Keto Maintenance and cheat meals?

#1

So i started off at 171 lbs and within 2 weeks hit my goal of 160lbs ( i actually reached 158 lbs). My personal Keto plan is as per below:

no carbs
no sugars
high fat and protein
no wine or beer or fruity drinks. Spirits w/ water mix only
8 - 8 oz glasses of water per day incl 2 prior to each meal
intermittent fasting 5 days a week (condense all meals to between 12pm and 8pm), fast 16 hrs
execption, 2x bulletproof tea in the AM
3 green teas throughout the day

Now that i’ve hit my weight loss goal, i still want to continue with the plan as i like how it makes me feel. Going into the maintenance phase i want to be able to have a weekly cheat meal. I’m not saying a full day where i’m eating sugar or carb rich foods. Just a simple pasta or pizza at the end of each week. Is this doable ?

Reason i ask is because this past weekend we were on vacation and having already hit my goals and feeling good i consciously planned that i would allow myself a couple cheat meals. I didn’t really gain any weight (whatever i did i shed within the next 48 hrs as i have naturally high metabolism) but i noticed it threw my body out of ketosis. It took me approx 3 days to get my ketones back in order.

Overall its still a lifestyle change and will continue on this path but my question is does Keto allow for cheat meals once a week.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

Whom would you be cheating? If your goal is metabolic health, and you have a problem with carbohydrate, isn’t contemplating a cheat meal a bit like having a nut allergy and planning on counteracting the reaction with adrenaline? Granted, the carbohydrate will take longer to kill you, but if you are diabetic, the effects of carbs could be almost as immediate as those of nuts.

On the other hand, if you can eat carbohydrate and not gain weight, go for it! Keto is whatever you want it to be, so do what works.

#3

Some folks seem to do fine with this approach, but you might find that if you give yourself longer to get adapted (keeping carbs below 20g for 6 weeks or so) you’ll bounce right back to ketosis much more quickly after a meal like that. Basically ketosis becomes your default state.
But this is highly individual! You can just experiment and see what works for you.

#4

I would try once a month or every 3 weeks or so and see how you like it. Then try every other week, then if your still okay after a couple months, try every week. You may find it works well, or you may find you don’t even want that carby meal.

Another option is to increase your daily carb limit a little at a time so you can incorporate more of a variety. Again, this isn’t for everyone, but it’s another option.

#5

Bad day at work and I binged on macadamia nuts when I got home… someone told me you cant overeat fat, your body won’t let you and I don’t think that’s true at alllll

#6

No? Try it!

I’ll spoil it for you, if you DO get to the “to much fat” danger zone it ends with you glued to a toilet. It’s very much self policing.

#7

I’ve over eaten macadamia nuts too and felt sort of gross. I think because they are not just fat (protein and carbs too) that saying doesn’t apply.

I think over eating nuts is quite common actually, hence why people put limits on them to begin with.

#8

This is the 2nd time since I started keto 7 weeks that I’ve compensated for bad day at work with keto food. I’m still deep in ketosis but I feel like I’m never going to drop any pounds. 4 pounds in 7 while is better than 0 still feels like I’m doing something wrong. I’ve got a bad attitude tonight so I’m gonna wish everyone a great evening and log out

(Lonnie Hedley) #9

I don’t do it every week, but once a month or two I go carb crazy for a day. Can you guess which day?

image
D7CC10D1-E188-4C59-888F-1F9ADC291347.png750×1334 67 KB

Gained 4lbs, but that’s almost gone only a few days later.

#10

@lfod14 sorry for creating a tangent on this thread but I have a question about your comment. Can too much fat give you diarrhea? I asked my Virta coach and she said diarrhea is not usually a symptom of a ketogenic diet but I swear every time my blood ketones drops below .5 and then I get back in greater than .5 range, I have the runs… So your comment about too much fat is intriguing to me… (Trying to figure out what this body of mine is doing to me…)

#11

Yup! I’ve got a couple friends that had that issue that went straight into the deep end with fatty meals (usually eating my at my house) when they started and their body’s weren’t used to that much, they backed off a little and were fine. Rememebr, the ketosis is a side effect of the low carbs, not fat intake. You don’t have to be crazy with your fat but make sure you don’t underdo it either.

#12

I see… That was helpful. Thanks for the info!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #13

Also watch your salt intake. You want 12.5 g of table salt a day (including what’s already present in your food) for maximum health. While too little salt can cause constipation, too much can have something of the opposite effect. (And I’m not even going to tell you how I know that . . . :grin:)