As dedicated as I am to losing weight with a ketogenic diet, I have to admit that from time to time I succumb to temptation and eat something I shouldn’t. I usually rationalize it by saying it by telling myself that I have been doing great for a long time now and that a cheat day isn’t a bad thing. And then I step on the scale the next morning and am brutally reminded of one horrible truth, Cheat Days Hurt.
Just to give some hard numbers of what cheat days can do to you, let’s take a look at what happened to me last week. On Sunday July 31st, Dian and I were invited to a special screening of Bad Moms at Studio Movie Grill and a meal and drink were included. I’m a frugal (read: cheap) guy so I of course partook in the free food which was a hamburger and french fries. Total carbfest.
That morning I clocked in at 248.8 lbs and was feeling good because I was finally south of 250. Monday morning I was back up to 251.0, 2.2 lbs from one meal! The worst part was that it took me over a week to get my weight back down below the 248.8 I started at. That’s an entire week+ of weight loss efforts totally undone by one cheat meal and I didn’t even have a dessert! And I’m not even talking about the fact that all those grains I ate caused inflammation and made my knees hurt for the first time in forever. I was so angry! It wasn’t worth it at all.
You have to keep in mind that if you are obese, the chances that you are very insulin resistant are very high. Like pretty much 100%. That means that every carb you eat will have a much greater effect on you than someone who isn’t as insulin resistant. It’s just one of those horrible truths you have to come to grips with, Cheat Days Hurt.
Here are a few things you can do when the temptation strikes.
Drink Water
You will be surprised how often the urge to eat something carby is really just thirst in disguise. Take a few sips and see if the urge goes away.
Drink something with a Sweetener
There are times when I just want something sweet on my tongue so I drink something with a sweetener. This can be tea with a little Sweet n Low and lemon (my go-to) or a diet soft drink or something else you prefer. I know a lot of people really enjoy Kombucha but I wasn’t too impressed by it when I had it.
Just Wait
Sometimes you just have to wait it out. When the urge strikes, give yourself 5 minutes before you do something about it. You may find that the urge goes away. This has become an important trick for me when I have to stay up late and want a little late night snack.
Have Keto-Friendly Snacks available
Maybe a slice of cheese, pork rinds, olives or some deli meat. Just replace that urge for a carb with something that won’t cause a huge insulin spike.
Hope this was helpful!
Don’t miss a post! Click here to sign up for our daily email!
Hi,
Dr Arkins used to suggest diet coke with heavy cream as a guilt free cheat shake or sugar free jello with cream.
Both of which I’ve done. I prefer Root Beer with whipped cream but the idea is the same. Will it slow down your weight loss though? Probably.