My Experience Of Quitting Keto After 8 Months

My Experience Of Quitting Keto After 8 Strict Months – Why I Quit The Low Carb Ketogenic Diet and how I maintained my weight loss results without gaining back what I’d lost.

For 8 months I stuck strictly to the low carb keto diet. And then, I made the decision to transition off of the diet after a (mostly) positive ketogenic diet experience.

I managed to do so without any negative side effects so I thought I’d put together this blog post sharing my experience of quitting a low carb diet like the keto, without suffering a weight loss plateau or too much weight gain. 

Don’t be hard on yourself – just because you’re thinking about quitting keto doesn’t make you a quitter. Your body may just be calling out for change. 

The diet is an incredibly restrictive way of eating, one which I have found to be unsustainable in the long term.

For me personally – if you’re happy and healthy on a long term keto diet and go for regular medical check ups to confirm this, then that’s amazing for you!

How Long Should You Be On A Keto Diet? 

This is a question I am often asked and I ended up seriously questioning towards the end of my Keto Diet experience.

After almost 8 months of feeling great on lower daily grams of carbs, the last couple of weeks found me drained of energy and craving something more, despite the regular intake of healthy fats. 

Research is a bit thin on the long term effects of the ketogenic diet, so I was weary about staying on the diet for too long. Keto dieters are quick to sell the diet as a long term, life long diet but I do believe that it’s best for a lot of people to follow for shorter periods.

If you’re considering following the diet for longer then absolutely consider doing so only under medical supervision (which you should be doing anyway on restrictive diets like the Keto Diet) and to address a serious medical condition. 

I had aimed to remain in a state of ketosis for 6 to 12 months. I landed on 8 months because I had an upcoming trip to Japan and wanted to be able to eat without issue while on a once in a lifetime trip.

Also, I had an imminent move from Australia to Ireland coming up and the stress just wasn’t helping the diet – so the plan was to pause the diet and pick back up on moving and getting settled with life in Ireland.  

How To Properly Come Off A Keto Diet

You may be thinking about quitting keto but are worried about putting the weight back on and getting back to all the negative habits you had before keto. Seriously, the fear of putting the weight back on and feeling awful is real! 

Quitting a strict keto diet requires a couple of slow steps to introduce more carbs into your diet – without putting all of the weight back on instantly. (It’s also probably best to do so under the supervision of a Doctor or health professional, to ensure you stay healthy through the process.) 

I started by introducing higher carb starchy vegetables like beetroot and sweet potatoes to increase my carbohydrate intake – not going straight for grains and sugars.

The good news is that just that small amount of increased carbs in the first week made a world of difference. I felt so much more myself and the added carb intake to my healthy diet brought back my energy which had been lost the past few weeks.   

Pick a meal a day to have a small side of carby vegetables and/or fruit and then build up little by little. Your protein intake should remain around the same and you can consider swapping almond milk and non dairy milks for dairy products such as whole milk that are naturally higher in net carbs and a great addition to your daily number of carbs.

It takes all the will powder in the world not to see coming off the keto diet as a free for all carb fest – you just need to be kind to yourself and take it one step at a time, while enjoying plenty of healthy food and trying to avoid any unhealthy old eating habits that may do harm to your long term weight loss goals. 

For example, when making a real food dessert like my Strawberry Cheesecake Mousse – allow yourself a cup full of strawberries, rather than a small keto handful. 

As boring as it sounds, moderation really is the key. Once you feel comfortable with where you are with carby fruits and veg, start small with introducing other carbs in a healthy and moderate level.

Your best bet is to experiment and to come to a type of diet and way of eating that is healthy and maintainable for life. 

I Quit Keto And Lost Weight

There’s a common thought that if you’re not losing weight on the keto diet, then you’re not being strict enough. Another school of thought is that you may not be losing a lot of weight because you’re not eating enough and your body is craving more carbs and an overall higher calorie intake. 

That’s what I found. On introducing the carby fruit and vegetables the additions actually helped me lose weight – without being on the keto diet any longer. 

I also made the decision to move to an intermittent fasting lifestyle. I experimented and found that eating between the hours of 8am and 4pm and fasting the remainder of the time helped me feel full through the day and not only maintain the weight I had lost on the Keto Diet, but also experience even more fat loss! 

You Can Always Go Back To It!

If you’ve moved through the Low-Carb Ketogenic Diet and experienced success then you could always go back to it again down the track when you feel like it.

Your Keto 2.0 experience could even be better than the first after having a proper break from the lifestyle. (And now that you’re used to a low carb high-fat diet you may even have less chance of suffering from the dreaded keto flu.)

Since quitting keto I have had a couple of successful month stints on keto, when I feel like I need it every couple of months or so, and then I just transition off it again, having enjoyed the benefits the diet has to offer, as well as all of the keto-friendly foods.

Overall, I find a Keto Diet weight loss journey to be helpful in short bursts and then moving to a wider, whole foods diet has had even more overall health benefits for me.

More Low-Carb Diet Inspiration

11 Easy Low Carb Comfort Food Recipes

25 High Protein Desserts

30 Mediterranean Low Carb Recipes

Disclaimer – this post is meant for informational post only and should not be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your health professional before making any dietary changes.

Disclosure – this post contains affiliate links.

Why I Quit Keto and What I’m Doing Now

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If you’re reading this post, you probably have no idea that I took a six month break from blogging. Most likely you are here because you found my pancake recipe on Google or my beef enchiladas through Pinterest and ventured over to my homepage, saw this headline, and were curious if I really quit keto. Well, let’s talk about that!

A little backstory

This blog was launched way back in 2017 when I was desperately trying to get healthy after my second child.

This was the time when I found out about the keto diet, long before it was “popular”. As a lifelong yo-yo dieter who drank SlimFasts in middle school, keto sounded like something I could make work long term.

As a Southerner, I found cooking for a ketogenic diet quite difficult. As I attempted to recreate my old favorite recipes into lower carb meals, I decided that maybe other people would want to try them too.

And just like that, Keto in Pearls was born. (The pearls part is a nod to my love of all things classic, traditional, and timeless, like a strand of pearls.)

Not long after starting keto, and losing about 50 pounds, I found out we were expecting our 3rd child. Did you know keto is helpful for fertility? I didn’t but I quickly learned. Ha!

My daughter was born, I maintained my keto diet, kept up with my blog, and even wrote a cookbook! Things were going really well and I loved this job, especially connecting with so many people through social media.

More than the diet, I just loved creating recipes that folks could feel confident feeding their loved ones. Serving one another, in love and through food, was my main goal with this blog. And, it was working.

Lo and behold, in 2019 I found myself pregnant with our fourth child! I told you, keto makes you fertile.

I was pretty stressed, tired, and overwhelmed during this pregnancy and decided counting macros wasn’t serving me well. We also moved during this pregnancy. And oh yeah, the Rona showed up. We all know how that ends. Er, well…time marched on and here we are today.

Labeling, dieting, and blogging

Obviously this blog and its recipes are centered around low carb lifestyles. Many people find it because they’re trying to learn about keto.

For a long time, I genuinely loved helping people learn how to start a keto diet and maintain it. 3 John 1:5 was what I lived by:

“Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.”

Around late 2018 or early 2019, keto blew up. There were keto products coming out left and right. Dare I say it had a cult following.

Like with most diets, keto became the quick fix for weight loss. Keto became a label and a buzzword instead of a means to healing.

“Oh, you’re keto“.

“You’re eating potatoes and carrots? That’s NOT keto. Ugh!”

“Honey is not good for you!”

I could keep going but I think you get the point.

Food fear and other bad ideologies

In the world of keto, natural God given foods like maple syrup, raw local honey, and vegetables became sinful. I can say this because at one time I thought the same way.

Now don’t misunderstand, I still think refined white sugar, food additives, and processed junk is terrible for us. Nor do I think keto is bad for you.

But a sweet potato with roasted carrots are hardly a recipe for stupendous weight gain and self sabotage.

I watched people I care about fear apples, blueberries, ancient grains, and honey. We were measuring darn broccoli! The absurdity is quite astounding, really.

It became abundantly clear that one food addiction had been traded for another and it’s name was keto. Instead of binging an entire birthday cake, we’ll just label that cake as evil and avoid it all costs, never minding the root cause of the binging of said cake.

None of it made sense to me anymore. Keto became an idol of sorts, for me and many others.

I stepped back from my keto world in summer 2021 to really survey the audience, ruminate on my beliefs, further my knowledge on nutrition, and pray about the direction God wanted me to go.

It became clear, my convictions surrounding nutrition no longer aligned with “keto values” and God was calling me somewhere else closer to Him.

Why did I quit keto?

Suffice it to say, I quit keto. While I still enjoy low carb foods, and making lower carb meals on occasion, my soul focus is not eliminating them from my daily diet any longer.

My focus shifted in a positive direction.

Instead of counting macros, I count the miles my food traveled to get to my home and what kind of footprint that left on the environment.

Instead of counting macros, I count overall number of ingredients.

Instead of counting macros, I count the various colors on our plates.

You see, dieting is not healthy. Restriction out of fear is not healthy. Being thin or skinny does not equate health.

Keto had become an idol of sorts, for me and many others. These are lies our enemy tells us so that we are distracted from Truth.

If not keto, then what?

To make a really long opinion short, whole, God given, natural, clean foods are always going to prevail a carb count.

I have zero plans to eat a strict keto diet. I don’t have high cholesterol, pre-diabetes, PCOS, or any medical condition that would align with needing to eat a keto diet.

For the better part of a year now, I have privately been going back to the basics. Going back to a time forgotten.

I have spent time learning how to shrink my food footprint. In other words, shortening the distance between where my food comes from and how it ends up on my table.

I’ve been learning how to grow my own food and how to support local farmers.

I’ve been unlearning how to cook without carbs. In other words, cooking really nutritious meals without worrying about the net carbs.

It’s been a really fun and eye opening experience. Almost like being color blind and seeing color for the first time except the color is fruits and vegetables.

If not keto, then what?

Going forward, I’m going to be sharing what I learn here. I’ll be sharing recipes that will look different but I’ll be sure to teach you why you shouldn’t be afraid to eat them!

Of course, I could keep cranking out keto recipes even though I am not living that lifestyle but that seems so disingenuous to me and I hold myself to a standard of authenticity.

My goal will be to educate you on our broken food system and how we can fix it at home. I hope I’ll inspire you to want to learn more about real food.

I’ll be sharing glimpses into our life. Did I mention we bought a 5 acre homestead in Tennessee?

Our small piece of Heaven I am affectionally calling “The Hunley Acre Woods”. (We have a Piglet obsessed child)

We left our Cincinnati country club and are bonafide country folk now! We’re getting chickens, a garden, and maybe even a cow!

We also have no idea what we’re doing and learning as we go on a wish and a prayer.