Restoring my soul.

I was on an interesting journey this past week of trying a new way of eating, or so I thought.  What this journey turned out to be was a lesson on boundaries and how to set them.

A friend of mine who I love and trust with all my heart offered to let me try these supplements that are designed to help the body stay in or get into Ketosis.  Of course there is a rather strict eating regime attached to the plan as well.  When I was first offered I declined due to the expense of these things and I wasn’t really knowledgeable about it.

The second time round, I found myself saying yes because I didn’t want to offend and as I said I love this friend.  So for 4 days I tried the regime, I knew from the first morning that this was not for me, however I persisted, again out of a feeling of obligation. As well as not wanting to be a “quitter”.

The first day I ate only 400 calories because the timing of meals and the intermittent fasting didn’t allow there to be time for three meals.  Only 2 meals with very low carbs and high protein.  This continued days 2 and 3, day 4 I felt like shit, my skin was grey and I was lethargic and grumpy.  I had been warned this might happen, there is a name for it “the Keto flu”.  Just push through and rest, it will pass.  I couldn’t push through.

I had a follow up visit with my nutritionist to get some blood work results from the previous week and the results were not great.  When I told her I was trying Keto, she looked horrified at the thought ( I guess because I pretty much had zero levels of some minerals). She told me NO, and wrote me up a much more manageable, user friendly style eating plan that had flexibility around times I ate and what I ate.  There is no fancy marketable name for this eating plan however, it is just good old common sense.  As I have been pretty much processed sugar free for 2 years I had not problems with cutting that out.

She also told me that Keto is not a plan for life, it is recommended for certain patients (Diabetics and Obese) for short periods of time a month at most to stabilise the insulin production.

I have learned from this experience to not be scared to say no when my gut is telling me something won’t work for me and then to not fear the repercussions from those around me when I tell them no.  I can only control my feelings and I am not in control of other’s feelings.

Keto may be for other people but it is not for me.

Namaste