How to Get Back on Track after a Keto Cheat Day

Transitioning to a ketogenic diet requires significant dietary changes, and keto-friendly foods aren’t always readily available.

Social events, lack of preparation, and carb cravings can make it challenging to stay on track with a low-carb diet, increasing the likelihood of indulging in a keto cheat day.

Discover why you should avoid cheat days on keto and learn how to get back into ketosis after a high-carb meal quickly.

What is a cheat day?

In the low-carb community, not tracking your daily net carb count and indulging in high-carb foods is commonly known as a keto cheat day.

A cheat meal usually includes foods that are typically off-limits, such as bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, or desserts. 

While a keto cheat day may not seem like a big deal, it can disrupt your progress by kicking you out of ketosis. This metabolic state shifts your body from fat-burning to using carbohydrates and sugars as fuel sources. 

This can lead to a setback in achieving your health and wellness goals, including slowing weight loss, and may require extra effort to get back on track.

In addition, high-carb meals lead to blood sugar fluctuations that can leave you feeling sluggish and trigger cravings for more carbs. This creates a cycle of fluctuating energy levels and persistent cravings, making it even harder to return to your keto routine and maintain consistency.

Watch the video below to learn how to recover from a keto cheat day.

How long does it take to get back into ketosis after a cheat day?

The time it takes to get back into ketosis after a cheat day largely depends on your metabolic flexibility, age, activity level, and the amount of carbs you consume during your cheat meal.

While some individuals can re-enter fat-burning within two days, others may need more than a week to get back into ketosis after a cheat day. 

If you’ve been following a strict ketogenic diet for a while, it may be easier to get back into ketosis after a cheat meal, as your body is likely fat-adapted and developed efficient fat-burning mechanisms. 

However, if you’re new to keto, it can take several weeks for your body to fully adapt to burning fat, even without cheat days. This highlights the importance of closely monitoring your carb intake and avoiding cheat days that can destroy your progress.

Should you have cheat days on keto?

While some argue that occasional cheat days can make it easier to stick to keto long-term, there are several downsides to consider. 

Here are three reasons why you should avoid keto cheat days. 

1. Persistent carb cravings

The breakdown of fat generates ketones, a highly effective fuel source that provides steady and sustained energy to your cells and tissues. In contrast, glucose is metabolized rapidly, delivering a short-lived energy boost.

Because carbohydrates supply a quick source of energy, the body prioritizes using blood sugar for ener gy production over fat-burning.

However, consuming carbs, especially after being in a state of ketosis, can trigger significant blood sugar spikes, triggering excessive release of insulin. 

Insulin directly inhibits fat burning and stimulates fat storage, which explains why eating carb-rich meals will quickly kick you out of ketosis. 

In addition, blood sugar fluctuations are the primary trigger for carbohydrate cravings, as the body seeks to stabilize energy levels by consuming more glucose.

This makes it harder to stick to healthy eating and ultimately more difficult to lose weight.

2. Hinders weight loss

“Indulging in just a single cheat meal can shift your body from burning fat to burning glucose, effectively knocking you out of ketosis,” explains Dr. Berg.

After a carb-heavy meal, the body stops fat-burning, which can stall weight loss and potentially lead to weight gain.

Additionally, consuming large amounts of carbohydrates often exceeds the body's immediate energy needs, leading to the surplus glucose being stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. 

Because one gram of glycogen binds to three grams of water, cheat days can result in rapid weight gain due to water retention.

3. Keto flu symptoms 

Glycogen-related water retention can significantly disturb your body's electrolyte balance, especially during the transition into ketosis. 

As your body depletes glycogen stores when dietary carbohydrate intake is limited, water is released and flushed from the body. This can lead to the loss of fluids and electrolyte minerals, including sodium, potassium, and magnesium.

Dehydration and electrolyte imbalances can cause symptoms known as the keto flu, including nausea, irritability, body aches, brain fog, dizziness, and food cravings. 

If you indulge in a cheat day on keto, your body will replenish glycogen stores, which reintroduces water retention and can quickly reverse the weight loss. This also can perpetuate keto flu symptoms and reintroduce symptoms of carb cravings and fatigue.

How to get back on track after a keto cheat day

If you had a cheat day on keto, there are several steps you can take to help your body recover quickly. 

The first and most crucial step is to return to a low-carb, high-fat diet right away and aim to reduce your carbohydrate intake as much as possible to kickstart fat-burning and ketosis. 

Incorporate fat-burning exercises, such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), to help deplete glycogen stores accumulated during your cheat day. This can accelerate your return to ketosis and support your weight loss goals.

As you transition back into ketosis, you may experience fluid loss and electrolyte imbalances. Staying hydrated and replenishing essential minerals is critical to maintaining the body’s fluid balance, nerve function, and energy-making processes. 

Using a high-quality electrolyte powder is an excellent strategy for preventing keto flu symptoms and helping your body re-enter ketosis smoothly.

In addition, implementing an intermittent fasting plan can speed up your transition back into ketosis.  

Intermittent fasting involves alternating between periods of eating and fasting. Restricting meals to designated windows of time each day helps stabilize blood sugar levels and depletes glycogen stores.

When combined with a low-carb diet, intermittent fasting is one of the quickest ways to shift your body from burning glucose to using body fat as an energy source. 

There are several strategies you can use to help extend your fasting time and maximize the benefits of intermittent fasting.

Bulletproof coffee is a high-fat drink that combines grass-fed butter and medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil with black coffee. The high concentrations of healthy fats in bulletproof coffee help keep you feeling satiated, making it easier to maintain your fast. 

In addition, MCTs are particularly beneficial as they’re rapidly absorbed and quickly converted into ketones, which can help your body transition back into ketosis after a carb-heavy cheat day.

Research published in Phytochemistry Reviews highlights that MCT oil can also support cognitive health, which can help you feel your best as you recover.

Key takeaways

Although it might not seem like a big deal, a keto cheat day can significantly derail your progress, leading to food cravings, causing weight gain, and potentially triggering keto flu symptoms.

To quickly recover from a cheat day, focus on returning to your ketogenic diet plan immediately and incorporate strategies, such as intermittent fasting and HIIT workouts, to speed up your body’s return to ketosis.

In addition, it's crucial to stay hydrated and replenish electrolyte minerals to maintain optimal fluid balance, support muscle function, and prevent further setbacks in your recovery.

FAQ

1. How do I get back into ketosis after a cheat day?

Return to eating low-carb meals, staying hydrated, engaging in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts, and consider implementing intermittent fasting to help your body deplete glycogen stores and re-enter ketosis quickly.

2. Is it okay to have a cheat day on keto?

No, while occasional cheat days might seem harmless, they can significantly derail your progress and knock you out of ketosis for several days.

Additionally, keto cheat days can trigger persistent cravings, which can make it harder to stick to a low-carb diet long-term. 

3. How long does it take to recover from a keto cheat day?

Returning to ketosis can take anywhere from two days to over a week, depending on the amount of carbs consumed and your metabolic flexibility.

4. Can you do 5 days on 2 days off keto?

Five days on keto followed by two days off is a form of carb cycling that can make it challenging to stay in ketosis, may lead to fluctuating energy levels, and result in less consistent weight loss. 

In addition, switching between high-carb days and low-carb days can promote unhealthy eating habits as it disrupts your body's adaptation to a stable ketogenic state.

5. What cheat meal can I have on the keto diet?

While there are no keto-approved cheat meals, if you’re going to cheat, some choices are better than others. 

Avoid refined foods like bread and pasta, and choose more nutritious options. For example, a sweet potato offers more nutritional benefits than a white potato.

Source

1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11101-024-09969-1