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What harm is cheating on keto?

Lawrencepa

Well-Known Member
Messages
54
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
I cheated once already and there's a couple of events coming up including Christmas which will make it hard for me to sustain from carbs. I've looked at the benefits of ketosis but I don't see much difference from that and staying low carb with the occasional off days. I don't get carb cravings and I'm not entirely sure what fat adapted means. Is that burning fat you eat or fat around your belly? Can I still lose weight when I cheat and I'm out of ketosis? I have an event in a couple of weeks which I don't think I'll be able to do much about as it's 2 days and I don't think I'll have much choice. Can I do this without feeling guilty? I will try and stay low carb if possible but what's the importance of staying in ketosis?
 
It can take a while to get into ketosis if you "cheat". Perhaps another couple of weeks to get into fat burning again.

One benefits of being in ketosis (using fat in your blood for energy instead of glucose in your blood) is that you need much less insulin so if you are not producing much or your body is insulin resistant then it makes it easier to keep your BG down to normal levels.
 
It's really up to you. I don't particularly like the word 'cheat' used in this context because low carbing is a way of life rather than a competition or short term 'diet'. Sometimes life gets in the way of things we do and if that means not being in control of your food intake for a day or two then I don't class that as cheating. Having said all that... I wouldn't recommend doing it too often.
 

I did it for the first time after a couple of months. Got drunk on whiskey and when I was hungover craved some carby stuff. There's a couple of events over the next few months where it could go wrong. If I was generally low carb but not quite ketosis would that be sufficient? I don't think it fits any diet plan but I could still lose weight and be healthy right?
 
I've cheated on this low carb journey! Two 80th birthday parties, visiting relatives, wedding, holiday. I don't know how some manage not to. At times I have found low carb when out completely impossible although I always try my best with what food options are available.
If I'm honest I don't feel well at all, day to day blood sugars not improved much but hba1c has....so confusing!
 
Decide how much control you want of your condition which in turn will help you decide. For example I know that my fbg is around 4.5 average, and that the choices I make for breakfast mean that by circa 16.00 I am around 5. I then have a LCHF meal with a dessert of berries, nuts, coconut and yogurt - this combination keeps my prandial readings around 5.5 / 5.6 which is where my HbA1c is. So for my circumstance, if I want a lower HbA1c I would need to not have the daily second nut, berries etc combo. So what do you want to achieve on your journey?
 
I was diagnosed 5 months ago, and can honestly say I haven’t ‘cheated’ at all. It depends what boundaries you set yourself. I eat between 50-70g carbs/day, on that my HbA1c is now non-diabetic and I’ve lost nearly four stone. I’m scared that if I ‘cheat’ I’ll go really astray, high carbs would not only raise my bloods sugars but induce cravings for more carbs and then I’d get on a downward spiral. I’ve already been looking ahead to Xmas and planning what I’ll be able to eat; roast meats, veggies, nuts, pork scratchings, pâté, cold cuts, prawns, cheeses, Oppo ice cream, berries, cream, 85% chocolate etc... I’ve also been collecting low carb recipes of alternatives to cookies, biscuits, chocolates, desserts and crisps. I have delicious low carb recipes already tried and tested for lemon shortbread, chocolate and peanut squares, lemon cheesecake, chocolate mousse and fathead pizza and crackers. I will enjoy Xmas but I won’t be undoing all the hard work I’ve put in so far. That’s my take on it
 
Agree with @Chook about using the word ‘cheat’. If we’re in this for life, eating has to be enjoyable and realistic.

I’ve gone off piste a couple of times and don’t see it as a big issue. My strategy has been to plan for it and stick to the plan so there is less temptation to binge. So when I went on holiday in the summer I had treated myself to business class flights. Since airline portions are small, I decided I’d eat what I wanted on both of the flights, but stick to plan for the rest of the holiday. Worked well, enjoyed a few snacks and some other treats without too much damage to blood sugars and returned 10 pounds lighter after 3 weeks away.

On a more recent short break I did stray at one meal which wasn’t planned. Started out with a bunless burger, but was still hungry and ended up with onion rings and cheesecake! Tried not to beat myself up and got straight back to it.

Generally I am building treats into my everyday diet so that I don’t feel tempted to stray - raspberries and cream, 90% chocolate, Oppo ice cream are regular features and so far have not interfered with either weight loss or blood sugars.
 
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What is fathead pizza? Just wondering as I have seen it mentioned on here a few times. Sounds like a good go to snack.
 

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When you say a couple of times do you mean literally a couple of times? And over how long? I don't want to cheat but sometimes in certain events it seems hard especially when other people are providing the food. My family are huge foodies so it's making it hard. I cheated once a couple of weeks ago and next month I have a party then christmas. I will try and be as good as possible but I'm sure I will end up out of ketosis for them
 

Hi

Yes, I mean a couple of times - well 4 actually. That’s since January this year. They were full on eating proper carbs occasions. 2 were planned, one unplanned (see above). The other was early on after diagnosis when I had to travel abroad for work and the provided lunch was all carbs. These days I would just skip lunch, but I hadn’t got that far at the time.

When eating out/ at the homes of others I try to plan ahead, pick the best available option (much harder to know exactly what is in foods that sound low carb) and have low carb snacks that can be used in place of a meal if needs be (pork crackling, nuts).
 

According to my reading so far the worst place to be is if you are not mainly burning fats (in nutritional ketosis) but are eating far too few carbohydrates to fuel your body solely on carbohydrates. So if this is correct you couldn't loose weight and be healthy on the half way point.

To be clear, if you just eat a few fewer carbohydrates so that you are eating slightly less than your body needs, then fat stores will be released to make up the difference. This is, of course, how we lose weight on all sorts of eating plans.

My understanding is, however, that if you go really low but not quite low enough to go into nutritional ketosis then you are stuck in the twilight zone of permanent carb flu, which is not a happy place.

I'm pretty sure I read this in Volek and Phinney but haven't managed to find it yet.
 
Although it goes against the grain for someone with my username, I agree with Goonergal! Just re reading her post after reading a puff piece from The Telegraph about Joe Wicks allegedly "falling off the wagon." Some advice there was to set realistic goals for diet and exercise bearing in mind family and social events. If you set unrealistic goals you will fail, feel bad and probably slip back into poor habits.
Set sensible goals over a week/month/season taking into account obvious potential problem times for exercise and low carbing. The big takeaway from Goonergal and the Wicks article is to have say 5 low carb snack ideas planned as a go to option for low mood times.
 
What is ths safeway to step out of Ketosis? I will be travelling in a few weeks I may have to eat carbs more than keto diet requires. I guess I dont want to go DKA. Any ideas? experiences?
 
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