Anyone take a break from Keto each week?

Hello everyone,
Does eveyryone stick to the keto diet all week, or do some of you throw in a cheat meal or "free day" on the weekends? Whats the worst case scenario for throwing in some goodies now and then? Thanks! Oh - and currently Im working with 70% fats, 25% protein and 5% carbs at 1800 cals. Has not been too difficult - but wine and beer throw me out :o( - I know, I know...ugh.

Replies

  • Roze_Lintje
    Roze_Lintje Posts: 57 Member
    I stick with keto all week! I noticed if I have a meal with carbs, I feel terrible after eating it and I get a headache. Also the cravings come back. And I'm eating everything I love, so I don't feel the need to have a 'cheat' day.
  • guitarguy310
    guitarguy310 Posts: 32 Member
    I had a few pieces of pizza from Papa Johns on Saturday along with a Blue Moon brew and the results blew my mind after I entered everything in MFP. Carbs were well over my 5% goal....with just one slice...not even mentioning the beer results. Wow.
  • kholcomb51
    kholcomb51 Posts: 54 Member
    I'm so stalled that I'm trying the "Carb Nite" program just to see what happens. You stick to vlc for 10 days, and the evening of the 10th you carb up. Then another week following keto, then another carb night. I haven't had my first carb night yet, so can't tell how it will go. It's somewhat more complicated than that, but I read the book and the science sounds good. If it doesn't start making me lose fat after a month or so, I'll probably just go back to sticking to keto.
  • guitarguy310
    guitarguy310 Posts: 32 Member
    My plan is to stay within my macros with the Keto Diet all week but have a nice "carby" meal once a week, probably Saturday night. I've heard about Carb Nite as well, as I am mixed with a whirlwind of data from the Keto, Cyclical Keto, Carb Nite, Slow Carb....phew! I'm sticking to Keto for one month - if I don't see any desirable results, I'll switch it up.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    I cycle in and out depending on my training program (I go back to carbs when I plateau on my heavy lifts). Basically, I'm on four weeks, off two or three. This has worked well for me over the past six months.
  • I don't have a cheat day or meal, anymore. It takes half the week to get back into a good keto state and it was stressing me out. I found if I just stopped with all the cheats and truly stayed keto I didn't even want or crave carbs anymore. I did of course have pie at Christmas and whatnot but it made me sick and it was not even worth it in the end. Good luck!!
  • mamma_nee
    mamma_nee Posts: 809 Member
    Been in a plateau for a couple months now … was doing the cheat day then tried just a cheat meal and now switched to anothe way of life to see if I can get it moving again.
  • CBDoll
    CBDoll Posts: 20 Member
    I dont miss carbs enough to take a break, plus eating them usually would cause such a fierce craving for MORE that it wouldn't be worth it to me. I don't even make pretend carb foods ( like low carb Pizza, or low carb sweet treats for the same reason). I've never had much of a sweet tooth, but pasta or rice would cause me to binge.
  • birdiecs
    birdiecs Posts: 237 Member
    No it isn't worth how awful I feel the next day. Did it on Christmas and ate all the cookies, next morning I felt like I was going to toss them all back up.
  • tanigrrrrr
    tanigrrrrr Posts: 137 Member
    Unless youre lifting heavy, it is a complete waste of time.
    You will never become keto adapted meaning that you will not be able to cash in on all the benefits that being keto - adapted offers..
    If you are looking at having a cheat day every week i wouldnt suggest keto.. maybe low carb without being in keto so that you arent constantly wasting half the week getting back into keto, just to eat well for a couple of days before you carb load again.
  • guitarguy310
    guitarguy310 Posts: 32 Member
    Thanks for all of your replies! All in the same....if I'm still in a caloric deficit, whether I'm in Ketosis or not, wouldn't I reap the same benefits for fat and weight loss?
  • " Thanks for all of your replies! All in the same....if I'm still in a caloric deficit, whether I'm in Ketosis or not, wouldn't I reap the same benefits for fat and weight loss?"



    That is a much heated discussion about this. I believe you will still lose weight- but it won't be as easy. Also, there are some SERIOUSLY delicious keto friendly pizza recipes out there if you are craving pizza. I sometimes crave sweets, so I make a keto-friendly dessert on the weekends like mug cake. That way, I still get to eat a yummy dessert, and I still stick with my macros.
  • birdiecs
    birdiecs Posts: 237 Member
    Thanks for all of your replies! All in the same....if I'm still in a caloric deficit, whether I'm in Ketosis or not, wouldn't I reap the same benefits for fat and weight loss?


    In my experience my weight loss eating at the same deficit and with the same activity level almost doubles while i'm in Keto vs just low carb. Nov lost 2.8lbs low carb, dec lost 5 lbs on Keto.

    There was some stall on my lifting but that seems to have worked itself out this week and had my first gains. I'm happy to stay keto and don't feel there is any benefit for me to have cheat days. It's not worth it to me to keep going in and out of Ketosis to have some carbs.
  • jeniwilmot
    jeniwilmot Posts: 25 Member



    In my experience my weight loss eating at the same deficit and with the same activity level almost doubles while i'm in Keto vs just low carb.

    I'm sure this might depend on the person--but have you read any studies or factual evidence anywhere that suggest keto actually does burn fat faster than anything else? I'm truly curious. I read a lot of what you're saying in forums and I'd love to see some sciency "proof" to encourage me even further!! :) It makes sense.
  • birdiecs
    birdiecs Posts: 237 Member



    In my experience my weight loss eating at the same deficit and with the same activity level almost doubles while i'm in Keto vs just low carb.

    I'm sure this might depend on the person--but have you read any studies or factual evidence anywhere that suggest keto actually does burn fat faster than anything else? I'm truly curious. I read a lot of what you're saying in forums and I'd love to see some sciency "proof" to encourage me even further!! :) It makes sense.

    Honestly no I haven't, that's why I relay it as strictly my experience. It's been rather baffling for me as well. I'm very much a numbers person and have kept logs since first starting trying to lose weight. I purposely did not change anything..activity, calories etc when converting from Low Carb to Keto so that I could do a true comparison. Keto was something I approached skeptically but was willing to give it a shot because my weight loss had slowed to a crawl.

    It will be interesting to see if this rate of weight loss continues into my full second month. So far I weighed in on Jan 1 at 132lbs and I'm now at 131 as of this morning, for me 1lb a week sustainable loss would be HUGE, considering that for the last 5months it's hovered at .5-.6 at best.
  • guitarguy310
    guitarguy310 Posts: 32 Member
    " I sometimes crave sweets, so I make a keto-friendly dessert on the weekends like mug cake."


    That sounds good - whats the recipe? Thanks!
  • ash407
    ash407 Posts: 28 Member
    Yes I do - it helps with insulin sensitivity and sky rockets your metabolism for when u next low carb. Google 'kiefer' and read the carb nite article v interesting

    Feel free to add me for ideas on meals etc.