Day 7 of the 21 Day Keto Challenge

At the end of today, it’s day 7 and one full week of the Keto Challenge!

There might have been ups and downs, a few teething problems or a spot of the Keto flu but you’re already a week in!

Now is a great time to pause and reflect on all of the positive things that happened this week.

It is easy to get caught up in the difficult parts of our week and not reflect on the positive things that happened.

We humans have a thing called “negativity bias”. This is where our brains naturally try to find the negative in every situation. ​​

It’s great if you are an early human and trying to work out if that thing in the distance is a bush or a bear.

It’s not so great if you’re a modern human and trying to work out if you’re doing well at life.

We have to counteract our natural inclination for negative thoughts by deliberately creating positive ones.

You can read more about the negativity bias here.

After only a week on this challenge, I have had some challenges with 2 dinner commitments at very un-keto places with set menus.

The old me would have felt so ashamed and guilty that today might be a write off as well. I would’ve told myself that I’ve ruined everything, so may as well continue eating bad fo the weekend.

Here’s what I’ve learnt over the years though.

Guilt and shame are not helpful tools to us.

Guilt makes us more stressed and often cause us to make further bad decisions.

Think of telling a smoker to stop smoking – it makes them smoke more.

The ridiculously high standards we hold ourselves to are not always realistic.

We aim so high and in some cases, too high.

If we put these expectations on a friend or partner, we would realise how ridiculous they sometimes are.

I’m not saying this as permission to revert to old habits and throw it all out the window – I’m not giving up.

What I am going to do is think about what caused the slip up and learn from this.

I had a hugely busy and stressful week and also had too many drinks on Friday night, which made me care less about my food choices. 

I am not going to punish myself with guilt, or fasting to try and fix this, or use it as an excuse to continue eating poorly.

I am going to talk to myself like I would a friend who made a small mistake, in the overall context of a very healthy life.

Then, I’m getting back on the Keto wagon and heading to the market this morning to get some fresh produce for the week ahead.

Keep calm and Keto on.

Love

Rachel xxx

The Aussie Keto Queen