Staying low carb in a high carb world

[Subtle_badger]

I have had great success with going low carb, and sad to say I think my greatest ally in this has been coronavirus. I started December 2019, on what I first thought was going to be a diet (as in something I do for awhile and then stop) and allowed myself to break my own rules at social events. So, over those first few months while I was strict at home, I broke my diet when I was socialising. Toward the end of the February, I tried my first low carb restaurant meal. It was a success, but might become boring if I tried it too often.

healthunlocked.com/lchf-die...

Then there was lockdown. No cooking except my own, and no judgements about what I ordered out, because I was typically on my own then, too. So I have just eaten low carb. And now I literally do not regard carby food as food, and sugary food looks more like a poison to me. The bright wrappers no longer fool me, I see the death and illness lurking beneath the surface.

This really struck me yesterday, when I found myself for the first time in over a year in a typical (if generously provisioned) break room. When I took this photo, I had been up for 12 hours and working without a break for 10 1/2 hours. I was fatigued and probably a little hungry, because the day hadn't gone as I had planned, I hadn't had anything to eat or drink except 2 black instant coffees and a small bottle of water. I took a photo of the spread, for sharing, and it didn't even cross my mind to eat any of it. I didn't think of it as food at all. On my way home, I popped into a supermarket and picked up some snacking chorizo!

But today I am reflecting on how I would have managed if I had to see this every day. I think I am immune now to the pleasures of processed food (we shall see) but could I have resisted the siren call of all that sugar when flagging at the end of a long day, or after a disagreement with a coworker? 🤔

I guess my message to others is to take the silver lining of the very black cloud that has hovered over us for so long. Being able to keep temptations away has enabled me to change my habits in a way that may have been impossible any other way except maybe institutionalizing myself. If you are in similar circumstances, you might be able to do the same for yourself, create a lasting change, and be one of the happy minority that leaves lockdown for good healthier than they went in.

Another important aspect is community, and this group has been an important part of my success that. A safe place where I can share my success and admit my failures, and not get told - as is generally the case in places I visit - that I am doing it wrong, and avoiding carbs is bad for me or stupid or whatever.

I value this community, and hope that I am allowed to continue to be an active member.

🤗

[MikePollard]

good post, and I agree with your stance regarding the nonsense that's appeared over the last week or two (and being ramped up!)

[sunny369]

Honestly, it looks like you popped round to my workplace That is just so typical!

I wish I could hand on heart say I never crave some of that stuff now but sometimes I do fancy it, especially if I am having a difficult day at work or am very tired, but I find it a lot easier to resist it since I have been low carb for a good while now. I make sure I always have a snack with me at work, such as cheese and olives or some nuts, I can turn to at moments of crisis

[Subtle_badger in reply to sunny369]

Exactly. I have no idea if it would stay resistible. If it does, I will let you know. I have spent 10 months in purdah. If the world rights itself and I stay away from carbs, I will write a book on my experience.

[sunny369 in reply to Subtle_badger]

It is certainly interesting, since some people have found lock down really difficult on the food front, but for you it has been a beneficial silver lining I suppose it might be about being in control, I find it much easier to control my eating on my days off when I am in my own home so I suspect I would have found the same. It is a bit like the way I can enjoy a fast day at home, but have never mastered the art of a fast day at work One thing I am sure of, I would have munched my way through the whole working-through-the-pandemic- crisis on all that rubbish in the staff room and more, if I had not been on low carb!!

[Subtle_badger in reply to sunny369]

🖤

[SewMore]

I agree that the lockdown has had the silver lining to allow some of us to avoid social carbs... be it breakrooms, birthday cakes or drinks. I wonder how I will manage back in the real world 🤔 I’m so glad you could ignore the “food”, it’s great to know that we can build that habit. I too value the LCHF experiences shared on this forum and hope it can continue.

[Subtle_badger in reply to SewMore]

Thank you.

We will have to develop strategies in the future. I may revert to my early fasting trick of always carrying a chunk of cheese and a few olives, for snack attacks.

[Pink4eva]

Hi Subtle_badger , thank you for posting. Although I have lost quite a bit of weight, I still have 2 st to go. Unfortunately I am still struggling to avoid most of the items in the picture. I just wanted you to know that, this and other posts you have made are very encouraging. I know LCHF is the best way for me to continue to loose weight and then keep it off. Thank you for taking the time to share and encourage others.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Pink4eva]

Thank you Pink 💗

You will get there. Just let your body guide you.

The best thing with all these snacks is to get rid of them. If you can't, it's much harder.

I had been known to head up to the shops to by a packet of Walker's Sweet Chilli Crisps, but that walk is enough to stop me. I doubt I could do the same if there was a packet in the cupboard.

[Pink4eva in reply to Subtle_badger]

Unfortunately ,the two other people I live with indulge in all the foods I am trying to give up. I know I can do it, a lot of the time I am too lazy, or tired if I’ve been at work, to cook or make a proper meal. I also miss going to the gym, hopefully it won’t be too long before things start to open up again😊

[PandQs]

Unfortunately even a photo of a tub of Roses is a trigger for me at the moment - take it away!!

[Subtle_badger in reply to PandQs]

Oh, I am sorry. I am looking at it now, and wondering why I didn't have one. I wonder it was somewhere I go everyday, I would still be resisting? 🤔

[PandQs in reply to Subtle_badger]

Where you where, and similar places, it is probably an ongoing problem created by a grateful and well meaning public trying to show their appreciation.

[Subtle_badger in reply to PandQs]

I was at a medical centre not a hospital, so probably not. I think it was actually bought by the NHS to keep everyone going. 1000 vaccinations takes a lot of calories.

Now I am thinking, what would I provide? Pick&mix cheese,snacking chorizo, fruit. It's difficult. Many cultures there. What would be a healthy, individually wrapped affordable vegan snack that anyone could eat? I am drawing a blank Facebook keeps offering me ads for new vegan snacks but they are both very expensive, and often not very good - eg ZenB bars.

[PandQs in reply to Subtle_badger]

Aldi sell rectangular packets of mixed nuts and seeds at the checkouts. I keep plenty of them handy, easy to carry around in your pocket or handbag and portion controlled too. I especially like the chilli lime nuts one.

[Subtle_badger in reply to PandQs]

Oh, no, I am fine. I was wondering what I would do if tasked with stocking up on snacks for the crew. I fear I might end up buying much the same.

[Ianc2]

Nuts and fruit and celery. Chewing gum even.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Ianc2]

Um? Are they your go-to snacks? I am mostly avoiding fruit, but with you on the nuts. Celery has a great crunch, and goes well in the place of crackers and chips.

Which gum do you favour? I obviously wouldn't eat a sugared gum, and have had an unpleasant experience with sorbitol, so I am not using gum at all, at the moment.

[Subtle_badger]

NEVER REPLY TO MY POSTS.

[Subtle_badger]

You are not contributing. You are prodding me so you can try again to get me banned.

I don't understand why you hate me so much.

[TwiggyL]

Well said! In situations like that I always think about not what I lose but what I gain!

[Subtle_badger in reply to TwiggyL]

Thank you. I live alone, so haven't been hugged since 28 Feb 2020. Someone shook my hand 2 weeks ago. It was a shock!

What I am trying to say is it's not all upside. It mostly isn't. But there are good things amongst the bad, indeed there might be more good things with a little effort. We need to put in that effort.

[Porridgelover]

I have just done the same. I realised that I had gained a stone over lockdown and once Christmas (the one day of it) was over I could not face another chocolate and thought this was a good chance to try the low carb healthy fat plan. I read the Awful Toad's book and low 3 weeks later I am 9lbs lighter and feeling great!

[Subtle_badger in reply to Porridgelover]

That's an amazing result, and just tagging TheAwfulToad to make sure he sees it.

Keep it up.

How are you managing as a porridge lover 🤯?

[Porridgelover in reply to Subtle_badger]

Oh don't lol. I love my porridge but I would love a healthy weight /BMI even more. I've tried and tried to eat "healthy" and lose weight but I've have always been railroaded by carbs. I'm a carb addict. Bread, pasta, rice have always figured in my diet. I have tried the LCHF diet before but hadn't really crasped how to do it properly so stopped after a few weeks. I deliberately ate every fatty thing I could which was totally far too much and wondered why I stopped losing weight. Anyway as I mentioned being in lockdown made me realise I could use this time to get healthy and emerge whenever lockdown ends as a new woman! I started reading the Health Unlocked site and saw the Awful Toads booklet, read it and it made perfect sense to me. So here I am 9lbs lighter and very much in the zone. Fingers crossed.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Porridgelover]

There are recipes out there for keto porridge,though I haven't tried them as cooked porridge was never my thing.

I used to love overnight oats, and I find that mixing around 60g of berries, a tablespoon each of chia and flax seeds and about 100g of yogurt makes a pretty good substitute. It doesn't have the same texture nor quite the same taste, but it happily fills the niche in my diet left by the oats.

[Porridgelover in reply to Subtle_badger]

Oh yes of course I've heard of overnight porridge but forgot! I will certainly give it a go but not just yet I am looking forward to that day a bit further down the line. I have a way to go weight wise and I'm not craving anything at the moment - well maybe a glass of wine lol but I can wait a bit longer for that.

[Sheperdess]

Your photo is a great reminder of why it can be so difficult for us to stick to our plan when trying to improve our lives. I’ve been one of the lucky 🍀 ones and have lost 57 pounds since starting last January. Finding out about low carb on this site and changing my meals from February made a huge difference to how easy it was to lose the weight without hunger and how enjoyable was/is the food. I think we are still wedded to the idea of food as a reward so these kind of ‘thank yous’ and ‘keep you going’ ‘treats’ will be around for a while until we as a society change our mindset 😔Pass me the cheese 🧀 please 😂😂😂

[Shield-Maiden]

I know I am late to comment...but I just wanted to say "Brilliant Post!!SB"

And, a huge well done, it's not an easy journey at times, but one hugely worth taking; and you have proven that....eloquently written.

Thank you for sharing.

Shield 🛡