With the holidays passing and the excitement of New Year resolutions coming, now is a great time to take a step back and talk about why someone may want to maintain a ketogenic lifestyle.
Everyone needs to find their “why” for anything they do. A strong “why” is what can keep you motivated and sticking to a goal when things get tough… or boring.
My Reasons for Keto Dieting
My own personal “why” for doing keto has shifted a lot over the years. Originally I only started keto as a way to lose weight, or more properly: to reduce body fat.
I was pretty surprised at the other effects that came along with the change to my diet. Turns out that drastically cutting the amount of sugar I was eating (in its many forms) reduced inflammation, lowered my blood pressure, made my Plantar Fasciitis go away, gave me energy to chase after children learning to ride a “ripstik,” made me stop snoring, and more.
We now recognize that eating a “proper human diet” gets all the junk out of the way and allows your miracle of a body to do what it’s designed to do: get healthy.
My Current “Why”
Right now my “why” has a lot to do with helping others on their journey. It’s remarkable to get stories from people that have embarked on their own personal keto journey and are using stuff that I helped make to keep them on track and successful.
Some people are doing keto with a friend or a loved one and like to share about their journey together. Other people are pretty alone in their journey and love having a community where they can share and receive encouragement and support. I’m especially happy to hear the experiences of people that have struggled to make keto work for them and are now motivating others and sharing their success.
Staying on the Wagon
I have to say that I also like to stick with keto because of how it makes me feel and the research that I’ve done. I don’t do “cheat days” because it’s a VERY slippery slope for me, personally. I’m a “1 is too many and 10 is not enough” kind of person that tends to go off the deep end if I slip. A little Christmas candy would quickly turn into a daylong “carb coma” and maybe even a month of effort to get back on track – but that’s just me (everyone is different)!
It comes back to the fact that I like the way I feel when doing a ketogenic diet and don’t want my holiday, or weekend, or whatever to be defined by needing to get back on track afterwards. If you find yourself off the wagon, the best advice I’ve ever heard is to “act like it never happened.”
Don’t let that slip-up define you, just move on like it never happened. And if you really need to reset, going back to the basics is a fantastic way to go. Cut out the treats, maybe simplify your menu to the things you KNOW work for you. For me, that’s mostly meat…and some Keto Chow!
