The problem with overeating, is once you need to stop yourself, it's harder to - because you still need to eat. You still need to keep doing the thing that you've got a problem with.

Imagine if to "stop smoking", you had to smoke 3x a day?

That's why eating disorders are so damn hard for people.

That's what I used to think, long ago. Ever since I discovered keto as an adult, it's like the world has changed. It's like finding the magic key after a lifetime of struggling with an invisible lock

What's better, IMO, is keeping a balanced diet that minimizes or eliminates refined carbs and emphasizes protein and unsaturated fats. Unrefined carbs like whole grains can still be very filling even if they're somewhat calorie dense, and a strict keto diet can make it harder to eat some otherwise healthy foods.

Strict keto takes away the food noise, which is what a lot of us struggle with. There's no longer the cravings, you're not fighting your own body every hour of every day.

Personally, I've settled on a long-term diet

• emphasizing saturated fat
• adequate amounts of bioavailable protein
• zero carbohydrates

All my food noise is gone. All my cravings are gone. I still have some emotional triggers, like walking by a donut shop. I used to walk by, but that's much more manageable. I'm not struggling with food like I used to. I actually only eat about once a day, I don't have any cravings. When I do get hungry. It's a very different hunger than before, it's just oh I could eat, not I must eat.

All carbohydrates I am eating are brown rice, whole-grain pasta and pumpernickel. I don't know what "food noise" is supposed to be.

Ok, how long can you go between meals? If you skip a meal what happens? Do you need snacks? What if you had no snacks? Do you get hangry? Do you think you could jump into a 48 hour fast right now with no prep?

Food noise is all the urges, tendencies, cravings, hungers, and other signals that are part of snack culture, if you don't have any food noise - that is amazing, I'm glad!

From my understanding, food noise can be caused by a few things ranging from eating habits and culture to poor nutrition. Keto is able to help by filling your diet with things that keep you feeling full (protein and fat) and giving you some straightforward rules that keep you eating those things, which makes you not hungry as often and forces you to have some discipline around eating. You can still get cravings and noise on a keto diet though if your nutrition is off.

Whole grains can actually still be very filling despite their calorie density, on par with fats, but they have other nutritional benefits. They contain a lot of important nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and fiber that can reduce cravings and help keep the food noise down.

I've actually done keto before, the strict rules were helpful discipline-wise, but I was able to get all of the same benefits without actually being in ketosis. By trying to keep myself eating foods that keep me full, by avoiding binging and keeping my habits in check, and by getting rid of refined carbs (pasta and sugar are the worst, it's like you didn't even eat anything) I've been able to keep my diet in check pretty well.

Also be careful about saturated fats long-term. It can be bad for your heart if they make up too much of your diet. You're probably aware already but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

Keto is able to help by filling your diet with things that keep you feeling full (protein and fat) and giving you some straightforward rules that keep you eating those things, which makes you not hungry as often and forces you to have some discipline around eating.

I would also add that keto also removes glucose spikes->insulin spikes->glucose dips, removes lots of the low energy hangry loops that most people are stuck in.

You can still get cravings and noise on a keto diet though if your nutrition is off.

Sure, that would just be biologically appropriate hunger, since the nutrition is off and the body wants more nutrition.

I’ve actually done keto before, the strict rules were helpful discipline-wise, but I was able to get all of the same benefits without actually being in ketosis

Fantastic!

By trying to keep myself eating foods that keep me full, by avoiding binging and keeping my habits in check, and by getting rid of refined carbs (pasta and sugar are the worst, it’s like you didn’t even eat anything) I’ve been able to keep my diet in check pretty well.

Did keto not keep you feeling full?

Also be careful about saturated fats long-term. It can be bad for your heart if they make up too much of your diet.

Thanks for bringing that up. My reading of the literature has satisfied me that in the absence of elevated glucose and metabolic disease saturated fats are actually quite healthy and not a long term health risk (at least for myself).