Restarting Keto

Are you wondering how to restart keto?

Did you fall off the keto wagon and now you miss all the great benefits of being in ketosis?

Do you need help getting back on keto after months of indulging in carbs? 

Or maybe you’re like me and you quit keto, only to realize that you really did feel better when you were in ketosis.

So how do you go about restarting keto after a break?

7 months ago, I decided to quit the keto diet. 

While I had great results from the first 6 months of being on keto, by the 9^th month they had started fading. 

I had every intention to continue to eat healthy when I quit, but that only lasted a couple of months.

I was still eating all the keto meals that I had gotten used to, but I also allowed myself the occasional treat.  After a while, those occasional treats turned into a regular habit.

It turns out, without keto my willpower was gone.

I’m not just talking about not being able to resist a piece of cake at a party.  I’m talking about deliberately getting into the car and heading for Taco Bell to pick up a combo. 

As much as I had thought that I had reset my eating habits with keto, without the worry of knocking myself out of ketosis, sticking to healthy eating was hard. 

I ended up gaining back 15 pounds and getting sucked back into the life of carb dependency.

And I felt like crap.

So, a couple of months ago I decided to work on restarting keto. 

I tried Pruvit for 2 weeks but decided that it wasn’t the best keto plan for me (read why in my Pruvit review). 

Since I wanted to make sure that I did keto the right way this time, I decided to pick up a book on it.  I ended up going with Mark Sisson’s “The Keto Reset Diet” (read my review here).

I have now been back on keto for over a week and am happy to say the transition back to keto was easier than I had thought.

How to Restart Keto

Restarting the keto diet after a long break is really the same as just starting the keto diet. 

There are no shortcuts to getting back into ketosis just because you have done it before.  After a long break, you are no longer keto-adapted. 

You are starting from scratch.

If what you did the first time you were on the keto diet worked for you, you can just do that again.

If you’re like me and want to take a different approach this time, there are lots of good books on the keto diet that can help you come up with a plan for getting back on keto and can help if you run into any problems this time.

Questions about Restarting Keto

How can I quickly get back on keto?

If you’re hoping I can tell you how to get into ketosis in 24 hours or less, I can’t. 

There really aren’t any shortcuts to this.

Is restarting keto after a long break the same as restarting keto after cheat?

There are lots of keto cheat recovery methods and articles on how to get back into ketosis quickly after cheating. But these don’t work when you’ve cheated and been out of ketosis for several months.

Restarting keto after a break is not as easy as recovering from a cheat meal or two.

How long does it take to get back in ketosis?

If you took a long break from keto it will take you just as long to get back into ketosis as it did the first time you did it.

For most people, it will take 2-4 days of keto eating to get into ketosis and 2-6 weeks to be keto-adapted.

Will I experience the keto flu again?

Yes, you will likely have to go through the keto flu again. 

Even going back to keto after a cheat day can result in keto flu symptoms.

If you have at least stuck with healthy eating during your break from keto, it may not be as bad as it was the first time.

How hard is restarting the keto diet?

Even though you are starting from scratch, and will likely experience some keto flu symptoms again, getting back on keto isn’t as hard as it was the first time around.

If you have continued to eat a lot of keto-friendly meals, it won’t be as hard of an adjustment.  Even if you haven’t, you at least know what keto foods you enjoy and don’t have to do all the work of looking for recipes again.

My Experience Getting Back on Keto

Last time I started keto, I did the typical eat 25 grams of net carbs or less. 

This time I took a different approach since I was following the Keto Reset Diet book, which allows 50 grams total carbs per day but doesn’t count non-starchy veggies.

By my second day, I was testing positive for ketones in my urine.

While I did experience some keto flu symptoms, they were not as bad as last time.

I didn’t have any stomach issues, but I did have a bit of brain fog and difficulty concentrating so I continued to take the Lion’s Mane Mushrooms that had been helping me with my focus.

I also had a decrease in energy at times.  Since I had learned that exogenous ketones could be helpful while transitioning to the keto diet, I bought some to help with that.

I didn’t find getting back on keto hard at all.

Since I had continued to eat mostly low carb meals during my break from keto, my lunches and dinners weren’t much of an adjustment.

I also made a few of my favorite keto treats to help me when I was craving something sweet.

The only part that really sucked was having to go back to measuring and tracking everything I ate again.

What I Am Going to Do Differently This Time

Now that I am back on keto, and have read more about keto to understand what I did wrong last time, I will be making some adjustments.

This time I am going to focus more on eating a variety of healthy vegetables.

Last time I did keto I often chose to skip on a second helping of vegetables at dinner so I had enough carbs left for a keto treat.

Since I am not counting carbs in non-starchy vegetables this time, eating more should be easier.

I will still enjoy the occasional keto fast food meal, and some keto treats too though.

While keto treats and keto fast food options shouldn’t be a staple in your keto diet, allowing yourself these treats once in a while does make it easier to stick with the keto diet. 

I also am not going to do lazy keto this time.

What is lazy keto?

Lazy keto is when you focus only on your carb intake and ignore fat, protein, and calories, which is what had happened to me towards the end of my time on keto last time. 

I often ate way too many calories and didn’t really pay attention to the fat or protein.  Then I wondered “why am I not losing weight on keto anymore?”

Now I realize that this was likely why my weight loss stalled.

This time I am going to put more effort into learning more about the keto diet too. 

I realize now that if I had made more adjustments to my diet, I likely could have continued to lose weight and wouldn’t have experienced the other benefits of keto fading.

This time if I hit a plateau, or have any other issues, I will make the effort to learn why it is happening and how to remedy the problem.

Getting back on keto after a break isn’t hard at all.

Yes, it takes willpower and effort, but you already know that it’s worth it.

Chances are if you are looking into restarting keto, it’s because, like me, you miss all the health benefits of being in ketosis.

The energy. 

The focus. 

And of course, the weight loss.

Follow me on Facebook for keto recipes and to see how things work out for me on keto round 2, and to see what else I learn on my journey to live a healthier and happier life.

Have you had to restart keto after taking a break?  Do you have any tips for me that will make getting back on keto easier?