Such a mental game!

chirpinggalaxy

This way of eating is such a mental game, at least for me! I have spent my entire life hearing about the benefits of whole grains, fruits, and low fat foods. On the flip side, I've heard all the negativeness of animal fats, saturated fats, red meats, too much salt, and fatty meats.

I really started questioning things when I brought home a Great Dane puppy and researched proper nutrition for her. Time after time, meat is good and grains are bad came up. This led to more research and questions. I ended up buying grain free food for her, my other dog, and my cats. It wasn't long before I noticed results. They ate less food less often, yet were not hungry. They lost weight. My pup grew (and is still growing at 9 months old) quickly and without any issues. My other dog stopped smelling funny and constantly itching and licking. I spent quite a bit more money per bag of food, but they're eating half as much, so in reality I'm saving money by feeding my pets this way. Interesting. I did more research, but this time reading about this way of eating and humans. I thought I'd give Weight Watchers one more try at my highest weight and I dropped it after about a month and a half. All the while, I was researching Primal, Paleo, and finally Keto. I was losing weight achingly slowly, and was constantly hungry. It wasn't something I could sustain.

So here I am, on this keto journey, seeing results and feeling good. I'm not shaking when I get hungry any more. I haven't done that for a long time. From everything I've learned prior to getting my puppy, this shouldn't be the case! I should be eating grains and fat free/low fat for full health! I shouldn't be adding butter or salt to anything! I definitely shouldn't be eating full fat mayonnaise! Most doctors aren't even on board with this, and they're supposedly the smartest of the smart and know everything there is to know about the way human bodies work (the key word in this sentence is supposedly).

I've done the calorie cutting while eating grains. I feel lousy. I could hardly function with that kind of calorie deprivation. Yet, it should have brought me down to a normal weight. Truth be told, I shouldn't have ever reached my highest weight eating the way the government told me to eat. I struggled with every single ounce lost. Every time I've ever done Weight Watchers or other calorie counting, I've failed and didn't feel much guilt when I finally quit those diets and satiated my hunger.

I still find myself questioning the wisdom of adding butter to things. I still wonder if I should eat more grains, or grains at all. I don't, of course, but I think with many years of being brainwashed (for anything!) that's normal.

Like I said, it's a constant mental game for me. It is getting easier, however.

More than anything, I truly appreciate the support I find on MFP. You are all wonderful.

Sorry about the rambling thoughts. My mind is clearer, but getting it all down as fast as my mind is working is challenging. I don't type very quickly.

Fat2FitChick

I feel the same way!

missyyclaire

I'm with ya.

My theory is that it's all about insulin. Two of its main purposes are to lower the sugar in our blood and to help our bodies store (fat). If we eat a food that requires our bodies to produce insulin, our pancreas sends out insulin in our bloodstream to lower that sugar level. AND, for the 3 hours that the insulin is running around trying to help us, we cannot physically burn fat, it's impossible. In fact, our body is trying to store fat for a lean day, which never comes...and round and round it goes.

When we eat foods that don't trigger much of an insulin response, or none, then our bodies can look to fat for energy instead of storage. COOL!

Foods I avoid to stay in ketosis: grains, beans, sugars, fruits and for right now I'm almost dairy free as a personal experiment. I do eat butter, lots of it, but that's it for now. In fact, I had 2 1/2 lbs of grass fed butter in the past two weeks....and I still dropped 10 lbs. Fat, contrary to popular belief, does not make you fat if you're not triggering an insulin response. Instead, it's delcious and satisfying and filling. The reason I'm avoiding things like cheese and cream for now is I've had a suspicion that it slows or stalls my weight loss. A friend mentioned that dairy can be insulinogenic (is that a word?!!!) meaning it can trigger an insulin response. If that's the case, I'll avoid it for a while to see how my weight loss continues or not. Perhaps I'll do a week long experiment later to see what would happen if I added in low to no carb dairy products. For now, just butter.

Great post!

LauraDotts

I hear ya. I feel naughty every time I reach for the lard to cook my eggs in or fry up a load of bacon for a snack. Even though I've seen my lipid panel getting better and better and my triglycerides are fantastic, I still have this fear in the back of my mind that my cholesterol will be through the roof the next time. I know they won't but... I've been brainwashed for 40 years.

LauraDotts

I went dairy free for 6 months to see if dairy was affecting PCOS symptoms and to help keep down carb count. I've recently added back cheese, sour cream and heavy cream. As long as I keep to the high fat dairy I don't spike my blood glucose. Anything less fat than halfnhalf will raise my blood glucose. Unfortunately, along with adding back dairy, I've also gained back sinus drainage, so, I will probably have to cut it way back again.

Christie0428

I am probably more Paleo than Keto - although that maybe keto by default since I am trying to keep my carbs below 75... but I think its all (eating & weight loss) a mental game. I am a believer in the issues that grains cause, but I jsut heard of this documentary called "forks over knives" which says don't eat meat and touts a Vegan diet ... comparing the "fact" is confusing in itself ... never mind the tricks you mind can play on you to go back to eating the SAD!! Good luck!

rrsuthy

I struggle with this too. I've only been doing Keto for a few weeks (again). I just can't bring myself to purchase ground beef; I buy ground sirloin which is the 93% fat free, vs 80% with regular ground beef. It's ingrained in my head to choose the lower fat option. I struggle withy buying regular cheese instead of the lower fat kind. I think, for the first time ever, I bought regular cottage cheese and not the low fat kind the other day. I bought roast beef and turkey from the deli the other day - I find them to be good for snacks, but maybe I shouldn't be eating that. I find that I can't just eat regular bacon - I eat the precooked kind which is very, very thin and fairly low in calories.

Like you said, it's a huge mental game of unlearning everything we've been taught for years. I also find it difficult, because I achieved success on WW - I hit my goal and then ate my way through my divorce and gained it all back. I know a girl who lost all her weight just by switching to whole grains. So, I'm realizing that all of us are different and our bodies respond to things differently. I choose Keto, rather than WW, because I find MFP a lot easier to use than the WW tools, and of course MFP is free. I also find that my skin feels and looks better on Keto.