Slipping and recovering on the keto journey

I’ve just come back from a wonderful vacation — 10 days at a family cottage on a huge lake in Ontario, part of Canada’s northern expanse of clear lakes and dense trees.
This annual August event brings together a whole slew of us: my 91-year old parents, sisters, spouses, adult kids and, increasingly, their new partners, in an intense, chaotic, close family get-together in near-wilderness. This year it was 24 of us at its height.
Our time together consists of sunning and swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding, hiking, singsongs with guitars, board games, and athletic competitions (spike ball was this year’s rage) — and food. Lots and lots of food.
Ample appetizers appear every night pre-dinner. A friendly culinary competition takes place among each branch of the family as to who puts on the best spread when it is their turn to provide the main meal for the masses.
Added to the abundance of food is the alcohol. Good wine and craft beer abound. Gin and tonics on the deck, taking in the stunning sunset, are a long-standing family tradition.
The challenges
I knew going into this festival of family fun that remaining keto was going to be really tough. Over the last few years, however, five out of the 24 of us have embraced the keto way of eating with significant health improvements and weight loss. I knew I wouldn’t be alone in my challenge to keep low carb among the surfeit of choices.The gin and tonics were easy — the keto among us substituted club soda with a squeeze of lime instead of the sugary tonic. When I mistakenly sipped the old version it tasted repulsively sweet. Our crisp new version even led to non-keto cottage converts. The drink composition changed; the sunsets remained fabulous.
The new potatoes — in potato salad, roasted with garlic, or steamed with butter and herbs — thankfully I was able to avoid. Potatoes are my weakness so I knew not to indulge in a single bite or I risked totally falling off the wagon. It was also easy to avoid most of the breads.
But I did slip, as did my other keto relatives: cold beers after a rousing spike ball tournament; black currant jam on thick seven-grain toast; fresh juicy peaches; blueberry and cherry pies; young, sweet corn-on-the-cob slathered in butter. We’d look at each other, asking with our eyes: “are you going to eat it?” Rather than finding safety in numbers, there was risk. If one indulged, it weakened the resolve of the others.
Paying the price
I knew I had gained weight, but I wasn’t sure how much until I returned home earlier this week and stepped on the scale. Up six pounds (3 kg) in 10 days. And two inches (5 cm) on my waist, some of that perhaps due to the bloated way I felt. I tested my fasting blood sugar just before I came home and it was at my highest, ever: 117 mg/dl (6.6 mmol/l).
It was the first time I have really slipped in years. The last time was at the cottage, too.
My close friend Denise, who’s been on the keto diet since last winter, had a similar experience this summer, as she wrote me in a recent email:
“I just came home from a wonderful garden party. Beautiful grounds, open bar, lots of yummy snacks. I decided to enjoy myself and eat everything that was offered: butter chicken on bite-sized naan, smoked salmon on mini potato latkes, pretty little cucumber sandwiches, rare steak on toasts… and on and on. Lots of carbs. I indulged in all of it and now I feel really ill! I feel as though I am hungover. I was dizzy and weak and just wanted to come home. I think I need to go to bed early. Ugh. Never doing that again. The food was wonderful but it isn’t worth it!”
Learning from our slips
I agree. But I learned a lot.
One could think of these experiences as setbacks on our low-carb journey, or evidence of our weakness and fallibility. One could beat oneself up about failing to stick to the diet. But here is the thing that makes me optimistic and full of new resolve: I have been quickly able to recover. And I feel so much better. It makes the benefits of this way of eating so apparent and applicable.
As soon as I got home, I went right back to keto. My head cleared. My gut settled. Energy returned. Sleep improved. Fasting blood sugar came back into the normal range. It took three days to get back into ketosis, but now, on day 4, I am in the optimal zone again by keto meter and feeling great. I have dropped four pounds in four days and I feel sure I will be back to my pre-cottage weight in a couple of days.Instead of feeling weak, I feel empowered. Yes, I can gain weight (easily) but I can lose it, too. I now know how and why. And I can starkly feel and see the risks and benefits. I can weigh in the balance, and on the scale, whether it is worth it.
The ketogenic diet is often criticized in the medical literature as being too restrictive and too hard to maintain. Unrealistic for normal folk. And, yes, in unusual situations like a big, extended family celebration or special events like parties and Christmas, it can be tough.
But instead of looking at it as difficult, I see it a new way: really easy to get back into it again. And the difference in the way one feels makes it all the more motivating to get back to feeling good.
It made me think of the bears that we sometimes see around cottage country — often gorging on the blackberries along the roadside in August. They pack on the fat with their fresh fruit carbs, and then fall into their winter slumber and hibernation, living off that fat until they emerge skinny in spring to forage once more.
I think that pattern is likely the way our ancient ancestors existed, too, feasting on fruit in the summer season, then going back to subsistence on low-carb foods for the rest of the year. So I am embracing my cottage, bear-like self, and not berating myself for the seasonal carbs I indulged in.
But now, I am back to keto eating for the rest of the year. More motivated than ever. And maybe next year there will be even more keto converts around the table.
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I have just come back from a 7 week excursion. Started off really well but eventually the bread, chips, rice and beers slip through (though I did manage to find an ultra low carb beer). I got home and sure enough +3.5kg though it has started to come off now (1 week later) as I go back to low carb. I rarely get into ketosis and wish I could but at least this works and I know how to get back.
I have gained 4 lbs back in 4 days . :((( I feel bloated no energy and upset stomach. Not sure why we do this but I have vowed to be better. Has any one tried the keto shakes for meal replacements? I just ordered some hope it was the right choice. Thc for the conversation about Keto...Linda
But as I continue on keto I find even the "need" for these exceptional days decreases over time.
130 pounds down
It was a great experience as a reminder and motivator for me on why the keto diet is right for me. The next time I'm tempted by carbs, I will be reminded of how horrible my body felt and I will be able to say 'no thanks'.
Empowerment also comes in the form of the post "carb load", the "Oh my, I have gained XXX" and knowing how to deal with that.
LCHF for me is about Empowerment.
My husband had surgery, Aug 27, had an unexpected verbal attack from my neighbor on the 30th, and then came Hurricane Irma, watching it come for a week, then enduring it and being evacuated for a week.
I didn't gain any weight, but I didn't eat keto....all my aches and pains are back, I'm hungry again, I'm generally miserable!
I'm back, power is back on, minor damage to our home. Today is a new day!! Thank you for a timely article!!
~sherrie
Thanks so much for the encouragement to get back on track and to everyone else for sharing, I’m back to Keto today.
Thanks, Ann
Thanks for writing this article.
Last night I found myself eating pasta, potato chips and spoonfuls of dul-de-Leche straight out of the jar. Today I feel crappy but I’m getting back on the horse and cutting myself some slack. We’re in the midst of a crisis. If there was ever a time to find a bit of comfort it’s now. But one night of indulgence was enough for me. I’m bloated and achy today. My resolve to get back on the wagon is strong. I love how I’m losing weight and not suffering as much pain in my back on keto. It’s anti inflammatory effects have been a Godsend.
Last nights indulgence left me feeling cruddy today and it’s reminded me of why I REALLY need to stick with keto. So, as the world loses its collective mind over this pandemic which is truly scary (I’m terrified to get it l have COPD and fear has me obsessively washing my hands) I’m praying by summer it’s gone and life will be back to normal. Until then I’ll stick with my keto and try to get through these strange scary days one day at a time.
I am, too. I have had two days were I was feeling so stressed and frightened, mostly for my children and my aging parents, that I indulged in treats (for me it is homemade popcorn.) But then I felt yucky. The next day I have gotten right back on track.
I am learning each time how it really doesn't solve anything, but I try not to beat myself up about it when I do slip. Every day is a new day to re-commit. To start again.
So I think we learn from all of this what our triggers are, what our emotionally stressed body seems to want to quell those uncomfortable feeling -- and then we learn that giving into it doesn't help. Be kind to yourself. We will get through this wiser, I think.
Thank you.
Thank you for your feedback, Tasha!
As the writer I really thank you for your comments. They mean a lot to me. I was hoping it would connect with others and be relevant to their experience, too.
For me, the realization that slippage did not mean "failure" on keto was very powerful. All I ever had to do was start each day anew. I could soon easily see that I just felt better when the majority of the time my diet was lower carb, and then that makes the daily choices pretty easy. But if circumstances somehow arise that I have a higher carb meal, I just get back to lower carb as soon as I can.
I have now found, over 5 years of keto, I just never choose to eat high carb cake, cookies, ice cream, desserts, chips, fries etc -- I know they make me feel sick. But I do choose to have a few pieces of fresh corn and peaches from the local farm in August - and appreciate every single bite. And then I go back to stricter keto eating. By doing this I know I can sustain this way of eating for life.
Please don't feel like a failure! Everyone struggles from time to time. Here's our general troubleshooting guide that may be helpful! https://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight