4 months on keto and I went from 142 to 130. I felt great. Healthy, confident, energetic. I hadn’t felt like that in years. Then my birthday came in June and I decided to take the day off. That day turned into two days, which later turned into a sort of on again, off again keto diet. Some days I could stay strictly keto and under 20g, others I would go over my limit but only with veggies and nuts and such. Some days I would just straight cheat. I never feel good after but it’s something that’s so hard for me to control. I don’t want to but I just can’t help it. Now the awful pattern I’m in is to be eat all the right foods until about dinner time and to then lose control, and start all over again the next day. My weight is creeping up again and I just feel bad in general. I know that should be motivation all on it’s own but life’s stresses are really getting to me. I’m a big stress eater. I would love if you could share some advice on finding yourself and health again, staying motivated, and being above cravings. Needing some support…
Need a little support... how do you get back on the wagon?
Are you able to get the non keto food out of the house or at least in a different cabinet or shelf?
Do you meal plan? It can be helpful to remove the need to make decisions early on as you follow the plan and don’t even have to ponder keto or not.
Lastly and most importantly, we all know that food doesn’t actually productively help stress. Focus on habit replacement. “If I’m stressed, I will _____” (read a book, make tea, focus on what I can do to shorten the to do list, go for a walk, exercise).
You’re not alone.
This situation is not so unusual as one might think.
The way the addiction works, any addiction, carbs , smokes, whatever, is the craving to return to the previous state.
The body never forgets. If a person is not competent to regain last state, the body will constantly try to take control and have the things properly done.
Its a fight and a though one.
I may call myself a smoker that does not smoke, but I can’t call my self an ex-smoker.
No more than an ex-alcoholic, or an ex-diabetic, ex- cab addicted…
If I lose some weight, my body won’t stop until I regain my height back, with some interest, just in case…
When this situation you describe happened to me, I struggle over and over.
Falling, then stand up, to fall, again. To the point I got relly agravated.
Until I found something that worked.
I fasted.
Fast from lunch to lunch, overpassing the entire evening trouble time.
After a few days, I felt better, the desire diminished to a point I could control.
Still, the body is vigilant. if i loose control, it will lead me to the path to once was.
Every person is different, so, here’s my 2 cents. Maybe will work for you too.
As I started this post,
You’re not alone!
@Soph
Hi! It’s so hard to fight carb cravings, as you have experienced. My suggestions: write down why you are doing keto - be it health, lose weight, keep up with your kids, whatever. Be as detailed as possible. Keep that list with you and read it when cravings kick in.
Make cheating a non-option. You don’t want to start down the path of ‘I’ll just have one…’
Distract yourself! Especially your mind. Work a puzzle, explore this site and the tons of posts available, whatever will get your mind off carbs.
Realize that this is YOUR body. You have power over it. Cravings may seem unbearable, especially when you are stressed, but you can overcome them.
And remember we are all rooting for you!!
This is a little different, but I’ve been checking into & using a few supplements. I still struggle with staying on plan, and especially energy. The last few weeks…really since the Salt Fix podcast, I’ve increased my salt intake, started taking a good quality B complex, and a few other things. I’ve been doing some ready on various Vitamins. I feel better and so much more able to stay on plan. I went from feeling like a zombie half the time, to much more energetic & focused.
Sometimes I don’t think it is all mindset. I know not everyone advocates supplements. You definitely need to do your due diligence, but it really has made a huge difference for me lately.
As it’s been said by many people on this forum you are N=1. You may need supplements, you may need salt, you may need some sort of exercise, but as long as you KCKO (“Keep Calm and Keto On”), you’ll find your way. If you do get off track don’t beat yourself up, just get back in the game. You’ve got a big support group here.
Thank you everyone for all the great suggestions. I’m going to find better outlets for my stress, hopefully productive outlets like cleaning or exercising! I’m definitely going to right down my goals and place them in visible places so I don’t lose track. Also I never thought to just “remove” the problem time of the day. I think fasting could potentially solve my nighttime craving problems, if I don’t allow myself to eat at all at that time I won’t try to justify what I’m eating or go overboard. I’ll keep everyone posted on my progress!! Thank you all so much, the support here is so amazing.
I’m embarrassed to say but when I fell off the wagon I fell WAY off the wagon! I lost 40 lbs and normalized my hormones, which helped me get pregnant. Now, we were thrilled to be pregnant as I was infertile, but not planning it at that stage of my life–41 years old, working 2 jobs and attending a doctoral program at night (with one 8 year old IVF child). I managed to stay somewhat LCHF during the pregnancy and 2 years after, but fell far from the wagon when a great deal of stress came in to my life. I always intended to get going again, but it took TWELVE YEARS. I gained over 100 lbs, got sicker and sicker. I finally realized I was going to die if I kept going that way, but it wasn’t any easier.
I stair stepped my way back into keto. I saw a talk show with Jorge Cruise talking about his method which was pretty simple. It was semi-low carb and very easy to implement. So I did that for a few weeks and found it so easy that I realized it wouldn’t be hard to get back to full on VLC/Keto. So there I was. I just couldn’t face the “all or nothing” approach.
So if you feel similarly frozen doing all or nothing, there are a few ways to ease back in:
1 meal at a time–start with keto breakfasts and eat as you have been the rest of the time. After a week, add in keto lunches. Then keto dinners. There–you’re back!
Or slowly lower the carbs–Below 100 g. for a week. Below 50 g. for a week, Below 20 g. net for a week, Below 20 g total–you’re there!
Not everyone is successful at easing back in, but I’m leaving this as a suggestion if that works for you when “all in” does not.
BTW, I never had keto flu this time, I think because I took it slow and easy.
My recommendation for getting back to keto is bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches on Fox Hill bagels http://bread.2keto.com
Not kidding. Bacon and eggs is my go to for getting back on the horse.
I will add, from my personal experience with addiction, ( sugar and carbs is like a drug), the key coping mechanism is different for everyone but, my go to thought process is self control.
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You can not control other things, but you can control what goes into your body. It is a choice, and every little choice matters.
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If you mess up, just start again, immediately, knowing each little choice builds up to make a better version of you. Don’t postpone the correct behavior.
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If your emotional, try to separate the emotion from the thing your addicted to. Leaving for a walk, calling a friend, posting on a forum. Asking for help or company.
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Make a list of things you can do if/when something goes wrong, plan ahead if possible.
For me personally, if I get off my path, I will do a fast for a day, and start fresh with my keto meals the next day. I keep busy practicing piano for my fasts.
Enigmae
Do you listen to podcasts? Get hooked on those! That’s what I’ve been doing during my transition into keto (3 weeks now). It’s hard to dig into a pint of Ben & Jerry’s when listening to 2 Keto Dudes, Jimmy Moore, or Robb Wolf.
I just heard about this being what women especially need to do because the hormone balance takes a lot longer for females vs males.
Keto for Women show is a podcast I just started listening to so I can learn more to help my mother and hopefully eventually my wife. Only 3 episodes ATM so won’t take long to catch up try giving that a listen I think it’s great!
Bacon and eggs with some coffee on the side, that’s the way to go.
Should exist an acronym to bacon and eggs, maybe like B&E?
Its a good advice.
I personaly consider living la vida low carb a bit too strong on the advertising side, but still interesting.
It goes without saying that 2 keto dudes is much more close to people’s everyday life, with questions mailed, recipes and personal experiences, with the right measure of science.
So I find it much much more usefull 
And it even has an errata, witch reflects a standard for accuracy.
I wouldn’t say this works for everybody. I was always one that had to ease into the pool when the water was cold. Other people do better just diving in. But if diving in to keto is not working for you, give the step-by-step method a try. Eat the elephant one bite at a time. 
Agreed,@FilipeLoureiro. I just went down the, shall we say,’ back story rabbit hole’ and… yuck 
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I started keto a year ago, right after I got back from holiday. I was doing really well - seldom had anything with flour, sugar etc, for about 9 months. I’d stopped losing weight after 6, but I think that was down to overindulgence in nuts and cream. I didn’t lose any more, but I didn’t gain either.
Then I started to gain a little… this coincided with an occasional “cheat” with sugar. Always justified it to myself somehow. Or I would pinch a few of my husband’s salty snacks etc… over a couple of months, gained back 8lb.
Went on holiday, and although I started out keto, I had one ice cream… and then some bread… and the next thing I knew I was just eating everything carby.
So - back home on Tuesday, fasted Wednesday, then just back to strict keto. I need that clear line- I don’t eat sugar - I don’t eat bread etc.
(It probably helps that I picked up a chest infection towards the end of my holiday so my appetite’s not great. I don’t recommend that option, though)