In my
But I also have to be real with you: Sometimes, you eat the pepperoni.
Recently, I was at a local spot and ordered an appetizer of deep-fried pepperoni. It’s a Halifax classic. I knew the meat was good quality, but I also knew, deep down, it was fried in the "bad" oil. I ate it anyway.
In the past, this moment would have destroyed me.
The "Old Chris"—the one who lost and regained 190 pounds—would have let that one appetizer trigger a catastrophic shame spiral. My internal monologue would have screamed: "Well, you blew it. You broke the rules. You failed. Since today is ruined, you might as well order the pizza and the beer and start again on Monday."
That mindset is the Perfection Trap. And it is far more dangerous to your health than a little bit of canola oil.
Here is how I handle falling off the wagon now, and why my "New Chris" response was simply to drink a glass of water and order a salad.
Part 1: The "All-or-Nothing" Fallacy
We tend to view our diets like a pane of glass. If we stay perfect, the glass is clear. But if we make one mistake—one cookie, one beer, one deep-fried appetizer—we feel like we’ve shattered the glass. And since it’s broken, we might as well stomp on the shards.
This is biologically nonsense.
Your metabolism is not a pane of glass; it’s a bank account.
Clean Keto, for me, is making massive, daily deposits into my health "account".
A Slip-Up is a small withdrawal.
If you spend $50 you didn't plan to, do you say, "Well, I’m broke now," and drain your entire savings account? No (well, hopefully not). You just stop spending and get back to your budget.
When I ate that pepperoni, I took a small "inflammatory withdrawal." It happened. But I had months of "anti-inflammatory deposits" in the bank. It didn't bankrupt me.
Part 2: Slip vs. Relapse (Know the Difference)
This distinction saved my sanity.
A Slip: This is a momentary lapse in judgment or a situational compromise. It’s eating the breading on the calamari because you’re hungry. It’s having a slice of birthday cake. It is a singular event.
A Relapse: This is a return to old behaviors. It’s when the slip turns into a weekend of bingeing, which turns into a week of "I'll start Monday," which turns into giving up.
A slip is a bruised knee. A relapse is cutting your own leg off because you bruised your knee.
My deep-fried pepperoni was a slip. It became a slip because I decided it was a slip. I didn't let it become a relapse.
Part 3: The 95/5 Rule (Realistic Compliance)
I am a Manager of Quality and Compliance. In my professional world, we know that 100% compliance, 100% of the time, is often impossible. Systems fail. Humans make errors.
If you aim for 100% perfection, you are fragile. The moment you hit 99%, you break.
I aim for 95% Compliance.
95% of the time: I am ruthless. I check labels. I fast for 22 hours. I eat clean.
5% of the time: Life happens. I’m traveling. I’m at a wedding. Or I just really wanted that pepperoni.
This 5% buffer isn't permission to eat junk every day. It’s permission to be human without quitting. It prevents the shame spiral because the "error" is already accounted for in the system.
Part 4: The "Next Right Thing" Protocol
So, you fell off. You ate the sugar. You drank the beer. What now?
Do not wait for Monday.
The "I'll start again Monday" mentality is a trap. It gives you permission to continue destroying your body for the next 48 hours.
My protocol for a slip is immediate:
Acknowledge it. "Okay, that wasn't clean. I feel a bit bloated/inflamed. That's the consequence."
No Guilt. Guilt is a stressor. Stress raises cortisol. Cortisol spikes insulin. Guilt literally makes the metabolic damage worse. Let it go.
Do the Next Right Thing. Not tomorrow. Right now.
When I finished that pepperoni, my "Next Right Thing" was ordering a massive water and a clean Cobb salad for my main course. I didn't spiral. I didn't "punish" myself with starvation the next day. I just immediately returned to my
The Takeaway
Resilience isn't about never falling down. It's about how fast you get back up.
The clean keto lifestyle is a guide for life, not a scantron test where one wrong answer gives you an 'F'. If you slip, don't burn the rulebook. Just turn the page and keep writing. You're still in the game.
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