch - back up to a pack a day within a week.

I recently had a weekend where myself and a friend both decided to splurge and have some higher carb foods and beer. Wasn’t worth it. Not one bit. The foods really weren’t that enjoyable (I think the anticipation ruined it for us in part) - and then the carb cravings after (I’m still craving beer). Just a huge mistake. We still should have gotten together, but we should have done something keto friendly.

When you go to friends, take along some keto snacks in case you get cravings. Pepperettes/dried sausages, cheese, maybe some boiled or pickled eggs. Have something you can turn to if you feel your willpower waning.

Eventually, your body will be fat adapted and those cravings will become a distant memory.


(Sarah Bruhn) #8

It’s a learning process, that A LOT of people including myself go through. Every fall is an education, you are teaching yourself…
Lesson one: if I eat the carb I will crave the carb
Lesson two: yes, every single time! (repeat until you really get the idea)
Lesson three: oh and i feel like crap when i do that too
Lesson four: this is a life long habbit that is hard to break
Lesson five: this isn’t even food i genuinely like!
Lesson six: this isn’t worth it, I’m in agony
Lesson seven: I will prepare ahead, bring keto foods, yes even on christmas and on my birthday!

It took me 2 years to fully embrace keto even on birthdays, I cut gluten first, then only ate “good” carbs, then LCHF, then “sometimes” Keto ect but i see the process was just what had to happen to go against- culture, conditioning, addiction to carbs, and psycological factors. KCKO it’s worth it… even now 6 months into strict keto I am refining my version of Keto.


(Raj Seth) #9

Before you go somewhere that you anticipate will have carb temptations, tank up on fat. Have a few slices of bacon or a pound. Eat a slice or ten of salami. Eat fat till satiety BEFORE you go. Then you will be so full and dates that the thought of eating food will make you sick. Might help resist the siren call of the carbage!!


#10

I can understand completely. I’ve tried low carb before (Atkins days) but I don’t think I was eating enough fat and lots of “dirty foods” (mock danish anyone). It never lasted long. Too many cravings.

My advise up the fat up. Of you want mashed potatoes tell yourself you can have them after you eat a few tablespoons of butter or a glass of heavy cream. You won’t want them anymore.

We got a free box of ice cream novelties at the Grocery Store yesterday, I was hungry and DH decided to let the kids have some in the car. I craved one at first but I grabbed a dry cured pepperoni and ate a couple hunks of that. Craving gone and no guilt. Fat is magic for hunger and cravings.
I also decided to treat myself to some snow peas (love them but they are pricey) even those buggers gave me cravings. Next time I’m going to eat them with fat instead of by themselves.


(Chris McRoberts) #11

Thank u brother, this is me. I talk myself into having something, then the carb deluge begins


(Terence Dean) #12

Once I understood the real reason for the cravings; bloody sugar addiction, it became real clear that the huge amount of carbs I was consuming before was the fuel that was feeding the sugar monster.

It’s not until I really got that, did it all make sense to me. Now I look back at the crap I was eating and can see exactly why I put on weight, and couldn’t keep it off when I did lose it. This knowledge is all you need to motivate yourself to stay off the carbs, imo.

Oh yeah and I forgot to mention, play “The Magic Pill” documentary that’s currently on Netflix, that will open your eyes to the truth about wheat.


#13

Dursk! Get outta my head!! :wink:

But seriously, people like us who do this kind of stuff (over and over) are better off just never having that one spoonful or that one cookie or that taste of anything non-keto. It sounds harsh, I know, but many former (or current!) carb addicts actually find that going 100% is WAY easier than 99%. Just. Don’t. Start. Without that regular stimulation, the carb cravings can stay subdued.

There’s steadily growing evidence that, at least for certain brains, white carbage hits the dopamine receptors in much the same way that alcohol and drugs do. Medical professionals can quibble about whether this should be formally designated an ‘addiction’ (I certainly believe it is), but the compulsion is real for sufferers, and not to be taken lightly.

For more reading on that point, I’d recommend you check out Food Junkies (Tarman and Wardell) and also The End of Overeating (David Kessler, former head of the FDA - a fascinating read, how he got all those food industry insiders to reveal to him all the tricks of their trade is beyond me). Maybe understanding the full picture behind what’s going on in your brain will inspire you to stick the course and thus build your OH HELL NO muscle.

Best of luck. You’re not alone in this struggle.


(Ron) #14

Can I ask (respectfully), I know you like the occasional fruit, doesn’t this spike your cravings? Just curious.


(Terence Dean) #15

No it doesn’t Ron, it might raise my blood sugars temporarily (I’m non-diabetic) but it doesn’t seem to trigger any sudden urges to splurge on more sugar, or even carbs. I did eat a large piece of commercial cheese cake the other day to jolt me out of a three day stall with no sudden carb binge afterwards but other than that its been great not even getting thoughts about eating bread, or KFC. I can even watch ads on TV now and I’m not tempted…lol. This is the longest I’ve gone without paying a trip to the Colonel’s, 10 whole weeks, its a flaming miracle!

When I went zero carbs, and just allowed hidden carbs in vegetables, etc, that’s when I really lost all thoughts about carbs (sugar). How long this will last remains to be seen but for the first time in my life I feel like I have some sort of control over what I eat, that’s all due to Keto.


(Ron) #16

Good to hear. I was just curious. Did the cheesecake come with a hangover ?:sweat_smile:


(Terence Dean) #17

Nope but it did give me a 1.1lb drop the following day. :stuck_out_tongue:

I’ve done that before on other diets to get myself off a plateau, my JC counselor would tell me to eat a chocolate bar to do it after I’d come in and register no change for a couple weeks. Just wanted to see whether it would work on Keto and this time it seemed to work. I don’t even know why it works! It just does. I got a bit cheeky once and drank beer to see if that had the same effect and when I told her she was not impressed! :beers:


(Ron) #18

I have yet to venture into the indulgence realm of higher carb intakes and probably won’t until reaching (or close to) a set point, but it is nice to gather possible reactions I might encounter when I do. Thank You.


#19

FASTING! If you can’t fast the next day you can’t eat high carbs (my rule); but if you can and you have to partake in such activity then know it doing you will fast for 24hrs minimum and then return to Keto the day after that.

Fasting is the glue that binds everything with this change in my opinion (even though I’m early in my transformation; I’m not expert, this is just what I feel as a gut opinion after the last two months has changed my life).


(Matt M) #20

I appreciate all of your time and feedback.

It comes down to addiction for me. There’s no two ways about it. Even eating “just a few carbs” like a handful of pretzel sticks or a few French fries throws me off to the point where I find myself craving more, and then I give in.

I just have to stick to a zero-tolerance policy on most bad carbs. I don’t miss them when I don’t have them, but when I get a taste, I’m insatiable.

To answer some of the questions posed here:

I love pork rinds. If you guys haven’t yet tried the pork rind waffles recipe from these boards (and I think linked from the dudes in their podcast), you should. They’re wonderful. And pork rinds as bread crumbs - delicious!

I fall off the wagon a lot more lately, like every second week or less. My longest stretch full keto was about five months. Lost 35 pounds and felt great. Then I ate White Castle. It was all downhill from there!

I like the idea of fat loading before a tempting meal or potentially bad situation. Great suggestions!

And finally, when I can get past the mental block I have programmed about eating three meals a day, I do absolutely love fasting! I’ve done several one or two day fasts, and have had a couple of 80-100 hours before. I love fasting and need to get back into the habit of intermittent fasting with occasional extended fasts.

Thanks for the help, everyone! You’re all great!