Knocked out of ketosis last week after a cheat & now ravenous with hunger on day 3

Having had a few very small slip ups last week - namely a large steak & Tomato's with the salad, a piece of chocolate cake & 5 chocolate Brazil nuts on wednesday, I knocked myself out of ketosis & boy don't I know it!! I have suffered with starvation pains for most of last week, something I didn't experience 6 weeks ago when I started. Today I have really kept myself busy, I have literally scrubbed my whole house, ironed for 2 hours etc, but I kept getting so hungry along the way, and I've had my 4th shake about 2 hours ago.

I am so hungry I want to have another 1 but having had 4 - would a 5th cause me to delay going into ketosis that bit longer??

Yesterday, I was crawling the walls in the car & all I had was a bar so I ate it, but I'd already had my bar for that day - so I'm wondering if having 2 of them has already delayed it??

It's been hard & put me off having a cheat again - but because I'm so hungry all the time since I keep faltering. And all the work today has burned up whatever I had.

That is the downfall of this diet. Though it is surprising that you are being hit so hard this time. You go into ketosis when your glycogen stores are depleted, now when you started the diet you would have had a fairly full glycogen store and therefore it takes a few days to clear, however, when you cheat it takes you out of ketosis but depending what you have it shouldn't 'fill' your glycogen store so shouldn't take as long to get back into ketosis. Are you drinking enough water? This could be having an effect, or it could be the guilt! Alternatively, think about how hungry you get when you exercise, and I bet cleaning the house is harder work, it could be contributing to the hunger.

Saying that, you really need to avoid even the smallest of slip ups and it is good that you are having a hard time and it has put you off cheating again. I know from experience that you start having small cheats, you stay in ketosis and cheat some more, and while you aren't gaining you aren't losing either and it is a slippery slope.

PS, stick with it, you will feel better soon.