Should You Break Your Keto Diet For Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is getting close, and you are contemplating whether you should stay on your ketogenic diet or not.
Let’s face it, cheat meals are a part of life, and deciding if it’s a good idea to break your ketogenic diet for Thanksgiving should not make you anxious.
In this blog post, we will go over the pros and cons of having a cheat day while on keto and let you decide for yourself if you should break keto for Thanksgiving.
So keep on reading to find out!
Factors To Consider Before You Decide to break Keto for Thanksgiving:
The length of time you’ve been on keto
The longer you have been on the ketogenic diet, the faster your body can recover after a cheat day.
If you have been on keto for a long time, your body is more equipped to handle a cheat day without damaging your progress.
However, If you have just started your keto diet, it will likely take much longer to get back on track and into ketosis.
Remember, it takes an average of four to six weeks to get into ketosis when you are just starting keto.
Therefore, breaking your diet for Thanksgiving can be rough on your body if you are a beginner. It will likely take weeks before you can get back into ketosis.
So, if you are a beginner, consider if you are willing to hinder your progress before deciding to break keto.
How fat-adapted your body is
The longer you have been on the ketogenic diet, the more fat-adapted your body becomes.
Being fat adapted is not the same thing as being in ketosis.
Fat adaptation is when your body is primed to use fat as fuel.
The more fat-adapted your body is, the faster you can recover after a cheat meal or a cheat day.
If you have just started keto, your body is not fat-adapted. The effect of breaking keto for Thanksgiving will be more damaging and harder to recover from.
Side effects of Breaking keto
After being on the ketogenic diet, your body gets used to using fat for fuel and becomes less tolerant of sugar.
When you break keto and introduce carbohydrates and sugar into your system, there will be a backlash.
Your body will react negatively to the sugar because it no longer knows how to use it properly, this is called sugar intolerance.
Sugar intolerance can result in side effects such as fogginess, headaches, bloating, inflammation, and more.
It takes hard work to get Back into ketosis.
If you decide to break keto for Thanksgiving, you must be willing to work hard to get back into ketosis after.
It can take 48 hours to one week to get back into ketosis.
Cheat meals such as Thanksgiving dinner have high amounts of sugar and carbohydrates, which cause a significant insulin spike.
As a result of the insulin spike and then crash, you will likely have increased cravings and hunger in the days after Thanksgiving.
Being mindful and taking the proper steps to get back into ketosis is essential for getting back on track.
Click here to learn tips for getting back into ketosis faster after Thanksgiving.
What is your goal for keto?
It would help to consider what you are trying to achieve with the ketogenic diet.
If you are on the ketogenic diet to lose weight, having a cheat day will likely slow down your progress.
If you have just started keto and have been losing weight consistently, a cheat day like Thanksgiving can set you back a few weeks.
You will gain a couple of pounds after your cheat day, mainly due to water retention; however, psychologically, it could take a toll and make you less motivated.
If your goal is weight loss, and you decide to cheat, we highly recommend not to weigh yourself right after Thanksgiving.
Waiting a week and taking the proper steps to recover after Thanksgiving cheat day, before you weigh yourself, will give you better results.
- Overall Health
Suppose your goal for following the keto diet is a healthier lifestyle, not weight loss. In that case, having a cheat day will not be as detrimental to your psyche.
To learn how you can recover quickly after a cheat day, click here.
So is it worth it?
After considering all the factors mentioned above, deciding whether you should break keto for Thanksgiving is up to you.
Is it worth hindering your weight loss progress? If so, are you willing to work hard to get back on track?
If your answer to the above questions is yes, remember that having a cheat day is part of every dieter’s journey.
You will be just fine if you prepare for your cheat day and know what to do after.
Also, after a cheat day, do not obsess about it, do not feel guilty, get back on track and move on.
Happy Thanksgiving!
References
Shimizu K, Saito H, Sumi K, Sakamoto Y, Tachi Y, Iida K. Short-term and long-term ketogenic diet therapy and the addition of exercise have differential impacts on metabolic gene expression in the mouse energy-consuming organs heart and skeletal muscle. Nutr Res. 2018 Dec;60:77-86. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2018.09.004. Epub 2018 Sep 19. PMID: 30527262.
