By bit, I mean bite.

I just returned from a dinner and auction social event. I am afraid I kicked myself out of ketosis because I accident took a bite of something that LOOKED like a slice of dill pickle but was something sweet. :-( I didn't have an available napkin near by to discreetly spit it out, so I ended up swallowing it.

This REALLY stinks because I just started IP on 3/3.....and now I have to start all over again.

Does 1 bite of something that isn't on our phase 1 cheat sheet kick the body out of ketosis? I am so angry at myself right now.

I don't think so..

Not at all. You are still on plan. Sounds like it was a very small amount.

Highly unlikely! You can by ketostix at pharmacy and they will tell you how many ketones are in your urine.

Ketostix are basically useless if you're drinking enough water, because the ketones your body sluffs off in your urine is too diluted. Most people don't even register on the sticks, so this is a BAD method to determine if you're in ketosis or not. You will know if you're ever out of ketosis, because you will FEEL different. Just like you felt different when you went into it.

Trust me, it takes way more than one bite to throw you out of ketosis! You're fine. Don't panic. If it were that easy to fall out of ketosis, no one would be on this diet. There's an amount of leeway, and everyone is different, but if you're 100% OP and you had a bite of a sweet pickle, you're totally fine and have nothing to worry about. It takes a pretty good pile of carbs to throw anyone out of ketosis, and I have yet to fall out... and I'm very very insulin resistant. Now don't go eating a piece of bread or anything...

Thanks all! It looks like I haven't kicked myself out of ketosis. I don't feel any different as leannekarella put it, but boy was I worried last night when I thought I fell off plan.

This morning was my first WI and my total weight loss for the 1st week is 7 lbs. YAY!

Great going!!!

Thanks for asking this. I had a nervous run in yesterday with canadian bacon but today I am still in ketosis.

A couple points -

Ketosis doesn't affect fat loss. If affects mood and appetite in some people, to various degrees.

Ketosis is not on of off. There are degrees of ketosis. I realize it's much easier for people's brains to think of it as a light switch but once you understand what "being in ketosis" means you then realize it makes no sense to even ask if you're in ketosis or not.

Keto stix are only useful if you like to light money on fire or feel the urge to play with your urine and need an excuse to do so.

Bottom line is you have nothing to do worry about, at all. Follow the plan and you'll do great. Along the way - I highly advise you to educate yourself because the IP diet does a horrific job in this area. Education, in my opinion, is the key to long term maintinence. Losing the weight is much easier (for most people) than keeping it off long term.

Can you elaborate on ketosis does not effect fat loss please? Also would love to hear your opininon on the whole cheating and getting yourself out of ketosis debate. There seems to be many opinions that if you knock yourself out of ketosis it could take up to three days of misery to get back into it. My coach tells me if I were to have a glass of wine (I have not yet, but inquired) that I should have a potato or rice with it and that I would probably back where I want to be (ketosis) in half a day.......

You gotta be kidding me....you were told to have potato or rice if you drink wine??? Don't do that!!! That is a bunch of malarkey and that person doesn't know what she is talking about!!

Truer words have never been spoken. Figures they'd come from you

How much fat you lose is not determined by ketosis, it is determined by the difference between the number of calories you are eating, and the number of calories your body needs to function (calorie deficit). Ketosis is a natural appetite suppressant, and also because we deplete our glycogen stores by getting into ketosis, our bodies don't have that to hit up for energy first so it goes for the fat.

IF you eat enough carbs to build up some glycogen (which is different for everyone), then yes it does take about 3 days for your body to go back to ketosis which means you have to go through the hunger, irritability, headaches, etc of the first few days again.

Your coach is WAY off base in telling you to eat a potato or rice. I would seriously question their logic in making that particular statement - you can't eat a potato or rice to "soak up" the wine you drank and completely dismiss the fact that in one fell swoop you will be just about doubling your carb intake for the whole day.

The notion that wine kicks you out of ketosis: WHERE is the scientific, peer-reviewed, evidence for that? From what I have seen so far, if you drink wine, you should not eat. That way your body metabolizes the wine and extra calories are not stored away. That's how I do it, moderately, by drinking one glass a day and counting the calories/carbs to my daily intake. But I do not follow the IP diet to the letter, my personal choice.

Ketosis is a starvation response that the body uses if there is no readily available energy source like carbs around. There is not much in scientific research around it seems that looks at what exactly - at the molecular level - happens in a human body in a ketogenic state. This may be due to the fact that this kind of eating was considered unhealthy for a long time. There is much more evidence using single cells (in vitro), but that may or may not be applicable to humans. It is important to note that calorie intake still counts. And your body can still generate carbs from protein sources, whether this is protein you eat (that's why you need to keep proteins down as well) or from muscle tissue.

Ketosis does seem to curb hunger. But real ketosis requires your body to change gene expression and to change the way your body generates energy. This takes much longer than three days - more like weeks - and those effects also don't magically disappear after eating three French fries or whatever no matter what your coach may say.

Cheating is a mindset. Some people may loose all control after eating a piece of chocolate and they may therefore better not do it when dieting. Other people have no problem going back to dieting. However, if one piece of chocolate throws you off, how will you maintain that weight loss in the end? This seems to be something coaching should focus on more. Because food control can be learned and trained and telling people they are complete failures if they cheat once, may not be the best way to encourage them. Knowing why you have cravings and how to keep them controlled (and maybe enjoy them in a controlled manner) is a much better way in my opinion. If you choose a very restrictive diet to loose weight, it makes sense to keep the cheating incidences to a minimum and to just go right back to the diet after this happens and prevent further discretions from happening.