OMG ! I cheated!


(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #1

Okay, not really like a fall off the Keto wagon cheat… But I did eat a 50 calorie lemon fat bomb, then washed it down with a Stevia sweetened cream soda (Splenda would have tasted better) and talk about taking care of a sweet tooth :slightly_smiling_face: I washed down sweet with sweeter :grinning:

Didn’t really need that 4 hours after my New York Strip and creamy Brussels and bacon…
But I’m not really going to lose sleep over it.


(Paul H) #2

Of course not… we’re in it for the long term. Yum n done… back in the saddle.


(mole person) #3

Yup. No biggie. I visited my sister for 24 hrs during which time I had all of the following:

1.5 beer (yum!!!)
3 dates (yum!)
1 square of milk chocolate
And a baby potato

Total calories came in at just under 500 with 74 grams of carbs. I, of course, have a 2 pound water weight gain this morning but I know it’s not fat and that a week of adherence will return it to the void.

It’s the magic of this diet. It’s a technology. Once you master it, you can dust off and reimpliment it at any time.


(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

Forgive me if this sounds like criticism, Chris, but your post has got me wondering. Is it really cheating if it’s low-carbohydrate and your total carb intake is still under 20 g/day? We are eating to avoid spiking insulin, after all, and fat has a negligible effect on insulin.

I’m also pretty sure that the human body can handle 50 or 100 extra calories. After all, if Sam Feltham could eat 5000 calories a day for 30 days, and the only effect was some recomposition, I suspect that eating an extra fat bomb or two if we’re hungry is not going to be even a blip on the radar.

Now, if I found myself eating even when I was not hungry, that would be something I’d want to look into. But if I’m craving sugar and eating only protein and/or fat, that counts as a win, not a cheat, in my book, because yielding to a sugar craving would be a lot deadlier for me. Dr. Cywes talks a lot about the need to find strategies for dealing with the need for emotional eating. He personally keeps a cup of coffee always ready to hand, he says. I, too, find that a helpful strategy.


(Robert C) #5

I think cheating on Keto could be defined as eating any foods in enough quantity that you know will bring your blood ketone reading down below 0.5 (i.e. some people stay in ketosis at 50 grams due to genetics, others may stay in ketosis at 100 grams if they immediately run 5 miles - its the blood ketone measure not necessarily food intake).


(John) #6

If you want to eat sweet-tasting foods and it’s not a problem for you, then by all means, do so. It’s not a “cheat” unless it is breaking some rule you have set for yourself.

I personally choose to avoid sweet-tasting things, because eating a little bit makes me want more. As you mentioned, you didn’t need to eat those foods 4 hours after a good filling meal. So you were eating them solely for the taste pleasure, not real hunger.

That is something I worked hard to avoid doing - eliminating eating for non-hunger reasons. And it is still a challenge for me, especially in the evenings. If I had sweetened “fat bombs” around the house, i.e. candy, I can assure you I would eat a few more of those than I needed to.

But if it’s not a problem for you, then I wouldn’t worry about it.


(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #7

Paul, I’m sorry, I was actually being a little facetious :slightly_smiling_face: No, it wasn’t really a cheat at all, at least not a “Keto” cheat. Only that I have set a temporary rule for myself to not eat anything between dinner and breakfast. Doing the 8:16 plan whenever I can make that happen.

Back in my old life, I might have swung by the Mexican place at 2 or 3 am and got one of those giant 1500 calorie burritos, hammered it and when straight to bed… Now “that” would make a difference :smiley: lol …plus I’d be rolling around in bed right now asking myself why I ate that. As it is, their is no indication of eating that little fat bomb, and a few swallows of diet cream soda :slightly_smiling_face:

Don’t worry guys, I won’t ever do a big, ugly non-keto cheat… Or fall off of the wagon, even for one day, or one meal…
But if I ever do, that will be the end of my eating Keto, and the end of me getting back to good health, and likely, the end of me. I know that sounds dire, but at 54, I know myself very well. Zero moderation is my middle name.


(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #8

Hey John, I have actually been saying, I just wanted to lose about 6 more lbs so that my higher weight spikes stay below 210.
Then I plan to eat quite a few fat bombs and keto deserts. But to watch my weight on the scale, and if I see 210 to get right back strict again :slightly_smiling_face:
This, and I do plan to keep on with my 24 hour fasts on Sunday through Monday morning…

Oh and BTW, by eating keto, I really have eliminated most of my sweet sugary cravings. To be honest, as good as my steak dinner was, I was just still kind of tasting it 4 hrs later, and kind of done with that, and the lemon fat bomb and cream soda pretty much eliminated that problem :slightly_smiling_face: But I really had zero desire to keep eating the fat bombs, or anything else sweet for that matter.


(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #9

Oh! Well that’s all right, then. :+1:

Sorry, I seem to be a bit tone deaf, these days. . . .


(Full Metal KETO AF) #10

Does this mean I need to buy a keto mojo if I want to cheat? Or can I go with the ignorance is bliss thing, and take the hit like a man? :grin:.

:cowboy_hat_face:


(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #11

If that is the definition then 95% of my meals (all keto) are “cheat meals” :frowning: because 1-4 hours after eating my ketones can go to 0.2 - 0.4 (depending on what they were before). I don’t test often after meals (trying to conserve strips), but its rare to see them go up (and very hard to replicate).


(Robert C) #12

Yeah - some people are just naturally low on the numbers but - if you’re consistently making enough Ketones to measure - you’re burning fat - all good!

Running at your rate the “rule” would probably be:

I’m not really trying to formalize anything here - the point was simply to move the focus on what constitutes a cheat from food intake to how you are actually affected. Most people think an artificial sweetener is “okay” but, if it drastically moves your ketone producing ability down - maybe it is a “cheat”.