Restart keto after 3 month

(Dee Eichler) #1

I cant believe it’s been 3 months off keto. I keep trying to get back on but fail miserably. I crave carbs so much. Can someone give me some ideas on how to get back on?

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #2

You could try going full carnivore, and just eat meat.

Or do bacon and eggs for a week or two.

#3

Which carbs please Dee?

Restarting is a good idea. Try and meet yourself where you’re at to create a clear start line. Meaning you will have goals and aspirations compared to a current self assessment. Take yourself 3 steps forward toward your goals and start there, as we all know our harshest critics can be ourselves. By taking those initial steps up to the start line we can step out of reach of the doubts and criticisms holding us back.

Readyset, go!

You’ve actually already restarted.

You will have steps you know you can take and steps you don’t think you can take.

Start by doing the things you can do and then build from there.

You are your own architect. The time has come to be your own builder. To make yourself into you it can be a process of just getting started again, and again and again. Then build toward that goal each time, and importantly, allowing yourself to restart if needed. The restart is not doing the same thing over. It is doing the things that worked, doing those same things over and applying what you learned from previous mistakes. Restart don’t repeat the mistakes.

This adapted anecdote from the book Art & Fear helps my restarts:

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that she was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, she said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. The procedure was simple: on the final day of class she would bring in bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot -albeit a perfect one - to get an “A”.
Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little to show for their efforts…

Art & Fear:Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking David Bayles &Ted Orland 2001, 122 pages, The Image Continuum

That’s enough theorising.

(Robert C) #4

Hi @Dee_Eichler

If you have a true carb addiction then you should focus on how you can deal with that addiction.

One way to NOT deal with that addiction is sit around trying to do Keto while thinking about what you cannot have. That will drive you bat-shit crazy.

Instead, go out and treat yourself to a couple of months of great Keto options and see if you can get your taste buds converted permanently.

What you can have (and, of course, there’s lots more you can find/cook):

  • Go to Chipotle - order a burrito bowl (i.e. no shell) without beans or rice. Get double meat (your two favorites), sour cream, cheese and add guacamole.
  • Cook yourself a Ribeye and top it with blue cheese.
  • Make a bacon or sausage (or both) omelette with cheese - sear it in butter and top with avocado slices before serving.
  • Go to Five Guys and get a large bun-less 2 patty bacon cheeseburger with extra bacon (which is free) covered in sautéed mushroom - add mayonnaise and mustard to taste.
  • Have some 85+% cocoa extra dark chocolate.
  • Enjoy a butter coffee (there are many ways to make these - butter, MCT, collagen powder etc.).

If you think about carbs and suddenly feel hungry - just drop everything and go to Chipotle or Five Guys or some other place where you can get a Keto meal. Then notice that either the hunger is dealt with or that you are stuffed (so weren’t really hungry).

Now the hard part of addiction. You have to burn your bridges. Everything in the kitchen must go.
Sugar, rice, chocolate syrup, ice cream, candy, noodles, frozen foods, flour, canned foods, corn starch, coffeemate, crackers, cookies…
Pretty much everything that is not meat, eggs, dairy and greens.
Definitely anything that might restart your carb consumption.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to force yourself into a very silly walk of shame - having to go somewhere outside of your abode to get a carb fix.

As well - to resupply your kitchen to cook in your old carb mode - you want that to be very expensive. Until you hate the idea of doing it.
Throwing everything out - the more money lost - the better! What you lose here you save 10 or 100 times over in health care costs and always-buying-bigger-clothes costs.

(Failed) #5

Taking inositol powder and choline capsules ended my carb cravings and made it easy to go keto.

I was a person who wanted only carbs and not much else. I was a diabetic for over 30 years, refused to change my diet or take any medications. When my blood sugar went to 450, I researched supplements that increase insulin sensitivity and stumbled across inositol and choline. I started taking it and soon was accidentally eating keto as I just wasn’t hungry and carbs no longer appealed. The day I started keto was June 14 this year. My blood sugar today is 75.

(Rebecca 🌸 Frankenfluffy) #6

@FrankoBear, thank you so much for posting this - these words have really touched a chord. Thank you. Have just found the book on Amazon - it’s on my wishlist!

‘Artists become veteran artists only by making peace not just with themselves, but with a huge range of issues.’
Finding peace is a great goal to have!

(Dee Eichler) #7

Thank you for your reply. Is it possible to not count for 2weeks? I’m so hungry. Will extra salad and protein hinder me getting back on keto?

(Robert C) #8

I do not understand this statement.

Yes - these will hinder you compared to getting up to 75%+ fat in your diet.
You will remain hungry until you become fat adapted and salads and protein won’t get you there.
These (protein and salads) are the knee jerk reaction from a many many year failed dieter that listened to “move more, eat less”.

It would be much better to trust the Keto process and eat fat to satiety (i.e. it doesn’t matter how hungry you are, keep eating fat to quench that hunger).

(Dee Eichler) #9

Any suggestions on getting more fat. I am definitely a savory

(mole person) #10

Just eat the fattiest cuts of meat. Beef ribs and short ribs, rib eye, lamb and pork shoulder, pork belly. Cook them all at a very low temperature so that none of the fat renders out. You’ll be amazed at how much more satiating fat is when it’s still bound to its protein structure. If you need more fat ask your butcher for additional beef fat.

When I’m coming back from a spell away from strict keto I generally do at least two weeks of only beef, fat, salt and water. The total restriction helps with the cravings. Otherwise I tend to “cheat” on keto foods such as too much nuts, dairy, fat bombs, big salads etc. Eventually, this “cheating” leads back to cheating on non keto foods.

(Robert C) #11

If you eat vegetables, sauté spinach or arugula in a generous amount of butter. Top with a high fat cheese of choice. Or make creamed spinach by adding (and melting) cream cheese. These are not “big salads” but small, high-fat sides.

Butter coffee in the morning. (Normally not a good idea starting out but your situation is different given regular backsliding due to hunger and carb issue.)

Main focus should be @Ilana_Rose’s post - very fatty meats to satiety. Meat, greens and some dairy maybe should be the only things in your kitchen for a while.

(Dee Eichler) #12

Can I do beef, pork and eggs for2 weeks. Will that help me get back on keto and lose the hunger?

(mole person) #13

For me there are two main components to losing hunger, cravings, and weight after I’ve been off track for a bit. A lot of unrendered fats from meat and zero flavourings other than salt. Basically you want to limit as much as possible how stimulating the food is. You don’t want to crave anything except when actually hungry.

This is why I lock it down to just beef, but I think adding unflavored pork and eggs would still be good. But no bacon or deli meats. Just fatty meats that are completely unprocessed. Then add nothing except salt. No dairy, butter, oils, spices.

When I do this I always lose weight right down to below my low end of maintenance weight of 104 lbs at a rate of a half pound a day.

(Dee Eichler) #14

How do u cook the meats without oils or butter

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #15

you can still eat meat while cooking with butter and oil. In fact, you should use oil and butter!

Eating beef, pork, and eggs doesn’t mean not using oils or butter :slight_smile: Add in as much of those as you want while cooking!

(bulkbiker) #16

Depends on the oil though… animals fats are better than seed oils (a lot better) and most fatty meats contain enough fat that extra shouldn’t really be required.

(mole person) #17

I cook all my meats at very low temperatures (150F) for long durations. This keeps the fat from rendering out. Then I simply dry sear it in a pan. Sometimes I use a bit of beef fat in the pan but it’s not necessary.

(mole person) #18

Of course you can. I was explaining the protocol that I use when I’m suffering a lot of cravings and hangriness after a carb up. It kills my cravings very quickly, returns my body quickly to feeling good, and drops pounds very fast without apparent calorie restriction. However, it’s highly dependent on being plain to accomplish all that. Hence no fats but those from the meat you are cooking and no spicing except salt. In fact, the way I do it is just beef, beef fat, salt, and water.

(Marianne) #19

I agree. You have the desire to do this, so I believe at some point you will.

I would encourage you to eat three good meals a day, even if you never did or don’t want to. I never did before but it helped me when starting keto. Many times I wasn’t exactly hungry for my next meal, but I ate it. No hardship - I enjoyed every bite - the food on this is delicious. And I made sure to meet - and usually surpass - my fat macro. I know the nutritional values of what I eat now and haven’t counted macros in a long time.

Eating three time a day removed all my cravings for carbs - I’d think about pizza, or whatever - but I wouldn’t feel compelled to have to eat it or cheat. Honest. It also prevented any hunger. I was never hungry. I loved what I ate. After four weeks or more, I didn’t want to eat that often and gradually went to TMAD, OMAD, always getting enough fat.

Good luck; hang in there. This is a journey, not a race. We are all going to struggle from time to time.