Huh. I can fall off the wagon without FALLING OFF the wagon.
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Twibbly
Posts: 1,065 Member
OK, so I haven't been around too much lately, but I have still been working on keto.
Yesterday, I made a major breakthrough. Into a package of cookie dough, which has always been one of my major comfort foods. No, that's not the breakthrough. The breakthrough is that instead of deciding that since I screwed up, I might as well eat what I want, I threw away the rest of the package and ate steak with asparagus and butter for dinner. I didn't mention that I did it to my husband, because one of us falling off the wagon has always been taken as a good enough reason for the other one to follow suit.
I did take my blood sugar yesterday: Fasting in the morning was 90 and the highest it went (3 hours after 120g sugar) was 134. So, my body did deal with the sugar (by packing it away as fat, I'm sure), but my fasting blood sugar this morning was 112, so it's still not a good thing to keep doing, obviously.
So, it's possible to lose your grip on the wagon. It happens. What's more important is the next part: Will you jump back in or let it ride off into the sunset?
Yesterday, I made a major breakthrough. Into a package of cookie dough, which has always been one of my major comfort foods. No, that's not the breakthrough. The breakthrough is that instead of deciding that since I screwed up, I might as well eat what I want, I threw away the rest of the package and ate steak with asparagus and butter for dinner. I didn't mention that I did it to my husband, because one of us falling off the wagon has always been taken as a good enough reason for the other one to follow suit.
I did take my blood sugar yesterday: Fasting in the morning was 90 and the highest it went (3 hours after 120g sugar) was 134. So, my body did deal with the sugar (by packing it away as fat, I'm sure), but my fasting blood sugar this morning was 112, so it's still not a good thing to keep doing, obviously.
So, it's possible to lose your grip on the wagon. It happens. What's more important is the next part: Will you jump back in or let it ride off into the sunset?
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Funny story, I came here to ask a similar question. Although today I believe I'll be running to catch up and get back on.
Yesterday I was cooking and made shepard's pie for my family. I had a few nibbles of the mashed potatoes that go with it and didn't stress out. Telling myself that my body would use up the little bit of carbs I consumed and I would be back into ketosis Lickity split.
THEN We had to take my son to the ER last night. (he's okay) I stress eat and so does my husband. So DH went to the vending machine and got me a bag of cheezits and a diet coke. Not too bad right? Well I went home and had 2 toasted Jumbo marshmallows and 5 Hershey's miniature candies. Got on the scale and I'm up a pound.
Okay, no big deal most of that is water weight. So the question is how long will it take my body to make use of those carbs and put me back into ketosis.
PS, Toasted Marshmallow never tasted so good.4 -
Melilssa Hartwig's "one bite rule" can be useful in these situations:
https://whole30.com/2015/08/one-bite/Here’s the rule in a nutshell: If you think your less healthy treat is going to be so delicious, so incredible, so worth it, and then you take your first bite and discover it’s not… STOP EATING.
and another useful metaphor I think I first read here: "when you drop your cellphone on the ground, you pick it up; you don't stomp on it!"15 -
Absolutely, you need to just stop and hop back on the wagon as soon as you can. What has helped me this time around is having some homemade low carb treats in my freeze. Dang they are good and no sugar spikes. I have been having fun baking with almond flour lately3
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Back in my WW days, I had a leader who said "everybody talks about starting tomorrow. Every moment is a moment to start." I love that. You have the power to decide at any time that you're going to start, or re-start, or re-re-start. I've had to rely on that so many times over the years.2
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I have read if you were in ketosis and cheat on the diet, it typically takes at least 2-3 days for your body to get back into ketosis. Also, it will take a couple days to balance the water weight gained. Many mitigating factors to consider. It sounds like you just stepped off the wagon for a minute with a single cookie and not fallen off completely and binge eating for the rest of the day, so your recovery should be faster.
cardio exercise can help burn off stored glycogen, which can help get back on track or may even keep you in ketosis if you just had a small slip and can burn off more calories than the quantity of carbs you just ate within a couple of hours.2 -
@Twibbly @tmoneyag99 It doesn't matter if you are in Ketosis or not, once you are 'fat adapted' you will continue burning fat as your main fuel, instead of glucose as that's what your body has become used to and that is what it will go back to pdq as long as you do exactly what you have both done which is a slide off and then a quick jump back on! Check out Tuit nutrition site, she has some excellent articles about this very subject of 'being kicked out of Ketosis' and 'fat adaption'. Ps, glad your son is ok!3
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chinatowninchina wrote: »@Twibbly @tmoneyag99 It doesn't matter if you are in Ketosis or not, once you are 'fat adapted' you will continue burning fat as your main fuel, instead of glucose as that's what your body has become used to and that is what it will go back to pdq as long as you do exactly what you have both done which is a slide off and then a quick jump back on! Check out Tuit nutrition site, she has some excellent articles about this very subject of 'being kicked out of Ketosis' and 'fat adaption'. Ps, glad your son is ok!
Hey thanks for this! I'm curious, does your body switch back if you start eating back carbs? TBH my plan is to lose the weight in keto, and then transition South Beach style into a maintenance plan that allows a little more fruit. I love fruit and that's the #1 thing I miss. I don't mind not eating rice and bread and the like, but healthy vegetables like sweet potatoes and fruit I miss.
If you operate at a low carb intake and then up it moderately for maintenance do you remain fat adapted?
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@tmoneyag99 As far as I am aware yes and for some time although you have to watch. It's all very individual though and the level of carbs one person can eat will be different to someone else. Seriously, check out Amy Berger's Blog at Tuit Nutrition she is excellent, easy to read and makes so much sense as well as making me laugh out loud at times! She has one or two or three post even on this very subject. The most popular ones are down a bar on the right hand side so they are easy to find. They make really interesting and reassuring reading (IMO!!)0
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Yes. When you eat carbs, the body burns the the carbs first. When that's depleted, the body burns the fat that was eaten. Once that has all been used and a deficit is created, then, the body begins to burn off body fat.
The reason some people cycle increased carbs around their exercise is they'll burn them off more quickly than they would at sedentary due to increased energy output (calories out). Some people can eat XXX carbs per day and remain in ketosis (at least mild) due to the calorie burn/energy expenditure.
It's generally written that even a somewhat sedentary or lightly active person might remain in ketosis at around 50 carbs per day.
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Yes. When you eat carbs, the body burns the the carbs first. When that's depleted, the body burns the fat that was eaten. Once that has all been used and a deficit is created, then, the body begins to burn off body fat.
The reason some people cycle increased carbs around their exercise is they'll burn them off more quickly than they would at sedentary due to increased energy output (calories out). Some people can eat XXX carbs per day and remain in ketosis (at least mild) due to the calorie burn/energy expenditure.
It's generally written that even a somewhat sedentary or lightly active person might remain in ketosis at around 50 carbs per day.
50 total, or net?0 -
Phoenix_Dawn wrote: »Yes. When you eat carbs, the body burns the the carbs first. When that's depleted, the body burns the fat that was eaten. Once that has all been used and a deficit is created, then, the body begins to burn off body fat.
The reason some people cycle increased carbs around their exercise is they'll burn them off more quickly than they would at sedentary due to increased energy output (calories out). Some people can eat XXX carbs per day and remain in ketosis (at least mild) due to the calorie burn/energy expenditure.
It's generally written that even a somewhat sedentary or lightly active person might remain in ketosis at around 50 carbs per day.
50 total, or net?
It really is subject to someone's activity level. It might be total for one person and net for the next person. Someone may be in ketosis at 50 net on one day because they spent an hour in the yard running around with their children then out of keto the next on 50 carbs net because they sat and watched tv all day.
I always went by total just to be on the safe side. If it is critically important to your health it would be best to purchase a blood ketone meter and test.0
