What have I learned in 14 years?
Fourteen years ago I began coaching clients in how to achieve successful keto adaptation. This after I changed my own life in 2012 , losing weight and centimeters and getting off anti-depressant medication.
Some people have achieved positive life enhancing results during their 90 day course with me. Others have not, and sadly have taken steps back to their former habits and self-defeating lifestyle rituals.
What are some of the foundational elements that successful people have embraced to achieve successful keto adaptation?
5 Success tips from the real achievers
They know what they are consuming
Top achievers are diligent with tracking everything that they eat and drink. This is about taking back the power. It’s about being painfully honest about your relationship with food. We know that living an awesome life is about addressing the social, movement, sleep , relaxation and enjoyment factors of life and that diet is not everything. But it is the backbone to awesome health I believe.
They weigh and measure themselves regularly
Having a weekly hop onto the scale first thing in the morning after sitting on the toilet, as well as measuring the abdomen, lets us know how your body is responding to being deprived of the glucose energy that comes from consuming carbohydrates and sugar. A wise habit is to measure other parts of the body as well, such as the wrist, upper arm, bust, hips and upper thighs. Sometimes the scale will not show a change but a drop in centimeters around the abdomen or elsewhere on the body tells us that changes are happening. This is very motivating.
Using the scale and the tape measure gives important information about the effects that your food choices are having on your body. If weight loss stalls after a weekend, it could be due to that extra meal you had. If weight loss speeds up is it because you are skipping meals sometimes because of not being hungry? (Tip: This could be a good time to introduce intermittent fasting as a weight loss hack.)
They get stuck into keto theory
Successful keto adaptors embrace the learning side by listening to podcasts, watching YouTube teachings and reading books and articles by the thought leaders in this food revolution. They own their knowledge so that if they are challenged by someone who declares that “all that fat is going to give you high cholesterol and you will have a heart attack”, they will already understand how Professor Tim Noakes puts this into perspective in his powerful talk, The Dietary Lies around Heart Disease, and are able to sensibly defend their choices.
They do the difficult bits
No one is pretending that this process is easy and without challenges. Far from it. The successful people bravely face up to what they need to do in order to rescue their health and have a better life going forwards. Things like going without alcohol for a period, in somes cases forever. Or abandoning snacking habits. They have an unshakeable belief that the pain will be worth it.
They learn how to handle social settings
Social pressure in my opinion, is the biggest hurdle to overcome when changing from eating processed, high carbohydrate-based foods that are ubiquitous in Western culture. There is need to limit social events that are essential to our well-being as humans. However, successful people develop strategies to use when they are going to be eating and drinking away from home. They plan ahead. They know the difference and drawbacks between a floating canape reception and a bring-and-share get together with friends. Or a formal sit down event or a family meal where dessert is the norm. They always know what they are in for. Further more they are prepared. They know that they will excuse themselves from some of what is offered, by using kind words.