LCHF / Keto & Mental Health?

francesca_grey

I had a therapist ask me to write a “parts play” once. I rolled my eyes about this exercise but looking back it helped me to discover all of the different personalities that resided in my brain and how each one of them took over to solve different kinds of problems. They were all different names and ages too. Although I had never thought about it before, I inherently knew who they all were, their backstories, how they got along with each other. I don’t have DID or any mental disorders, but I do think we are all on a spectrum and use coping skills to varying degrees. I legally changed my name too.

After years of inner work I’d say all of my parts are well integrated, but She-Ra is the main character in my play now. She is my favorite because she is so calm and has her *kitten* together, I feel very safe when she is on stage. Cats are pretty calm too, but playful. There’s a great documentary called Kedi about the cats that roam around Istanbul. The female cats in that movie were very clever and fun to watch.

Hopefully older Violet can agree to do some meal prep for you every week, there’s a great subreddit for this!

Violet_Flux

Thanks @chickencereal!

We appreciate reading about your own experiences, it helps us feel less wierd & stuff. That's really cool about She-Ra! And the whole parts-play thing, we haven't heard of that before but it sounds really neat!

Our T says that too about everyone being on a kinda spectrum and stuff. Like everyone has sorta 'parts' and stuff, what makes folks with DID different is just our parts are more separate and stuff - like memories and stuff, taking over the body & doing stuff and nobody else knows, & the amnesia & stuff like that.

I heard of that movie about the cats in Istanbul but haven't seen it. We have 4 cats here so we get lots of exposure watching them & all! They are all crazy little characters!

I'm sure older Violet will keep helping & stuff. (We also call her V1.... and there's a V2, who's teen Violet lol.) We do have some like, emergency frozen food, like chicken wings & stuff, but its not satisfying anymore - like real homemade is so much more yummy.

And I still wanna learn to cook better & stuff too - I made steak again tonight & managed to not burn myself this time lol! Still kinda overcooked it tho.

V1 should be back tomorrow tho cos its time to buy groceries & do up another roast & stuff.

francesca_grey

I’ve never had amnesia but there are definitely some very specific characters that come out suddenly in response to different stressors, moreso than the average population. I know it’s not the same but I can relate on some level. Your therapist sounds like a good one. I had one for years and now I’m doing fine on my own. Being fully accepted by a responsible adult was a new experience for me and helped me learn how to re-parent myself.

Back to the topic of the thread, I’ve had some not so great experiences (to put it *very* lightly) and all the other stuff that goes along with that plus some medical issues and I can say that over the long-term, keto/LC is one of my best tools for stabilizing my mental and physical health and keeping my weight/binging in check (which stabilizes my moods too). I’ve done a lot of research on this. There are times when I need the serotonin boost from carbs but as long as I keep returning to this state periodically it levels me out somehow. I hope it works for you in the same way.

Violet_Flux

Thanks @chickencereal,

Unfortunately we also have experience with the not-so-great aspects of all of this... DID is a traumagenic disorder, and many (most) people with DID also have PTSD. That's where most of our problems lie - not with being multiple, but with the flashbacks, trauma responses, etc associated with PTSD.

Lately we're experiencing the 'vivid dreams' that sometimes come with keto/low carb, which is unpleasant as we generally don't experience 'good' dreams... but we're working through it.

Its 2 weeks now since the 'big change' we mentioned a couple posts ago, and that's still working out, better than I expected. We know from experience that this WOE works best for our body, its the only thing we've found that feels good & healthy & also provides managable weight loss, so I'm very happy we're back at it again finally.

Yesterday we made up another big roast so there's leftovers to last at least till Wednesday, maybe Thursday. And this morning after our workout, we're going to try making something other than bacon & eggs for breakfast.

Violet_Flux

Lol so V1 tried to get me to make a stirfry for breakfast this morning. Like, that used to be a daily thing for us in the past, spicey pork stirfry for breakfast almost every day. I made it but... blah.

It wasn't yucky, but there's like way too much not-meat & like, I don't really wanna eat that stuff lol. I dont even know if its all safe to eat? I just picked out the pork and tried abit of the other stuff, but mostly i just got rid of the rest.

Theres one more porkchop, maybe i can do that with some eggs tomorrow.

francesca_grey

I understand, I experienced persistent capital T trauma too (I’ll just leave it at that), I don’t mean to minimize your experience by comparing it to mine. I’m sorry about the dreams. They come up so unexpectedly and knock my entire day out of alignment. It gets worse and it gets better but it does get better. I’ll put that subject to rest because boundaries and the internet, heh. *hugs* regardless.

Spicy pork stir fry sounds so good right now, thanks for the idea.

canadjineh

Nice to see your 'kitty-plan' is working.... keep it up

Violet_Flux

Thanks @canadjineh.

Our resident 'cat' isn't around today... but I'm happy to say her plan has been working perfectly. She's been eating keto for almost 4 weeks without any temptation or cheats.

Today we're going to have a planned cheat day & she made sure she wouldn't be around for it. I'm kind of embarassed about the whole 'feline' thing, but very impressed by how effective it's been.

baconslave

Violet_Flux wrote: »

Thanks @canadjineh.

Our resident 'cat' isn't around today... but I'm happy to say her plan has been working perfectly. She's been eating keto for almost 4 weeks without any temptation or cheats.

Today we're going to have a planned cheat day & she made sure she wouldn't be around for it. I'm kind of embarassed about the whole 'feline' thing, but very impressed by how effective it's been.

Whatever works.
So glad you are all doing so well!
Not sure why that hug won't line up properly. But it's cute so I had to use it.
Have a great day!

Violet_Flux

Thanks for the hug @baconslave! 😸

Their 'cheat day' yesterday went ok - lotsa carby food & snacks & stuff, but they didn't eat all the stuff they wanted. I dunno if our stomach got smaller or our body got like allergic to carbs or something after 4 weeks of keto? Whichever, there were tummy aches yesterday so about half the stuff they wanted to eat got ignored.

Still feeling kinda yucky this morning, but looking forward to being back on track again now! 😺

taylok23

I get stomach aches if I indulge in carbs @violet_flux so I know what you mean. I sometimes think that some carb treat I haven’t had in a long time sounds great so I indulge them wind up realizing that it wasn’t as good as I remembered and feel miserable afterwards!