One of The Most Important Contributors to Success With Keto

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #1

Attitude

Whether it takes a few months or a few years, your ultimate success with keto depends on changing your attitude from obsession about what you gave up to satisfaction with what you gain.

If you’re new:
We all came to keto from years or decades of eating SAD. We all had fave foods we “couldn’t live without”. So we all know what it’s like not to eat some or all of those formerly fave foods. We didn’t forget what they tasted like or smelled like; or the good times with family and friends we associate with many of them. Some of us were literally food addicted to various stuff and as most who were will attest, addictions don’t go away any time soon. So that’s an ongoing struggle. If you feel lost at first, you’re not an exception or weirdo.

When you suddenly deduct 500-600 grams of carbs per day it’s natural to wonder what you’re going to eat to make up the difference. We all felt that way. We all stumbled at first. It took all of us weeks or months to get a sustainable eating plan. But we all managed. We’re all here. Along the way we all made mistakes, learned from them and carried on.

Unfortunately for many, the results of keto come slowly, whether one began keto to address fat loss or other serious health issues. For many of us there were a few days or weeks of physical discomfort. That passed, but many experienced other strange and sometimes scary things. For example, a stratospheric rise in total cholesterol. At this point, I suspect most of not all of us were wondering out loud if the critics were right after all and we were just committing slow suicide by carb deprivation and saturated fat.

If you stick with it, you will eventually reach a point where the benefits of keto become apparent whatever your initial motivation was. At that point, whether it be a few months down the road or a few years, you begin to appreciate that what you ‘gave up’ for keto was small and fleeting, a mere trifle compared to what you get back. Keto helps you trend towards normal metabolic health and well being and normal weight and fat composition. Eating keto keeps you healthy.

If you’ve been here a while:
Let the conversation commence! Agree? Disagree? Alternatives? Addenda? Suppositions?

Fell waaayyyyy off keto wagon, life update, gained 20 lb
Survey: Does Any Particular Carb Food(s) Challenge Your Resolve to Eat Keto?
My NSV yesterday
Keto as a lifestyle?
Keto as a lifestyle?
(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

I started my journey by getting scared to death about my sugar intake. The problem with being an addict is that it often takes a transformative moment in order to recognise and overcome addiction. I was fortunate to have some experience with Twelve-Step recovery, so I borrowed some ideas from those programmes to fight my sugar addiction.

I was scared enough to eliminate all sugar from my diet, beginning that very afternoon, but I made a conscious decision to keep the grains and not worry about them. But I began to feel so much better that going fully keto became more and more attractive, especially because I didn’t really enjoy any of the low-carb breads my supermarket carried. From there, it was easy to eliminate bread, pasta, rice, oatmeal, and the rest from my diet. But I doubt I would have been successful before that fateful day when Dr. Lustig’s lecture on fructose somehow managed to break through my denial.

For people who aren’t sugar/carbohydrate addicts, I suspect keto is very easy.

(Jack Bennett) #3

My problem has always been that I really like eating and I’m very good at it. I can have a good time at a 3-Michelin-star restaurant or a McDonald’s.

It’s hard for people who like to eat when the world pushes food on people through advertising and availability. It’s easy to eat 16 hours a day in our world. Even Old Navy sells soda and candy in their impulse purchase gauntlet of the checkout line.

I never got really obese, but I definitely put on a few too many pounds (20-40 say). And I was probably on track for insulin resistance, heart disease, and all the rest of it.

So I had to make a change. Not just a crash diet for a high school reunion or summer beach trip, but a permanent change.

(Edith) #4

I was one of those people who always exercised and ate “healthy.” When I hit my late forties, the weight started creeping up no matter how much I tried to diet. I resigned myself to being a chubby old lady like all the other women in my family.

When I started keto, I had a terrible time with the keto flu. I learned about electrolytes. Then I saw all the keto recipes for making delicious desserts and bread substitutes. Those caused me trouble in the long run because they were not nutritious enough. Not enough nutrients and high oxalate keto foods caused me to develop heart palpitations and what seemed to be food sensitivities.

I have to admit, I considered quitting several times especially because of the heart palpitations. Keeping electrolytes balanced has been tough. But, there were so many other benefits, I decided I had to keep tweaking things and get keto to work out.

I kept reading and researching and experimenting. I’ve been keto for over three years. My diet radically changed from trying to replace the carb things I was missing to trying a carnivore trial for the past two months, no carbs at all. Over time my desire for the substitutes went away. It took probably a good two years. But… I have to admit, when I see a cookie, I still have a hard time saying no to them. I wuv dem!

I now weigh what I weighed when I got married 30 years ago, although lean body mass to fat ratio is not quite the same, :laughing:. I’m 54 and a slooowwww loser. It’s taken me all this time to drop 14 pounds, but the other health benefits have been well worth it.

Keto has been a trial, but I will not go back (well, unless there’s a food shortage. I will eat what I can get. :crazy_face:)

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

I’d like to clarify what I said here. I refer specifically to: 1) various carb foods; 2) family and social situations around food; 3) excuses for so-called ‘cheat meals/days’; and, 4) rationalizations to eat more carbs. These things can seem huge and sometimes insurmountable at first and for some folks long term. But when your attitude changes you realize that they were not really so huge and insurmountable after all. And you learn how to deal with them.

I do not refer to the travails of many folks who came to keto to avoid ending up in some serious health situations, many life-threatening and even if not life-threatening then debilitating and/or crippling. Many of these folks faced real challenges before keto and adopting keto for a variety of reasons. I do not mean to diminish their efforts to heal themselves. To them I say “Congratulations KCKO!”

My bias is that I found keto easy peasy. I ‘gave up’ lots of fav carb foods and didn’t miss them a bit. Still don’t.

(Scott) #6

I lost weight having a steel determination to restrict calories and ramp up my exercise to an extreme level. But as I soon found out, that was not sustainable. I read some interesting things about keto and thought “I give it a shot”. The pain of restriction was gone and I felt great so I not only stayed with it but went carnivore. I have never found such a comfortable way to regulate my body weight and health. With this knowledge I can order a bun less burger that comes with a side of fries and not touch a single one. Make the rest of the table happy though. I just don’t think I have it in me to go back and eat carbs again. It is like I feel sick thinking about it.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

I find keto pretty easy, on the whole. But boy, oh boy, those carb cravings! I’m not looking for justifications, just acknowledging that it could be easier than it sometimes is. But diabetes is not something to fool around with. I’m attached to my fingers and toes, and would like to continue being attached to them, if you know what I mean.

(Fortunately, on the plus side, there’s all that bacon . . . :grin:)

(Bob M) #8

You are in the minority, as in the <<<<<< 1% minority. :wink:

I don’t have that much of a hard time wanting to eat things I used to eat (ate pasta every freaking day for decades, haven’t had other than a handful of times in the last 7 years), but there are times when it’s hard. I still will eat somewhat off plan Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, vacations (remember those?) etc., but then just get back on plan.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #9

That calls for a survey!

(Jack Bennett) #10

Habit seems to be a big part of this. Family members have asked me “but what do you do for bread?” They sound incredulous. I’ve just told them “I don’t know, I guess I just don’t eat it”.

Ordinary supermarket bread is very forgettable. That’s easy to give up. It’s a little harder to skip freshly baked bread at a restaurant or a bakery, but that’s part of the discipline.

#11

I agree with most of it.

What I find fantastic about the keto, or very low carb WOE is how much in control we are. I can eat, or not eat, so easily. Fasting has never reality been difficult for me, but I found difficult to stop eating once I started, with sweets. Now, I feel in control.

I love the food.

Unfortunately, I have problems, too, like cramps, for instance, but I know I’ll eventually find solutions. One thing is sure, I don’t want to stop very low carbing. I’m at 30g net carbs max per day to curb the cramp problem and I find it super easy to stay like this.

The biggest problem is fear. I’m still afraid of nitrites in the food. The day I overcome that… wow! Food that’s already delicious will just be… wow!

#12

My “problem” is more about working extra hours and finding it difficult to find something low carb when everyone around me is eating. It’s either not eat at all (easy option), or… no other option.

I’m not talking about restaurants. That’s easy. I’m talking about long work meetings going beyond expected timing and everybody begins attacking food at the table and there’s nothing low carb.

But I survive. Now I always take some pecan nuts and 86% chocolate, just in case.

#13

My stubborn attitude to find the right change to suit me and work long term.

I quit so many times ‘trying to find me’ in all this thru the years but low carb plan showed me the path to start and follow. It works but it never worked well enough for me. Then into extreme low carb, my eating worked for me, not against me so much better. Go lower into zero carb. BAM! I found the plan that gives me everything and doesn’t take anything from me.

Mindset change of full truth to myself. Carbs were my enemy point blank and I had to accept that but boy did I fight against that truth for me. Fought it like a dog, lol, didn’t accept it, denied it, pretended I could be a carb person but in the bitter end, once I owned who I was and what it would take for health success for me, I flipped to the other side and went from fighting ‘dieting’ in my life to getting very comfortable and easy peasy on my eating lifestyle plan.

Tough darn fight for me thru it all but I am here now :slight_smile:

#14

It sounds like you are saying that to succeed with keto you need to be at a point where the sacrifices you make are worth it or feel like they are. For me I think that only comes into play in the early part . In the long run though I do succeed only if I feel like I am making no sacrifices in my diet but am actually eating foods I love.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #15

Exactly!

(Marianne) #16

Perfectly stated!

And now, I finished reading the rest of it. Complete truth - love this.

(Robin) #17

Agree. As a reformed alcoholic, I recognize my old eating habits were an addiction. And I know without a doubt that NO must mean NO. If I were to “dip my toes” back into a lovely greasy bag of Original Lays potato chips, I would begin the descent back into “Love my addiction, hate my life”. I am not LUCKY to be without cravings. I don’t have cravings because I don’t push the boundaries. Ever. Not a nibble. I have so little will power that I must maintain total control, which leads to total willpower. I don’t need 12 steps. Just one: NO.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #18

Alas, but that doesn’t work for me. If I could say no, I never would have ended up weighing 300 pounds (136 kg). Telling myself “no” provokes addictive behaviour in rebellion, so I have to tell myself “not now” instead.

(Robin) #19

“Not now” is much kinder. I can’t imagine still battling active cravings for ANY of my addictions. That would make all of this SO much harder. I really am lucky, after all.

#20

If it’s not imposing, would you tell me what problems it has solved?