Long-Term Keto? Yup. I'm Still Kicking.
/Weight Loss Fluctuations (1.27.2025 to 2.2.25)
A few years ago, I wrote in this space about whether the ketogenic protocol is sustainable. A familiar knock against the diet is that it isn't feasible for people to stick with it.
"No bread? Are you insane? And who can resist dessert? That's inconceivable!" Really? Inconceivable? With a tip of the hat to The Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987), I don't think that word means what some people think it means.
BEYOND KETO (with Casey)
photo credit: casey durango
To be fair, there is a difference between hearing "I could never lay off carbs"—a typical response when answering a query into how you're losing weight and looking so energized—and hearing "That's not a viable way of eating."
Sadly, the latter comment, often delivered with dismissive disdain, comes from medical providers more than lay people.
Why are some people quick to declare defeat for other people's efforts? My opinion? Loads of people, medical and 'civilians' alike, substitute their attachment to pretzels, ice cream, pasta, and french fries and their wish to continue loading their gobs with such and sundry. It's all projection and confession. They feel they won't resist eating goodies that 1) can harm one's health and 2) are low-nutrition foods. Heck, some are barely food-adjacent. (I'm looking at you, Pringles.)
I share moments and thoughts of my life that are not about food or recipes or carbs or the scale, although the changes in me due to the changes in all those prior things comprise being ‘beyond keto.’ I’ve experienced fantastic things, met talented and bright people, and have had the honor of getting to know people whose lives have also improved after feeling better after laying off the carbs.
That said, some changes have laid bare feelings previously obscured in the numbness of being consumed (pun intended) by all that fat. Consequently, one set of emotions—embarrassment, guilt, rotten self-esteem—was supplanted by anxiety. I had kicked so many issues down the road, using being upset by my obesity. After losing weight and all the good things that came with that, I realized I still needed to deal with struggles and situations that food never addressed. I hadn’t been using food to cope. I used it to not cope.
I’ve spent a few years working on dealing with angst. It has taken practice. I’ve found comfort and a quietening of racing thoughts through a few tools. The little shrine pictured above represents one of those tools. Although I’m not a practicing Catholic, I was raised one, educated by nuns as a child, and have turned to praying the Rosary. Doing so is a rhythmic, peaceful act. It helps. (I also have a Hotie Buddha perched at the top of the waterfalls of our pond. His smiling visage calms me when I sit near him, listening to the rippling water.) We can find solace in many places, in many ways. No food required.
It's challenging enough to overcome the Negative Nelly and Negative Ned we may carry with us everywhere we go. Then, having to deflect other people's words "explaining" to us what we can and can't achieve is beyond the beyonds. I mean, where does someone, no matter how educated and credentialed they are, get off telling you or me what we are capable of? Substitute the words' cigarettes' or 'alcohol' for 'carb' and wait for a doctor to say, "That's great you've given it up, but it's not sustainable to keep doing so."
What the what? Can you imagine? It would be outrageous. But tell someone that you feel better, have lost weight, and are titrating off medications just by keeping carbohydrate intake to about 20 grams a day (or fewer), and a scolding is coming your way with a proclamation that laying off carbs is unhealthy. And not practicable. Ha! Maybe not for them.
As noted earlier in this post, ,I wrote a piece on this topic years ago. I bring it up again because I wrote about being able to sustain the diet in August 2016. Here I am, nine-and-a-half years later, still sustaining. Long-term keto is not only doable; more and more people are doing so. I'm nothing special. At all. I merely made one decision, one food choice at a time. I then realized that as I felt and, dare I say, looked better, food moved from a place of prominence in my mind to where it belongs: that which comes to mind when I'm truly hungry. I can then eat and move on with my day.
You know, I have a design in my Spreadshop with a subtle message of "IC&IW", which stands for I Can & I Will. Maybe I should create a variation that reads "MYCBIC&IW": Maybe You Can't But I Can & I Will.
Take that, Dr. Naysayer!
Disclaimer: I’m not a medical doctor, researcher, or Ph.D., but instead, I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths, and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all. I welcome questions, comments, and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to affiliate links, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through those links. Thanks!
