Reached your goal on Keto? What now?

So you have been working so hard on yourself. Immersed yourself into a ketogenic lifestyle. You killed it! Now what?

You sit back and think, am I going to have to restrict carbohydrates forever? Will I ever be able to eat an Apple again?

The answer is yes! You can!

Now diving right back into eating those carbs may be scary. But let's face it, Carbohydrates, fruits and vegetable are so important for our health.

You may asking, how do I do this without gaining all my weight back?

Let me start by saying I am not a nutritionist, a doctor or a personal trainer. I can only share what worked for me. With anything always consult your doctor before starting or changing any eating you habit you employ.

So what exactly worked for me?

One thing to remember, not every person fits in the same peg. We are all different so my experiences may not work for all. This is just my take on it and I hope you find it informative.

After I lost over 100 pounds doing strict Keto, I almost straight away wanted to revert back to a balanced diet. So here's what I did.....

I kept tracking my macros! This will pivotal to my success. I also started going to the gym. I do understand some have limitations, but do what you can to get moving. Having a routine of working out is just as important as the foods we eat.

I started by slowly raising how many net carbs I allowed myself in a day.

On keto, I was at 20 net carbs a day. In my transition phase, I went up to 30 net carbs a day. I kept it there for a couple weeks, while working out regularly. Once I saw that I was maintaining, I started adding more net carbs to my carbs to my day. 30 net went to 35-40 net for a couple weeks and so on and so on.....

I kept up with working out, tracking everything and eventually found my sweet spot where I knew I could eat around 75-100 net carbs daily without gaining.

The key to knowing that sweet spot is tracking and exercising.

Do this slowly and intentionally. I found weight training to be the most effective for me. Again, I know everyone is different, so do what it is in your ability, but do it regularly.

Weight loss is a lifetime change. It is not fleeting and should be a total lifestyle change. We all want a healthy relationship with food.

I look at doing the ketogenic diet as a tool and nothing more. Just like surgery can be a tool. I see it the same way.

If you implement this into your life once you've hit your goal, you can then determine where your net carbs will be. All factors play into this, like how much you workout, Protein intake, calorie deficit, sleeping habits, stress. So be good to yourself. Take your time, track those macros and be proud of how far you've come!

I love you all for being part of MY journey and sharing it with you has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life. Sharing my recipes on my Tiktok has changed my entire path in life and I am so grateful.

Chef Erin