Keto: Sticking to "The Rules"

One of the hardest, fastest rules about Keto that a person will learn early on in his/her journey is that you won't succeed if you cheat. I mentioned in an earlier blog that there is a meme going around that says something about cheating on Keto being about as beneficial as cheating in marriage. Lots of diets out there have cheat meals, cheat days, weekends off. Keto is not one of those diets. That may not sound like a lot of fun but it's really not as hard as it sounds. Keto is full of very delicious, satisfying food. Being in ketosis means your insulin doesn't spike several times a day and when that happens, you don't have a lot of cravings for foods that aren't on the program. When you really feel like a treat, there are many different ways to indulge in a variety of desserts or snack foods that are easy to make. Pinterest is covered in these kinds of recipes. Keto recipe blogs are everywhere. Amazon has many different kinds of pre-made Keto snacks on offer. You may, for the first time on any diet ever, find it very easy NOT to cheat on Keto.

If we're talking about walking by a bakery and resisting the urge to go in... well, I'll blog about that another time.

Here's where a little grey area comes in. What exactly IS cheating on Keto? If you're sticking to your macro allowances (generally 20-30g net carbs per day for a person that is trying to lose weight), does that mean you can eat any carbs you want? This is the tricky part. To me, no matter how low my carbs are, if my diet kicks me out of ketosis, I've cheated. For some, that means that they can't even drink coffee. They find that coffee stalls their weight loss progress. Fortunately for me, I am not one of those people. I can drink coffee a few times per day (usually three or four to be honest) and it doesn't kick me out of ketosis or stall me no matter how I drink it (I like it black but I also sometimes drink it with coconut oil, HWC or HWC with cocoa/stevia and vanilla). Early in my experience, I was thankful to realize that I can drink wine, spirits and even beer (within my macros) and it won't stall my weight loss if I am trying to lose weight on Keto. So I do indulge once or twice per week but many of my Keto friends need to avoid it except for on very special occasions.

Seriously guys, I'm so happy about being able to drink wine on Keto because I live in one of my favourite wine regions in the world. Did you know that Lebanon has GREAT WINE?! Our neighbour, Cyprus, has some pretty good stuff too! I'll do a blog one some of our favourites sometime.

Do you know what DOES stall me? Nuts. All types. If I'm trying to lose weight on Keto, I'd better not eat any nuts. But I can have some nut butters. Weird, eh? I also can't eat low carb fruits like berries or cantaloupe and stay in ketosis for some reason. Good thing I prefer green veggies over fruit or that would make me really sad.

Popcorn doesn't stall me (if I stay in my macros) and neither do (eek!) potato chips. I don't eat these things when I am trying to lose weight but I do eat them from time to time in maintenance and they don't affect my weight. 

I'm not advocating eating potato chips over berries by any means. No matter what, we should all be mindful of good nutrition and I'd rather get my carbs in my veggies. As you move closer to goal weight, or perhaps as you shift into maintenance, you might find it very interesting to see how your body reacts to certain things. 

Here are just a few thoughts I have when it comes to experimenting with your own physical makeup and Keto:

• I appreciate more than anything else that eating Keto really changed my relationship with food. Snacking is no longer important to me and I rarely eat between meals. This really was a game changer in terms of "cheating" or not. When I say that I eat things like nuts, fruit, chips or popcorn, this is really on special occasions. Usually vacation.

• I never would have imagined myself a person that could say no to sweets. I can watch a person sit across from me and eat just about anything, insisting that I share. I can't even believe it after six years. I'm not tempted in the least. It's not will power. My physical desire for these things has changed.

• When it comes to all the Keto desserts and snack foods that I referenced above, my advice is to really save those for "cheat days". Just because they're "Keto" doesn't mean we should have them every day or even every week. They are there for when we need them but it's good to learn to do without them on an everyday basis. Enjoy feeling full on your healthy fats and the delicious flavours you enjoy in your regular meals.

These are just a few of my thoughts about Keto. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a nutritionist. I'm a regular person who just worked in an office her whole life. I've had success with Keto for the last six years. I look good. I feel good. I NEVER worry about my weight anymore and it took me forty years to say that. I'm happy to help you if I can. I'm always here for any questions or comments and I can always stand to be corrected or learn something new so don't hesitate to keep in touch. Thanks so much for reading this!

***

*Hey guys, my blog is pretty new and I'm just trying it out as a hobby. I have signed up with Amazon Affiliates to see if eventually I could monetize these writings and, because of that, you'll see there's a link in today's blog to some products that I know and love. As an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. In the interest of full transparency to any readers I may have, my total earnings to date have been $0.00.

x