One thing I’m figuring out during my 30-day ketovore restart is that eating ketovore really isn’t that difficult.  At least not at home.  At home, I control what’s in the refrigerator. I control what’s on the plate. I control the portions—or at least I’m supposed to control the portions. And I don’t have a waiter asking if I’d like to see the dessert menu.

The other day I made the meal pictured above.  Nothing fancy.  Chicken. Ground beef. Salsa. And pork rinds that I used almost like chips.  That’s my kind of ketovore meal.  There’s plenty of protein, very few carbs, it tastes good, and most importantly, I didn’t have to spend 45 minutes preparing some elaborate “keto-friendly” recipe.  I can eat like this.  The problem isn’t ketovore. The problem is everything that happens when I leave the house.

My Food Decisions Change When I Walk Out the Door

I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past few days.  My work and community commitments put me around food constantly.  There are client lunches. Meetings. Football games. Restaurants. Coffee shops. Events. People offering me food.  And I’ve developed a bad habit over the years:  If food is there, I eat it.  Not necessarily because I’m hungry.  It’s just there.

Someone orders appetizers for the table? I’ll have some.  There’s bread sitting in front of me? I’ll eat it.  Would I like fries with that?  Sure.  Dessert?  Well, everyone else is having one…  And suddenly a meal that could have easily fit my ketovore plan turns into something completely different.  That’s the behavior I’m trying to change during these 30 days.

I’m Trying to Add One Step Before Eating

I’ve realized I need to create a tiny gap between being offered food and actually eating it.  Instead of:  See food → Eat food  I’m trying to make it:  See food → Think → Decide → Eat or don’t eat  That sounds ridiculously simple.  It isn’t.

I’ve spent decades eating one way. I’m not going to completely change those habits because I wrote a blog post announcing that I’m doing a 30-day ketovore restart.  But I can start making better individual decisions.  And I’ve had a couple of those victories already.  At a football game this week, I stuck with meat. I did go back for seconds, which goes directly against my other problem of overeating, but I’m counting the food choice as progress.  Not perfection. Progress.

Then I met a client at Starbucks.  That is another situation where it would be incredibly easy for me to decide, “Well, I’m already here…”  Instead, I had an Americano with heavy cream.  That’s it.  No pastry. No breakfast sandwich. No “I’ll start again tomorrow.”  Just coffee.

OMAD Is Making This Easier

I’m also experimenting again with OMAD—One Meal a Day.  I’ve done this before, and I’m remembering why I like it.  There are fewer decisions.  If I’ve already decided I’m not eating until my meal later in the day, then I don’t have to negotiate with myself every time I encounter food.  “Should I eat this?”  Nope.  Decision already made.

For somebody like me who spends a lot of time away from home and around other people’s food, that simplicity may be incredibly valuable.  I’m not saying everyone needs to eat one meal a day. I’m figuring out what works for me.  And right now, fewer opportunities to screw this up seems like a pretty good strategy.

Then I Come Home to This

Which brings me back to my chicken, beef, salsa and pork-rind concoction.  This is where ketovore gets easy again.  I don’t need bread.  I don’t need pasta.  I don’t need potatoes.  I don’t even particularly miss them when I’ve got a big plate of meat sitting in front of me.  The pork rinds give me the crunch of chips. The salsa gives everything some flavor. The chicken and beef make up most of the meal.  Is salsa strict carnivore?  Nope.

That’s why I’m calling what I’m doing ketovore rather than carnivore.  I’m willing to include some low-carb foods that make this way of eating easier and more sustainable for me.  Because ultimately, I’m not trying to win the Internet’s “Most Perfect Carnivore” trophy.  I’m trying to lose weight, control my eating, feel better, and develop habits I can actually maintain.

The Real Challenge Happens Outside My Kitchen

I think that’s one of my biggest lessons so far.  I don’t need a better ketovore meal plan at home. I need a better plan for everywhere else.  Before I walk into a restaurant, I should already have an idea of what I’m going to order.  Before I go to an event, I need to decide whether I’m eating there.  When somebody offers me dessert, I need to become comfortable simply saying, “No thanks.”  When there’s food sitting on a table, I need to remember that its existence does not require my participation.  That’s going to take some practice.  Probably a lot of practice.

But something interesting is starting to happen.  I’m thinking about my food choices again.  And that may be more important than anything I’ve eaten this week.  The scale will go up and down. I’ll have great days. I’m sure I’ll have days where I screw this up.  But if I can change that automatic response from “food is here, so I’ll eat it” to “food is here, so I’ll decide whether I should eat it,” I think I’ll have a much better chance of making this work long-term.

For today, that’s the goal.  Think first. Eat second.  And when I’m home?  Apparently throw some chicken, beef and salsa on a plate, grab the pork rinds, and call it dinner.  Works for me.