Weird "settling in" period, old habits haven't caught up yet

(Cindy) #1

Yesterday I realized I’m not having to think quite so much about what I’m going to eat or NOT going to eat. :wink: Went out to dinner, had fajitas (steak, onions, peppers) with the guac and sour cream. Ignored the chips, tortillas, etc. Had UNsweet tea (gasp!) and it was fine.

So last night (and some today), I keep feeling guilty about what I ate. I also had a mini-meal of salami and cheese, maybe 10-15 blueberries (those suckers were sour). So why the guilt?

I think that part of me has always tallied my food choices (usually in the context of CICO), so eating guac and sour cream, salami and cheese…I just finished out the day feeling like it was “wrong.” Had to keep telling myself that in ketoland, it was perfectly ok.

I also don’t have the daily or weekly weigh-in to reassure myself that I’m doing it right. I DO love that someone is making my t-shirts longer (and bigger) when I’m not looking. LOL

I’m rambling. :wink: I’m tired, feel like I’m starting to get a sore throat, and just kind of want a day or two to do…nothing. My mom is doing better after a crazy 3 days, so still trying to de-stress from that.

(Laurie) #2

Yes, there are a lot of adjustments to make, and some take longer than others. It’s fun to look back and remember what used to seem weird or difficult–or impossible.

Good luck with the de-stress.

#3

rewiring the brain is something most of us have had to deal with, eating this way did make me feel guilty in the beginning but now no fat just seems wrong!

(Scott) #4

That was the most difficult part after being told fat was bad for so long. Now it’s good, damn where you been all my life!

(Cindy) #5

I even had “bad weight” dreams last night. LOL As in, dreaming that I wasn’t losing weight (or ever going to), because eating bacon as a snack still feels so wrong.

#6

I feel like a guilty fat eating pig, that has gorged every meal I have had all year. Only a few days from the time last year I stopped sugar and then 2 months later found keto, down 60 lbs about 12 more to go.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #7

I love that you mention a positive even when things have you down today. Hang in there and rest!

(Cindy) #8

I hope I can lose 60 lbs in a year! That’s really awesome!

(Cindy) #9

I try! :wink: I feel like it doesn’t really serve any purpose to be completely frumpy. LOL But then, it also helps to vent here, so I try to find some kind of balance.

(Robert C) #10

I think the guilty feeling you might have should be in the context of your goals.

For example - do I feel guilty for not running 7 miles this morning?
Certainly not, I am not even a runner, I don’t run daily.
But, if I was training for a marathon and my coach said today was a 7 mile day - I’d feel very guilty about sleeping in instead.

If your goal was to have good blood numbers - all of the especially good tasting items you mentioned you ate are likely going to help you (especially importantly - skipping the chips).

If your goal was to lose 5 pounds in the next 6 months - maybe the same foods will help as you’ll become bored with them (and feel satiety earlier) in the next couple of months and so will naturally start to see a small monthly reduction on the scale. This would be a natural subtle keto progression.

If your goal is to lose more than a pound a week (60 pounds in a year) using keto - then, you might feel some guilt.

Starting up the keto machinery so that you can burn fat on your plate about as easily as fat from your body is a chore. Once you get it going - it can be sometimes difficult to keep it going (i.e. everyone wants pizza, vacations, you accidentally slow your metabolism eating too little, etc.). The point is that, it is a valuable investment that allows for body fat loss. Trying to lose over a pound a week (likely) means that you need to ensure there are few enough items on your plate a few times a week that your body will turn to local fat stores.

Of course, every person is different, but eating to satiety for you with these kinds of foods might allow for little body fat burning. (Eating to satiety more bland foods might help as satiety might come sooner.)

I think that if you pick your goal and measure against it reasonably - you’ll rid yourself of guilt by seeing the progress (or at least start to realize that you need to change your plan or your goals).

(I wrote “reasonably” to avoid the weight loss linearity trap - loosing 10 pounds over 4 months - if you are near your goal weight - is much more likely to be 4,3,2,1 than it is to be 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5).

(Cindy) #11

Robert, I hear what you’re saying. :slight_smile: When I started this, my goals were both vague and precise. The precise goal was to keep eating according to the KOE until March 1st. Even within that, though, I’m allowing myself some leeway because I intend to keep going after March 1st. The leeway was allowing more “off plan” options around Thanksgiving and I’ll probably do it again on Tuesday. Those don’t make me feel guilty because it’s actually reassuring to me to be able to do that and then get right back to KOE.

The more vague goal was to lose “some” weight. Since I don’t weigh, I can’t really say it needs to be 1 lb/week, etc. The other vague goal was to “feel better.” Not so stiff and creaky in the morning, etc.

At this point, I know I’ve lost some weight because clothes are looser and I’m wearing pants that I quit wearing earlier this year. I’m out of bed in the morning without feeling like I’m the Tin Man needing oil in my joints, so that’s improved, too.

I have to be careful with tracking and eating just toward weight loss. I could probably easily fast too much (I’m already OMAD almost every day) and just try to drop weight as quickly as possible. Not the best plan or mental state, especially for long-term maintenance.

I am tentatively planning to weigh in January. Debating a once/week weigh in so that I can try to tweak what I’m doing a bit more.