A Personalized Diet Plan, Switching Mindsets

I haven't done much of anything this past week, other than writing for Suite 101. 

Partly because the Meniere's is going bi-lateral on me and I'm having trouble adjusting to, and catching myself, when I fall to the left, rather than falling to the right. And partly because I'm finding it a real struggle to break free from a high-fat mindset in order to implement my personalized diet plan.

Finances are playing a role, since for all the work we went to advertising my husband's handyman business last month, nothing has materialized; even though our poster is sitting in the window of almost every business throughout the entire county. But I'd be lying if I said that was the issue. Because it's not. Changing mindsets. That's the issue. It's harder than I thought it would be.

After reading a recent comment from a few posts back, I came to the realization the other day that the Atkins Diet has firmly infiltrated itself into my life. My whole life. I've literally bonded with it. So much so, that despite the knowledge that I don't digest fats very well, and despite the fact that I've spent a lot of hours thinking about what type of healthy diet plan I'm going to go to next, my meals are still loaded with fat.


I began with the Atkins Diet. I always revert back to the Atkins Diet after each attempt at switching to something else. And I guess that's what happens. It becomes a part of you, because that's what you've done for so long. 

Alfredo sauce made with real, heavy cream. Lettuce salads loaded with homemade Thousand Island dressing. Sugar-free cheesecake. Chicken and tuna salad with lots of mayo. Deviled eggs. Homemade sugar-free hot cocoa with extra heavy cream. Bacon or sausage and eggs. It's just how you eat when you're doing Atkins. 

But I'm not supposed to be doing Atkins anymore; I'm supposed to be doing a personalized version of South Beach. I don't think my mind has completely wrapped itself around that idea yet, because all of my diet food ideas lately have been high fat still, and my body is not very happy about that. Another reason I've fallen so behind in my blogging as of late.

Despite the physical issues, I don't feel very inspired myself, so how can I inspire someone else?

It hit me this morning that it's a lot like tunnel vision. You begin a low carb diet, and if we enter it with the proper mindset, we start to make it the very foundation of our lives. We learn and follow the rules. We learn the current science that backs up whatever plan we're doing. We believe in it so strongly, we want to go out and revolutionize the world. But it doesn't take everyone to goal. It really doesn't. 

I'm beginning to understand that if I continue clinging to that foundation, long after it has run its course, I can do myself more harm than good. Yes, I can stay where I am, maintain my current weight, and stay relatively healthy now that I've quit my job, and have a gluten-free home. But it's stagnant. It doesn't help us fulfill our goals. It just blinds us to the truth, that if we're not moving forward, we're not growing. 


For some reason, I forgot what a few have tried to tell me over the years, that as we travel this path our body is going to change. Whether that means we now need fewer carbs, more carbs, less fat, or more fat, less calories, more calories, or even refeeds and carb cycling is individual. And really doesn't matter. What does matter is that we take the initiative to move.


It all comes down to respecting our body enough, and what it's trying to tell us to do, which isn't necessarily what everyone in the low carb community is saying and doing. What's okay for them, might not be okay for us. Just gotta accept that. It's not healthy for me to live my life in the bathroom, just because the biochemical science behind low carb in general says fat shouldn't be feared. 

Now...if I can just figure out HOW to do that--