Turns out there really is something to this ketogenic thing.
I started with the paleo/ancestral/ketogenic/whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it way of eating earlier this year in May. (I hate calling it a “diet” — makes it sound like some Jenny Craig weight loss bullshit.) It wasn’t easy going at first, what with the going-without-bread-thing and all. There were moments of weakness and outright feeling like hell, a product of the so-called “grain withdrawal.”
Gradually, though, it felt good. It felt good eating clean. It’s a contrast that only can be noticed after having experienced it first hand. (More on this below…)
For a while I was eating paleo only during the work week, so more or less about 80 percent of the time. I’ve gradually moved that to about 90 percent now. And I’ll only “downgrade” for the sake of convenience, really.
It’s not a matter of will power or forced dedication, like you would need if you were fucking bat-shit crazy enough to stick with the oft-ridiculed, but unfortunately very real, “cookie diet,” to use an example.
Here’s the point: By sticking with a ketogenic diet, it’s inevitable, in my opinion, that the transition becomes permanent. Why? Because you feel like hell when you fall off the wagon. Headache and lethargy, among other things, invariably accompany a bread/grain/sugar bender nowadays.
Case in point: Today I took my son to the local Starbucks for a hot chocolate (very un-paleo, I know.) In the interest of doing some holiday celebrating, I ordered up a Grande Peppermint Mocha for myself, something I haven’t had in about a year.
Drinking that Peppermint Mocha today made my stomach queasy in a way that wasn’t so celebratory after all. It tasted soooooo sweet — so ridiculously, overboard sweet — that it made me wonder how the good folks at Starbucks can straight-faced serve something like that up.
Then…I realized how much I used to love these things. Used to be I’d have no trouble knocking down one or more of those without any trouble.
(Side note: The Starbucks French Roast drip — black, no sugar — is still one of my all time favorites, however.)
With that in mind, it’s no wonder that diabetes is raging through this country. It’s easy to get used to drinking/eating all this sugar, and the more you eat the more you want. Problem is, you don’t really notice the effects until after you haven’t eaten grains and other processed foods (plus, for some, legumes and dairy as well) for a good chunk of time.
But the contrast is very noticeable…very noticeable.
And because the contrast becomes so stark after some time, you inevitably gravitate towards the cleaner foods: lean meats, eggs, veggies, fruit, nuts. It just feels better — and without the sensation that you’re missing something.
