I don’t want to have to feel guilty about this
imlightning
Posts: 38 Member
Ok so I’ve been doing very well with the Keto diet.
I’ve also been doing outstanding with respect to limiting my alcohol intake.
My weakness is beer....
So, I have went from a 2-3 a day beer drinker to a 2 beers maximum a week.
I just don’t know how this will ruin my efforts. If it’s going to be a make or break, I’m not sure I can stick with this lifestyle change. Right now I’m aiming for 25-30 net carbs and have hit that every day except for today with the beer.
I’ve also been doing outstanding with respect to limiting my alcohol intake.
My weakness is beer....
So, I have went from a 2-3 a day beer drinker to a 2 beers maximum a week.
I just don’t know how this will ruin my efforts. If it’s going to be a make or break, I’m not sure I can stick with this lifestyle change. Right now I’m aiming for 25-30 net carbs and have hit that every day except for today with the beer.
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Replies
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There are low carb beer options that you could work into your macros (Michelob Ultra I believe is about 2-3 carbs). From what I understand though, your body needs to process and deal with alcohol before it handles anything else, so when your burning alcohol your not burning fat. I think you can work a couple of beers in now and then, just keep in mind it might slow your progress.
You have to do what is going to be sustainable to you. You might be surprised to find in a couple weeks or months that your craving for alcohol and beer deminishes signifigantly.1 -
You are absolutely right.
When I did this before, I lost most of the cravings I had for beer, sweets, etc (although I could be persuaded with a butter croissant now and again). If I wanted a drink, I’d have a glass of wine. Right now I’m focusing hard on reducing the amount of alcohol I’m drinking because I was drinking way too much of it to begin with.
But, there’s going to be times when I’m eating the carbs, when I’m eating sweets. It’s just the way it goes. It happens once in a blue moon. I’m not too concerned about indulging once in awhile.1 -
Another thing to consider: You really just need to get to the fat adapted stage and you can ease those things back into your diet. Average person takes 6-9 weeks of strict Keto for this to happen.1
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Call it carb cycling.
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Another thing to consider: You really just need to get to the fat adapted stage and you can ease those things back into your diet. Average person takes 6-9 weeks of strict Keto for this to happen.
Does that mean, theoretically, it’s possible to (more-readily) slip between the two metabolic states for when life happens and carbs are high and when it is easier to avoid high carb intake?
That is the impression I’ve had as I’ve been reading and trialing Keto to see if I can stick it out for at least another 5 months0 -
Another thing to consider: You really just need to get to the fat adapted stage and you can ease those things back into your diet. Average person takes 6-9 weeks of strict Keto for this to happen.
Does that mean, theoretically, it’s possible to (more-readily) slip between the two metabolic states for when life happens and carbs are high and when it is easier to avoid high carb intake?
That is the impression I’ve had as I’ve been reading and trialing Keto to see if I can stick it out for at least another 5 months
Yup, as far as I understand it does, it takes a while and some effort to become a 'fat burner' but once you are, as long as you don't go for broke at loads of carbs for weeks then your body adapts back much more quickly to running on fats and that also means the fats in regular food not added fats. It will always react quickly to additional carbs though and those carbs grab that water which is why we always seem to put on weight very quickly after having more carbs than we are used to. It's not fat you are putting on it's retained water and it comes off easily (well more easily than stored fat!!)
Check out Tuit Nutrition she has lots of great stuff about this and many other subjects. Personally I think she's great, very down to earth and very funny as well which helps!1 -
thank you, @chinatowninchina0
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chinatowninchina wrote: »Another thing to consider: You really just need to get to the fat adapted stage and you can ease those things back into your diet. Average person takes 6-9 weeks of strict Keto for this to happen.
Does that mean, theoretically, it’s possible to (more-readily) slip between the two metabolic states for when life happens and carbs are high and when it is easier to avoid high carb intake?
That is the impression I’ve had as I’ve been reading and trialing Keto to see if I can stick it out for at least another 5 months
Yup, as far as I understand it does, it takes a while and some effort to become a 'fat burner' but once you are, as long as you don't go for broke at loads of carbs for weeks then your body adapts back much more quickly to running on fats and that also means the fats in regular food not added fats. It will always react quickly to additional carbs though and those carbs grab that water which is why we always seem to put on weight very quickly after having more carbs than we are used to. It's not fat you are putting on it's retained water and it comes off easily (well more easily than stored fat!!)
Check out Tuit Nutrition she has lots of great stuff about this and many other subjects. Personally I think she's great, very down to earth and very funny as well which helps!
Anecdotally, this is exactly my experience
I have been keto-ish for 4 months (I occasionally have slightly higher carbs as I do a fair amount of exercise these days - never thought I’d say that lol). I’ve had 4 holidays during these four months and have eaten sensibly-ish but not completely low carb (so I might have some cocktails or wine and a meal with rice or chips each day - one morning I was super hungover and gorged on gluten free McDonald’s lol).
After each of these trips I’ve dropped the water weight... the first time took about a week... the next time about 4 days and this last trip I dropped it in one day... I think my body is now kinda used to being low carb and is quite happy to go back to it... however I do get the keto flu each time and have to really up my salts in those days post holiday to ward it off..
My theory is that life happens - tonight I’m meeting up with some friends for pizza as we all happen to have the same evening off (almost never happens with shift work)... I’ve checked out the menu to see what I can order and stay under calories but I’m never going to manage low carb tonight and that’s ok because I want to keep this up for life.. not just for a few months and I also want to be able to go out with my friends and eat pizza 1 -
Some people are able to cycle effectively if they have good insulin sensitivity. Your results may vary.
I do seasonal ketosis, where I go into keto in the spring and summer. I come out of ketosis for football season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, NYE, and my birthday in early February.
Unless you're dealing with a metabolic issue, going in and out of ketosis shouldn't be a problem.3
