One carb meal a week?

(bobo696) #1

Hi there!
So I started a keto diet 2 weeks ago because of hyper triglyceridemie, basically it was higher than sky high. With help of some drugs and a keto diet the level is back to acceptable. Mostly I feel ok, well I think I had some sort of flu but overall it’s all right.

The sweet stuff I can really do without. What I really miss most are cereals, rice, pizza, pasta… I used to love that stuff…

In this diet, can one indulge every once in a while? I mean once a week? Or is that un advisable?

Thanks!

(the cheater) #3

Even though I am a super-advocate for cheating (personally, I cheat once a week or so), I don’t recommend having carby meals until you’ve been keto for a good few weeks. I think my first carby day was about two months in. This is just to train your body more strictly.

That said, it won’t kill you. If you must, do your thing but then jump back into the keto way of eating the very next day. WHATEVER YOU DO - do not start associating guilt/virtue with this stuff. If you want to eat a carby meal every now and again, don’t beat yourself up. Keep calm and keto on - KCKO. Keto is probably one of the best and easiest ways of eating to stick to if you do it right. This means doing it strictly when you do it - even if you let loose every now and again.

Of course, depending on your progress and goals, carby meals/days may slow you down, but only a miniscule amount as long as you’re not cheating all the time.

As @That_Fat_Guy said, it’s just not a wise idea at first since your body probably hasn’t made the transformation to the point of being able to easily resist stuff. In other words, you don’t want one carby meal to mean a cheat weekend and eventually a full-on return to your previous way of eating.

#4

Absolutely. Very few things in life are all or nothing.
I try to eat within my empirically determined carb tolerance, currently 50-75g (and rising) most of the time, but not all the time. My goal is to maintain a fairly deep state of ketosis most days of the month.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #5

There are good recipes for pizza that is Keto (Fathead Pizza). You can also make yummy pasta dishes using shiritake noodles.

You don’t need to give them up or cheat. :grinning:

(Robert C) #6

I think it depends on what you mean by “indulge”.
A single small piece of pizza or more like half a large pizza?
A half cup of cooked rice or a plate of beef fried rice?
If on the higher side like these examples then - if you are just doing straight keto otherwise, you’ll slow your progress - maybe a lot depending on how insulin resistant you are now.
If you go beyond keto and fast for 36 to 48 hours after the carby meal, you’ll do much better (probably better than just keto).

(Vladaar Malane) #7

Cheating, indulging, substiuting I think most of us have done so at one point or another. However, best advice I give is do so rarely and sparely not once a week. Eventually you will platuea and one way to overcome it is to no longer or very rarely cheat, indulge, or subtistute. Yeah several spelling snafu’s sorry.

(bobo696) #8

Well yes when I say indulge I’m not talking about half a slice of pizza haha but obviously a whole regular one. I know there are substitute but what I miss is not a pizza, but a great napolitan pizza haha

I understand the need to be fairly strict about the diet. My switch to keto has been really abrupt, one day I was living normally and the next my doc told me to remove all carbs from my diet, I wasn’t ready psychologically. For my health I’m doing it and haven’t eaten any carbs other than from veggies. I’m motivated for now for sure as it has been a shock to discover I could have suffered something grave really soon. I understand this diet is probably for life but yes I’m wondering how strict it has to be, because well I love fruits I love pizza I love rice etc etc… So I’d like to know if indulging in these pleasures would be okay once in a while!

(Carl Keller) #9

I’ve heard of some people feeling like crap after they are keto for a while and then load up on carbs. They feel insatiably hungry afterward and old cravings for junk come back. I’ve also heard of others who can do this and it might kick them out of keto for a bit or even make them feel bloated, but they don’t suffer like the former group in the way of cravings and hunger.

From personal experience, I ate around 65g of carbs on Thanksgiving and it didn’t really bother me.

#10

It is a dangerous road, my friend. Some people are able to have one cheat meal and keep ketoing on like nothing ever happened. For others, a cheat meal turns into a day, which turns into a week, which turns into a month, and so on.

I personally waited until about 3 months in to have a cheat meal. It turned into a cheat day. I gained 10 pounds (literally) and felt absolutely, hideously awful the next day. It took 2 weeks to get back down to my pre-cheat-day weight.

Now I know that I must be more careful. I can, very rarely, indulge in ~50-60g carbs and be okay. But I have to be extremely conscious of the risk I’m taking. Carbs are addictive and I know that I’m still at risk of falling back down that rabbit hole. Probably always will be, and I’ve reached a point of acceptance.

My advice to you is to stick to keto with no cheats, no exceptions, for at least 60 days. Why? For one thing, your cravings will all but disappear. You’ll be seeing the results of your efforts and it’ll make you think twice about putting all that at risk.

(Daisy) #11

I second this. Also gives you a chance to get fat adapted

(Joanna Parszyk ) #12

I absolutely agree to what @Ketodaisy is already agreeing :wink:

(Laura) #13

If 20 or less carbs a day is going to be too restrictive, why not follow the Atkins method of following the carb ladder and increase your daily carb totals until you find your max and then work the pizza into your plan?

Or, there are other plans that allow you to eat carbs for one meal a day, etc. I am just thinking you may find another approach works better for you.

(bobo696) #14

Thanks for all the messages. I’m starting to realize how bad my diet was before. I used to think that cereals and sugars were different, but in fact they work exactly the same way, so basically there are no good carbs and bad carbs, only carbs… Well, for now I can easily continue the no carb policy, I don’t get that much cravings to be honest. Well I was at the restaurant the other night and my friend got steak and French fries which were looking right at me… I had veggies with my meat, which was the first time I ordered at a restaurant, it was okay-ish but I must admit it’s not the same! Also I am used to finish my meal with a fruit, now I feel my meals are incomplete. Apart from that I feel ok.

As for plans allowing one carb meal a day that’s really a no-no. I’m motivated to get back to healthy blood levels of lipids. As triglycerides are directly derived from carbs ingestion the keto diet is tailored to make them lower.

(Ken) #15

If you’ve got derangement issues, IMO you’re better of waiting a couple of months so you’re fairly adapted. But, having said that, one carb meal a week won’t really have significant negative effects. The real issue is if you can limit it to one meal, or will it turn into a major binge? It’s important to be fairly strict in the beginning. Once issues are addressed , you have much greater latitude as far as carbs, eventually getting to the point when limited intake becomes beneficial for metabolic purposes. That’s a ways down the line of most people.

#16

I didn’t implement cheat meals until the 6 month mark.

#17

Finish your meals with some good quality cheese - way nicer than fruit & better for your teeth.

(Joanna Parszyk ) #18

The fruit at the end of the meal is simply a habit. Replace it with animeront friendly habit. Option proposed by @anon54735292 is great IMO.

Give Keto an honest try, get fully adapted and then see how it works. Maybe your view of things will change and you’ll discover that bacon is the thing you cannot live without :bacon::wink:

(bobo696) #19

Haha I love bacon and cheese ! But it’s one of the food I’ve been told all my life that is the least healthy, alongside red meat, egg yolks, pork, nuts… . I used to love to eat those but nowadays I feel guilty when I do, because I have been conditioned to see them as baaaaaad food. And on the other hand I have been told true things, like veggies are good for you, refined carbs bad, but also not so true things, like complete cereals are good for you.

So to completely revolutionize my point of view is hard. Still recently a nutritionist told me to reduce carbs but cut down all the bad fats as in fatty cuts of meat, cheese and alike. So it’s very difficult to not trust a health practitioner

(Samantha Edwards) #20

A few strawberries or blueberries might work here. I HATED giving up fruit, but once I found berries were alright in small portions I was able to get most of my fruit cravings under control with a small amount of blueberries, raspberries or strawberries.

And while some people will want to slay me for suggesting such a processed item… sugar-free jello could also provide some relief. I’ve seen folks who take the Jello powder and beat it into heavy cream and/or cream cheese to make a fruity-mousse-type dessert or you can just make the Jello normally. (I like to reduce the amount of water and make it more … jelly so it becomes a finger food.)