People are constantly asking me, “How to start keto?” So, I decided to do a series of blogs on answering just that question. It may surprise you to know that there is more than just cutting carbs that goes into it. It’s hard to know where to start. This is part 1 of a five part series on how to start keto.
The first part of starting keto is finding your motivation. When I was at my heaviest, I started looking at options. Keto was one of those options. I was interested, but when I read about it, I thought it was too drastic, too complicated, and too much of a change from what I was eating. How could I possibly give up carbs and sugar? It turns out that I just didn’t have the right motivation. My motivation at that time was to look better in my clothes and increase my confidence. I had started a job that was more physical, so I thought if I just ate the “right” foods and kept up my physicality, I’d be fine.
Why We Had to Learn How to Start Keto
The thing about a more physical job is that your body gets used to that level of exercise every day. While it helped me get in better shape and lose a little weight, it wasn’t long before I wasn’t losing anymore. Of course, I was still eating the fast food burgers, the pizza, and the Chinese food too. I thought it would be “nice” to lose weight, but I truly wasn’t motivated to do it.
Then Bill got sick and everything changed. He ended up in the emergency room and was told if he didn’t make significant changes, he was going to die. Wow. That opened our eyes. Our motivation went from “it would be nice” to lose weight to “we need to” do keto. If he wanted to see our daughter mature into adulthood and enjoy retirement with me, we had some changes to make.
This was our motivation and it was pretty drastic, but I think it needed to be in order for us to make the changes. I know part of it for me was being addicted to food, particularly sugar. I used food to cope with the bad days. We used food to celebrate the good days. I looked to food to give me that feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment.
When I knew I had to make the change, I went through a grieving process. It felt out of control. I even, for a brief moment, thought about letting Bill make this change on his own. But I could not do that. We are a team and we do things together. We support each other. If he was going keto, so was I.
Wrap Your Head Around It
Once I wrapped my head around doing keto, I changed the way I was thinking about things. Keto is really not so bad. You can eat butter, cheese, and bacon. You cook in olive oil. Really, as “diets” go, this is one of the best. You eat foods that have tons of flavour. Once I started realizing what I could eat and stopped focusing on what I was going to miss, I was more onboard.
Now, Bill and I were in a pretty extreme spot. Most people don’t need this “do it or die” ultimatum. But it is important to recognize what your motivations are and keep them close to you. You need to pull those out every time you are faced with a cupcake or a slice of pizza. In my experience, simply wanting to lose weight is not a good motivator. Our society has been telling us to lose weight our entire lives. You have to dig a little deeper.
How to Start Keto In Your Own Mind
What do you want to do if you lose weight that you don’t do now? How do you want to feel? Is there a health concern attached to your motivation? Do you just want to have more energy? How will you celebrate when you lose a certain amount of weight? Find your true motivation and write it down. Have it in your purse or your wallet so when you are tempted to go off-plan, you can remember why you are doing keto and make an informed decision of what you put into your body.
Wendy
