As Lao Tzu noted more than 1,500 years ago, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. And that one step can sometimes feel more like an enormous leap.
We already covered the basic starting points in a previous post. You’ve cleaned out your pantry, determined your new macros, and made changes to your grocery list. But if you’re still struggling to make it stick, here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way.
1. KNOW YOUR WHY
To paraphrase Simon Sinek, it’s important to know your why.
For me, it was getting rid of my migraines. For others, it might be a cancer diagnosis, an epileptic child or debilitating joint point.
For most, keto is just the quickest path to weight loss, but this is a feeble excuse. Why do you really want to lose weight? Do you want to live a longer and healthier, run around with the grandkids, stave-off heart disease, or simply look better in a bathing suit.
Those are all very different reasons to go keto, some more powerful than others. It’s important to always keep your why in mind. Write it on a post-it note. Stick it on your bathroom mirror. That will help you make the hard choices when things get tough, and not simply take the easy way out.
2. PICK THE RIGHT TIME TO START
There’s no question, making a significant lifestyle change will be stressful at first, and we all have a limited capacity for stress.
Big stresses and small stresses, they all add up at the end of the day. Running a business, raising a family, paying the bills, studying for exams — those are the big stresses, and non-optional for most of us. And then there’s the more transient stresses — a relationship break-up, a sick parent, a difficult boss. They all add to your stress cup, and sometimes, that cup can get very full.
Regardless of what’s going on in your life, it’s always good to be mindful of what you eat. Stick to whole foods, fill the plate with veggies, trim back on sweet treats, phase out high-carb meals whenever possible. But going full-blown keto is different. It requires planning, macro-counting and careful execution. And that can feel a little overwhelming, especially at first.
So be sure to pick a good time to start. Don’t add to your life’s stresses if your cup is already full. Don’t start right before a final exams, or right after a difficult divorce. You might want to wait until after that big trip around the world, or Christmas dinner with the in-laws. Once the dust settles, your stress cup will empty out, and you’ll be ready for the next challenge.
3. GET THE FAMILY ON BOARD
This is a very important tip, and one of the main reasons why people fall off the wagon. Until you’ve solidified your new eating habits, it’s very easy to get derailed by unsupportive friends or family.
I’ve been lucky in this department. My partner has always been very supportive of all my crazy ideas, and that has helped immensely.
But my family thought I was completely nuts at first, and subjected me to an endless supply of pizza, pasta and potato chips whenever I visited. Luckily, I’m very much internally driven, so this didn’t bother me. My health and sanity was at stake, and I wasn’t going to let my family sabotage my plans. I also didn’t have to see them every day, and that helped tremendously at first.
If you can get your family or partner on board, transitioning to keto will be a lot easier. Remember, everyone benefits from eating less gluten, more whole foods, veggies and healthy fats. I would argue there should be nothing more important than your family’s health.
However, they don’t have to eat exactly what you eat. You can eat a modified version of the family dinner. If they’re having spaghetti and meatballs, you might might have meatballs, zucchini and shirataki noodles. Steak and mashed potatoes might be streak and a cauliflower mash. Swap sushi for sashimi. Or just eat the toppings on pizza-night.
My partner does “soft” keto, so he does cheat on occasion, and has a much higher carb tolerance than me. He knows to avoid bringing “non-keto” foods into the house, hide them in places I can’t see then, or eat them when I’m not around.
At the very beginning, it’s also advised to try and limit family gatherings. There’s no worse peer pressure than being guilted into eating nonna’s lasagna or Aunt Thelma’s famous apple ginger cake. Do yourself a favour, and limit your exposure to family pressures.
This is especially important at the start of your journey. Once you’ve become keto-adapted and gotten used to your new routine, eating out and dining with friends will become a lot easier.
4. CONSIDER A SLOW TRANSITION
As noted in a previous post, I slowly transitioned into a ketogenic diet over the course of a few months, and found this to be the best option for me.
Many will argue that biting the bullet and going low-carb overnight is the fastest road to ketosis. In fact, many advocate a complete fast, in order to force your body into producing ketones. I tried quitting carbs cold-turkey in 1999, and only lasted a few weeks. However, everyone’s experience will be different.
If your starting point is a very high-carb diet, I recommend a more moderate approach. Eliminate the obvious high-sugar foods — sodas, fruit juices, sweets and candy. Try it for a week. Then get rid of the more carb-dense, high-gluten foods — pizza, pasta and bread. Swap for omelette pizzas, zucchini noodles or try your hand at baking low-carb seed bread. Trade your ham sandwich for a tuna salad at lunch time. Skip the caramel frappachinos, and try an Americano with a splash of heavy cream.
Take a small step every day, and try to make the new habits stick. Monitor what you eat, and slowly hone in your targeted macros. It might take a few months to get into ketosis, but the transition might be a lot less painful.
5. DON’T ADVERTISE
This is a controversial one, but might be helpful for some people. I recommend being discreet about your new diet, at least the beginning.
Although keto is a lot more understood than it used to be, there’s still a lot of misinformation out there. Many people still think it’s a crazy crash diet that will spike your cholesterol, and eventually lead to a horrible and painful death.
While I certainly don’t think you should live your life in the closet, I always prefer to tell people I don’t eat gluten, or have certain food allergies. That’s more widely accepted, and avoids any further discussion.
Losers have goals. Winners have systems.
Scott Adams
6. DON’T RELY ON WILLPOWER
The last point is probably the most important. Willpower is a myth. It doesn’t exist, so don’t go looking for it.
Don’t focus on the end goal. Focus on developing new habits and getting your systems in place.
That might mean buying the same groceries every week, having standard meals and snacks on rotation, and plugging your food into a calorie counter before you take that first bite.
Habit trumps discipline any day.