[Bride2Be310]

...and how do you know if you have?

Last night I was obliged to a very important career changing dinner. and where do they decide to go? Italian!! I was very good and avoided the delicious breads but I couldn't help myself to the cold cuts.

I ordered a salad but it came mixed with a bit of cheese, I took off as much as I could though. Dressing is just OO and lemon so i was very good in that case. Ate only 2pcs of grilled calamari but the worst part...*hangs head in disgust* I was "peer pressured" to indulge in dessert - so I chose the lightest one, which was pan cotta and I stopped myself from eating it all. Small portion, maybe a cup of it and I hate 3/4 of it...but still

My question is - would this cause me to exit out of my mild ketosis? As of my last test on Thursday, I was there...and how can I kick it back into gear if I have?

[Maile]

Just jump right back on to Phase 1 and it should come back. Also you might try not eating a restricted item today to keep the carbs down.
You can ask for the salad without cheese.
Eating socially is very hard. People certainly pressure you.
I am going to a dinner party next Sat where the entire meal is a specially ordered paella seafood rice dish. I figure I will pick out the seafood and mash the rice around.

[Bride2Be310]

I'm still in Phase 1 so my plan today is to have the Vanilla drink for dinner w/ veggies and salad.
Again I have to go out with the same visitor for lunch and I will have salad and chicken....I wasn't aware they were going to put cheese on my salad.

It is very difficult! Especially for work!

Good luck to you, stay strong!

[MJKinMN]

I dont know about other's but I just had a MAJOR flub-up this weekend. It started with not eating on a regular basis on Saturday (which always keeps me in check if I eat) and having a MAJOR craving for BBQ, and the restaurant being out of what I had intended on ordering. Long story short, I ate a beef brisket sandwich with BBQ sauce, fries with ranch dressing, and had pie and ice cream for dessert.
With that being said, I had been on the program for 5 weeks without a single cheat. Like most people on this program, week 5 was not being kind to me and the scale wasnt dropping at all. (Probably had something to do with my moment of weakness and giving into the cheat). I countered the cheat with 2 day's of ready made shakes, salad with lemon and EVOO and ready made shake for lunch, and salad and fish for dinner. The result: 2.3 # loss on the scale this morning. I have read on the posts here that if the scale isnt moving for a few weeks that perhaps a cheat may be in order to confuse your body and get the fat burning again....I have also read that those who increase their intake of fish vs, any other meat for dinner also have better results at the end of the week. Bottom line for you: Dont beat yourself up over it!!!! WE ARE ALL HUMAN! Just counter the dinner and dessert with light meals for the next couple of days and I'm sure you will be fine!

[showgirlaz]

I feel for you! Italian and Chinese were my two most difficult experiences.

It depends on the person what it takes to pull you out of ketosis. That seems to be determined by your sensitivity to carbs and how long you have been in ketosis.

Realize that a 1/2 cup of panna cotta may have 20 to 30 carbs depending on how it is made. Cheese if it is good quality and/or a hard cheese may have 0 carbs or for other grades I have seen as high as 7 carbs per ounce. Cold Cuts can also vary in carb count from 0 to 4carbs per slice which can be anywhere up to 2 ounces in a slice.

Here is the thing, outside of the panna cotta, having a piece or two of calamari probably wouldn't mess you up (many people don't have the control for just 2 pieces though), the cold cuts won't mess you up, and more than likely the cheese won't mess you up. It can slow you down.

All you can do is keep moving forward and figure out the best way to manage it for next time. Immediately go back to a phase 1 or at worst phase 2 day. Keep that day simple and to plan and you should be fine. Drink plenty of water to flush the added sodium you may have had from the foods yesterday.

If it is ever possible, I find it helpful to either know or choose the restaurant we eat at AND, before getting there, either review the menu or call the restaurant to confirm what they have, go over my food "intolerance" issues, and then see what they can do to help me out.

I used that technique for my birthday, a surprise to a great restaurant, and the manager actually had a special salad prepared which was waiting for me when I arrived at our reservation time. They even specially marinated the meat I ordered to avoid the added sugar and didn't pre-butter the veggies but drizzled with a bit of olive oil. I ordered, and what came to the table was "perfect" My date and I were both comfortable and happy.

Also, when I ordered out, I learned to automatically ask certain questions.
Does this have [cheese, croutons, carrots, tomatoes, green peppers, dairy (milk/butter), grains/wheat/gluten/breading] of any kind?

From there I could make adjustments to have things on the side, grilled or sauteed (the peppers), or removed totally.

I only ran into one issue with that process and it was when a server didn't realize a rue was used to coat the chicken pieces before they were sauteed and didn't know a rue was made with flour. OH WELL!

Good luck to you on the next meal and don't stress over yesterday.

[Bride2Be310]

MJ - thanks so much for your optimistic story! I'm glad to see a happy result for you!

showgirlaz - That was a very detailed response and I appreciate that so much. I definitely feel better about eating those meats then - the cheese was a higher grade parmiagno if I remembered right - the menu was mostly in Italian and I guess I overlooked it. I will ask those question from now on and made adjustments if need be.

PHEW - I was as good as I could be until the very end lol You're right, we are human afterall.
I felt very guilty so I forced myself to get up for bootcamp to work those extra calories off!