awesome, I appreciate your reply, as I am generally carb sensitive too, I just don’t thing abstaining is a realistic option for this one particular event. almost always though I follow your advice; in the last 3 weeks ive gone to a birthday dinner at an Italian place, a super bowl party and a happy hour and stayed perfect keto the whole time. overall i agree with what you said!
What to do when you know you are going to "cheat" for a day
KetoDan88
(Dan)
#23
thank you! i have had vodka/clubs a few times while on keto and i have noticed that my hangovers are awful and i oddly don’t feel as drunk as i did pre-keto. so less drunk + worse hangovers = me not drinking much anymore! but the pours at each station are generally small and the alcohol in beer is less than in vodka, so i will absolutely take it slow but i do think ill be alright. the calories and carbs i have saved over the last month solely from beer alone has been great on my body. I do believe that i have the mentality and the support system (my wife is doing keto too) to not allow this to trigger more bad decision making after this one event.
KetoDan88
(Dan)
#24
i have been reading the fasting forum a bit this morning. some of this stuff is fascinating; i would have never thought a 4 day fast was even possible?! The fasts do take you out of ketosis though, i assume? i may participate in the Zorn fast this month, as so many ppl seem to like that. When you fast, is it just water and black coffee?
cw2001
(Cindy)
#26
I asked sort of the same question in November. We were having a very large and very special Thanksgiving (my mom has extensive stage SCLC so it might be her last). I’d been doing well with keto and felt kind of guilty to think about intentionally just doing whatever and enjoying the day. Some people here gave me similar advice (enjoy the day!), to not overly think it, stress, etc.
Turns out that it was a very special day and I’m glad I wasn’t focused on my food choices for the day. I still didn’t do too badly, but people helped me to put it in perspective (food vs family, special occasions, etc).
I respect those people who say “No, I’m 100% committed, 100% of the time.” but I’m not nearly that focused.
Enjoy your weekend! It’s just 1 weekend in the rest of your life weekends. 
daniellealberta
(Danielle)
#27
You’re being realistic, and that’s an important thing to be when you’re trying to make a lifestyle change. You’re setting yourself up for success by being realistic about what you’ll be able to do and when.
If you make a plan for this “break” from keto, in my mind it’s different than “falling off the wagon”, because with a plan in place it’s all part of your process. When I have done this, I write down a start date and time for my “break”, as well as the date and time my “break” will end. Put it in your calendar, stick a note on your fridge, whatever works for you.
Once your plan is in place, enjoy yourself. Then get back on track at your scheduled date and time. Success!!
Robert_Johnson
(Consensus is Politics)
#28
Ive been eat ketogenic for over a year. I have not had an actual cheat day. I just haven’t felt i needed to. That said, I have had the occasional cheat. I think the key here is to make it happen very seldom, otherwise it could become a habit, especially if you were a carb addict like I was.
Some real world examples from my life as a ketonian…
1– its someones birthday. A slice of cake is handed to me from the birthday girl. She says, “here’s yours… oh! Im sorry, i forgot you cant eat this anymore 
”. I reply, “I can eat ANYTHING I want. I just need to… hold on a sec… give me that! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” Whats life if you cant make other people happy 
.
2– wife and I are out and about town. She has a sudden craving for a certain asian buffet. So we go. At first I figured I would just continue fasting through it. She looked like she was feeling guilty, even said so. She apologized, because she think I cant eat there. I told her I could if I wanted too. And then I made a show of it by making it look like I put some seriuos thought into it, “You know what! I beleive I can make almost any restaurant food keto.” I then went through the buffet and piled on the chicken, ribs, green beans, shrimp, and even a few crab wonton’s. I dont know how many carbs i ate that day. I would guess easily close to 200. But i didnt stress over it. I already know it can happen. I just make a conscience effort to NOT make it a habbit.
The piece of cake didnt make me sick. Didnt kick me out of ketosis for more than that day. The asian buffet, well, I was hungry an hour later. But I already knew that was just the hormones talking. I ignored them. Had some salt water, and they went away.
In my humble opinion. DONT STRESS ABOUT IT. Have fun. Be social. Dont make a show of it like a martyr either. No one likes it when someone else points out that what they are doing isnt what they want to do, except that they are doing it for others. Makes people feel guilty, “if it wasnt for me they wouldnt be cheating?” sniff
Next day fast for a while. If you feel hungry, have some bacon and eggs. 
Keep calm and Keto on! And…
Keto Vitae!
Ilana_Rose
(mole person)
#29
Fasting deepen ketosis. Remember, ketosis happens when your body is forced to break down fats for fuel. You don’t need to eat fat for this to happen since you have fat on your body. But you do need to limit other sources of energy, such as carbohydrates. The lower the other sources of energy are, the deeper the state of ketosis will be.
KetoDan88
(Dan)
#30
awesome stuff all around guys. I will take this one occurrence to eat, drink and be merry and then back on track!
JohnH
(John)
#31
It would be better if this off-plan weekend were coming after a few months rather than after a few weeks.
However, my advice is to go into it with the idea that you will enjoy yourself but not use it as an excuse to go hog wild, and get back on your plan when the weekend is over. You will lose some progress, and may have to go back through some carb withdrawal symptoms.
If you are making a long-term commitment to lifestyle change, one weekend is not a big thing, unless it turns into a derailment.
Rajseth
(Raj Seth)
#32
“Cheat Day” is kinda a misnomer.
“Carb Day” or “Carb plunge” may be a better description.
I have been keto 15 months - 0 cheat days. However, there was a day, a couple months ago, I was sitting in a lounge, chatting with some work buddies, had a drink or four, and just went through two bags of Frito-Lays - one deliberate chip at a time! I probably just needed salt - but getting up from that work discussion to go get my salt from my hotel room was not happening.
Did I lose sleep over it? No!
Did I get derailed? No!
Did I see how long I was “knocked out of ketosis”? No!
Did it matter? No!
Did I notice ANY side effects? No!
So - IMHO - GO FOR IT. Have a great time! Live life!
When its over, KCKO.
Maybe fast for a day (I did after mine)
It will not even register as a blip.
Rclause
(Scott)
#33
I love craft beers and wouldn’t miss that part. Forget about calling it a cheat day. Just enjoy the beer but you may want to study up on different beers carb count. Food is easy just skip the buns and potatoes and you will be back in ketosis in no time. I don’t know what I would do about pizza (other than a salad) so jump on in and suggest steak first! Have fun!
GentleBen
#34
Just enjoy the day.
But if you want to use it as a learning experience, test your blood glucose and weigh in the morning of the event. Then weigh yourself — reluctantly and peep with one eye open at the scale — on the morning after the pig-out. Your morning-after weight and BG level will serve as motivation to resume low carb.
ctviggen
(Bob M)
#35
I fast for 10 times longer than I cheat. 
Just kidding, though fasting is one option I use, say, after a vacation.
Beer and I don’t get along. Beer is the main reason I am low carb. It’s a unique combination of high calories, high carb, and alcohol, all of which hammer your body and particularly liver. In the last 5 years, I’ve had a few beers, but very few. If I had a festival, I would imbibe, but keep relatively curtailed if I could.
High saturated fat intake, if you can do this, supposedly helps protect the liver from alcohol.
Mnketo46
(Frank)
#36
There are so many knowledgeable people on this forum. They have helped me every step of the way and now I feel more confident in offering my advice to others. Kinda like they put their oxygen masks on first and then helped others. It is awesome!!!
Keylee
#37
Hey Dan… As you see most of us agree that being on Keto does not mean you stop living. Have fun and enjoy your time. You will also learn in the process how your body will react. this is good cause later when those days come again to explore the Carb World, you will know what is worth it and what is not. The best advice also, someone shared, was that it’s best to have a game plan. You must be ready to get back in the GAME. Remember this is not a race it is more about changing your life style and having more healthy consistent days of eating than carb filled days. Congratulations on making this healthy choice and living life!
Alex99
#38
Hi Dan,
I got knocked out of keto, changed my brand of yogurt, looks like the “low sugar” version pulled some mysterious stunts.
I just went back to eating under 20g carbs and waited it out simple as that. It took 5 days. I would’ve guessed 2 or 3 …
You could exercise to deplete the excess carbs quicker but …
I survived. I was sad though, it’s cool being on keto
kingfisher
(Shane)
#39
I should have worded my last sentence differently. I’ll be eating keto until my next fast or until I go away again and find my stash of beer. When I fasted afterwards my BG was under 5 (90) and I was producing ketones by the second day and 4.4 by the end of the 2nd day.
And for me, it’s water, black coffee and the odd sugar free coke (and electrolytes while fasting). That doesn’t change for eating days either, I just add food to the list.