Strategies To Get Back On Track After A Keto Slip-Up

The keto diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet that's popular for its weight loss effects. It encourages ketosis, a metabolic state in which your body burns fat as its primary source of energy instead of carbs. As the keto diet is very strict, you may find yourself tempted by the occasional high-carb food.

A cheat meal or a cheat day is a common strategy for strict diets. Cheat days allow you to break the diet's rules throughout the day, while cheat meals let you have a single meal that breaks the rules. The idea of planned cheating is that by allowing yourself short periods of indulgence, you're more likely to stick to the diet over the long term.

While cheating may be helpful for some eating patterns, it's far from ideal for the keto diet. That's because this diet relies on your body staying in ketosis. To do so, you need to eat fewer than 50 grams of carbs per day. Eating more than 50 grams can kick your body out of ketosis. As carbs are your body's preferred energy source, your body will use them over ketone bodies—the main source of fuel during ketosis, which are derived from fats—as soon as a sufficient number of carbs are available.

If you've cheated on keto, you're likely out of ketosis. Once out, you'll need to strictly follow the keto diet to re-enter ketosis. This process takes several days to one week, depending on your carb intake, metabolism, and activity levels. Here are a few tips to help you get back into ketosis:

- Try intermittent fasting. Combining intermittent fasting with the keto diet may help your body shift its fuel source from carbs to fat.

- Track your carb intake. Taking note of your daily carb intake ensures that you don't underestimate it.

- Try a short-term fat fast. Fat fasts like egg fasts, which may help expedite ketosis, are very high-fat, low-carb diets meant to last only a brief period.

- Exercise more. Physical activity depletes your glycogen stores, which are your body's stored form of carbs. In turn, this promotes ketosis.

- Try a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) supplement. MCTs are a rapidly absorbed fatty acid that's easily converted into ketones.

Cheat days can kick you out of ketosis

• Understand the impact of cheat meals: A single high-carb cheat meal can easily exceed your daily carb allowance and take your body out of ketosis. This is because your body will use carbs as its primary energy source instead of ketone bodies derived from fats.
• Return to the keto diet: To re-enter ketosis, you need to strictly follow the keto diet again. This process can take a few days to a week, depending on your carb intake, metabolism, and activity levels.
• Try intermittent fasting: Combining intermittent fasting with the keto diet may help your body shift its fuel source from carbs to fat.
• Track your carb intake: Keep track of your daily carb intake to ensure you don't exceed your limit. This will help you make more informed dietary choices.
• Try a short-term fat fast: Fat fasting involves following a very high-fat, low-carb diet for a brief period. This approach may help expedite the process of getting back into ketosis.
• Increase physical activity: Exercise depletes your glycogen stores, which are stored carbs in your body. By exercising, you promote the use of ketone bodies for energy, supporting ketosis.

Remember, it's normal to crave carb-rich foods when following a restrictive diet like keto. If you do give in to temptation, don't be too hard on yourself. Simply resume your keto diet and incorporate these strategies to get back into ketosis.

You can still lose weight even if you cheat

Cheating on your keto diet from time to time is not going to destroy your progress. Even if it kicks you out of ketosis, you can still lose weight. Ketosis is likely not the main reason you are losing weight—calorie control is. So, as long as you are not going overboard with cheat days and are maintaining calorie control overall, all those carbs are not going to destroy all your hard work.

If you are craving carbs, you may not be fat-adapted (translation: you were never in ketosis to begin with). To ensure you are burning body fat for energy, test your ketone levels. If you find out that you were never in ketosis, adjust your macros accordingly.

How to Cheat on a Ketogenic Diet the Right Way

The best way to approach cheat days is by not cheating on your diet at all and splurging on keto-friendly substitutes to curb your cravings instead, saving true cheat meals as a last resort. You can find a recipe for a ketogenic version of just about any popular meal you can think of to keep you on course.

If you are going to go off your diet, it is much easier to stay on top of your overall nutrition and calories with cheat meals compared to entire keto cheat days. One large cheat meal can add 1,000 or more calories to your day, while a whole cheat day will add much more and potentially undo all of your hard work from the week.

The easiest way to ensure your diet cheats don't ruin your progress is to plan for them. Pick which meals you're going to cheat and budget some calories and carbs in advance if you can. You can also ensure your cheat meals are worth it by prioritising certain events or favourite foods over random temptations that will always be there.

If your goal is calorie control, aim to cheat no more than once or twice a week. But if ketosis is important for your progress, consider cheating much less often, like once a month.

How to Recover from Cheat Meals

If you've cheated on keto, you're likely out of ketosis. Once out, you'll need to strictly follow the keto diet to re-enter ketosis. This process takes several days to one week, depending on your carb intake, metabolism, and activity levels.

• Try intermittent fasting.
• Track your carb intake.
• Try a short-term fat fast.
• Exercise more.
• Try a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) supplement.

A cheat meal can cause a sugar crash

The higher levels of blood sugar caused by a cheat meal can also lead to insulin resistance, where your blood sugar has a tough time returning to healthy levels. This can stall fat loss, prevent weight loss, or even cause type 2 diabetes.

To avoid a sugar crash, it's recommended to opt for keto-approved cheat meals or to have cheat meals, not cheat days. That way, it's easier to stay on top of your overall nutrition and calories. It's also a good idea to plan your cheat meals in advance and to prioritise certain events or favourite foods over random temptations.

You can experience keto flu symptoms again

If you've been on the keto diet for a while, you may have experienced the keto flu when you first transitioned to burning fat for energy instead of glucose. Symptoms of the keto flu include stomach pains, brain fog, dizziness, nausea, irritability, constipation, muscle soreness, lack of concentration, sugar cravings, and heart palpitations.

If you decide to have a cheat day and eat a high-carb meal, you may experience these unwanted symptoms of keto flu again. This is because exiting and re-entering ketosis can lead to these symptoms. If you do experience the keto flu, make sure to stay well-hydrated and take rest days from exercise if needed.

If you're feeling guilty about cheating on your keto diet, remember that it's not the end of the world. You can always get back on track by firmly addressing the side effects and maintaining self-control after cheating. It's important to note that if you're on the keto diet to lose weight, a cheat meal can be high in carbohydrates as long as you're controlling and counting calories. Excess carbs don't cause weight gain, but excess calories do.

You can curb cravings with keto-friendly alternatives

If you're craving carbs, there are plenty of keto-friendly substitutes that can help curb your cravings. Opt for keto-approved cheat meals and save true cheat meals as a last resort. You can find keto-friendly versions of popular meals, snacks, desserts, and comfort foods. These recipes recreate your favourite treats with healthy ingredients and a low net carb count.

For example, baked goods are often made from almond flour or coconut flour instead of white flour and sweetened with monk fruit or stevia instead of white sugar. There are also keto-friendly versions of low-carb French fries, sugar-free homemade ice cream, and crispy, gluten-free fried chicken.

In addition to these keto-friendly alternatives, you can also practice mindfulness, plan out your meals and snacks, make your everyday diet enjoyable, and keep tempting foods out of the house. These strategies can help you resist the urge to cheat on the keto diet.

Remember, if you're on the keto diet to lose weight, a cheat meal can be high in carbohydrates as long as you control and count calories. Excess carbs don't cause weight gain, but excess calories do. So, if you're going to cheat, make sure you're still maintaining calorie control overall.

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