Have you been on Atkins, Keto, or some other low carb plan more than once?
If so, do you know WHY those previous diets didn't work?
To succeed, you have to be able to stick with the weight-loss plan you've chosen long-term. While many diets will carve off the pounds if you strictly follow their protocol, keeping the weight off is a much harder challenge to meet.
Finding a weight-loss plan that works is only part of your total weight-loss strategy. Sticking with it for the rest of your life is much harder.
Can you actually see yourself doing that?
If not, then you need to take a few minutes and reevaluate what you're doing and why. Perhaps, you need to adopt a new way of eating that will become a more permanent part of you.
This is especially true if Keto or Atkins are a huge change from how you used to eat.
Going cold-turkey, from the Standard American Diet (SAD) of 300 carbs per day to Atkins Induction or first-stage Keto at a mere 20-net carbs, can be a shock to both mind and body.
There's a ton of things you will have to unlearn.
To help you work through all of that, here are a few tips and strategies to help you make your current low-carb diet the very last one ever.
Your Weight is a Reflection of Your Eating Habits
People say this all the time, that your weight is a reflection of your eating habits, but do you really believe that?
Do you think that once the weight has come off, you will be able to return to how you used to eat when you were overweight?
If so, then you're not looking at low carb as a permanent way of life. For a diet to work, you have to be able to stay on it for the long term. If you go back to what you call “normal” eating, you'll go back to being overweight.
This is exactly what happened to me.
I thought I could maintain the weight I'd lost by eating intuitively.
While this initially worked well, I did maintain for awhile and even managed to carve off 40 pounds by slashing portion sizes a few years ago, when under the stress of moving from Utah to Texas, I allowed carb creep to ruin all of my hard work.
I stopped testing my blood sugar, so I didn't know that my insulin resistance was getting worse.
I just stuck my head in the sand and pretended I was okay because my blood sugar tested normal before switching states. I didn't take stress under consideration. And honestly, I didn't want to have to be low carb for the rest of my life.
I wanted to be my idea of normal.
I wanted to eat gluten free; not low-carb gluten-free.
Not counting carbs after we arrived in Texas and not testing my blood sugar enabled me to lie to myself.
I've been caught in a web of denial.
While I had a shock at Halloween when looking at family photos taken in a pumpkin field – in my head I don't feel as fat as I am – the shock of seeing myself that way wasn't enough to keep me on the path to slimness.
Instead, I just hid the truth from myself.
Going gluten free was hard. But going low-carb gluten-free is even harder. Just the thought of having to restrict myself even more causes a lot of mental stress and inner turmoil.
With my health issues, my life is strict enough without having to give up some of my favorite gluten-free foods. However, I find that I have circled back around to where I was when I was first diagnosed with pre-diabetes.
My choice, yet again?
Which is it going to be?
That's what the doctor asked my then-husband the first time.
Oddly enough, he made the choice for me. He didn't want to pay for diabetic supplies, so I returned to Atkins, and then switched to Sugar Busters when I was going through the divorce.
That dieting attempt shut down when I came down with vertigo. Not my fault. I couldn't cook for myself. But once I had taught myself how to walk again and returned to Atkins, I lost over 100 pounds before chucking it all and walking away.
I didn't understand how hormones like leptin drive a lot of our eating habits and I was tired of feeling deprived. I was tired of being the odd-duck. I was tired of being hungry all the time.
So I went rogue.
But what about you?
Have you looked at and analyzed why you quit your low-carb diet before?
The larger the change in your previous eating habits, the more likely it is that you're going to find an excuse to jump out of the wagon.
Maybe, not permanently, but enough to keep you from reaching your weight-loss goal.
For me, I got frightened when I realized how little I'd be able to eat to maintain 125 pounds. So I tried to stay at maintenance by just limiting portion sizes.
But healthy eating got away from me.
Lots of high-carb foods are gluten free. There's still homemade bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, cookies, and cake, but they eventually went from occasional treats to everyday.
To keep my blood glucose in line, I have to eliminate, or at least severely limit, most of these high-carb foods. This is going to require me to change my mental habits, as well as my food habits, so I don't feel deprived.
But I also need to find tasty substitutions for some of that.
To fill that need, I'm beginning to experiment with almond flour, something I couldn't do last time because I wasn't healed enough to be able to tolerate that much fiber.
With my blood sugar so high, I didn't have the option of using the Back Door Approach.
I had to go cold turkey.
And I had to do that right away, with my very next meal.
My choice, this time.
But now, it's been almost 11 weeks since I started eating 20 carbs per day, and my mind is trying to coax me into stepping over the line.
For example, chaffles can be made with gluten-free flour instead of almond flour. They will just cost me 16 carbs (8 each) instead of 3 for both. Fine if you're on Atkins 40 or maintenance where more carbs are allowed.
Once I bought that line of reasoning, it was even easier to give into making my gluten-free batter for chicken strips.
However, that batter came to 30 carbs per serving (¼ cup of gluten-free flour mix), which sent my blood glucose up into the danger zone a couple of hours after eating.
Half a serving might have been okay, just like the chaffles; but for now, I'm giving almond flour a second look since it's much lower in carbs.
I'm also really, really missing sweet Thai chili sauce that I used to mix into my plain white rice. The mind keeps trying to remind me of just how good that tastes. I need to try and find a recipe for that and convert it to low carb, so I can use it for a stir-fry sauce.
Small steps is the way to go if you want this to be your last ketogenic diet ever. To do that, pay attention to your thoughts, feelings, and urges because that's where you'll find the motivation to quit.
That's what you need to work on first.
I stopped testing my blood sugar, so I didn't know that my insulin resistance was getting worse.
I just stuck my head in the sand and pretended I was okay because my blood sugar tested normal before switching states. I didn't take stress under consideration. And honestly, I didn't want to have to be low carb for the rest of my life.
I wanted to be my idea of normal.
I wanted to eat gluten free; not low-carb gluten-free.
Not counting carbs after we arrived in Texas and not testing my blood sugar enabled me to lie to myself.
I've been caught in a web of denial.
While I had a shock at Halloween when looking at family photos taken in a pumpkin field – in my head I don't feel as fat as I am – the shock of seeing myself that way wasn't enough to keep me on the path to slimness.
Instead, I just hid the truth from myself.
Why Did You Quit Before?
Going gluten free was hard. But going low-carb gluten-free is even harder. Just the thought of having to restrict myself even more causes a lot of mental stress and inner turmoil.
With my health issues, my life is strict enough without having to give up some of my favorite gluten-free foods. However, I find that I have circled back around to where I was when I was first diagnosed with pre-diabetes.
My choice, yet again?
Atkins or diabetes
Which is it going to be?
That's what the doctor asked my then-husband the first time.
Oddly enough, he made the choice for me. He didn't want to pay for diabetic supplies, so I returned to Atkins, and then switched to Sugar Busters when I was going through the divorce.
That dieting attempt shut down when I came down with vertigo. Not my fault. I couldn't cook for myself. But once I had taught myself how to walk again and returned to Atkins, I lost over 100 pounds before chucking it all and walking away.
I didn't understand how hormones like leptin drive a lot of our eating habits and I was tired of feeling deprived. I was tired of being the odd-duck. I was tired of being hungry all the time.
So I went rogue.
But what about you?
Have you looked at and analyzed why you quit your low-carb diet before?
The larger the change in your previous eating habits, the more likely it is that you're going to find an excuse to jump out of the wagon.
Maybe, not permanently, but enough to keep you from reaching your weight-loss goal.
For me, I got frightened when I realized how little I'd be able to eat to maintain 125 pounds. So I tried to stay at maintenance by just limiting portion sizes.
But healthy eating got away from me.
Lots of high-carb foods are gluten free. There's still homemade bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, cookies, and cake, but they eventually went from occasional treats to everyday.
To keep my blood glucose in line, I have to eliminate, or at least severely limit, most of these high-carb foods. This is going to require me to change my mental habits, as well as my food habits, so I don't feel deprived.
But I also need to find tasty substitutions for some of that.
To fill that need, I'm beginning to experiment with almond flour, something I couldn't do last time because I wasn't healed enough to be able to tolerate that much fiber.
Work on One Food Habit at a Time
With my blood sugar so high, I didn't have the option of using the Back Door Approach.
I had to go cold turkey.
And I had to do that right away, with my very next meal.
My choice, this time.
But now, it's been almost 11 weeks since I started eating 20 carbs per day, and my mind is trying to coax me into stepping over the line.
For example, chaffles can be made with gluten-free flour instead of almond flour. They will just cost me 16 carbs (8 each) instead of 3 for both. Fine if you're on Atkins 40 or maintenance where more carbs are allowed.
Once I bought that line of reasoning, it was even easier to give into making my gluten-free batter for chicken strips.
However, that batter came to 30 carbs per serving (¼ cup of gluten-free flour mix), which sent my blood glucose up into the danger zone a couple of hours after eating.
Half a serving might have been okay, just like the chaffles; but for now, I'm giving almond flour a second look since it's much lower in carbs.
I'm also really, really missing sweet Thai chili sauce that I used to mix into my plain white rice. The mind keeps trying to remind me of just how good that tastes. I need to try and find a recipe for that and convert it to low carb, so I can use it for a stir-fry sauce.
Small steps is the way to go if you want this to be your last ketogenic diet ever. To do that, pay attention to your thoughts, feelings, and urges because that's where you'll find the motivation to quit.
That's what you need to work on first.
Knock out the urges to cheat or quit by paying attention to what your mind is using against you. Zero in on just one thing that you can incorporate into your current lifestyle before moving on to something else.
Most people think of low-carb food as what you eat when you're dieting, rather than what you continue to eat when you're not. People quit low carbing and return to their old favorite foods, leaving those delicious low-carb recipes behind.
I'm just as guilty of that as you probably are.
It was hubby continuously asking me to make hot poppers, even though we were not low carbing, that broke through my denial.
To nip those voices in the bud, you need to commit to making permanent changes – one at a time. Don't stop eating hot poppers or using crushed pork rinds in your meatloaf.
By permanent, I mean changes that you'll continue using even if you decide to take a diet break.
Don't settle for recipes and food ideas that are just okay.
Seek out recipes and food ideas that are so good you won't want to give them up.
Did you fall off the wagon during the pandemic?
Stress can raise my blood sugar by as much as 15 or 20 mg/dL, depending on the intensity. Maybe, even higher. That's a lot when looking at which foods are safe, which can be used occasionally, and which need to be held back for special occasions.
That's also high enough to interfere with weight loss, due to the rise in basal insulin, so don't let the challenges in your life talk you into bailing out of your low-carb diet just because weight loss has slowed down.
There's nothing wrong with moving to maintenance if you need to, but don't lie to yourself about what you're eating, and why. Take your new-found dietary changes with you, and it won't be as difficult to maintain all your hard work.
Be honest with yourself, but don't beat yourself up over past choices either. Yesterday no longer exists. What matters is what you do with your very next choice.
Most people think of low-carb food as what you eat when you're dieting, rather than what you continue to eat when you're not. People quit low carbing and return to their old favorite foods, leaving those delicious low-carb recipes behind.
I'm just as guilty of that as you probably are.
It was hubby continuously asking me to make hot poppers, even though we were not low carbing, that broke through my denial.
To nip those voices in the bud, you need to commit to making permanent changes – one at a time. Don't stop eating hot poppers or using crushed pork rinds in your meatloaf.
By permanent, I mean changes that you'll continue using even if you decide to take a diet break.
Don't settle for recipes and food ideas that are just okay.
Seek out recipes and food ideas that are so good you won't want to give them up.
Don't Forget: Stress Raises Blood Sugar
Did you fall off the wagon during the pandemic?
Stress can raise my blood sugar by as much as 15 or 20 mg/dL, depending on the intensity. Maybe, even higher. That's a lot when looking at which foods are safe, which can be used occasionally, and which need to be held back for special occasions.
That's also high enough to interfere with weight loss, due to the rise in basal insulin, so don't let the challenges in your life talk you into bailing out of your low-carb diet just because weight loss has slowed down.
There's nothing wrong with moving to maintenance if you need to, but don't lie to yourself about what you're eating, and why. Take your new-found dietary changes with you, and it won't be as difficult to maintain all your hard work.
What Caused You to go Off Plan?
Be honest with yourself, but don't beat yourself up over past choices either. Yesterday no longer exists. What matters is what you do with your very next choice.
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