If you’ve seen the Lion King, I want you to hear this in Rafiki’s voice; ’tis time!
I’ve been firmly off of the keto wagon since September. It’s been real, it’s been fun – yet I find myself feeling a bit out of alignment lately in regards to my nutrition. This is a “flag” to me that I need to dial it in. My fellow emotional eaters out there, I see you and I’ve been with you. My relationship with food has improved and still is not quite where I’d like it to be. My physique has improved, and still has room to be better. Now more than ever, I could use the keto clarity – the lifting of the mind fog. I’ve been gearing up to get back into this. Here are my steps to making my shift back to keto;
Step 1: Mindset & Planning
Literally getting my head in the game. Setting goals. Developing the framework for what is to come. I’m talking timelines. Scheduled fasts. Reminding myself of the WHY – the things that will keep me committed when the going gets tough – we know it will! Planning out macros, setting up MyFitnessPal again.
Step 2: Destroy the Temptation
Yup. Gotta finish the leftover carbs in the house. As my dad would say, “I’m not Rockefeller” and I cannot waste this quality food. Polished off the last of the beef stew last night & the sushi rice has left the building.
Step 3: Day 1 – Begin
And this brings us to THIS very moment as I sit here writing. The seed has been planted with the planning, now it is a sprout! Brand new, fresh start. I’m beginning my morning with some Maple Cinnamon NOatmeal. I’m going to talk about something not-so-glorious that not everyone mentions when starting keto. It can shock the system – particularly the digestive system. The first time I transitioned, I was lacking in education and was a bit to “gung-ho” about starting. OHHH did I pay for it. After three days of constipation, I remember I was laying on my bathroom floor, calling one of my friends who was a nurse and asking her legitimately “Am I dying? Do I need to go get medical attention?” She asked me a few questions, laughed, and gave me some remedies. Here I am, older and wiser, and now I know that clean fiber NEEDS to be a part of my early phases of keto. This brings me back to the NOatmeal, which will be an early-phase essential for me to keep my system balanced and happy. My goal today is to keep calm & keto on.
What Kind of Keto?
In this early phase, I’m going to be doing what I classify as “Dirty/Easy Keto.” Everyone has their own definitions of these terms around styles of Keto, so here is how I will be using them in my own terms;
EASY Keto: I like to call it “easy” instead of what some call “lazy keto.” To me, there is nothing lazy about this! This definition implies that you don’t track every single thing, and instead just stick to the rough framework of <25 grams of net carbs a day. I’ll be trying to do some tracking in MFP, yet I make a LOT of homemade food and I rarely made the same exact thing twice, so tracking can be a real b**** when you have to enter every single ingredient.
DIRTY Keto: For me, this means things like dairy, monk fruit sweetener, artificial flavors, etc. can be used. NOW, I don’t mean eating a pile of burgers and cheese with extra grease. I’ll be staying under a caloric limit, which is healthy and safe based on my age, activity level, all that jazz. 2,200/day is going to be my limit here. Ya girl spends a lot of time in the hot room.
CLEAN Keto: This is something for me to look forward to down the road, I’d say about week 5. Using only strictly clean items like coconut oil, ghee, eliminating dairy for periods of time (I am a cheese addict), more cruciferous veggies, lean protein. I also try to go organic as much as possible.
The stage is set, and it is time to start the show! I’ll keep you posted along the way, and I’ll share a recipe or two 😉 Have a magical day my friends.
AJ Butler Wellness 