Falling off the keto wagon happens to the best of us. You’re doing great, making progress but before you know it you’ve committed the cardinal keto sin; eaten carbs! And a whole bunch of them.
As keto is a carb-restrictive diet, its unsurprising that people are often tempted to cheat and end up neglecting their diet. When you have other pressing commitments in your life, your diet and health can unfortunately become less of a priority (not that they should be!). And it’s not just keto. In general, around 80% of people who lose a significant amount of weight on any diet, regain much of this weight within 12 months.[1]
Given how frequently people fall off the keto wagon, it’s important to know what to do when that time comes. This way you can quickly get back into ketosis and learn strategies to avoid falling off the wagon in the future.
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Introduction - We've all fallen off the keto wagon
Like many other people, I first started the keto diet after gaining a significant amount of weight. After talking with friends who had experienced great results with keto, I decided to give it a try.
At first things went splendidly. Every week I was losing more and more weight and looking better and better. I had a great routine and was consistently sticking to my diet plan and making great progress. That began to change however when I started a new job in professional services. This job had me travelling frequently and working crazy hours.
Unsurprisingly, like many other people I began to neglect my diet. With client-expensed meals readily available, it was more difficult to say no to carb-rich delights. Over time I become somewhat of an expert in getting back onto the keto wagon and eventually learned some of my common triggers. That way I devised ways to minimise the chances of falling off the wagon in the future, wish I’ll share below.
Before we dive into that though, let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons for falling of the keto wagon in the first place.
Common reasons for falling of the keto wagon
1. Lack of time
Lack of time is something most busy professionals, parents and students can appreciate. In an ideal world, we’d devote much more time to health and fitness but sometimes that just isn’t possible. As a result, your keto diet can suffer.
One of the reasons keto is so hard to follow is that it requires more time and effort to plan and prepare meals. That’s because ready meals are generally not keto-friendly which means you’ll have to use fresh ingredients. The preparation and cooking of these ingredients all takes time, which when in short supply, can easily lead to cheating on the keto diet.
2. Stressful work
Everyone knows that chronic stress is damaging. Too much stress can lead to a whole host of health conditions and generally reduces quality of life. But how does this relate to the keto diet?
Diets in general require self-control and consistency which is negatively impacted by chronic stress. I’m sure you’re familiar with the term stress eating? It’s well known that being under very stressful conditions can lead to poorer food choices. In fact, a study in women found that those with higher stress jobs were more likely to use food as a coping mechanism[2].
Further, high stress can also lead to poorer sleep quality and quantity. This is important because sleep quality has been shown to be intimately related to stress levels, which in turn can impact your diet. For example, studies have shown that poorer sleep in young men leads to an increase in food portion size as well as poorer food choices[3].
3. Temptations
If we’re honest, everybody loves carbs. And no matter how committed you are to your keto diet, there will be moments where you can succumb to temptation. This is not as big a deal if it happens rarely. But unfortunately, we’re surrounded by unhealthy carb-rich options.
Being in environments with lots of temptations increases the chances that you’ll cheat on your diet. That’s why we suggest keeping temptations out of the house. Simply put, if the junk food is there, you’re more likely to eat it.
While you can control your living environment, it’s more difficult to avoid temptations when you’re dining out. Eating out on the keto diet represents a challenge with all of the amazing smells and foods on offer. This makes sticking to your diet much more difficult.
4. Unrealistic expectations
I’m sure by now you’ve heard a lot about how important consistency is for your keto diet. And while that’s completely true, it fails to take into account an additional factor; motivation. Motivation is your ‘why,’ and with the keto diet, this is most commonly weight loss.
While motivation can be a powerful driver of behaviour, it can also be somewhat of a double-edged sword. That’s because most people wanting to lose weight want fast results. This can be a problem however as unrealistic expectations about your weight loss timeline (or your body appearance) can be very demotivating.
If you feel like you’ve been making lots of sacrifices but don’t have the results to show for it, you’re more likely to give up or cheat.
What happens when you cheat on the keto diet?
Carb restriction leads to a state of ketosis
Now that we’ve talked about some of the most common reasons people fall off the keto wagon, let’s discuss what actually happens to your body after consuming a large amount of carbohydrates.
When you’ve been diligently following the keto diet, your body will break down dietary and body fat into ketones. These ketones then become your primary source of fuel for both the body and the brain. When you have a certain level of circulating ketones, you are in the metabolic state of ketosis[4].
Consuming carbs raises blood sugar and knocks you out of ketosis
However, after consuming lots of carbohydrates, your body breaks down these carbs into glucose. This process leads to an increase in blood sugar and a subsequent increase in insulin secretion. Because carbs and sugar are preferentially metabolised, the increase in blood sugar knocks you out of ketosis[4][5].
After consuming lots of carbs, the excess sugars in your body are first converted into glycogen and stored in your muscles and liver. Any remaining sugar is then converted into fat through a process called lipogenesis[4][5].
So, before you can get back into ketosis, your body must metabolise all the stored glycogen and have a prolonged period of time with low glucose and insulin levels[4][5].
Now you know what falling off the keto wagon does to your body, let’s talk about the best ways to get back to ketosis.
Best tips to get you back on the keto wagon
1. Get back to your diet ASAP
So you’ve slipped up on your diet and you’ve overindulged in carbohydrates. In this situation, getting back onto your diet as soon as possible is critical. While it’s not great that you’ve slipped up and eaten too many carbs, it shouldn’t be an excuse to go all out.
Many times people feel as if they’ve already compromised their diet and therefore decide they’ll cheat the whole day and ‘restart their diet tomorrow.’ The problem with this approach is that it can quickly spiral out of control.
Eating a few slices of pizza can temporarily take you out of ketosis, but after resuming your diet, you should be able to re-enter ketosis fairly swiftly. Cheating the whole day however can creep into the next day and then the next day and before you know it, you’ve cheated for weeks. As a result, it’s key to get back to your diet as soon as possible.
2. Resume eating your regular keto diet
There is a tendency to overly restrict your diet after a cheat meal/day. However, this restriction can be counterproductive and increase the chances that you’ll slip up on your diet again.
Of course, reducing carbohydrates more than usual (for example going from 50g to 20g per day) can help you resume ketosis more quickly without causing any issues. But you should still ensure your calories are appropriate and similar to your regular diet.
By resuming your keto diet, you’ll fuel your body with all the required nutrition and keep any food cravings at bay. It’ll take a little longer to undo the damage, but it will be more beneficial in the long run. So drop some carbs and reduce your calories slightly, but avoid crash dieting.
3. Try fasting for 24 hours
Fasting can be a good approach to quickly re-enter ketosis after falling off the keto wagon. In fact, alongside carbohydrate restriction, fasting is one of the most effective ways to enter ketosis[6].
By giving your system a total break from food, you enable your body to metabolise the stored glycogen and restore blood glucose levels to normal. This way you can re-enter ketosis more quickly. Ensure you hydrate well during your fast and supplement with the necessary electrolytes.
4. Drink lots of water
In general, drinking plenty of water is beneficial to your health. However, drinking water becomes even more important after you’ve cheated on your diet. If you’ve eaten a significant amount of carbs (for days or even weeks), your body may have more trouble adjusting back to the keto diet.
This is especially the case if you’ve been eating carbs for days or weeks. To get back into ketosis, you may experience keto-flu type symptoms again, such as headaches and nausea. Drinking plenty of water can help you overcome some of these symptoms and make the transition back to ketosis less painful[7].
Drinking water can also help you shed the extra water weight that comes along with ingesting a large amount of carbs.
5. Continue with your exercise program
Getting back to your exercise routine as soon as possible will help you burn off those extra calories and make you feel better. It’s commonly known that healthy eating and exercise go hand in hand. As result, sticking to your exercise routine can improve your diet consistency and vice versa.
But how much should you exercise? It can be tempting to put in lots of extra sessions to try and burn more calories but this is almost never a good idea. Excessive exercise is taxing for you body and can result in injury and fatigue.
On the other hand, slightly increasing your cardiovascular exercise or going for an extra walk is a great option. Just ensure you keep track of how your body is performing in order not to overdo it.
You should aim for the most sustainable approach, which is also the most beneficial in the long-run.
6. Be patient
If you follow the tips above, you’ll be in a great position to make up for falling off the keto wagon and progressing with your diet. However, you’re going to have to be patient.
You may not see the scale return to your previous weight immediately because your body will be holding onto extra glycogen and water. As a result, it can be tempting to increase your exercise or significantly reduce your calorie intake, in the hope of seeing faster results.
This is unhealthy and likely to result in a cycle of extreme cravings followed by binge eating. Just follow the above steps, trust in the process and you’ll be back on your way in no time.
7. Learn from your mistakes
Out of all our recommendations, learning from your mistakes is probably the most important. You’re going to have setbacks along the way, that much is sure. Therefore learning how to come back from those mistakes and how to prevent them in the future is key.
Think about what drove you to cheat on your diet. Was it the environment, for example, going out to dinner with friends? Or was it due to intense cravings? Understanding why you decided to cheat is key to understanding what may not be working in your diet. That way you can adjust your diet and lifestyle appropriately and put yourself in a better position to succeed.
Things to avoid when trying to get back into ketosis
By following the tips mentioned above, you’ll be on your way back to ketosis in no time. But we know that guilt and shame about cheating on keto can often make people punish themselves. Putting yourself through very restrictive short-term ‘fixes’ won’t help you in the long run. In fact, it’s more likely to do the opposite.
So make sure you avoid these common tendencies after falling off the keto wagon.
1. Crash dieting or starving yourself
After a cheating or having a food binge, it can be really tempting to starve yourself or severely restrict your calories. Now, crash dieting is different from undergoing a controlled fast with a predetermined end date. By crash dieting, we mean eating very few calories for multiple days to try and quickly ‘make up’ for the damage you caused while bingeing.
This is a really physically and psychologically unhealthy way to come back from a binge. It fuels a very abnormal relationship with food, leading to cycles of bingeing and starving. This simply increases the chances that you’ll binge again in the future[8].
2. Excessive exercise
Over-exercising is another common mistake people make after cheating. While it may feel like you’re making more of a dent in the calories you consumed, over-exercising is not a healthy option. Too much exercise can lead to injuries as well as increased cravings, creating a vicious cycle.
By all means do a little extra exercise after a big cheat meal, but ensure its sustainable and doesn’t trigger you to repeat cheating behaviour.
3. Relapsing and cheating again
Now that you’ve cheated and are trying to resume your diet, it’s key you don’t relapse and cheat again. Relapsing is often a result of the previously two mentioned tendencies; excessive dieting and exercise.
While it may seem like rapid progress, it counts for nothing if it triggers you to cheat again. Follow our tips and ensure your actions are sustainable for the best results.
Conclusion
Falling of the keto wagon is something that almost everyone following the keto diet has experienced. If you view it in the right way, it can be a powerful learning experience that teaches you more about yourself and your approach to food.
Following the tips included in this article will help you quickly bounce back from setbacks and help you on your way to keto success. Just as importantly, you should avoid certain practices when coming back from a cheat meal, as these may increase the chances of future cheating.
Focussing on sustainable tips and the right mindset are key to overcoming instances of falling off the keto wagon and maximising diet success in the future.
