(Part 2) 3 Main Reasons Why Revamping Your Way of Eating Can Be Daunting (At First)... (3-Part Post)

In my previous post, we talked about some of the social (ahem, let's call them "minor annoyances") pitfalls of switching to a Low-Carb way of eating.

Let's move down the list: The Mental Aspects of revamping your WOE (way of eating).

Truthfully, as someone who has spent many a night squaring off in the all-too-familiar battle of "Woman vs. Potato Chips", I came to understand very quickly: the most mentally pressing aspect of prioritizing your health, comes from our willfulness to "stick with" a seemingly challenging endeavor. Our internal drive, willpower, and determination all spark from the same place: our mind.

For this reason, the way we speak to ourselves plays a very important role in our success...and this goes for anything in life. It all starts in the mind, with our self-talk. How many times have you said to yourself, "I already know the outcome of this...", only to be besotted by negative thoughts? Then BOOM - the negative outcome, which you subconsciously or consciously ruminated on - ended up coming true. Your mind had already betrayed your motives. But this doesn't have to be the way... it's entirely possible to stop negative thoughts in their tracks, with a little mindfulness and recognition of thought patterns.

If I had quit my journey to LCHF after every time I came out feeling defeated against an empty bag of Lays, I would've never lost the weight, gained the mental clarity...and ultimately I wouldn't be here, writing this to encourage others. But I did do all of those things! And trust me - there were a LOT of hormonal breakdowns where I thought "Screw it!" and engaged in a tango with my favorite flavor of trans-fats-in-a-bag. However, it didn't stop me from recalculating my goals and firing up my willpower all over again until eventually... I didn't feel the "struggle" as much, while my body became fat-adapted.

See, the thing about willpower is: the more you actively practice it, the easier it becomes to embody that cyclical mentality which helps to create the change.

Manifesting is also huge. Self-affirmations are huge.

I actually wake up every single morning and listen to approximately 15-20 minutes of podcasts on positive affirmations, and sometimes repeat them out loud. Because there is no quicker way to make your neighbours think you're crazy, than to recite woo-woo things to yourself for the entire 14th floor to hear. It's simply THE WAY, and I will stand by my woo-woo ways until I depart this earth in all of my modern-hippie self-loving glory.

(Side note/totally unrelated: I live in Vancouver and I have this secret theory that everyone who lives here MUST be some form of inner-hippie, even if they don't say it out loud. We're one of the healthiest cities in the world, super green, blah blah blah. Basically, I'm tooting my own hippie-horn and saying: I've done some yoga in my lifetime, okay?) But back to the affirmations: If you're just starting out on this LCHF journey and need a little extra mental push, BE YOUR OWN CHAMPION! Try this for a week solid, and tell me how you feel after:

1. Wake up, and before you check your phone or do anything else, say to yourself (out loud, or in your head if you're shy) "I am awesome. I deserve to make my health a priority. I deserve to feel at peace with my body. I deserve to make the changes I want to make, to become healthier. I make good choices that benefit my health, body and mind." Tell yourself what you deserve.

2. Then, tell yourself what you value. For me, I say, "I value my body, and everything it does for me. I value my ability to know what my body needs. I value myself by fuelling my body with foods it needs (like healthy fats). I stay away from foods that don't serve me or my body."

It's amazing what the power of mental manifestation and verbal affirmations can do... said the keto hippie, as she dove head first into a Chicken and Avocado Caesar Salad smothered in high-fat dressing.

Essentially, physical change doesn't have to be a mental struggle. With practice, the right amounts of fats to feed that brain-box of yours, and the right positive mentality to begin with... you can accomplish A LOT. You know this because your entire building floor just listened to you say it out loud to yourself! ;-)

And hey, if I can have the willpower to walk by a convenience store with Ben & Jerry's IN PLAIN SIGHT, you can most definitely muster the gusto to kick your triggers too! And you can take that to the bank.

(This is the second article, in a 3-part article series.)