willpower – Here's What I Think…

Are Cravings & A Snacking Habit Getting the better of You? Part 1

“I do well all day and then at night I go off the rails!”
“The children’s snacks are my weakness”
“I do well all week and then weekends I just can’t seem to stick to the plan.”
“I need a snack after dinner when we’re watching TV.”
“I get hungry mid-morning and need a snack.”
“At about 4pm I need a little pick-me-upper.”
“I say I’ll just eat 2 cookies and I end up eating the entire pack.”
“If it wasn’t for this sweet tooth I know I could lose some weight.”

Could any of the above statements been made by you? Are any of the above impacting your quality of life? Put differently, are you struggling to lose weight? Are cravings getting the better of you? If not, great! You don’t have to read any further unless you’re simply curious or unless you know someone who is struggling to lose weight and for whom cravings seem to always get the better of and you want to understand what’s going on better. But if you’re like very many of us, trying to lose weight, trying to unshackle yourself from the lure of cravings that you know are unhealthy, read on!

10 Tips for Staying Keto in a Non-Keto Household

One of the members of our Caribbean Keto Tribe reached out to the group with this question: “How do you stay on track with keto when there are people in the house who eat carbs?” It’s a very valid question. When you’re trying to change the way you’ve eaten all your life, and those same (delicious) carbs are all around you, the task can seem daunting. It becomes trickier when you’re the one that prepares most of the meals too, right? You figure that if you lived alone or if everyone else was doing keto, you could easily make a salad with grilled chicken or some cauliflower rice and curried goat and keto on. But the presence of bread in the house, that ice cream in the freezer, that box of breakfast cereal in the cupboard, the crispy snacks that you buy for the kids and the mac and cheese you’re making to go with dinner test your best resolve.

NOTE: This post was first written when I was 1.5 years into my own keto journey. I’ve since updated it and changed it from “8 tips” to “10 tips” based on my experience 6.5 years later!

How I Changed 5 Habits in order to Lose Weight on the Keto Diet

I’ve been on the keto diet for over a year and a half now. If I had a dollar for every time someone remarked to me “Wow! You have so much willpower!” I wouldn’t need to sell another low-carb bread or quiche! I don’t think that willpower has been the critical success factor for me on this journey. I have simply created some new habits that have now become my default position, the way I simply live today. I have discovered that so much of what we eat, how much we eat and when we eat, is not driven by our physiology or some biological need to survive. We do these things largely out of habit! That’s how we’ve always eaten. We always eat breakfast! Right? As I coach people in their own weight loss journeys, I’ve become interested in this whole subject of “habit” and “addiction” and change. People can and do change their habits. Sure, it takes some effort, but understanding exactly how habits work can help you target your efforts and make them count. Yes you can!

Don’t Sabotage Your Keto Journey by Too Many Changes All at Once.

When most of us decide to embark on (yet another) weight loss program, we attack Day 1 of The Change with gusto! “I’m going keto! I’m going to lose weight and my life will change!” We go to the gym, we pack our salad for lunch, we come home energised and eat air pie and breeze pudding (ok maybe we eat another salad) and feel great! “I’m gonna do this (this time)!” we shout to all who’ll listen. Day 2 is a repeat of Day 1. Yippee! Day 5: Let’s skip the gym today. I’ve been good all week. And I’m totally going to have a slice of cheesecake today. Let’s call it a cheat day plus I’m sooo worth it. Two months later the scale hasn’t budged, your friends and family are gently teasing you about the grand announcements you made about turning your life around with weight loss and deep down you feel like a miserable failure even if you never say it aloud, and your self-esteem takes a battering. You’ve failed. Again. You’ll be fat forever. You’re weak. You’re greedy. You’re not disciplined enough. You lack willpower. Those are the LIES seeking to condemn you to an unhappy state. Continue reading Don’t Sabotage Your Keto Journey by Too Many Changes All at Once.