What I've learned after 5 years, 80 pounds of fat loss and 20 pounds of muscle gain

#230

Thank you. I start to understand it.

(Mr Self Destruct) #231

Hi

Iā€™ve just started keto. From what I understand, a big difference to other diets is that a cheat day isnā€™t really a good thing. Is it a case of your body being taken out of a ketogenic state, meaning that you are essentially starting all over again afterwards?

(Steak and iron) #232

Keto doesnā€™t work if you donā€™t do keto. The reason so many other diets incorporate cheat days is because the diet itself is so low satiety and unsatisfying so a break is needed or youā€™ll burn out. Itā€™s probably smartest that you make your ā€œcheat dayā€ a day of higher calories or maybe some keto junk food like cakes and cookies but staying in ketosis.

I only break ketosis for occasions where the health effects are outweighed by the specialness of the occasion like an anniversary meal at a fancy restaurant or international travel where Iā€™ll never be able to try some regional delicacy Iā€™ll never see again.

(Mr Self Destruct) #233

Cheers, confirms what I was thinking Iā€™ll leave my actual all in cheat day for when I hit my bodyfat % goal.

(Susan) #234

Hi, welcome to the forum. Once you are into the Keto lifestyle, you will find that your taste buds change, your cravings change, and that you are full and satisfied after eating. You can enjoy your choice of proteins: steak, ground beef, bacon, eggs, chicken, fish, pork, etc. and some low carb vegetables, some fats, lots of water, and keep your salt up, as long as you keep your carbs around the 20gram marker, you are good =). I am sure that you will find you will feel nice and full and will be enjoying yummy, real food =).

#235

My opinion on cheating - I believe that it sets your progress waaaaay back, especially in the beginning. Iā€™m the type of person that needs to have things under control and cheating would be like failing on the new woe I chose to stick to, because I feel and look better than I have in years. Pizza and bread just made me chubby, donā€™t need them anymore. :wink: Maybe you will feel the same later on :slight_smile:

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #238

Very good writing, and mostly true for myself as well.
About the only thing here that isnā€™t true for me, is that I donā€™t count anything. And ā€œitā€™s not easyā€ for me to snack on something with carbs in it, and before I know it, Iā€™ve had too many carbsā€¦ Because if that something has even a carb or two in it, I know it when I start, and only have a couple bites of it, or donā€™t eat it at all. Example; There has been a big jar of Skippy natural peanut butter sitting on my counter for weeks. Havenā€™t touched it. Hate to throw it away, but I think it has like 3gms carbs per tbspnā€¦ And I used to eat like 4 tbsn (in one big blob on the spoon :grinning:) with pure honey poored over it. Pretty sure that would put me way overā€¦ Iā€™ll probably throw that jar of PB away soonā€¦ Or give it to a homeless person.

And hereā€™s another thing; Iā€™m not going about my day, trying to make sure I get exactly 20gms of carbs, but not 21 :grinning: lol
If I happen to only get 6 or 8 grams, thatā€™s fine too.
BTW, Iā€™m doing great with keto. Been doing this for about 10 weeks, and lost 30 lbs. Just eating breakfast and dinner, and often going 14-20 hours between dinner and breakfast with eating a bite of anything :slightly_smiling_face:

(Susan) #239

I agree wholeheartedly with this, excellent post.

We can make Keto Pizza and Keto bread if we really crave these; I have not done this yet. I donā€™t think that I will be for quite some time; either, as I have decided until I have lost a lot more weight, that I just want to stick to my very regimented eating for now.

(Katie Moe) #240

I never thought pasta would release itā€™s grip on me. I am astonished at how I donā€™t crave it anymore. While I still have to find strategies in social situations and restaurants (was invited to a vegan Mexican restaurant this week and there wasnā€™t one thing on the menu for me), I am amazed, and grateful, how I donā€™t feel a need to ā€œcheatā€ or cycle with carbs.

(Jane) #241

I only miss bread. Pasta is tasteless to me and the trade off to get to eat full fat cream sauces is worth it for me.

I made Instant Pot Butter Chicken tonight for tomorrowā€™s dinner. Figured it would be better after sitting in the sauce overnight. The sauce has 4 oz butter and 1/2 cup heavy cream and lots of garam masala! It makes double the sauce you need so I froze half of it and next time I want Butter Chicken (or pork) just have to throw some meat in the IP for 10-12 min and thaw out the sauce.

(Jane) #242

Speaking of veganā€¦ my husband made a reservation at a fancy restaurant in Little Rock for dinner. I was flying in from Houston that evening.

When we checked in the hostess asked ā€œAre you here for vegan night?ā€ I snorted and said NO! I love meat. They had a very keto friendly menu. Nachos made from chicken skinsā€¦ short ribs with grilled asparagus.
:heart:

(Susan) #243

Wow that sounds delicious, very cool.

(carol mclintock) #244

Our butcher now saves his chicken skins from all the skinless, boneless chicken breasts he sells for me! I make ā€˜crackersā€™ from them and there is a constant fight between my kids and my dogs about who gets to eat the most - the dogs go crazy when they hear the tub being opened.

(Marianne) #245

From what Iā€™ve read, this isnā€™t necessarily true - however, I think the important place to get to is to stop thinking of this as a ā€œdietā€ (of course, I came here to lose weight), and to adopt it as a way of eating going forward. The more I read, researched and learned, and the longer I lived this, I came to realize that returning to the SAD or dabbling in cheating is not what is best for my health. The benefits of keto are huge; itā€™s so much more than weight loss.

(Marianne) #246

Iā€™m hesitant to make a keto pizza, just because pizza was probably my all-time favorite food. I could finish off 8 of 12 very large pieces of pizza in one sitting, and then go back for more in a couple of hours. Iā€™m pretty sure it would be so delicious that I would binge on it. Same with keto ice cream.

(Marianne) #247

Mmmm; that sounds like it would be great on zoodles!

(Susan) #248

I made my first Keto Pizza on Sunday night, it was amazing, and the entire thing was about 700 calories, and I ate 90 percent of it (I gave very small pieces to my son, my hubby and grand daughter) so all good =).

The youtube link for the recipe and what I put on it and a pic of it is on my Accountability thread if you want to see it. It was amazing and very low carb as well =).

It was the first Pizza of any kind that I had had since February when I began Keto, and I really loved it.

(Marianne) #249

No doubt it was amazing. I should try it. There are so many keto recipes and posts on the ā€œtrilogyā€ thread that look totally delicious. Iā€™m just so afraid of awakening my food/binge addiction.

(Susan) #250

I totally understand, that is why I donā€™t make the deserts yet myself. If I were to make a Keto cheesecake, I would eat the whole thingā€¦ maybe for Maintenance later on on my birthday as a treat, but well that wonā€™t be this coming bdayā€¦ maybe the Nov 2020 one I will be close -weā€™ll see. I am not putting a time schedule on the 130 pounds I still have to lose.

I made a Lasagna, Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread with cheese for the rest of them and the Keto Pizza for me, I was so full. It is something that I will do just once in a while.

(PJ) #251

I admit I havenā€™t had problems with binging (just the opposite alas) but one thing I found solved the issue for my teen when she was LC with me, was adding protein powder to everything.

Food is so ridiculously filling then, especially with the ordinary fats like cheese added, that sure ā€“ go right ahead, JUST TRY TO BINGE ON THIS. 20 minutes later youā€™ll be like, Ohhhhhh Gawwwwd donā€™t make me eat any more!

You can add protein powder, unflavored is usually best, to nearly any kind of LC breadish. Sure itā€™s a little heavier, might need ever so slightly more fluid to compensate, but itā€™s fine.

She lost five pants sizes and was never hungry once. And she wasnā€™t even fully ketogenic, just mostly eating that way at home.

PJ