A farewell to birthday cake

(Chris) #1

(I know that there are keto birthday cakes. I’m talking about their carby relatives.)

My daughter had a birthday party/slumber party on Saturday. Because she, at age 11, is a very talented chef, able to bake cakes, melt her own chocolates, voraciously reads cookbooks, it’s been…interesting being on keto during this time.

At her request, we ordered pizzas. Breaded mozzarella sticks. She and my wife baked an amazing cake. I had none of it. But what was amazing is that I wasn’t craving any of it. Times like this in the past were often a question of willpower, with a question being, “Am I going to give in the urge and eat all this stuff, or can I hold out a little longer?” This time the answer was an effortless “no”. The lack of struggle in the answer was liberating–maybe even something like Zen. This has never happened to me before, even when I was eating LCHF in the past. (I did eat a bunless burger with cheese.)

The next day I looked at the leftovers: a whole pizza, still about 2/3rds of the cake. And I realized that, in the past, there would’ve been zero leftovers because I would’ve eaten the whole pizza and cake myself. Instead of watching the scale, I may start looking at how much food I’m no longer wanting to eat: hundreds of grams of sugar and starch I don’t have to burden my poor body with.

I told my daughter that “I’m cutting down on sugar” and she understood. Later we’ll work on an almond-flour-cream-cheese crust pizza for fun…

At the moment, I’m feeling grateful that I have the opportunity to let my body heal. Thanks for reading!

#2

Yay! Good for you!

Such things took/take me a lot of time but it’s nice indeed to be free…

And people still will say that poor you, depriving you from great treats… And they can’t even imagine that nope, you don’t even want the unhealthy stuff the slightest. It’s not sacrifice. At some point it may be sacrifice to eat any of it…

That’s the best thing, wanting only your good food. Not “being able to eat anything”.
Nothing really happens if I go and eat 200g sugar from sweets. But it’s still better not to eat it and I almost never feel the pull either. I enjoy the hell out of my normal, good food and I feel the rightness after I ate.

(Robin) #3

I relate to your experience so well! Such freedom!

I will add one word of caution about eventually adding keto friendly cakes and other alternatives that mimic the original goodie.

I’ll start by saying many folks on here love to bake and use almond or coconut flour, etc and stay on keto and live happily ever after. I envy them.

I simply can’t do that. Eating something that resembles pizza or whatever, makes me want the real deal. Like, really WANT the real deal. And so there I am back to the days of having to fight my cravings. No thank you. So I don’t do the keto version of anything. I am an addict at heart. Temptation lives in the first bite. But that’s just me.

#4

It’s complex and each to their own. My keto sweets are simply real, good sweets to me and the sugary ones are the abominations and quite inferior ones.
It doesn’t mean I don’t try to skip them too (I had zero chance before carnivore though) as they aren’t proper, needed food… And they may bring their problems, it’s very individual. Individual as case, not just person, it may be a good, neutral or bad idea for me to eat some keto sweets at some point.

(Robin) #5

Good, neutral, or bad… you just described all of my life’s decisions. From food to husbands and beyond.

(Marianne) #6

This makes my heart sing. That was my experience from the get-go, too, and I just couldn’t get over it. Conventional dieting was torture, and it was just a matter of time before I had that “one bite” and gave in. I love the keto food we eat - never tire of it, in spite of not having the junk I used to consume. So happy for you.

My husband makes the most delicious keto pizza. For a large sheet pan, he uses like ten eggs and mixes that with shredded cheese and bakes until firm and golden (15 minutes?). That is the crust. He takes it out of the oven and spreads marinara over his portion but leaves half without sauce for me (I love the sauce but it can have a lot of carbs, so I avoid it). Sprinkle with oregano, add sliced pepperoni if you like and then top with more shredded cheese; bake until golden (about ten minutes?). Delicious.

(Marianne) #7

So true for many of us. I can eat my husband’s keto pizza, but there are other things that I just won’t go near because they are too close to my former binge foods - cakes, ice cream, fat bombs, keto desserts, etc. For special occasions, I would make my husband and I keto ice cream with HWC, eggs, vanilla and splenda. Delicious and allowed, but for me, that was walking a slippery slope. Decadent and tastes identical to the real thing. In addition to the above, I stay away from nuts and nut butters because I just love them too much and can easily binge on them.

Some people can do it no problem. You just have to determine if these things are a trigger for you or not. I find when people are eating tempting things or when I’m at a party, munching on several pieces of bacon are more than enough to satisfy me (I’ll bring that and cheese, pepperoni, etc., as a dish to pass when going to a party).

(Robin) #8

“Munching on several pieces of bacon are more than enough to satisfy me” Me too. All day, every day. Yes, please.

#9

And all that healing came to you because you decided to change and hold onto a healthy eating lifestyle. There are even more great benefits to come to you longer you hold plan and stay the course :slight_smile: Your work, your effort, your actions…all put into place by you to gain all the good changes that healthy eating gives!! Be grateful also that you decided you are worth it :slight_smile: Good post and happy you are doing well!

(Laura) #10

Good for you! I like that about keto too. I simply am not tempted by sweets anymore and that was my achilles heel. People will tell me that I have great willpower, and I tell them I have no willpower; I just don’t want that stuff anymore. The smell of icing or heavy sweets makes me feel ill now.

It is so liberating! Once I stopped wanting carby food, I realized that I am not an emotional eater or a bored eater or any of the labels I gave myself. I just can’t eat carbs or I will want to eat all the carbs.

(Robin) #11

Yes… a page right out of my own diary! Same and same.

(Tim Cee) #12 
  Dear John letter (to the birthday cake)

Farewell to birthday cake
I’ll have instead a birthday steak
A pound of bacon on the side
Is sure to lighten, boost my stride
With energy from ruminates wide
I celebrate my shrinking side
And when I’ve had the right amount
No need to whine or cry or pout.
I’m happy with my birthday steak.
Goodby good riddance
Birthday cake.

(Tracy Cooper) #13

Same here. I have struggled so much since my birthday in early October after having a workplace lunch with birthday cake then dinner out with my husband later that evening. It took me till this afternoon - after listening to old 2KD episodes - to find the resolve to get back in control and stop feeding my carb addiction. At this point in my journey in this WOL (5 months) I realize I cannot have the occasional sweet or starchy carb and I cannot do substitutes as that only makes me want the real thing. I do better just avoiding them entirely. I long for the day when none of it appeals to me anymore.

#14

For me, it’s easier to have none. This is how it is for me with pizza, sweets, or alcohol. Typically abstinence from these vices is not at the forefront, but infrequently something will trigger me. I got some keto treats from Costco and even though I was cognizant about how it was a bad idea, I did it anyway.

I’m not sure if there will ever be a day where it doesn’t seem appealing for me. The stranglehold is no longer, and there is freedom, but every once in a while I have to remind myself that the stove is hot by touching it. The consequences are a reminder to me that I am human.

#15

I can relate :slight_smile:
Keto didn’t bring this freedom to me but carnivore did :slight_smile:

Oh yes. I still think about food almost all the time but eating? I seem and feel a different person not on carbs!

Way more people should try this out… sigh But I couldn’t go this far right away either. And these mental changes didn’t happen without going very low. Still, many people should try low-carb at least…

I still don’t know how people do that (my record is maybe 60g but I doubt I ever met proper, tasty and if possible, not overly salty bacon) but the poem is good! :smiley: I enjoyed it. More than a birthday cake for sure. Most birthday cake. My imagination is good and I had even carnivore cake plans - I just never found any desire to eat cake or to bother with making one on carnivore… :smiley:

(Robin) #16

No willpower means exercising TOTAL willpower.

(Tim Cee) #17

Poetic license is the only way. :bacon: