Cheat meals on ketogenic diet
sasaar
Posts: 36 Member
I have been seeing a nutritionist for the last four months to try and help me lost the stubborn last 10-15 lbs. we tried everything and I always wound up back at my usual weight of 129.2 (I'm 5"3 so those 10 or so pounds really shows) I was back up to 131 when He put me on the keto diet this week. I have butter and MCT oil in my coffee, full fat tuna salad or egg salad with mayor and 3 servings of oil (avocado, nuts, butter) with my meals as well as a snack of avocado if needed. I'm experiencing the "keto flu"right now but I've lost a few lbs. I'm down to 129.2 again.
Just wondering, how can a cheat meal fit into this plan? If I want to treat myself to a ice cream cone or slice of pizza once a month will that totally thrown my ketosis out of whack??
I would love to be able to continue on this plan long term but knowing wether or not an occasional treat will send me to square 1 is making me nervous. Thank you in advance for your answers!
Just wondering, how can a cheat meal fit into this plan? If I want to treat myself to a ice cream cone or slice of pizza once a month will that totally thrown my ketosis out of whack??
I would love to be able to continue on this plan long term but knowing wether or not an occasional treat will send me to square 1 is making me nervous. Thank you in advance for your answers!
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Replies
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Re. the keto flu, that's an electrolyte imbalance. Get some sodium into you and maybe read the various posts in the launchpad sticky.
Once you're fully adapted to keto / low carb eating (2 to 3 weeks I think?) the main thing IMHO with cheat meals is they will make you retain water. All the water weight you loose quickly in the first week, can just as quickly re-appear the day after a big carb feast. It's important not to let that discourage you - eg. you have a few slices of pizza and the next day you've gained 5 lbs. That's mostly just water and if you go right back to the keto / low carb diet, it'll be gone in a few days.
Apart from that, some people have trouble with digestion or other problems when taking in a bunch of carbs after getting used to the low carb way of eating. That's something that seems to vary greatly between people.
I'd really recommend taking some time to read through everything in the launchpad, a lot of questions are answered in there and there's a huge amount of useful information and advice.
Cheers!5 -
Thank you!0
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I agree with Steph_Maks. I've also found that sometimes those cheats will trigger cravings, feeling hungry all the time etc. Over time I've experimented and gotten a feel for where I have some leeway and where I don't. I've also found a lot more keto friendly foods that I really enjoy so I don't feel deprived or tempted that often anymore, which really helps.0
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I have been seeing a nutritionist for the last four months to try and help me lost the stubborn last 10-15 lbs. we tried everything and I always wound up back at my usual weight of 129.2 (I'm 5"3 so those 10 or so pounds really shows) I was back up to 131 when He put me on the keto diet this week. I have butter and MCT oil in my coffee, full fat tuna salad or egg salad with mayor and 3 servings of oil (avocado, nuts, butter) with my meals as well as a snack of avocado if needed. I'm experiencing the "keto flu"right now but I've lost a few lbs. I'm down to 129.2 again.
Just wondering, how can a cheat meal fit into this plan? If I want to treat myself to a ice cream cone or slice of pizza once a month will that totally thrown my ketosis out of whack??
I would love to be able to continue on this plan long term but knowing wether or not an occasional treat will send me to square 1 is making me nervous. Thank you in advance for your answers!
I suggest you dont have that cheat meal. Because it will do 2 things...prevoke those sugar cravings again and throw you out of keto. And you will start all over to get back in practice. Find an alternative. My cheat is sugar free jello and sugar free whipped topping in the can! And I have it everynight. You could try low carb greek yogurt with fruit. Just use low carb fruits like berries.5 -
andreaann1971 wrote: »I suggest you dont have that cheat meal. Because it will do 2 things...prevoke those sugar cravings again and throw you out of keto. And you will start all over to get back in practice. Find an alternative. My cheat is sugar free jello and sugar free whipped topping in the can! And I have it everynight. You could try low carb greek yogurt with fruit. Just use low carb fruits like berries.
Great advice.
Cheats are not really cheats in the true sense of trying to sneak some advantage for yourself, because in the nutrition "cheat," your intended victim is... you!
Ex-smokers, drinkers, and drug addicts usually don't have such great results when they cheat. Even if you've been away from your addiction for years, one cheat and you've got a real and current problem on your hands.
As @ConleighS put it, eating well is a matter of self-respect!
PS Steven Phinney likens cheat meals/days to running down the side of a sand dune - fun while it lasts, but if you want to be atop Mt. Keto again, you've got some trudging ahead of you.3 -
For me a cheat is having a keto dessert4
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I must say when I first saw the title to the thread, I immediately thought to myself "Really? IS there such a thing??" Seems the answer, as I suspected, is 'no, not really...."
I echo @RalfLott's wise counsel; cheating cheats no-one but you.
And his examples of ex-smokers/-drinkers and drug addicts, trying to just go for one little lapse (because surely, just one little <insert substance here> won't hurt...), is not far removed from the truth. It's acknowledged that sugar, in particular is far more addictive than Heroin, Cocaine and nicotine....
Keep your resolve, follow the above directives, and cheating, in time, will become a distasteful consideration....2 -
AlexandraCarlyle wrote: »I must say when I first saw the title to the thread, I immediately thought to myself "Really? IS there such a thing??" Seems the answer, as I suspected, is 'no, not really...."
I echo @RalfLott's wise counsel; cheating cheats no-one but you.
And his examples of ex-smokers/-drinkers and drug addicts, trying to just go for one little lapse (because surely, just one little <insert substance here> won't hurt...), is not far removed from the truth. It's acknowledged that sugar, in particular is far more addictive than Heroin, Cocaine and nicotine....
Keep your resolve, follow the above directives, and cheating, in time, will become a distasteful consideration....
I know sugar can be a *kitten* to kick, but I'm not quite sure someone trying to get off hard drugs would put sugar in first place...0 -
They probably wouldn't, and most people don't have a clue. But it's an established fact, and when you consider the amount of people addicted to carbs, then it's easy to see why, even though it's a 'hidden' addictive substance, there are 'probably' more carb addicts than 'hard drug' addicts. And when you consider the comparative costs, sadly, it's a no-brainer.....
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I ate a fairly healthy diet before trying this one, so getting "back on the sugar and card bandwagon" isn't really a concern of mine. I've always been able to one-off treat myself without going wild but I'm just mainly concerned about the effects this will have on ketosis1
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Well, I know for a fact that some people who 'go back' to carbs, even as a one-off treat, physically regret it, soon after or the next day.
I'm not sure why, but I can't even think of looking at carb-laden foods; it literally makes me shudder.
Others are not in my position.
The only way to tell how it will affect you, is frankly, to give it a go. Only you, can tell.....
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I say no.
I tried it when I first started. Took almost an entire week to get back into it. When I'm out of keto I have cravings and want to eat a lot more food. Just my opinion.0 -
According to Terry Wahls, it may also throw your microbiome off to reintroduce processed carbs & sugar...1
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I ate a fairly healthy diet before trying this one, so getting "back on the sugar and card bandwagon" isn't really a concern of mine. I've always been able to one-off treat myself without going wild but I'm just mainly concerned about the effects this will have on ketosis
Google fathead pizza if you crave pizza. Some people go out with family and friends and just pick the toppings off, fathead pizza is better, but that will work too. If you feel you must have something off plan. Only have half the serve you would have had normally. Be prepared to see a bounce up too.
There is an ice cream that has been discussed on the boards, but I am not a sweets person in the first place, so don't remember the name that was mentioned. But there is a lower carb one out there.
Once you are truly fat adapted, you can eat something that is higher carb, and just get back to it on the next meal and you will probably be ok.
Good for you trying to get off those final lbs. you are in a healthy range already so just keep at it and you will reach your goal.1 -
I ate a fairly healthy diet before trying this one, so getting "back on the sugar and card bandwagon" isn't really a concern of mine. I've always been able to one-off treat myself without going wild but I'm just mainly concerned about the effects this will have on ketosis
Hi Sasaar,
I'm fairly new to this (on my 4th week now) so my experience is still limited and I don't know as much as I would like to yet, but this topic also concerned me when I started so I wanted to share with you my humble opinion.
Prior to start, I dreaded not being able to treat myself every now and then but that's exactly what's kept me on track so far. Knowing that if I drank 2 beers or ate a piece of cake would through me out of keto-zone, is a much bigger burden than just a few extra calories, so I'm glad I have a bigger reason not to indulge.
Otherwise, there would have been plenty of occasions in which I would have given in and treated myself to something nice, maybe bargaining with myself to do some extra exercise later to burn it.
This morning I weighed myself and I'm down 4 kg. (8.8 lbs), which wouldn't have happened if I had indulged.
So IMHO, if you want to shed those few last pounds, just commit to this and don't boycott yourself with a small treat. In your case, it's just a few pounds so it will only take a few weeks.2 -
@sasaar there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is psychological. The whole idea behind "cheating" will set you up for failure. This is proven over and over again in many setting. There is an aspect of the human mind that just calling it cheating will make it more likely for you to sabotage yourself long term. No one is perfect. For those who are metabolically healthy, having an OCCASIONAL variance won't cause significant harm. However, it needs to be A) planned,
within predefined limits, C) not excessive (i.e. a whole half gallon of ice cream), and D) rare (i.e. preferably no more than once a month). You also want to wait until after you are fat adapted before you do this the first time. That could be as little as 2 weeks or as long as 6 weeks. If you were not a high-carber before (carbs below 40% of calories and primarily not from sugar and processed foods), you will likely be on the shorter end of that scale.
Personally, I do not eat off plan. I tried it and decided it was not worth it. I did not notice until after I ate a bunch of popcorn that changing to this WOE had cleared up my acne. One large movie theater popcorn later, and my face was all broken out like it had been for the previous 30+ years since I hit puberty. I immediately went back to eating on plan and my face immediately began clearing up again.
Additionally, the lower carb I went, the less flatulence I had. That may be TMI, but I know I am not the only one with this experience. When you live your whole life assuming that a certain level of flatulence is normal and within a couple of months it goes to almost zero, that is noticeable and quite welcome. The only issues I have had since going keto were after a couple of rounds of antibiotics that apparently killed off some good gut bacteria. I am working to improve that now with some probiotics.
I had 3 food I thought I would miss - ice cream, popcorn and pizza. As it turns out, after eating real food ice cream is way too sweet once my taste buds stopped being bombarded with all that artificially sweet food. Now so many foods taste so much better. As for popcorn, it turns out the butter and salt part were the most appealing part and both of those flavors are well incorporated into my diet. Finally, there are multiple options to replace pizza. I always saw the crust as just transport to get the good stuff into my mouth anyway, so just making "crustless" pizza (toppings only) is also an option.
All that said, we all have to find what works best for ourselves. I think you will be best served by giving it a solid effort without starting immediately thinking about "cheating" though as that mindset is the antithesis of successful thought.2 -
look up how to make keto pizza crust and keto ice cream although there are some low carb ice creams you can buy
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I will make low carb/keto sweets for special occasions. Those are my "cheats".
Otherwise I avoid sweet tasting foods entirely because of cravings. I'm absolutely not willing to eat real sugar based things and these low carb desserts are pretty damn good so there's really no reason to make the indulgence one that will put excessive sugar into my body. I don't want that or the high insulin and fat storage that comes with it.
I'll take the lesser harmful, but equally sweet road instead.
I never cared about high carb foods that aren't sweets so I've never made fathead pizza or crackers but that would be a much better choice than the grain containing versions for sure.1 -
I think there are probably many folks who eat keto (or low carb) and have a "cheat meal" then go right back on track. One might say I had a planned "cheat" last Thanksgiving Day with a little banana pudding, carrot cake and a bite of sweet potatoes. It wasn't anything extreme and I was on track the next day.
To me, this concept of "cheat" is really a frame of mind as is weight maintenance. I am firmly planted in the idea that it is not what I do occasionally that matters but rather what I do consistently. I keep my carbs low and I choose to do so on a regular basis. I also choose to never have any food "off limits". I have no food allergies, metabolic disorders, etc.
I have to limit my calories if I don't want to regain my loss. That's a fact, sad but true. That's just the way it is. I have to keep carbs low or I see an increase in involuntary movement as related to my neurological movement disorder. I personally accept there are foods I should keep to a minimum or even not eat at all. Each of us makes a decision for ourself.
In due time, you will be able to determine what is best for you as you move forward.2 -
I have been seeing a nutritionist for the last four months to try and help me lost the stubborn last 10-15 lbs. we tried everything and I always wound up back at my usual weight of 129.2 (I'm 5"3 so those 10 or so pounds really shows) I was back up to 131 when He put me on the keto diet this week. I have butter and MCT oil in my coffee, full fat tuna salad or egg salad with mayor and 3 servings of oil (avocado, nuts, butter) with my meals as well as a snack of avocado if needed. I'm experiencing the "keto flu"right now but I've lost a few lbs. I'm down to 129.2 again.
Just wondering, how can a cheat meal fit into this plan? If I want to treat myself to a ice cream cone or slice of pizza once a month will that totally thrown my ketosis out of whack??
I would love to be able to continue on this plan long term but knowing wether or not an occasional treat will send me to square 1 is making me nervous. Thank you in advance for your answers!
My suggestion is to not do "cheats," either a day or a meal. Plan it out and make the conscious choice to enjoy a particular food. For instance, I don't eat bread at home or work but once in awhile we go out to a restaurant with a really good homemade bread and I will eat that. Pizza-I skip the general takeout pizza but I will indulge in the fire-cooked pizza at a local eat-in place that is heavenly. I don't eat ice cream most of the time, but if we're going out to Sweet Frog (rare) I might get something small. Maybe look at it like that. Then its not a "bad" thing, which is what the word cheat implies, but a choice to eat foods that are worth the extra carbs/calories. Of course, there will be times when unplanned things come up but its the same principle. If you truly want it, have it, but acknowledge it and get right back to low carb.
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