This email came in the other day from Jane (not her real name) and is a very typical story of those trying to start out on keto but simply can’t break that sugar addiction:
What is noteworthy is Jane’s initial weight-loss, some 7 lbs (3kg) in only 9 days! This is EXACTLY what I would expect to see from someone hitting that ketosis “sweet-spot” and is in line with what I witnessed during my weight loss phase, after dropping all dairy. So this proves that Jane is getting everything correct in her diet & that the physiology is also working. Then at nine days it all falls apart. The sugar cravings take hold and she returns to her old habits. To think, if only Jane had just carried on as she was doing! Losing weight at that rate, she would have lost all that 110 lbs (50kg) in only 141 days, or just under 5 months!! If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, the biggest hurdle to getting into ketosis is in your mind. The physiology will take care of itself.. if you just let it..
I have no magic wand to wave here, no silver bullet that can break your sugar addiction. We are all different. I touch on the psychology in the getting started section but that’s just my perspective. You will have to deal with it in your own way if you are to be successful but the support of others who have been there before is certainly a BIG help, as was the case with me.
Here is my reply to Jane with a few suggestions of my own:
These are just my suggestions. If you have any of your own, please let us know in the comments section.
I look forward to reading them..
I saw an interesting TEDx on YouTube about using an opium blocking drug to treat alcoholism. It allowed alcoholics to drink normally because they were not getting the pleasure signals in the brain as the opioid receptors were blocked. Anyway I reckon it would work with food, but taking drugs before eating isn’t practical.. I do have this issue but as the months go by, the cravings and slip ups are less and less. The body remembers what you do most of the time, and even with slip ups, I have made good progress, and so will she.
Yeah Ayah, the drug “anatbus” is very popular here for treating alcoholism. Unfortunately, it’s a well known trade name. All you have to say is “I’m on antabus” and EVERYONE knows the score!
A close family member has just come off a 3-month course and swears that just the thought of drinking is enough to make them feel sick. Let’s hope it has done its job! Time will tell..
But yeah, something similar for sugar addiction i.e. a short term drug just to get you started may be the way forward??
More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disulfiram
This was different. She treated her alcoholism with naltrexone which taken an hour before drinking allowed her to drink like a normal person. So she drank in moderation because her opioid receptors were being blocked.
https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=vYpXNF-kCGk
thx 😉
I really believe weight loss is 95% diet and 100% mental (and not that will power crap!). For me, nothing clicked until I stopped thinking about weight loss and focus on regaining my health. But to do that I had to take a hard look at my lifestyle. This was key. I started looking at myself, my relationship to food and what triggered me to lose it. I never saw myself as a stress eater, but I sure was. Boredom triggered me to. However the main driver was sense of hopelessness when it came to where my life was going. Working 17 hour days in a combative office environment at a job you hate because the pay is good can make you one miserable person. Food became my escape — a very temporary one. Once I figured out the “whys” I had to work on the “hows (e.g. replacing bad habits with good ones, figuring out what was really important to me). That took time. I had missteps along the way (heck i still do).
Couldn’t agree more Dot! What’s the point in trying to get your diet all finely tuned when your working life or even personal life is stressing you out like a taught piano wire?? People forget that stress, although ketogenic in the short term is OK (fight or flight), in the long term large amounts of cortisol running though your veins is HIGHLY inflammatory. “It’s a lifestyle, NOT a diet”, etc etc..