I have a lot of pet peeves, some big, some small, but many of them revolve around language usage. One of my pet peeves is when people refer to my (or your) ketogenic lifestyle as a “diet”. Let’s take this hypothetical conversation for example:
Person: Wow, you’ve lost a lot of weight.
Me: Thanks.
Person: What kind of diet are you on?
Me: The kind where I punch you in the face…and I’m feeling hungry. For face punching. Of your face.
Person: Is that like Weight Watchers?
Me: …
The reason for my irritation is that I’m not on a diet, I’ve changed my lifestyle. I live a ketogenic lifestyle. That lifestyle starts with proper food (for the body, mind, and spirit), and it permeates everything else.
Technically, the word “diet” simply means “the kinds of foods a person eats”, so everything is a diet if it involves food that is eaten. So in that regard, my diet is a ketogenic diet, but I live a ketogenic lifestyle.
A ketogenic lifestyle means I have taken as much control of my life as I possibly can. I have taken control of the food I eat and removed the unhealthy things. I have taken control of the thoughts I have and removed the unhealthy and damaging ones. I have taken control of the spiritual aspects and removed the things that prevent growth and improvement. Obviously, I have a long way to go, but this lifestyle starts with taking control of the most fundamental aspect of life, how and what you use to fuel your life.
So the next time someone asks you about your diet, remember that face punching is an option, but you’re probably better off just telling them that you aren’t “on a diet”, you just decided to take control of your life and the fat couldn’t take it, so it left.
