I had a nightmare that I ate a bite of a cookie. Curiously, would one bite stall me?

[Georgiana]

Re: I had a nightmare that I ate a bite of a cookie. Curiously, would one bite stall

Hm... I'm glad I posted this question. And I appreciate the different views and such. For me, it takes 5 days to get into Ketosis. So, I guess what everyone is saying is that when OUT of ketosis, it takes the same time to get back INTO ketosis no matter how many carbs I went over, yes??

Not exactly. Ketosis is a tricky thing. Even in Maintenance, when you are out of "permanent" ketosis, lipolysis will still be necessary to burn that fat you are eating (~50% of your calories and even more for some). As long as you are eating less than about 100 g of carbohydrate, your diet is considered to be ketogenic.

The amount of carbs you eat and the number of days you've been in glucosis do play a role in determining how long it will take you to get back in ketosis. As long as your body has enough glucose/glycogen to maintain glucosis, that's what it will do. And your body has the more glucose/glycogen the more carbs you eat. Eating too many carbs (whatever that means for your metabolism) for a period of a few days will likely make it more difficult to get back into ketosis, because your body has stored more glycogen that it can use in glucosis.

Also, as I believe I mentioned in one of my previous replies here, cheating will lead to yo-yo dieting and increased resistance to weight loss.

From DANDR, Ch. 17, p. 224:

When you do Atkins during the week and cheat on weekends, for several days after your binge, you are no longer burning fat. At most, you could be in the fat-burning state for only three days each week. In addition, you may have overstimulated your insulin response, increasing the metabolic risk factors underlying your weight problem. Remember that when you burn fat, dietary fat is also being burned. However, if you combine high carbs with high fat---typical American diet---you can be increasing your cardiovascular risks.

The definition of a carb binge is pretty loose. You might not consider 50 net carbs a binge. There are Atkineers who can lose weight and be in ketosis even when eating 100+ carbs. Their bodies could deal just fine with 50 net carbs. Then there are those Atkineers who need to stay at 15-25 net carbs to lose. For them, 50 net carbs will be 2-3 times more than what they are supposed to eat in order to lose or even maintain.

This is why OWL is important. Once you move to OWL and find your CCLL, you will know how many carbs you can tolerate and what foods you can eat so that you keep losing weight when eating only enough to satisfy your hunger. If you stay on Induction, you can only speculate what your reaction to X carbs or whatever food will be, based on other people's experiences. Only by coincidence will this apply to your body.

[jimmie 48]

Re: I had a nightmare that I ate a bite of a cookie. Curiously, would one bite stall

pinkfeathers, for me the whole thing isn't so much of getting back into ketosis or the time frame of it but, like mitzi says, eating something so completely off plan, is the "kiss of death". after eating or drinking something on the 'shouldn't' list, it's very hard to stop. a starbucks leads to wanting a fudge nut sundae which leads to wanting ______ .
like mitzi also said...... been there, done that.

[pinkfeathers]

Re: I had a nightmare that I ate a bite of a cookie. Curiously, would one bite stall

Georgiana,

Your post is marvelous. Thank you for that! Got much info from it!!

Not exactly. Ketosis is a tricky thing. Even in Maintenance, when you are out of "permanent" ketosis, lipolysis will still be necessary to burn that fat you are eating (~50% of your calories and even more for some). As long as you are eating less than about 100 g of carbohydrate, your diet is considered to be ketogenic.

The amount of carbs you eat and the number of days you've been in glucosis do play a role in determining how long it will take you to get back in ketosis. As long as your body has enough glucose/glycogen to maintain glucosis, that's what it will do. And your body has the more glucose/glycogen the more carbs you eat. Eating too many carbs (whatever that means for your metabolism) for a period of a few days will likely make it more difficult to get back into ketosis, because your body has stored more glycogen that it can use in glucosis.

Also, as I believe I mentioned in one of my previous replies here, cheating will lead to yo-yo dieting and increased resistance to weight loss.

From DANDR, Ch. 17, p. 224:
The definition of a carb binge is pretty loose. You might not consider 50 net carbs a binge. There are Atkineers who can lose weight and be in ketosis even when eating 100+ carbs. Their bodies could deal just fine with 50 net carbs. Then there are those Atkineers who need to stay at 15-25 net carbs to lose. For them, 50 net carbs will be 2-3 times more than what they are supposed to eat in order to lose or even maintain.

This is why OWL is important. Once you move to OWL and find your CCLL, you will know how many carbs you can tolerate and what foods you can eat so that you keep losing weight when eating only enough to satisfy your hunger. If you stay on Induction, you can only speculate what your reaction to X carbs or whatever food will be, based on other people's experiences. Only by coincidence will this apply to your body.

[mattkins]

Re: I had a nightmare that I ate a bite of a cookie. Curiously, would one bite stall

I fully understand everyBODY is different, but NOBODY, no human being will take SEVEN DAYS to get back into ketosis from a 50 carb cookie. Even if it's all white flour and sugar. ....no offense but you guys are misunderstanding the science if you think that's how it works. Even if it was a 1000 gram carb binge you did one day, if you dropped back to 20grams a day induction style eating the next day, you'd be back in ketosis in 2-4 days at the absolute MOST. Not a week. Because your body does NOT have to burn off those 1000 carbs you ate. It can only store so much as glycogen in your liver and skeletal muscle. The rest gets stored as fat. It's flat out incorrect to tell someone that depending on your metabolism you may be feeling a 50 gram cookie SEVEN DAYS later. That's just not true. ....and you don't have to be turning the pee sticks purple to be in ketosis. You're pretty deep in if they are changing color.

I understand the intent, to keep the new person on track and discourage cheating. But scare tactics based on a faulty understanding of the science is not the best way to do that. I agree with the spirit of what everyone is saying. That while one cookie is not a big deal physically, MENTALLY it may be a slippery slope that starts a binge. Only you know whether you can have one and then get back on track. Personally I wouldn't risk it.

[liv]

Re: I had a nightmare that I ate a bite of a cookie. Curiously, would one bite stall

I was not saying it as a deterrent I WAS just talking about me Mattkins. I did come out of low carbing just recently and then try to get back to ketosis and it took seven days which is normal for me. So it was a very personal answer based on my recent hmmm ... "experiment" . You may be right that if it had been one cookie of 50 gram of carb I may have been back to normal sooner so guess I could have been clearer in that answer but I can only stay in ketosis on a very low carb number and my CCLL is about 35. Sorry if I offended you in any way. Did not intend to.
Thanks for all the explanations guys. Good thread.

[chadci]

Re: I had a nightmare that I ate a bite of a cookie. Curiously, would one bite stall

Just throwing in my $.02. I'm the cook at home and I realize that nobody else at home eats the way I do. That said, when I cook pasta I still have a bite of pasta to make sure it's cooked. I'm talking 1 noodle.. not a plates worth. If I make a sweet treat I taste the batter ( as I always have) to make sure it's just right etc. This has not caused a single issue FOR ME plus I think the occasional "taste" keeps me from going for the sneaky cheat.