For most of us in human skin, we have our good days and our bad days doing this low-carb diet thing.

There are days that we belly laugh in the face of those fast-food french fries, empowered from our morning workout, endorphin-floating around like there’s not a carb on the planet we can’t resist.

And then, there are those other days. We’ll call them disasters for short.

You know the ones. The broken-coffee-pot-lost-car-keys-missed-deadline-flat-tire kind of days that lead straight to the nearest drive-thru window.

It’s tough to feel carb-invincible on those days. 

Personally, I think it’s OK to allow a little wiggle room for those inevitable moments in our lives when we’d just like to enjoy our favorite carbs. But when the occasional low-carb diet cheat day becomes a cheat month or turns into a cheat quarter, well that can be a sticky situation that’s more difficult to reset. 

HERE ARE SIX THINGS YOU SHOULD DO TO GET BACK ON TRACK ASAP:

1. Forgive Yourself

Don’t beat yourself up. No one is perfect.

Proper balance is key to being successful over the long haul in my opinion. If you had some yummy meals or treats on your cheat day, reflect on what you enjoyed. Maybe even journal about it. Then give yourself some credit for recognizing that it’s time to shift gears and get back to business. 

2. Identify Your Stressors

Planning for a low-carb diet cheat day is one thing. Succumbing to one (or more) is something else.

I know it’s another thing to add to the to-do list, but journaling can really help you hone in on the situations that make you most vulnerable to cravings. Are you bored? Lonely? Frustrated? Angry? Exhilarated? Exhausted?

That last one is my own personal challenge. When I’m tired and trying to burn the midnight oil, those snack gremlins start Rockette-dancing in my head for sure. I try to have sparkling water or hot tea nearby to help calm them down. What healthy, low-carb snacks can you have at the ready the next time your stressors show up?

3. Evict the Culprits

Now that we’ve identified the stressors, we need to do something about their accomplices. I’m talking about those trigger foods that you already know are your undoing. (For me, it’s Teddy Grahams and ginger snaps among others.) Don’t play around with them. Get them out of the house.

4. Get to Tracking

If you’ve never tracked your food before, I’m here to tell you it’s a game changer.

And there’s no better time to start tracking your daily food intake than when you push the reset button after a cheat day.

Keeping track of my food has helped me to immediately identify the reasons for plateaus and/or sudden weight gain. What I thought was 300 calories was really 600, and what I thought was one serving was actually three. Yeah, that will mess with the number on the scale if left unchecked for too long.

Your system doesn’t have to be fancy and you don’t have to commit to doing it forever, but man does it create some serious awareness if you give it your all for even one week. You can use a spiral notebook, a fancy journal, a Word or Google doc, a note-taking app or an app specifically designed for food tracking. Two of my personal favorites are My Fitness Pal and (especially if you’re following a keto diet plan) Carb Manager.

Tracking doesn’t have to be all about the food either. It’s the perfect place to capture those emotional or situational stressors I mentioned earlier.

5. Get to Moving

If you’re new to regular exercise or haven’t been down that path in a while, don’t feel like you have to train like an Olympian because you had a cheat day.

Start by picking an activity that you enjoy and can commit to for at least 15-30 minutes a day.

Go for a walk or jog. Ride a bike. Try yoga. Try strength-training with light to moderate dumbbells. Revive your favorite fitness app or walk the dog — whatever it takes to get your heart rate up. You’ll burn off some extra cheat day calories, get your metabolism going, increase your energy and stay encouraged to keep eating right because you’ll feel and see the results!

6. Water Up and Phone a Friend

If there’s one thing all the healthy-eating gurus across the globe tend to agree on, it’s drinking your water. (Here’s my personal bottled water fave.)

Water keeps you hydrated, helps with sore muscles, helps you feel fuller longer, helps to digest your food, flushes toxins and revs up your metabolism. And that’s just a partial list. I know you’ve heard it before, but seriously, water is a real rockstar. Make water your friend.

Speaking of friends, now’s a good time to call or text your bestie and set up a little accountability.

Share your goals with your friend and set up a weekly challenge to see who can walk more steps, drink more water or track more meals. It’s a fun way to stay focused and motivated. Team work can definitely make the dream work here.

Well, that’s it for now folks. I hope you found some motivation and encouragement on this page today. Now let’s get out there and get after it!

Which of these have you found most helpful in getting back on track after a cheat day? Have your own plan of attack that’s been especially helpful for you?

Chime in below with a comment! 🙂