Before I started keto, I had no idea how much crap I was taking in. I would wake up in the morning, determined to give up sugar that day. The next thing I knew, I’d popped a cookie into my mouth. I didn’t even notice I was doing it. Then I felt like a failure, and I turned to food for comfort because, hey, I’d already screwed up that day. The next day would be the same thing. Maybe I needed a keto obsession?
Food Was My Original Obsession
When I look back at what I used to eat, I’m amazed that I wasn’t sick more than I was. Sometimes I would work on eating healthier foods (i.e. whole foods) but I was eating way too many of them. My portion sizes were fit for an athlete who was carb loading before a big event. But I was not an athlete in any way shape or form. Top all that with some stress that I thought junk food could fix and you had a very unhealthy, overweight, middle-aged woman.
So, when we started keto, it gave me awareness of what I was eating. I had to find different coping techniques for stress. It made me weigh out my food and recognize how much I was taking in compared to what I needed. Instead of food controlling me, I started controlling food and it was such an empowering feeling.
But Now It’s Keto Obsession
Imagine my surprise when I read an article about how keto can lead to eating disorders. A keto lifestyle usually means people are tracking their macronutrients (carbs, fats and proteins) and specifically counting carbs to ensure you stay under a certain amount each day. It means that you do take control over the food you eat. The website Mind Body Green Food talks about what happens when you take things to the extreme and eating keto becomes an obsession. This is called orthorexia.
There are 6 signs the website identifies as warning signs that you need to stop what you are doing (with keto or any other restrictive diet) and think about whether the benefits outweigh the physical and mental health risks.
Signs of a Keto Obsession
- You worry more about hitting your macros than you do about eating good, nutritious foods. Eat your veggies, people!
- You aren’t eating enough food so you hit your macros.
- Feeling anxious when you eat, especially in social settings.
- You are on a rollercoaster between binge eating and doing very strict keto.
- You are always thinking about keto and your next meal. Spending hours thinking about what you’re going to eat.
- Judging others for what they are eating.
If you identify with these signs, it is a good time to hit pause and figure out what is happening. Eating disorders of any kind are very dangerous and I would urge you to get help with a mental heath provider. When control over what you are eating no longer feels empowering but feels like an obsession, that is really scary. Take care of yourselves, keto peeps, and remember that keto is not a diet – it is a way of eating that you incorporate into your life in a healthy way.
Wendy
