Easing up

Beloved informed me on our morning walk that we had been hitting the Ketogenic diet hard. It's why I've been having difficulties the way I have been.

So we're easing up. We're no longer fasting for 16 hours. We're going back to 12 hours and allowing some fruity sugars in as well as the carbs that come in the veggies.

Both Beloved and I have been waking up earlier and I forwarded the idea that it would be an ideal time to go for the morning walk before the kids have to be awake and we have to chase them around.

It would also be an ideal time to share a post-walk smoothie¹. That definitely worked to pep me up in the morning.

Despite the freedom to ease up, I've yet to feel really hungry after the smoothie and the broth we had this morning. When I do, I will boil two eggs and have them with hollandaise sauce, a little salt, and, if I feel like it, a babybel cheese.

I have to tell you that a Babybel cheese is my favourite snack when I'm feeling peckish, but not terribly peckish.

And sure, I miss chocolate. I miss doughnuts. I miss apple turnovers and pasties and all those tasty wheat byproducts I used to eat for the sheer joy of tasting them. BUT - I'm also not craving them. I feel like an addict who misses their fix after they've come off their addiction.

I want it, but I don't need it.

I'm still building up my strength after a month or more of watching Beloved procrastinate their way out of walking around the block for like a month or more. And throwing off the zoloft impersonator to see what happens next is probably not helping.

I feel like I need a coffee. There's a little head fog that's probably due to the aforementioned carb panic my body is doing, but I'm well awake and only a little bit pooped because I was not ready for the extended walk. I'm still heavy, above my ideal weight. But I'm getting closer and closer to that goal and not being miserable.

For the record, my newest, lowest weight is now 86.6 kilos. That's today. With a diet full of cream, butter, cheese, and fatty meats.

But next to zero carbs.²

I've switched to stevia, when I do have sweetened drinks. For the most part, I'm imbibing water. The fruit smoothie this morning is probably the most sugars I've had since I started. And that's with no extra sugar in it.

Fellow Ketogenic dieters - beware the "lo carb" and "no added sugar" labels. Stick to stuff you make if you're uncertain, and order your take-out with no bread or no rice or no potatoes. Or all of the above.

Yes, you will get some weird looks. Yes, you will have to repeat yourself quite a few times. And yes, you will probably have white-knight armchair dieticians telling you that you're going to die of a heart attack before you get to be a grandparent.

It's your choice whether you educate them or irritate them with your choice of flip responses.