Stress Week and Slip off

#1

My nutrition was way off this week. After 2 years on keto (for the most part) and 30 pounds of weight loss, I slipped up and had a horrible week. Stress due to deadlines at work and access to junk food like snacks, crackers, chips and cookies messed up my daily routine.

I first told myself I would have a cheat day and run it off and fast until i got back into keto. This did not happen. It’s been 5 days and i’ve progressively reached for more carbs each day. Definitely out of Ketosis.

Not sure what i’m supposed to do. Going into friday and not feeling good.

Should i just fast for 3 days with water and bone broth? Should i also throw in a long run or two (10-20 miles) to get back in? Any other suggestions would be great.

Please help.

(Rob) #2

What’s done is done. Have you had significant negative impacts. If so, or your cravings have come back (after 2 years?), then maybe do some of the things you’ve said. The fast is a quick way to get back and break cravings (you may have to white knuckle it a bit), the run probably won’t do much for a week of bad eating but could get you into the fast with depleted glycogen more quickly.

You know what I’m going to say…

…KCKO. Just get back on that horse, there’s a you-shaped bum impression in the saddle :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

#3

Thanks for the reply. needed to hear that.

i’ve been having acne breakouts from all the sugar i’ve eaten. it’s pretty bad, but using this experience as motivation to get back into keto asap.

fasting from friday-monday with a 1-2 light 5 mile jogs in between to deplete glycogen a bit.

May have some bone broth and acv as part of my fast, but that’s about it. Day 1 of 3 of my fast is almost done…a bit of a headache and some cravings but that’s about it.

thanks again!

KCKO works!

(Empress of the Unexpected) #4

From what I have learned from the forum, after two years your body will, if you stick to Keto, slip back into ketosis fairly quickly.

#5

As I right this it’s sunday morning at 5:48 a.m., exactly 50 hours into my fat fast.

Had nothing but bone broth, some coconut oil, a tbsp of grass fed butter and one can of wild planet sardines (post workout). Didn’t run as far as I wanted, but i definitely feel my body slipping back into the familiar keto routine.

It’s raining outside, so i’ll most likely spend the day cleaning the apt., and making some fat bombs for the week.

Thanks guys!

(Ken) #6

You’re fine. After two years, five days of carbs isn’t enough to achieve any sort of lipogenic readaptation. If anything, it was metabolically beneficial.

Just resume a lipolytic macro. You shouldn’t experience any major adaptive effects, your body should easily go back to burning fat. If you want to fast, it’s fine, but just resuming the fat-based pattern will deplete your glycogen and get you back into lipolysis just as fast.

It’ll be interesting to see what you weigh after you’ve depleted glycogen. I’d limit extra salt for a few days so you can get an accurate scale reading.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #7

I thought extra salt was essential on the Keto diet. Does it cause Water weight gain?

(Ken) #8

Well, it depends on how much. I certainly eat a lot of salt, but yes, it causes temporary water retention. It’s much like other things, it may or may not be necessary, depending on the person. It helps quite a bit during the initial stages of hormonal normalization. I didn’t need extra salt when I started, but it may have helped had I used it. As far as retention, salt can easily add several pounds to the scale. It can mask several week’s progress.

Either way, laying off it for a couple of days to get an accurate weight won’t hurt you.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #9

Think I will try it. I ate a ton of salt before Keto, but now am adding to that amount and using it like a snack. I believe I am getting more than enough. Most people have a sugar addiction, I have a salt addiction.

#10

I’m starting to think it was actually beneficial to my overall metabolism. I felt super energized for my workouts and found myself wanting to do both anaerobic (resistance training) and aerobic (cardio) activities. Performance definitely got a boost.

Had a weird experience this morning. After breaking my fast with a spoonful of coconut oil, I notice a stark difference in the way I felt in my head- not the other kind of feeling you get when you have too much. About 20 minutes later i felt a relaxing feeling of calm wash over me. I still had energy to get things done but definitely got me thinking that keto might have some mood enhancing benefits.

I’ve been taking a bit more salt because i’ve been peeing like a racehorse. I’ve also been drinking water like a beast just to balance out. Weight is starting to dip past my previous low.

Male, 6’0
Pre-binge weight (Last Monday Morning)- 189.8 lbs
After binge weight (Friday Morning)- 191.2 lbs
Current weight (Sunday afternoon)- 187.1 lbs

i’m roughly about 23% fat…definitely an improvement.

Most of it is water weight i’m sure so i’m just going to keep hyrdating and taking in salt when needed. This is the lowest carb induction phase implemented- averaged about 8-15 gms per day net. Eating fat to satiety- Coconut oil, grassfed butter and ghee mostly. Feeling goooood :smiley:

(Ken) #11

That’s the way it’s supposed to work. Limited Carb intake for metabolic purposes within an overall lipolytic framework. Enough carbs to optimize metabolism, taken periodically, not chronically, yet low and infrequent enough to prevent lipogenic readaptation. Fat and carbs are then used by the body with equal efficiency.

#12

This is great info. thank you! That makes sense. One question though- how do you define “low” carb intake during these carb refeeds? Can i get away with eating an entire apple pie every couple months?

i generally do a good job of burning off excess fuel if i know i’ve been snacking on sugar, but I find it easier just to be on the lipolytic side of this energy equation as much as possible. I also feel better.

(Ken) #13

It depends on what you goals are. If you’re trying to lose fat, you eat carbs less frequently. Like on one or two weekend days for example. If you’re in Maintenance, you can eat them more frequently, but make sure you don’t eat them often enough to refill, and then overcompensate glycogen. I myself follow the pattern that if I eat a Carb meal, I skip them for at least the next two. But, I don’t feel the need to eat them very often. It’s too comfortable simply eating lipolytically.

If you wanted to, you could have your pie every week. It’s when you have them every day or two that the problems can start.

#14

Thank you

I’m going to try staying in keto as long as possible with a carb refeed meal every two weeks.

I too feel better when eating keto.