Fell off the wagon...

[Orweller]

I am almost 5 days out of ketosis. After about 67 days of carnivore/ketovore I tripped and fell right into some cookies, with my mouth. And I could immediately tell I was out of ketosis. This week I am low carb and prepping to get back into ketovore at the beginning of the week. I went from 148 to 135 lbs. in my 2 months of carnivore, and I found I was losing too much weight anyways. I added 2 pounds in these 4 days since, so I am glad about that. Excited to jump back in, I liked feeling light and painless, and the little aches are coming back. This is not catastrophic, just an appreciation for the diet, and a little breather in between. Keto snacks will get me through for now. Less than 100gr of carbs so I am ready to dive back in. By the way, no Keto flu, no Keto hang over or any of the draw backs of going in or out of ketosis. So I'll join the carniverse soon again. 

[Geezy]

I don’t know if you fell off the wagon so much as just did a little experiment to see what would happen. Now you know.
Forget the mistake, remember the lesson.


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[Orweller]

1 hour ago, Geezy said:

I don’t know if you fell off the wagon so much as just did a little experiment to see what would happen. Now you know.
Forget the mistake, remember the lesson.


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Actually, it was just a bad day and I said f%$k it. Was hungry, my meat was expired, so I had to grab something. It's an amazing lesson, made me appreciate the carnivore diet even more just by how my sleep changed and my inflammation. Good advice. Already stocked up on meat and ready to go. 

[JoeBravo]

Honestly the only way I can sustainably stay on the carnivore diet is to give myself a cheat weekend once every 60 - 90 days.   Makes me look forward to earning those cheat days.   Also I find that it helps me reset my ketones as after your body gets used to the carnivore diet your ketones don't flood your system as much as they do in the beginning days.   

It also gives me a reminder as to WHY I'm on this diet.   Once I hit my body with those carbs my Gerd comes back, my body bloats up, my sleep apnea and snoring get worse, mentally I get more depressed, more anxious and self concious.   I have a hard time getting out of bed.   All the bad things basically.   So it's a reminder that tells me "yep... that's why I'm on carnivore"

So don't beat yourself up about it too much. Some of us crazy folk schedule those cheat days.    Will it set you back a little?  yes.  Your progress will be slower than someone who just never has cheat days but if you want you can always push yourself longer to 90 days or 120 days.   Sometimes when I feel a cheat weekend come on I feel bad about it and I just don't do it and keep going to 90+ days.   

One word of caution however.  DO NOT go straight from carnivore to simple sugars.   Have yourself a nice well rounded meal before hitting your system with sugars because it can go badly if you don't.   One time I jumped straight from strict carnivore to eating a full pan of brownies one weekend and it resulted in severe constipation which impacted my bowels.   

So have a normal meal where you mix in healthy carbs first with some fiber so that you don't end up like me lol.  You know add some broccoli and mashed potatoes to your steak first.   I've never craved the taste of vegetables I until I was on carnivore so I take advantage of that and have those 1st now.  Ramp in and ramp out.   A "Cheat Weekend" typically lasts 5 days.   1 day to ramp in, 2 days of having whatever I want and 2 days ramping back down my carbs before going cold turkey. 

Anyway I hope that helps and I'm curious if anyone else does scheduled cheat days to reset their ketones. =)

 

[Geezy]

Yeah, it happens. You took a little break, no big deal.
Back when I drank I used to say that every once in awhile I had to get drunk just to remind myself why I shouldn’t get drunk.


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[Orweller]

10 hours ago, JoeBravo said:

Honestly the only way I can sustainably stay on the carnivore diet is to give myself a cheat weekend once every 60 - 90 days.   Makes me look forward to earning those cheat days.   Also I find that it helps me reset my ketones as after your body gets used to the carnivore diet your ketones don't flood your system as much as they do in the beginning days.   

It also gives me a reminder as to WHY I'm on this diet.   Once I hit my body with those carbs my Gerd comes back, my body bloats up, my sleep apnea and snoring get worse, mentally I get more depressed, more anxious and self concious.   I have a hard time getting out of bed.   All the bad things basically.   So it's a reminder that tells me "yep... that's why I'm on carnivore"

So don't beat yourself up about it too much. Some of us crazy folk schedule those cheat days.    Will it set you back a little?  yes.  Your progress will be slower than someone who just never has cheat days but if you want you can always push yourself longer to 90 days or 120 days.   Sometimes when I feel a cheat weekend come on I feel bad about it and I just don't do it and keep going to 90+ days.   

One word of caution however.  DO NOT go straight from carnivore to simple sugars.   Have yourself a nice well rounded meal before hitting your system with sugars because it can go badly if you don't.   One time I jumped straight from strict carnivore to eating a full pan of brownies one weekend and it resulted in severe constipation which impacted my bowels.   

So have a normal meal where you mix in healthy carbs first with some fiber so that you don't end up like me lol.  You know add some broccoli and mashed potatoes to your steak first.   I've never craved the taste of vegetables I until I was on carnivore so I take advantage of that and have those 1st now.  Ramp in and ramp out.   A "Cheat Weekend" typically lasts 5 days.   1 day to ramp in, 2 days of having whatever I want and 2 days ramping back down my carbs before going cold turkey. 

Anyway I hope that helps and I'm curious if anyone else does scheduled cheat days to reset their ketones.

 

Thanks and welcome. 

I do agree with you on it being a reset and a reminder. It feels exactly that way.

As for progress? I don't think I lost much other than gaining 2 lbs, which will be gone in no time. Weight-loss is not my goal anyways, it was just a by product. I welcomed those pounds back. 

Sleep was getting worse, yes. I noticed immediately. My body felt busier with digestion as well. 

And other than those 2 cookies, I haven't indulged in any simple sugars, not anything that is designed to be sweet. Perhaps a piece of dark chocolate, but that I did during carnivore as well. 

I am actually going back to keto/carnivore today, I feel ready, I miss it. I think I did well on staying low carb during these days, high carb, like potatoes and bread just felt wrong and I don't think I'll ever go back to that. 

[Bob]

I can't do grains, so cookies are out for me. The 2 times I have tried just a bite of bread/sugar I was suddenly jonesing for more. It was like crack cocaine.

On 2/14/2024 at 8:10 PM, JoeBravo said:

Also I find that it helps me reset my ketones as after your body gets used to the carnivore diet your ketones don't flood your system as much as they do in the beginning days. 

I find this to be the case for me too. I can be at a stall for weeks. Then, I'll "cheat" with a large apple, lol, and that will get things moving again.

Although I don't consider an apple to be truly cheating. I'm currently mostly carnivore, but I am not averse to certain select fruits and certain select vegetables.

 

[Geezy]

On 2/14/2024 at 8:10 PM, JoeBravo said:

I'm curious if anyone else does scheduled cheat days to reset their ketones.

I’ve been carnivore for 282 days now and I haven’t had any desire to cheat. Since this is a lifestyle and not a diet for me there just isn’t any such thing as a cheat for me.

I have experimented though with trying to add non carnivore foods back in to see how I’d react but after the results weren’t positive I’ve determined that staying a strict carnivore best for me.

I’ve never heard of resetting your ketones, didn’t know that was a thing. But if that works for you and others that’s great. I get it. Reminds me when I did Adkins nearly 20 years ago, some people, when they would hit a stall or plateau would have a cheat day to try and shock the system to get things rolling again.

I just can’t bring myself to do that.

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2024 by Bob
Moved Geoff's comment outside the quote box