Planned breaks - who takes them?
moonlights
Posts: 141 Member
First of all, I know in an ideal world we would all stay flawlessly on plan forever. I know I don't need to come off my plan. At most events over the holidays I could just eat the meat and veg on offer and at others I could not eat anything. I know I feel best when not eating carbs. I know I can choose not to take a break. I know that for many people one bite of sugar ends up in a major wagon fall. I know it's smartest for most people to stay on plan. I'm not even craving carbs right now.
But I'm still going to take a planned break this Christmas.
I've been at this Keto lark for many years and one thing I have learned is that, while I can and have stayed on plan for holidays, it makes me resentful. I seem to be able to take two weeks off, give myself a set restart date and climb back up and carry merrily on with my normal low carb lifestyle. But if I get resentful I fall off the wagon accidentally, have an all out binge, and often take months or years to get back on plan.
Planned breaks work for me. I have Christmas lunches, a funeral, a party and a Chinese buffet dinner to go to over a two week period and my planned break means I can eat what I want on those occasions and not worry. I tend not to pick things that will make me feel terrible anyway (e.g. Bread) but I can make the best choices and not fret. Inbetweentimes I will eat moderate (under 100g) carbs as I don't want to swing in and out of Keto.
At the end of my two planned weeks I'll go straight back to my usual Keto eating habits, no fasts or blasts just what I know works.
I tend to have a planned break like this around 3 times a year. Ironically it helps me stay on plan in between - if I'm at a special occasion dinner and everyone is having amazing desserts, I can stay on plan and think - well if I want one of those I'll have it on my break. It helps me not feel resentful.
I know I'll gain around 7lb over the 2 weeks, I know most of it will be water and I know it will come off again. I won't let my progress be slowed by random days off here and there, I just package my days off into a bundle and accept the time it will take to work it off again.
This is a lifestyle/lifetime for me so I'm not worried about losing a week.
And a couple of weeks off plan usually reminds me why I'm on plan to begin with.
As I say, a lot of people either can't take breaks or don't want to, and that is Fantastic if it's what works for you. This is what works for me. Anyone else do what I do?
But I'm still going to take a planned break this Christmas.
I've been at this Keto lark for many years and one thing I have learned is that, while I can and have stayed on plan for holidays, it makes me resentful. I seem to be able to take two weeks off, give myself a set restart date and climb back up and carry merrily on with my normal low carb lifestyle. But if I get resentful I fall off the wagon accidentally, have an all out binge, and often take months or years to get back on plan.
Planned breaks work for me. I have Christmas lunches, a funeral, a party and a Chinese buffet dinner to go to over a two week period and my planned break means I can eat what I want on those occasions and not worry. I tend not to pick things that will make me feel terrible anyway (e.g. Bread) but I can make the best choices and not fret. Inbetweentimes I will eat moderate (under 100g) carbs as I don't want to swing in and out of Keto.
At the end of my two planned weeks I'll go straight back to my usual Keto eating habits, no fasts or blasts just what I know works.
I tend to have a planned break like this around 3 times a year. Ironically it helps me stay on plan in between - if I'm at a special occasion dinner and everyone is having amazing desserts, I can stay on plan and think - well if I want one of those I'll have it on my break. It helps me not feel resentful.
I know I'll gain around 7lb over the 2 weeks, I know most of it will be water and I know it will come off again. I won't let my progress be slowed by random days off here and there, I just package my days off into a bundle and accept the time it will take to work it off again.
This is a lifestyle/lifetime for me so I'm not worried about losing a week.
And a couple of weeks off plan usually reminds me why I'm on plan to begin with.
As I say, a lot of people either can't take breaks or don't want to, and that is Fantastic if it's what works for you. This is what works for me. Anyone else do what I do?
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Replies
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I won't take two weeks off like you can. I would be too derailed. Cravings would come back and it would be hard to climb back on the wagon.
I have splurged at certain meals, just a few times per year. Maybe I'll have cake on my birthday or a cinnamon bun on Xmas morning. I try to make it count. Something special. It doesn't get more special than homemade cinnamon buns!
So I tend to stay keto, or at least low carb, but I do increase calories for days at a time. It's sort of a diet break, but I still eat within this woe 90+% of the time.1 -
I would try to just go off the days that something is going on. For me, that was what has derailed me ("I'll start again after New Years", etc) in the past. I never get back on!
For Thanksgiving, I just ate what I wanted at the dinner that day, and got right back on. Christmas I will do the same.
Everyone is different though!1 -
I've definitely had days (and recently a solid week) of making bad choices, but none have been planned. Though eating this way makes it much easier than ever before in my life to get back on track after eating off plan, it's still a difficult challenge that I don't enjoy, so I would never plan an intentional break. However, I have often made a conscious choice to increase my food volume if I'm dealing with cravings. Bringing my weight loss to a halt is better than derailing my diet all together, so that works out better for me. But, if you don't struggle with food addiction and binge eating like I do, you may not struggle as much with a break and may find it relieves your cravings in a positive way.1
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Not 2 weeks, but I do for very special occasions. I eat on-plan all day, and the evening is for the indulgence. The next morning I'm right back on-plan like nothing ever happened. I often find I end up spontaneously IFing until later in the day due to lack of hunger. No guilt, but no excuses.
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moonlights wrote: »First of all, I know in an ideal world we would all stay flawlessly on plan forever. I know I don't need to come off my plan. At most events over the holidays I could just eat the meat and veg on offer and at others I could not eat anything. I know I feel best when not eating carbs. I know I can choose not to take a break. I know that for many people one bite of sugar ends up in a major wagon fall. I know it's smartest for most people to stay on plan. I'm not even craving carbs right now.
But I'm still going to take a planned break this Christmas.
I've been at this Keto lark for many years and one thing I have learned is that, while I can and have stayed on plan for holidays, it makes me resentful. I seem to be able to take two weeks off, give myself a set restart date and climb back up and carry merrily on with my normal low carb lifestyle. But if I get resentful I fall off the wagon accidentally, have an all out binge, and often take months or years to get back on plan.
Planned breaks work for me. I have Christmas lunches, a funeral, a party and a Chinese buffet dinner to go to over a two week period and my planned break means I can eat what I want on those occasions and not worry. I tend not to pick things that will make me feel terrible anyway (e.g. Bread) but I can make the best choices and not fret. Inbetweentimes I will eat moderate (under 100g) carbs as I don't want to swing in and out of Keto.
At the end of my two planned weeks I'll go straight back to my usual Keto eating habits, no fasts or blasts just what I know works.
I tend to have a planned break like this around 3 times a year. Ironically it helps me stay on plan in between - if I'm at a special occasion dinner and everyone is having amazing desserts, I can stay on plan and think - well if I want one of those I'll have it on my break. It helps me not feel resentful.
I know I'll gain around 7lb over the 2 weeks, I know most of it will be water and I know it will come off again. I won't let my progress be slowed by random days off here and there, I just package my days off into a bundle and accept the time it will take to work it off again.
This is a lifestyle/lifetime for me so I'm not worried about losing a week.
And a couple of weeks off plan usually reminds me why I'm on plan to begin with.
As I say, a lot of people either can't take breaks or don't want to, and that is Fantastic if it's what works for you. This is what works for me. Anyone else do what I do?
After my last break it broke me from taking breaks.
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Hmm. I wouldn't trust myself to take a break from not smoking....9
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I take breaks if it is a special occasion. On my birthday, Christmas, holidays, I'm a bit more relaxed regarding fruit and sugar so that I can eat a proper dessert and not resent being deprived.
But it's been two and a half years since I had any form of wheat, rice, corn or potatoes and I don't intend to have them ever again. I can vividly remember how much I liked those foods and how huge were the portions that I considered normal and the constant hunger and thinking about food all the time and having snacks hidden around everywhere. No, just no. Never again.
As I see it, for me, it's a matter of controlled damage. I know I shouldn't eat any of it but mentally I'm not ready to say no to all carbs yet so I choose to say no to the worst triggers. I can say no everyday to bread, pasta, cakes, etc. partly because I trade them for the occasional fruit or good quality dessert.
And what's great is that when I do have those treats, I enjoy them less and less each time. Even fruit, that I've always loved, I can no longer eat in large quantities and I now prefer fruits that are naturally lower in sugar.
I'm hoping one day my body will be able to guide me towards what's good for me and I will truly not see what's bad for me as food, the same way that cat food is theoretically edible by humans but I don't want to try it when I serve my cat.
All this to say that for most of us this is a forever woe. We have to find what makes it work for us. As long as we achieve our goals there's no need to be stricter than we have to be.
::flowerforyou::4 -
I can't do breaks. a cheat meal turn to a cheat day to a cheat week with me. I'm better just choosing the best I can. I will have mashed potatoes for christmas dinner if I feel like them amd if I don't I won't. for me if I were to take a break between christmas and new years I would eat everything I could in that week...for me it just doesn't work for me.
glad it works for you though!!2 -
@moonlights I admire that you can take a two week break and get right back on plan. I've only been doing LCHF about 7 months, so this is my first holiday season trying to stay low-carb. I threw caution to the wind on Thanksgiving Day and the day after (lots of stuffing and pie), and felt like something the cat dragged in for over a week afterward.
It was easy for me to eat on plan again, because the thought of eating more carbs was nauseating. I haven't really decided what to do about Christmas. We normally have a big family get-together Christmas Eve with lots of yummy food, so I will have decisions to make.1 -
Hmm. I wouldn't trust myself to take a break from not smoking....
Exactly this. I know in my heart of hearts if I had a cigarette today, I'd be a smoker again by Wednesday. Food, same thing. A planned break would lead right back to my carboholic tendencies within days. An occasional blip or splurge is much easier to digest than an all out reset would be, for me.2 -
I agree with the blips and splurges. There's no way I'd ever consider two weeks! It really is easier for me at this point, to reconcile with the occasional meal or even day. I feel like it may be the key to me staying keto for the long haul, not just to try and hurry weight loss.
Maybe it's mental, but knowing that if I want to eat x food, of course I can! But only until it's gone and then it's pretty easy to jump back into keto.
If two weeks works for you, then do the dang thing!2 -
I usually do 2 weeks at maintenance for about every 6 weeks of calorie reduction, but I'm low carb, not keto, and I don't alter my macro ratios for my breaks, I just switch from loss calorie levels to maintenance calorie levels...I did go 6 months at loss calorie levels last year and that was super hard, so I think I'll stick to the 6 on 2 off rotation for next year, it seems to work for me.2
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I don't take extended breaks. Over the last 15 months of being keto I have had lasagna and a hot fudge sundae on my birthday, a sushi roll and a gluten free cupcake on my anniversary, and some homemade ice cream at a family reunion. At holiday dinners I usually go slightly higher than my typical 30ish net carbs to around 50, so the upper end of keto...I use the extra to have very small portions of the higher carb sides. I am gluten free due to celiac so honestly at most parties and holiday dinners I can't eat the goodies anyhow so it's not a big deal to stay on plan.3
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SuperCarLori wrote: »I agree with the blips and splurges. There's no way I'd ever consider two weeks! It really is easier for me at this point, to reconcile with the occasional meal or even day. I feel like it may be the key to me staying keto for the long haul, not just to try and hurry weight loss.
Maybe it's mental, but knowing that if I want to eat x food, of course I can! But only until it's gone and then it's pretty easy to jump back into keto.
If two weeks works for you, then do the dang thing!
Do you buy tiny hard-to-open containers that could barely feed a paramecium or family-sized, 55-gallon fun drums of funny foods?
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MimiOfTheLusciousLawn wrote: »Hmm. I wouldn't trust myself to take a break from not smoking....
Exactly this. I know in my heart of hearts if I had a cigarette today, I'd be a smoker again by Wednesday. Food, same thing. A planned break would lead right back to my carboholic tendencies within days. An occasional blip or splurge is much easier to digest than an all out reset would be, for me.
Ha! I'd be a smoker again before the first one was even all the way out of the pack.
My endocrinologist explained that I'd need to get back on carbs for at least 3 days for a Glucose Tolerance Test to produce useful results. And wheat & gluten for a couple weeks for tests to see if I should eliminate them (from my diet).
Probably wouldn't trust myself there, either (if the results mattered
). 0 -
I hosted a 16th birthday party yesterday. I've been melting chocolates and baking cookies, cupcakes and pasta and all kinds of crap for weeks now. I had my coffee before the party and didn't have anything but water and a few meatballs (handmade by me - no breadcrumbs) at the party.
BUT, I already have my birthday dinner sushi planned for New Years Eve birthday dinner. That is my planned break, just for a meal.1 -
I'm not taking any breaks for type of food over the holiday season. Since switching to low carb in March, I've taken a few breaks and those have decreased in frequency over time.
The last break I took was for a 3-day weekend at the end of October. Because I'm fat adapted and because I have diabetes, my BG's just rose and became extremely difficult to decrease. Before becoming fat adapted, it would have been easier to control BG, but I just don't respond as well to carbs anymore even with insulin. I'm just super "carb sensitive" now. As a result of the high BG's, I felt terrible. Even though I don't have any lab tests to support this, I can tell that electrolyte balance took almost 2 weeks to recover.
I really enjoy the taste of high carb foods, and I crave things like pizza, pasta, donuts, cookies, cake, brownies, ice cream, etc. But they are just awful for my health. Because I felt so ill last time, I've decided I can't just suddenly go on a quick carb binge again. If I'm going to increase carbs again, I have to do it slowly. In fact, I might actually do that at some point for a re-feed... but it will be over 2 weeks time, with the first week at around 100g-150g and the 2nd week at 150g-200g of carbs daily; and eating at maintenance calories or slightly above maintenance calories.5 -
@midwesterner85 -
What would be the purpose and process of re-feeding?0 -
@midwesterner85 -
What would be the purpose and process of re-feeding?
Hoping to increase RMR. I've been eating at a deficit for so long and have to eat so little to lose at this point. If I can't get to goal in another 2-3 months, I might try a re-feed before returning to a deficit and low carb again.2 -
No planned breaks for me though I do squeeze in a higher carb "something" every now and then. Last one was a homemade ginger snap. 9 carbs in a little bitty cookie. I did fine with that.
The problem with me taking a planned break is that I eat keto for a health reason other than weight. I could deal with a few extra pounds but if I string too many carby days together or have a 1 time super carb binge, the Dystonia acts up and I once again feel like someone put my head in a vice and is trying to rip my head off my shoulders. And I look like Linda Blair in the Exorcist. Neither comfortable nor attractive.
I think sometimes this makes sticking to plan easier than if it were "just" a few pounds.
I completely "get" what you're saying about "resentment" though @moonlights. The few major carb binges I have had occurred after spending time with others watching them enjoy all the tasty sweet bites and restraining myself. Beach trips. Parties. When I go to a party now, I stay away from the food table so I don't see others "picking" till their heart is content. We have to learn our food and social triggers. Reading your original post it does seem you use some carb sense. Kudos for knowing what works and what does not for you.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »@midwesterner85 -
What would be the purpose and process of re-feeding?
Hoping to increase RMR. I've been eating at a deficit for so long and have to eat so little to lose at this point. If I can't get to goal in another 2-3 months, I might try a re-feed before returning to a deficit and low carb again.
This too I have read about. There is a variation called the "anabolic diet" to restore muscle glycogen 2 days/week (weekends usually) followed by 5 days of ketosis. Same thing as cyclical keto, just structured a tad differently.
It's suppose to lower cortisol & elevate T3 levels from chronic effects of ketosis; I'm not aware if these are significant changes or not. I do not buy into the bro science as far as this method being good for body recomposition; this is more an option for utilizing carbohydrates for performance purposes.0 -
I eat low carb for reasons other than weight loss too - as I say I feel way better on low carb and it helps with a lot of health issues including reactive hypoglycaemia.
However I know myself by now (I hope).
I'm very much an emotional eater, spent most of my childhood tormented by bullies. I was overweight due to undiagnosed health problems that had me on and out of hospital for most of my 20s and later exacerbated that with comfort eating and years on low fat high carb diets.
My weight tracker on here says I've lost 36lbs. That's in the last 4 months.
I've actually lost 140lbs since my highest weight. That's total - it's probably more accounting for gains relost etc. It hasn't been linear. I don't talk about it much as I've hovered closer to the 200lb than 300lb mark for the past while and I like to start over with a clean sheet each time I've called off for a long time or unplanned reasons.
I lost all my weight on low carb/keto - I'd say I've been on plan for 4 of the 6 years it's taken me to lose the weight. So it hasn't been super speedy but life hasn't been smooth - close family deaths, major surgery and other serious life matters knocked me off plan a lot and a stressful two years traveling cross country twice a week didn't help. But the thing that's never knocked me off are planned breaks.
I don't usually take 2 weeks but I've taken longer before. A month once when I knew life would just be too complicated. Usually it's 3 days to a week about 3 times a year.
I have also in my time on plan stayed flawlessly on plan through infinite parties and special occasions. Knowing I'll have a planned break within 4 months means I don't slip up. But when I used to believe this was all or nothing then my old bullied child issues would raise their head again and I would repeatedly end up binging to self soothe. That's when I would fall off plan for real and when I accidentally fall of plan the guilt cycle makes it far harder to get back on than it ever is when I'm just eating as I've planned and allowed for.
I can eat moderately on a planned break, I don't need to go nuts and have everything. I don't need to emotionally binge. Planned breaks help keep me on plan and when I am on plan I lose weight swiftly and well.
I guess all I'm saying is they work for me and my mental health and they work out positive for my physical health even if they don't feel like it at the time.
I did list all the reasons I know many people would never consider doing it in my first post - guys I know and I would never judge what works for you. This works for me. Though I guess we'll see in January if this is the time it doesn't. I'm not too worried.
Anyway, I know most of you won't do this! I understand you, but wasn't really looking for the stories of why that's your choice.
I'm not encouraging my way of eating, I was just asking who does as I do - I know quite a few people on other forums so thought I'd ask here, that's all.1 -
I'm planning a couple of break days this month, for a family Christmas event and for my birthday. I'm not keto, and this month has turned into something of a moderate-carb maintenance month, but as I've lost 25 lbs in less than 6 months, I'm ok with taking a bit of a break. I had to eat a higher carb meal several times a couple months ago when I was on vacation with family and there wasn't another option, and it felt awful, so I'm not worried about being unable to go back to low carb. I used to think one slip would be the end, but I'm more confident in myself and this WOE now. I do, however, very much look forward to my once-a-year splurge at the Melting Pot for my birthday, where I will cover all the bread in all the cheese
Then the day after, back to business as usual. 0 -
I have let family know ahead of time what my current eating regimen is and that I am not willing to participate in contributing to the normal holiday fare (my previous norms...and what the nieces and nephews expect...are cook-less cookies and soft gingerbread cookies). All seem to be fine with my current restrictions as I am the provider of holiday games and activities.
I have no expectation that I will need to go off plan as I will be able to come from/return to my RV where I have everything I need every day. There will be lots of temptations, but fortunately...the most tempting would be things I made in the past were things I craved, (cranberry/sunflower seed/white chocolate bark is my krypton) but are now things I simply no longer make.1 -
Never took any breaks. Didn't feel the need to do so. My body has thrived on LCHF!
I am now in the hospital and am facing surgery. Hospital food is all carbs! But is what I need to heal my gut for now. Once I'm recovered I will go back to LCHF!
But no, never took planned breaks. Even while in Jamaica0 -
Emoji cut me off!
This past summer, while in Jamaica, I was able to maintain food choices without problems. Even alcohol was vodka, lime juice, and water.
IMO, LCHF is very easy to maintain once it's learned.1 -
SuperCarLori wrote: »I agree with the blips and splurges. There's no way I'd ever consider two weeks! It really is easier for me at this point, to reconcile with the occasional meal or even day. I feel like it may be the key to me staying keto for the long haul, not just to try and hurry weight loss.
Maybe it's mental, but knowing that if I want to eat x food, of course I can! But only until it's gone and then it's pretty easy to jump back into keto.
If two weeks works for you, then do the dang thing!
Do you buy tiny hard-to-open containers that could barely feed a paramecium or family-sized, 55-gallon fun drums of funny foods?
Those Nickles bags of crullers are single serve, right?1 -
I've been on an unplanned break. lol. First it was "if I eat on plan during the weekdays, then I can have a few things on the weekend". Then it was, "hey, I'm not gaining weight so I can eat more of _____ any time". Then it was "I'm gaining weight, and I need to stop eating whatever I want whenever I want, but it is soooo hard." And now, that's it, go back on plan because it is only going to get harder and you've gained 12 pounds back.
So, you might find you can have planned breaks, as long as you don't let it start to be a slippery slope.0 -
I'm going to be taking a break simply because I've been plateaued for too long. 1 day every 2 weeks will be high carbohydrates (400-500g), moderate protein (~100g), & low fat (<50g). I would regularly do "refeed" (not implying anorexia) days with excess fat but have not routinely used carbohydrates.
In the past when doing a targeted carbohydrate diet (I.e 400kcal aerobic activity = 100g carbohydrate), I would perform a 1x per week fat refeed day (higher kcals, mostly fat, ~25g carbohydrate) that seemed to work well in the long term. I abandoned this diet because it involved too much effort and daily variability (harder to comply with).0 -
moonlights wrote: »First of all, I know in an ideal world we would all stay flawlessly on plan forever. I know I don't need to come off my plan. At most events over the holidays I could just eat the meat and veg on offer and at others I could not eat anything. I know I feel best when not eating carbs. I know I can choose not to take a break. I know that for many people one bite of sugar ends up in a major wagon fall. I know it's smartest for most people to stay on plan. I'm not even craving carbs right now.
But I'm still going to take a planned break this Christmas.
I've been at this Keto lark for many years and one thing I have learned is that, while I can and have stayed on plan for holidays, it makes me resentful. I seem to be able to take two weeks off, give myself a set restart date and climb back up and carry merrily on with my normal low carb lifestyle. But if I get resentful I fall off the wagon accidentally, have an all out binge, and often take months or years to get back on plan.
Planned breaks work for me. I have Christmas lunches, a funeral, a party and a Chinese buffet dinner to go to over a two week period and my planned break means I can eat what I want on those occasions and not worry. I tend not to pick things that will make me feel terrible anyway (e.g. Bread) but I can make the best choices and not fret. Inbetweentimes I will eat moderate (under 100g) carbs as I don't want to swing in and out of Keto.
At the end of my two planned weeks I'll go straight back to my usual Keto eating habits, no fasts or blasts just what I know works.
I tend to have a planned break like this around 3 times a year. Ironically it helps me stay on plan in between - if I'm at a special occasion dinner and everyone is having amazing desserts, I can stay on plan and think - well if I want one of those I'll have it on my break. It helps me not feel resentful.
I know I'll gain around 7lb over the 2 weeks, I know most of it will be water and I know it will come off again. I won't let my progress be slowed by random days off here and there, I just package my days off into a bundle and accept the time it will take to work it off again.
This is a lifestyle/lifetime for me so I'm not worried about losing a week.
And a couple of weeks off plan usually reminds me why I'm on plan to begin with.
As I say, a lot of people either can't take breaks or don't want to, and that is Fantastic if it's what works for you. This is what works for me. Anyone else do what I do?
Ok, this is just my experience. I was doing hard hard (20g total carb) for a long time, maybe 6 or 7 mos. It's great, then I realized that this will be a life long way of eating if I want to continue to lose weight, and get healthy. During those 7 mos, I would of rather jumped off a bridge than "cheat on my diet"...then it happened, I did. But then jumped back on track, hard again...By today, I can count the times that I "cheated" on all fingers. Im one of those people that , if I mess up, I use that as an excuse to spiral out of control that day, and make sure I get a banana split in there. But in these last 2 mos, it has really hit me...that this is a lifestyle. We have to be realistic (again, this is my opinion/experience) I cant say that I will never eat fries again, or get some ice cream...but you have to make sure that you understand that it is a "treat" (its really poison) and get back on track ASAP. But to me, it's ok to let loose every few mos, but only for 1 day. I have to tell myself that I have actually stuck to something (i quit everything) and come so far, I couldn't imagine losing all of my progress...sorry, didnt mean to rant5
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