Everytime there is an event for which I have to eat out it takes me several days of agony to alleviate the renewed constant hunger and resume discipline. Is there anything I can do to ease it?
So far I figured I should avoid addictive foods such as sugar and carbs as much as I can, but even tho that helps a little, I still feel like everytime I cheat, all my previous efforts are kinda reset to zero and my body goes back to expecting food all the time. What else can I do? I don’t want to quit cheat days :c
Yes, it is normal. What works for me is to plan my last meal well, meaning eating a large keto meal.
The problem is that if you eat a lot of sugar one day and try to jump in a fast, there are several things going on. Sugar withdrawal, keto flu, hunger, high blood glucose, etc.
If you start a fast after eating a large keto meal, you won’t feel hungry for a while and the carb/sugar withdrawal will happen before the keto flu (instead of simultaneously).
Not the same but I always have a high carb day Saturday and and its back to strict Keto cal deficit Sunday. What helps me break sugar hangover is to weight train Sunday morning intensely or do some HIIT cardio, it gets the sugar/ food moving and I start burning producing ketones quickly which HELPS tons with cravings and bs stabilizing and energy
Heavy carb meals always do this to me (even complex, healthy carbs). You don’t need to give up on your free feeding meals/days but you do need to realize that the next \~24 hours will require extra effort/different skillsets on your part. It’s the cost attached to enjoying poorer nutritional choices for some of us
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A few things that work for me are:
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All this said, realize that this is a skill you learn and develop just like fasting. The more I’ve done it, the better my body has gotten at just kind of being ok with the sensations that come with poor meal choices. They’re distinctly different from simple hunger signals but we can learn to just accept and move past them in similar ways (or at least I’ve had success like this)
The true answer depends on your specific body but I think in general you are right. Bottom line is you need to experiment intelligently; example - while doing OMAD I did a 48 hour fast then 2 days of OMAD where the 2nd day was a cheat meal - my first in more than 2 weeks. From the cheat meal I went immediately into a 48 hour fast. I definitely felt the cheat meal (which was NOT fast food by a long shot) by means of a dull headache during day 2 of the fast compared to the first 48 hour fast.
But I don’t view this as a negative, but a positive learning experience - first, into what works or does not work for me; second, that when you are eating clean your body directly “protests” any “crap” you feed it, even if this is quite clean compared to a normal SAD.
The issue is always going to be what and how much you have during your cheat meal. I generally try to have a bite or two of something I like but not more, avoid combining fat and carbs so a piece of baguette >> a croissant >> cake. Last cheat meal was some Chinese - we ordered in a few dishes and I had greens (steamed Spinach and Bak Choi) with a bite or two from each entree and a bit of white rice (maybe 5 or 6 tbsp) …. and I am pretty confident the rice gave me the headache when I went into fasting again for 48 …