In 1989 a movement started in response to the rapid growth of the fast-food industry. It is called the Slow Food movement, and it encourages people to really think about their food, to actively participate in the process of understanding where their food is coming from, and slow down and enjoy their food more. You can find out more about it here.
The Ketogenic Lifestyle is about pausing and making assessments about ourselves and our bodies. ‘Am I hungry?’, ‘Am I thirsty?’, ‘Do I have enough bacon and butter to last the rest of the week?’ (No, no I don’t. I never do…) Living a ketogenic lifestyle is about training ourselves out of the quick-fix culture which is making us so sick and getting our bodies back to a place of optimum performance.
Every day we are re-training our bodies and our brains to think about how we fuel ourselves in order to get the most out of our daily lives and the future. This leads into thinking about where this food-fuel is coming from. We start wondering what’s actually in it, and “How dare they try to sneak sugar into my (insert appropriate food here)”!
Part of living a ketogenic lifestyle is being kind to our bodies, by looking at the food we are buying, and making sure that it is as minimally processed as possible. If it is fresh, or fresh frozen, or preserved using old fashioned canning techniques like heat rather than chemicals, then we are onto a winner!
In the beginning, it takes a lot of thought as we work through cravings, wondering if there are substitutes for our old favourites, trying to manage household budgets and family meals. When I was transitioning to Keto, I was thinking:
“How much more butter can I add to this chicken before it stops being a meal and starts being a soup?”
“I’m hungry, pass the cheese…”
“Oh gosh, I feel really sick, where did I leave the salt…”
“I need to eat more fat before I have those berries, or I’m just going to eat the whole box.”
As we go along, the fats and clean foods fuel our bodies and they begin to relax into the change. We drop weight, symptoms of illness begin to disappear, managing other chronic conditions becomes easier and more straight forward. Other people start noticing that there are significant changes in our bodies, our health, our outlook on life.
By enjoying this amazing, easy lifestyle, we have begun to change our own world.
This is the point where we are also making changes in the wider world. Without even realising it, did you know that by making choices to think about food objectively and by starting to wonder if there might be better choices out there, you have begun to change the whole world?
Simply by slowing down and taking the time to consider what food we are putting into our bodies, by deliberately choosing which products we pick from the grocery aisle, we are sending a message to companies and governments what we as the consumer really want as available product. Eventually, they may get the point that it’s not just about how processed they are, but also because of where it came from and the quality of the company who owns it, as well as the nutritional panel on the side.
Changing the world isn’t always about doing a really big thing all at once. Sometimes it’s about lots of people doing lots of little things consistently.
As we gain more experience and confidence in this lifestyle, it is important to remember that we are using our voice to make our mark in the food industry. We are an intelligent, creative, thinking being. We don’t need to walk in any direction other than the one we ourselves choose. Let’s encourage each other to choose based on true information and education.
If we take notice of the impact we have in our world when we make considered choices rather than following a rhetoric; in even 50 years’ time we might find ourselves in a more youthful, sustainable place than we were before we began this journey.
It’s funny isn’t it, how eating bacon, butter, cheese, steak and broccoli makes the world a better place?