Yesterday, I had a great time at my friend’s BBQ. I didn’t track what I ate, and I ate too much, which specifically means that I exceeded the caloric requirements for the day.
But it’s what I ate that made all the difference.
They served sausages, pulled chicken, cheeses, and exotic mustards; plus, a delicious home-made coleslaw, fresh salad and sauteed vegetables.
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The grilled sausages were the main event, though: hot, mild, cheese filled, all kinds of variations. The hostess said, “Not to brag, but this is the best Sausage Fest I’ve ever been to.”
“I don’t think I’ve been to as many sausage fests as you have,” I said. “You seem to know your sausage fests.”
There were, of course, breads, pretzels, fruits, and for dessert, lots of sweets. These are the things I didn’t eat.
I had plenty of red wine, too. Not an embarrassing amount, but several glasses. No teetotaler, here. I enjoyed myself, and really, to be perfectly honest, I pigged out.
I had plenty of seltzer water, too. Well fed and hydrated, I went home and … had two delicious hamburgers (one covered in brie cheese, the other, submerged in bleu cheese). The burgers were served on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes with snap peas. I added some mayonnaise, just because.
So good! I washed it down with even more red wine.
Then, because I hadn’t explored the limits of gluttony in some time, I topped all of this off with a bowl of frozen and fresh blueberries, sour cream, almonds and Stevia, for a tasty keto ice cream treat.
(Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash)
“Oh well,” I thought, “I kept that keto thing going for a long time. But all this wine and fruit, I’m sure I’ll be out of ketosis tomorrow morning.”
I had a lot of water before I went to sleep, hoping to forestall the inevitable hangover. And this morning, no hangover. Even better, I’m still in ketosis, according to my handy little test strip. Amazing!
It’s not like I lost weight, or something. I put on 3.7 lb in 24 hours, in fact.
But, here’s what also happened:
- I didn’t deprive myself, or feel like some kind of awkward freak at the party. I ate (most) of the food that was offered, which occasioned the chance to compliment the hosts for their excellent cooking.
- I drank a considerable amount of wine. I don’t advocate this as a weight loss strategy, but I was shocked that all this alcohol didn’t knock me out of ketosis. But, it didn’t.
- I didn’t eat a pile of sweets and baked goods. I had no interest. I had many, many sausages, and other treats. But I didn’t spike my insulin, and I didn’t feel “foggy and groggy” either, from spiking my blood sugar, because I didn’t send my blood sugar through the roof.
- I didn’t suffer from heartburn or other digestive distress, as often happened to me in the past after a day and night of overindulgence.
Because I’m still in ketosis this morning, I’m not hungry. Plus, I just ate more than enough calories to get me through a few more hours of fasting.
I’m going to do my (now) standard 2-stage fat fast, just drinking black coffee and water until the 16 hour mark, or later, and then only adding some cream to my coffee and continuing to fast until I decide to eat, probably around 20 or 22 hours.
I’ll see how many hours I can go without solid food. Yesterday, that’s what I did before the BBQ: 19 hours of a 2-stage fat fast.
What’s the moral of this story? I can eat a keto-friendly diet, even overeat a keto friendly diet, and still:
- Enjoy social meals with friends and family without feeling deprived (or making other people uncomfortable with my restrictive or freakish dietary requirements).
- Drink an immodest amount of wine and stay in ketosis. Also, no hangover.
- Stay in ketosis, and go right back to intermittent fasting, avoiding hunger pangs.
- Avoid the kind of nasty discomfort I experienced in the past when I’d eat too many carbs.
The point is this: I felt great yesterday, and I feel great today. I didn’t lose weight, but I also didn’t trigger the incredibly bad consequences of eating too many carbs.
The bottom line is this: eating keto-friendly foods (and drinking keto friendly red wine) is tasty, fun, and easy. I can overindulge occasionally and I don’t feel guilty and gross the next day.
In fact, I feel fantastic. This way of eating something I can do for a long long time. It’s a kind of healthy eating that’s satisfying, enjoyable, and sustainable.
It’s something I can do consistently in situations which would have, in the past, lead me to swine-like carbohydrate consumption and all of the predictable negative consequences that follow.
Instead, I’m enjoying what I eat with friends and family. That’s one of the healthiest things I can do.