Rocket Fuel Latte: one of my favourite go-to keto-friendly breakfasts.

The one drawback – or possible blessing in disguise – of eating keto vs. other diets is that you can’t really have a “cheat day” and then expect to go right back on plan. Snarf down a piece of office birthday cake, or get caught on the hop and give in to a takeaway sandwich, and it’s going to boot you out of ketosis and necessitate a whole lot of potential hassle getting back in again.

Depending on your attitude, this can either set you up to fail, or give you super-strength will power. Is that sugary biscuit worth a day of keto flu? Sometimes it might be, and that’s fine! Keto has helped me make these personal choices in a more conscious way: I can eat anything I want to, as long as I’m okay and accepting of the resultant way it makes my body feel.

Either way, occasionally everyone but the most monastic, saintly hermit is going to get caught out. As I enter my fourth month of veggie keto eating, I’ve made peace with the fact that sometimes I’m going to go out of a ketogenic state.

I recently travelled to the USA for work, and while I managed to keep keto for the first few days, eventually I ran out of options and steam. Here are a few things that I’ve found helpful as I set about getting back into ketosis after returning to the UK.

1. Make peace with the fact that you slipped up.

It happened. It’s probably happened before. It’s almost certain to happen again. Draw a line under things, work out why you came out of ketosis (travel, resolve slipped after a few drinks, forgot to go shopping?) so that you can notice if a pattern emerges long term and act to fix that. Don’t beat yourself up, and above all, don’t use the fact that you’re currently out of ketosis to throw yourself a massive, carb-feast pity party 😉

2. Set yourself up for success.

Assuming that getting back into ketosis will take you a few days, give yourself a clear run, without too many social engagements, meetings or trips. Stock your fridge with the foods you know you’ll need. Prep, or at the very least plan out, your meals in advance for a couple of days as you get back into the swing of things. Get all your ducks in a fat-fuelled row.

3. Consider a fast.

A 24 hour fast has many benefits for your body, one of which can be speeding along your transition back into ketosis. It doesn’t have to be horrific: think early dinner / late breakfast – stop eating at 12pm, and start eating at the same time on the following day. Break your fast with something super low carb and ultra fatty (I like to go with a Rocket Fuel Latte, like the one pictured above) to get your body revving on all fat-burning cylinders.

4. Fall back on old friends.

Stick with the recipes and foods that you know have worked for you in the past. If you’re trying to get back into ketosis, now is probably not the time to be trying out lots of new stuff. Keep it simple, yummy, tried and tested. This should lessen the pressure a bit, and make the transition that little bit easier. It should also help tap into the old patterns and habits hardwired in your brain from previous successful periods of ketosis.

5. Get inspired.

That said, this is absolutely the time to fall back in love with the keto community! Get on Pinterest and Instagram to explore your favourite keto hashtags, head to Reddit/r/keto to check out the progress pictures people post, find a few new blogs or podcasts to enjoy. See the benefits that others are reaping and use it to motivate you until you get back into the second-nature pattern of keto eating 🙂

I’ve been back from the States and eating for ketosis for a couple of days now, so with that, I’m signing off and heading upstairs to pee on a stick!

 

Three months ago, I shamelessly embraced the new year, new me cliché. A winter of comfort food and some serious dedication to the Christmas party scene meant that weight had been creeping on, and I’d gotten to a stage where I knew I needed to get my act together.

I know my body pretty well. It gains and loses weight easily. I know my brain pretty well, too. I’m an all-or-nothing kind of person when it comes to health kicks: super dedicated or caving in and chain-toasting. (It’s like chain-smoking, but with a loaf of bread. The struggle is real.)

Keto works for me for this reason – you have to throw yourself into it wholeheartedly, but once you do, you’re rewarded with fast results. So, January rolled around: I filled my fridge with cheese, and took the plunge.

Here’s what my first 90 days of keto eating have done to my weight.

I’ve found weighing in weekly helpful for a few reasons. Firstly, I don’t obsess about daily fluctuations. Knowing that I’m going to step on the scales (naked, after a wee) on a Monday morning has kept me accountable and committed over the weekends. Finally, I’ve been able to track the steady, sensible loss that keto rewards you with. After the typical initial big drop of the first week’s water weight, eating high fat / low carb has given me an average loss of just under 3lbs weekly.

What this chart doesn’t show are all the other benefits. I’m just going to throw some bullet points out there because that’s how many there are. Smug, much?

• Energy. Shedloads of energy. Duracell bunny levels of energy. Aside from the weight loss, this is hands-down the best side effect of eating this way.
• No period pain, no PMT.
• Generally more alert, more focus and mental clarity.
• No peaks / slumps in blood sugar, just feeling nice and steady throughout the day. Which leads to…
• … no cravings. I feel like I might finally have broken up with bread.
• Better digestion, flatter tummy (not just from the weight loss.)
• Not hungry! Ever, really. Filling up on fats means I have to remind myself to eat, rather than counting down the minutes to the next meal. If you know me, you’ll know that’s some serious shit.

So, there we go. Three months in, and I’m finding eating this way very easy to stick to, bolstered by some excellent extra side effects and consistently effective in terms of weight loss – no plateaus so far.

I still have a way to go to my goal weight (another post about goal weight to come), but in conclusion, I’m pretty thrilled with the results of first 90 days of a fat fuelled lifestyle. Here’s to the next 90…