Sugar Cravings after My Ketosis Experiment

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sugar-300x199.jpgI started my ketosis experiment 17 days ago and explained why and how I was doing it in this blog post.  Then I updated you on day 5 of the experiment and told you how awful I was feeling in this post. Then 1 day later (on day 6 of the experiment) I gave up the quest due to fatigue, severe mood issues, etc. and explained exactly how I was feeling in this post.

I’ve since been told by various people that in order for ketosis to have worked for me, I needed to be supplementing with sodium, eating more carbs, eating more fat, eating more protein, not doing ketosis in the first place, that I didn’t give it enough time, and that in general I suck.

That’s ok, though, because I’m eating delicious carbs now and those people probably still aren’t… Which brings me to my last update on this experiment.

I want to talk about the backlash of cravings that ensued once I brought myself out of ketosis.

Basically, for the last few months before ketosis I was psyched that I truly wasn’t having carb cravings, perhaps for the first time in my life. I wasn’t eating sugar in the form of coconut milk ice cream, macaroons, dried fruit, or whatever other sugar vehicles are “technically” Paleo. Along with my usual meats and fats, I was eating some fruit, some sweet potatoes, squash, lots of veggies, and occasionally some tapioca flour as my carbs and I felt really good.

Then I went into ketosis and wasn’t really craving anything at all because I wasn’t really hungry. So that was cool because food wasn’t a huge priority for once in my life, except that I felt terrible. When I brought myself out of ketosis, it wasn’t because I just couldn’t handle not eating carbs anymore and I had to have some. I didn’t really care – I just knew I wanted to start burning carbs as fuel again so I ate some.

Then after that, up until yesterday–so for an entire week–I felt like an addict. A starving sugar addict only content to eat copious amounts of fruit, tapioca flour, sweet potatoes, sugar-sweetened cranberries, coconut milk ice cream, and hastily prepared Paleo baked goods. And even then I was still hungry after eating all of that plus my usual protein and fat. And I gained all the weight back that I dropped on ketosis and then some, the latter being pretty disappointing to me. Finally, today I feel like my old self. I can eat what I normally eat and I don’t have a sugar void in my belly and brain.

It makes sense that this would happen. I guess it was my body refilling all my glycogen stores after being desperate for glucose for a week. But it was not a comfortable process, and it makes me even more confused by people who do the cyclic ketosis where they don’t eat carbs during the week, then binge during the weekend and go back to ketosis the next week. Every week.

I know this is just my very own experience, but I’ve heard others say that getting in and out of ketosis was a painful process for them, too. This experience is certainly guiding my advice to others who want to try ketosis for themselves.

That’s all. I just wanted to let you know about the aftermath. I’m sure it doesn’t happen like this for everyone, but this is how it went for me.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope you choose the foods you create wisely, use self restraint as necessary in the face of all those pies, and enjoy the company you surround yourself with. And lastly, I hope you take a moment on that day to acknowledge what you’re thankful for.

I, for one, am thankful for all of you every day. And carbs.