The Joy of Eating vs. The Joy of Living

(Robin) #1

3 years ago I dipped my toes into Keto and now 2 years carnivore.
I no longer spend much time thinking about or anticipating my next meal. My fridge is stocked, I’ll figure it out.

Before keto, I would say I LOVE TO EAT!
I lived to eat. And giving up the foods I loved??!! Blasphemy!
Give up my joy?!

Well, define “joy”.

Now I eat to live. And live better… with more energy and zest for life. I find my JOY in moving without joint pain, sleeping better, thinking clearer… the list goes on and on. Do I miss my beloved Ice Cream? Sure, but was it worth the price of admission? Nope.

So here’s my answer to friends who say, “Oh I couldn’t give up my bread” (or whatever)… Hmmm… could you give up some weight, achy joints, health issues, lethargy?

And it doesn’t hurt that I’m saying that in my size 8 jeans and they knew me in my size 24. (But honestly, that’s just a bonus!)

What’s now your greatest joy?

(Denise) #2

What a good read Robin, and I’m with you. My greatest joy is feeling so good and ready to go in the mornings. I’ve lost all depression, and it used to come over by waves. I actually get excited about a morning routine I enjoy, so it’s east to get out of bed, mind you, it takes a few in this colder weather :wink: So nice to cuddle in, but I look forward to my routine like I said! :grinning: Denise

(Chuck) #3

I eat to keep my body fueled and healthy. My journey has taken me from eating only real food from our home grown farm, to my military service of eat a lot of processed carbs, to counting calories, to counting carbs, protein, and fat, and now I am back to eating real food from farms and wild animals. I enjoy what I eat, I enjoy the way I feel, and at 76 years old I enjoy the freedom of not counting calories, carbs or anything else. I eat when my body needs fuel, I am free to eat what I know is good for my body. I am free from prescription drugs, any and all types of apps to keep up with what I eat, I am not a slave to the almighty scales or BMI charts. My lab results are now normal and my blood pressure is well controlled by diet and activity. So yes I fully understand freedom again after so many years of being a slave to every one else and doctors and dieticians telling me what I should eat , how much to eat and what I should weigh, and to take this or that pill and thank you for for your money. Well my money goes for high quality food and not doctors bills and prescription drugs.

#4

Hard to say but if we consider the amount of joy, eating is pretty high :slight_smile: It’s one of my primal joy and I don’t do sacrifices there. It helps that even my tastes can change and they don’t do it to the extent I hear from others. I NEVER felt some old fav carbs tasting cardboard :stuck_out_tongue: But they may taste not so great or they may but I still lost interest.
But if I want to eat something, I eat it. It’s how I work but I always felt quite healthy and I am not among the ones who dislike healthy food so… Lucky I guess!
I do make efforts and have hardships and everything. I just don’t sacrificing joy of eating and I don’t think I feel much healthier than ever (I got benefits and it wouldn’t have ended well eventually if I haven’t changed my ways but I have no stories about health improvements). I don’t eat everything tasty I see but I don’t want everything tasty I see :wink: That wouldn’t be mentally or physically healthy at all.

Of course, health and feeling right is my top priority BUT I never had to choose. In general as sometimes I do get tempted into things that ends up me being feeling less than stellar. I just need some adjustments as there is no real conflict, I just go overboard sometimes. It’s not merely about joy, sometimes one gets triggered into things they don’t really enjoy and there is nothing to win but it’s still not trivial to avoid, not even as a hedonist.

And yep, if it’s just mere fleeting temptation without some good reason and I stop and wonder about possible consequences, I easily lose the temptation. So it’s good to be mindful. I need balance. Getting what I want, both food and health and convenience etc. wise. Usually all is in harmony but when it’s not the case, I should decide smartly. (I probably rarely do, there is a reason I train myself to desire the right things and not missing the wrong ones… :wink: I will do the right things mindlessly then, most of the time and my body can handle the remaining not so great eating.)

My greatest joy, it’s a nice question as I can wonder about great things and appreciate them… Nature and walking/cycling in it is definitely a very, very important one. Good music too. There are things where I don’t say they are among my greatest joyous things but I would be totally miserable without them (and I don’t think about drinking or breathing, just things not strictly necessary for survival but what I personally need). Okay, those are more like needs. I still can enjoy and appreciate them. But Nature is a need too, I can’t really live without walking in forests and looking at ponds… I think creating things is a need too especially artistically but everything can be done artistically, probably… :thinking:

(Doug) #5

Great post, Robin.

I still give in to temptation a lot, but it’s a comparative joy to know what’s going on, either way.

Energy for life - to a huge extent, we are what we do, and to be able to keep ‘doing’ goes to what we eat.

This year I burned up a big tree that I cut down last May. It was 42 inches or ~1.1 meters in diameter at the base.

Logs

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Tens and hundreds of thousands of years ago, people were staring into the fire…

(Robin) #6

Love the tree story and great last line.
Nice to ponder.

(Marianne) #7

That one still gets me. It is confounding - but I’m the crazy one. And as you say, this from people who’ve seen where I came from. Luckily I discovered keto/carnivore before diabetes, morbid obesity (idk, is 70 lbs. morbidly obese?), gallbladder surgery, immobility, heart issues, etc.

I love leaving the house and feeling good about myself, what I can wear and how I look. I’m not self conscious anymore about my appearance or feel ashamed about my size.

(Robin) #8

@OldDoug From a book I’m currently reading. Coincidence?

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(Geoffrey) #9

I guess my greatest joy would just be how I feel about everything being carnivore. I don’t just feel good, I feel healthy. I love that I can move again. I love that a can do something as simple as clipping my toe nails again. I love the new relationship I have with food and the freedom I have in eating it. While I can make food taste good it’s all about the nutrition these days and not the flavor.
So I guess I should say that my greatest joy is being able to enjoy life again.

(Chuck) #10

Healthy is the greatest joy anyone can have. I live in a community of mostly seniors and I see so many that aren’t Healthy and so many that are. It is like living in totally different worlds. I go to church on Sunday and hear about the onesin the hospital or been moved to a nursing home or the ones we lost to death. Theni hear the ones that are celebrating their ninety or older birthdays or the anniversaries of over 50 years some as many as 70 or 75 years. I hear the men and women talk about their golf days and like me the ones hiking or walking the many mountain trails. And yes a few are talking about doctors appointments but very few. Even with the younger families in this community the average age is 70 years old. I feel like a teenager sometimes at church service at the age of 76. What is come around here, the concept of eating only fresh real food, the message that processed foods are bad for us.

(icky) #11

I don’t know… I think I’m always going to struggle with this. I think I’m truly a carb addict and I “know” that Keto is the better way for me to eat but I still “feel” that I want to eat the way I used to.

I’m grateful that it’s healthier than eating carbs but I still find myself wishing I could eat whatever I want.

(Chuck) #12

It depends on what carbs I eat. My concepts as long as they are real food carbs I am OK. I just don’t eat processed carbs, meaning no bread, pancakes, waffles, but my biggest issues are wheat and table sugar.

(Denise) #13

I eat mostly for fuel to do the things I love doing, quality of life etc. I do like to cook all my own meals so I know what’s in everything, seasonings that are my faves, my own marinating tougher cuts of steak.

I don’t buy anything the would spike my BG, so it’s easy not to eat it. Oh yes, I’m a T2 Diabetic, A1c’s low in the safe zone within a couple months of starting Keto. Not about to lose that as I need no drugs for it.

Also have my regular weight back at 111 lbs.

(Robin) #14

I too am/was a carb addict and add booze and cigarettes to the list.
In my experience, being an addict and understanding that a HARD NO is non-negotiable. A little bit of carbs will make resisting even harder.

I’m trying to remember how long you’ve been keto now.

(KM) #15

At present my biggest joy is the sense that the less I do, the better off I am. The less complicated I make my meals. The fewer ingredients I buy. The less time I spend cooking or thinking about what I’m going to eat. How often do you get that inverse relationship between effort and positive outcome!

(Robin) #16

Agree 100%! I went grocery shopping today, and never left the perimeter. No list, no worries.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #17

I’m a carb addict, for sure, and I have found that the easiest way is to eat no carbohydrate at all. Makes temptation a lot easier to resist. :bacon::bacon:

(Geoffrey) #18

Exactly! That’s why I’m an abstainer and not a moderator.

(Carnivore for the win) #19

It’s great to hear everybody’s positive effects from this way of eating. Definitely worth the trade off.

Fortunately, I really enjoy the food I eat. Nothing boring about bacon wrapped prawns, bacon wrapped cheese, bacon wrapped bacon.

Thanks to taking control of my health with this way of eating, I’m grateful to be the type of person I have always admired. Healthy physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

(Robin) #20

Well, that is the happiest post ever! Good for you!