Coming Off Keto After 9 Months

Are you thinking about quitting keto diet?

If you google quitting keto you’ll find lots of personal stories from people who only lasted a few days, weeks or maybe even a couple of months before giving up.  This isn’t one of those stories. 

I did keto for 9 months, and it didn’t make me miserable.

The keto diet reset the way I eat.  Even once I started transitioning off the keto diet, I knew I wasn’t going to go back to eating the high carb diet I had before.  Not only because I didn’t want to gain all the weight back, but also because I felt good about my new healthier way of eating. 

Coming off keto while maintaining your weight loss is possible. 

And yes, eating carbs after keto is also possible too. 

Just as long as you don’t go overboard with them or fall back into your old eating habits.

My Keto Results

3 months ago, I did a post about my 6-month keto results.  I had lost 30 pounds, and while my weight loss had stalled by then, I was still enjoying all the other benefits of the keto diet. 

That was why I kept doing keto.  I enjoyed having so much energy all day and the positive effect it had on my mood and concentration.  Plus, my skin looked better, I no longer suffered from intense menstrual cramps and my ability to handle stress had dramatically improved.

There are lots of benefits to keto beyond weight loss.

Why I Quit Keto

Keto Benefits Wearing Off

While I had been enjoying all those keto benefits for the first 8 months, things started to change once I hit month 9. 

That awesome increase in energy I had enjoyed started to fade.  By mid-afternoon I found myself feeling extremely tired.  By the end of the 9^th month, I was basically exhausted every night.  Even when I started going to be earlier, that mid-day energy crash kept hitting me. 

Maybe it was just because of the lack of energy but my focus and concentration were being affected too.  I found myself struggling to get any writing done in a decent amount of time and my mind wandered frequently.  It got so bad I started taking lions mane mushroom supplements to help me stay focused while I was writing.

Negative Effects on My Body

Then I started noticing some other weird things happening to my body.

My hair had become thin.  While I had noticed this earlier and wasn’t too worried about it, the research I had done on hypothyroidism had me wondering if the hair loss had just been from losing weight or if it may have been a sign of something more serious.

Then I noticed my nails had become brittle.  While my nails are never super long, I found myself constantly breaking them just by banging a finger on something. 

Then there were the rashes.

It started out with some eczema on my fingers.  I had wondered if it was just from the cold weather, but even when it started warming up the eczema didn’t go away. 

There was also a rash on the back of my leg, which had started out as a small bug bite, that would flare up and turn into a small itchy rash once in a while.  When the itchy bumps lasted a few months, I started to wonder what was going on.

Then I had the same problem with a blister.  It had started out as a blister on my heal, but then it became itchy.  Just like my leg the blister spot would get a small rash and itch on and off. 

Then another rash developed on my lower back, followed by a really sore one on my armpit.

Sick of Counting Carbs

The final straw for me was all the measuring and tracking of my food. 

Before starting keto I had been counting calories using My Fitness Pal.  After I switched to keto I kept using My Fitness Pal to track my carbs.  Other than a couple of weeks in the summer between diets, I had been recording everything I ate for a year.

I hated it.  I was tired of it. 

I hated that my kids saw me measuring out everything I ate.  Really, what was I teaching them about healthy eating habits when I had to grab a tablespoon just to snack on some almonds or limit myself to only having 10 blueberries. 

Deciding I Was Done

With the rashes getting worse and the worry that my eating habits may be affecting my hormones, I decided that it was time for me to be done with keto. 

Now I’m not bashing the keto diet.  If you follow keto and continue seeing benefits from it and feel good, stick with it.  If something works for you there is no reason to change it.

But it was clear that it wasn’t working for me anymore. 

I’m sure that some keto experts could tell me how to make some changes to remedy all the issues I was having, and maybe it would have worked, but I decided it was time to move on and focus on just eating healthy.

Transitioning Off Keto Diet

My transition off keto started on Easter.

At that point, I hadn’t even really decided to quit.  I was just going off keto for a day, so I could enjoy a family dinner with taco salad, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and my mom’s homemade dinner rolls. 

Even after that one-day keto cheat, I hadn’t decided I would quit.  I thought maybe I just needed to take a week off keto.  So, for the first week after Easter, I ate the same way I had been, but allowed myself some extra fruits and vegetables, and stopped tracking my carbs.

After that week I continued eating how I had been and spent a couple of days entering my food into my fitness pal at the end of the day to see how I had done without tracking the carbs I was eating. Even when I was trying to eat keto I was still getting 70-80 grams of carbs a day.

But my energy had increased. 

After that, I stopped tracking my carbs and instead I focused on eating to replenish my gut bacteria to address the eczema.

Within a week all my rashes were gone. 

That was when I decided that I wasn’t just taking a break from keto, I was done with it. 

Do You Gain the Weight Back After Keto

I didn’t step on a scale for the first few weeks.

I knew I had gained back a little bit of weight.  When I finally checked to see how much, I was happy to see that I had only gained about 5 pounds back.  Over the last 3 months, my weight has fluctuated a bit.  I have lost those 5 pounds and then gained them back when I loosened up a bit too much and indulged in too many treats.

But still, I have not gained back any more than that initial 5 pounds, and I’m ok with that. 

My focus right now is on getting into a new workout routine and increasing the length of my strength training sessions.  And, of course, continuing to eat what I consider to be a healthy diet. 

Coming Off Keto Symptoms

While I personally didn’t experience any symptoms from coming off keto some people report that in addition to gaining back some weight or getting a bit bloated, they experience a bit of fatigue, mood swings, and increased hunger from blood sugar spikes. 

This is why it’s important to transition off keto slowly and not go overboard in the high carb sugary treats.

What Can I Eat When Coming Off Keto?

If you’re concerned about gaining the weight back then you will need to continue to be careful about what you eat after keto.

While there is no specific keto maintenance diet, many people find that continuing to follow a low carb diet will help them maintain their keto weight loss.  How many carbs a day to maintain weight will be different for everyone. 

Other people may find that the transition to a paleo or primal diet is easier for them to follow.  Since these diets restrict foods like grains and sugar, they are naturally lower carb.

Or you may just find that eating keto for a long period of time has changed your relationship with food and you are now able to maintain healthy eating habits without following a specific diet and continue to use the keto recipes you have gotten used to.

If you’re worried that you might end up going back to your old eating habits consider finding some new low-carb recipes or paleo recipes to help you stay on track.

Keto Reset My Eating Habits (How I Eat Now)

Unlike counting calories, eating keto changed my eating habits.  Because I became so used to making healthy food choices for 9 months, I find it easy to continue to do so. 

While I no longer follow the keto diet strictly, I still do eat a lot of keto foods and keto meals at home. 

I still don’t buy any grains.  We continue to use lettuce for burgers and tacos and other vegetables in place of pasta and rice.  Not only does this keep my carbs (and calories) lower, but it makes it easier to make sure I am eating a wide variety of vegetables every day. 

I also don’t buy sugar, or sugar-filled processed crap (with the exception of the occasional piece of dark chocolate).  I have continued to use stevia, or sometimes honey, in my baked goods.

I do allow myself more fruit than I did before, but I still don’t overdo it (though it is so nice to be able to eat a full banana again). 

For the most part, I would say I am eating close to a paleo diet, or probably more of a primal diet since I still eat dairy, peanuts, and beans when I am at home. 

When I eat away from home, however, I am less restrictive.

I don’t worry about totally avoiding grains or sugar, but I still do my best to make healthier choices.  I still love my salads from Pita Pit and Subway.  I even opt for the salad instead of a burger most times at Wendy’s or Mc Donald’s too. 

While I still enjoy my lettuce-wrapped burger from A & W, I now allow myself a small indulgence with some sweet potato fries with Chipotle dip on the side too. 

My Tips for Coming Off Keto

• The most important thing to remember when coming off keto is that you can’t go back to eating how you did before.  If you want to maintain your keto weight loss you will still need to eat a reasonably healthy diet. 
• When transitioning off keto you need to take it slow.  Don’t go out and eat a burger and fries right away.
• Starting out by continuing to eat keto meals and snacks, but without tracking your carbs, can make the transition easier.  By now you’ve likely found some favorite keto recipes so there is no need to give them up just because you’re not strictly keto anymore. 
• Increase your carbs slowly.  Start by just increasing your vegetables and adding more fruit.  Let yourself indulge in some nuts, but don’t go crazy and eat the whole bag. 
• If you are worried that you may gain all the weight back consider following a low carb diet instead.  You can find your carb limit for weight maintenance by increasing your carbs by 10-20 grams per week. 
• Consider the paleo or primal diet.  If you’re sick of tracking how much you eat but still want to stick with a healthy diet the paleo diet, or less restrictive primal diet, may be a better option for you.
• Don’t forget to keep being mindful of portion sizes.  While measuring out your food isn’t necessary, it can still be helpful to stick to only eating a serving size amount of food that is higher in carbs and calories.  Even if you decide to indulge and have something like potato chips, measure out a serving in a bowl instead of eating it right out of the bag.
• Consider continuing to avoid sugar.  While the occasional treat may not hurt, it’s pretty easy to let that sugar sneak back into your diet.  It may be helpful to continue to eat keto treats at home and only indulge in the sugar-filled ones occasionally when you are out.
• Consider continuing to avoid grains.  If you have been following keto for a while, you’ve obviously learned how to eat without bread and pasta so consider sticking with it. 
• Keep loading up on the vegetables.  Even if you choose to go back to eating some grains, try to continue to add all the vegetables you had been using in place of grains to your meals. 
• Avoid processed crap.  By now you should be used to living without the convenience of packaged meals.  Regardless of what you are eating, homemade meals from scratch will always be healthier than something that sits in a freezer for months until it’s microwaved. 
• Expect some bloating.  If you look in the mirror and realize that your belly is bigger already, don’t freak out.  When you start reintroducing all those foods you have been avoiding it will take your body a while to readjust to digesting them.  Some bloating for the first week or two is normal.
• You might gain some weight back.  Again, don’t freak out.  In fact, don’t step on the scale right away.  A lot of what you gain right away will just be from water retention, as long as you aren’t overdoing it.  Your weight will fluctuate as you adjust. 
• Treat yourself. 

Once you have eased yourself off of keto and adjusted to eating more carbs, go get whatever it was that you have been missing most. 

Just don’t be surprised if it’s not as good as you remember. 

I couldn’t wait to go buy some popcorn chicken from KFC when I stopped keto and was so disappointed by the rubbery texture of it when I did.  It’s hard to go back to eating food-like substances once you have adjusted to eating real food.

It has now been almost 3 months since I started coming off keto.  And I feel great. 

I have continued to eat healthy food without the stress of feeling like I can’t have a treat at a social gathering.

While the keto diet wasn’t something I ended up sticking to long term, I still feel that it is a great diet to help you reset your way of eating.

Do you have any tips for coming off keto?  Did you slowing adjust to eating carbs after keto or jump right in and indulge in a treat?  Where you able to maintain your weight loss after quitting keto?

Follow me on Facebook to see how I make out in my journey to better health without keto and let me know how you transitioned off the keto diet on this post.