I everyone, I am new here!

Carbing up on occasions can be a good thing , you just need to NOT  go hog wild and eat everything, which you will want to do when you get that first bite of pie or another favorite dish. Oh so satisfying, eyes roll back and mouth waters ... Hehehehe... so pick wisely and enjoy your serving as early as you can , so you can start a fast when you are done, drink your water and start keto over ... you might feel a bit yucky for a day , so make your carbs worth every last bite , don’t eat it if it’s not worth feeling yucky for ... 🤪... I drove 200 miles to a 5 star bakery and ate the most delicious maple 🍁 bar ... I was like a crack addict at 1030pm in the parking lot with my 🍩... didn’t feel yucky ... it was an amazing adventure and worth every carb... peace and health to you 

I would NOT recommend blowing off Keto for a day.  You’ve put in a lot of work to get where you are (congratulations on losing 32-lbs!) so why put that at risk?   In stead, I offer that you could use Christmas (or any other ‘meal intensive occasion to remain strong and thereby proving to yourself that you’re capable of doing this, and that you’re WORTH doing this.

Sure, some folks may say, ‘it’s only one meal’ or ‘It’s only one day’ but that’s how all slippery slopes start... one exception here, one moment of ‘I’ll slide a little today and make it up tomorrow’ and the next thing you know, you’ve fallen off the wagon.

My doctor (a HUGE supporter of the keto lifestyle) put it like this.  Being in keto is like being an alcoholic: be sober for years, but that first sip is one sip too many.

I’ve been keto for a year (as of today) and have made it through thanksgiving, Christmas, numerous birthdays and other holidays, and in every instance, found it ridiculously easy to enjoy holiday meals that were keto.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Personally, I am not willing to deal with the repercussions of a cheat day. It takes minutes to consume foods I know will affect me adversely  both physically and psychologically.... then what?  It’s just not worth it to me - not to mention the cravings and negative emotions it will trigger.
 

i  am new to this lifestyle journey, 3 months yesterday. I feel too good to jeopardize any aspect of this, not even during the holidays.  At 65, my lifelong struggle with weight and obesity has hopefully taught me a few lessons. 

I'm with Sassy Daisy. I am heading into week nine, and last week I took a break cuz I just needed it!

I made smart choices, gave myself eight hours to not be hawking myself over what I chose to eat. I did avoid breads of any kind also sugary drinks, in fact I stuck to just drinking water which has been my norm since I started keto.

My biggest splurges: A loaded baked sweet potato and sweet potato pie (didn't eat the crust).

I did track my carbs/calories on that day to stay in the habit but to also keep in mind WHY I avoid these foods now...LOL...it was an eye opening experience. After working to stay under 30 carbs a day, on that day I got all my carbs plus some in just that darn loaded sweet potato...but HOLY COW was it GOOD!!!

I also added some extra workout time on that day, added an extra walk (20 minutes at a medium pace) and did an extra 15 minutes on my Max Trainer.

At 6:00 P.M. I stopped eating and got back into my keto regime at noon the next day.

It took me about three days to start getting back into ketosis, by the fourth day I was back to "large" levels showing on the sticks. I felt fine, didn't get up the next day with the urge to gobble everything in sight and was actually looking forward to getting back to my routine. Had no ill effects, didn't gain anything, and I don't think it caused a stall in my weight loss. (Eight weeks down 14 lbs with 30 to go.)

I didn't and will never think of it as "cheating"....cheating is underhanded and low down....not a great mind set to have.

I though of it as taking a "mini vacation" from the keto regimen. I kinda had a "vacation budget" in mind when counting the carbs/calories. That one meal had 103 carbs in it, and frankly seeing that number at about 4:00 p.m had me thinking "Okay at 6:00....I  am back to my keto."

Like Sassy Daisy said....don't go hog wild, make smart choices....enjoy a "mini-vacation"

Magic absolutely!  Carbs are addictive and like any addiction, hard to beat.  We can’t ‘sort of’ do this.  That’s why thinking in terms of ‘cheating’ or ‘mini-vacation’ as an acceptable alternative only sets the stage for failure.  Ask yourself, ‘can an alcoholic have a mini-vacation?’   Or, ‘is it okay if I use heroin only on Tuesday?’

Of course not.  There is no vacation from good living.

Stay strong and good luck!

Pat F 

Pat F said:
There is no vacation from good living.

 The vacation makes the good living even better 😏 And smart people make smart choices ON vacation.😝

I thought about something that happened to my daughter a few weeks ago...she got knocked out of keto.....while having dinner at a friends house. The friend knew she was on keto and promised there would be plenty of keto friendly food and there was...problem is....the person doing some of the cooking didn't understand "keto friendly" and all the pork and chicken had a rub in it that was loaded with brown sugar. No one knew this...my daughter didn't veer off her keto.....she ate thinking she was eating keto friendly. Next day...she was out of ketosis...she called me in tears...swearing she hadn't gone off the diet..at all. I asked her to double check about what was on the pork as far as the rub. Short hand version of this story:

She got about fourish tablespoons of brown and white sugar and about two tablespoons of rice flour in the food she consumed...not to mention the carbs that were in the spices in the rub.....so yeah...it messed everything up.

The person doing the cooking didn't grasp that a spice rub is loaded with carbs and they count when you count carbs.

It wasn't the end of the world...it didn't send her off the deep end.  I think relating this to drug or alcohol addiction might be a wee bit over the top. The O.P. seems have to have very good grasp on the thought process of doing all the right things.

She has the worst sweet tooth I have ever seen...cutting out the sweets was the hardest thing she has ever done...but she did it.....and after this.....she didn't have an issue with the cravings coming back. She got right back on the diet, it took her about five days to get back into ketosis, she did do a 24 hour fast (after she calmed down, poor thing thought she was doomed to never be able to get back on the right track thanks to a couple of naysayers she has around her.)

Once she calmed down and figured out what was up...she told me

"Every thing tasted too sweet. I thought it was me! I thought I was imaging it was sweet! I know one thing, I fine tuned my taste buds, next time I taste "that" taste I will spit it out!"

She's back on track...down another 10 pounds and it was a blip....not the end of the world.