Keto and Cheating
I was fairly strict with keto until roughly Halloween. Since then I've been pretty lax. Lately, so lax that I feel the need to make a change. I think cheating is ok within limits but I've been sliding outside my limits lately. I can maintain while cheating, but I'm ready to start losing again. Here are 3 types of cheating I have observed.
1. Planned Cheating - OK
After the first few months, I was ok with a little planned cheating. E.g., if I planned to go to a nice restaurant I would eat one dish that exceeded my normal carbs. Or I would eat some really high quality chocolate. I think this is fine, because keto should not mean missing out on life. I was still losing.
2. Failure to Plan - Not OK
If I don't consume enough fat, water, and electrolytes, I may wind up cheating unplanned. For example, I'll go to Starbucks for a tea and wind up eating a cake pop - which is something I don't even enjoy that much. Or if I'm running around all day, not drinking enough water or eating enough healthy food, I'll eat the roll that comes with my salad. Not worth it!
3. Vacuum Cleaner - The worst!
My kids eat a ton of carbs. They also are not great at finishing them. For example, I'll make my daughter cinnamon raisin toast and then she will take one bite and leave it or say "I don't want it anymore" and take zero bites. I used to be good at just tossing these leftover carbs but lately I've been eating them. These aren't the gourmet carbs from category 1 - they're things like white bread from the supermarket and pasta. Definitely not worth cheating for!
In order to reign in this rampant cheating, I'm going to focus on intake of fat, water, and electrolytes. When I do this, cheating becomes much less of a problem.
1. Planned Cheating - OK
After the first few months, I was ok with a little planned cheating. E.g., if I planned to go to a nice restaurant I would eat one dish that exceeded my normal carbs. Or I would eat some really high quality chocolate. I think this is fine, because keto should not mean missing out on life. I was still losing.
2. Failure to Plan - Not OK
If I don't consume enough fat, water, and electrolytes, I may wind up cheating unplanned. For example, I'll go to Starbucks for a tea and wind up eating a cake pop - which is something I don't even enjoy that much. Or if I'm running around all day, not drinking enough water or eating enough healthy food, I'll eat the roll that comes with my salad. Not worth it!
3. Vacuum Cleaner - The worst!
My kids eat a ton of carbs. They also are not great at finishing them. For example, I'll make my daughter cinnamon raisin toast and then she will take one bite and leave it or say "I don't want it anymore" and take zero bites. I used to be good at just tossing these leftover carbs but lately I've been eating them. These aren't the gourmet carbs from category 1 - they're things like white bread from the supermarket and pasta. Definitely not worth cheating for!
In order to reign in this rampant cheating, I'm going to focus on intake of fat, water, and electrolytes. When I do this, cheating becomes much less of a problem.
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