Chatting with an acquaintance about her Keto journey, she disengaged because “Life happened, and there was cake, so….”
I am thinking a good dose of Stoicism would have helped her, knowing, as Epictetus says, “It is not things that disturb men, but their judgements about things” (quoted in Robertson, 2010). It is only our attitude towards external events that we can control; it is not the external events themselves that drive us to drink or cause us to cave in to cake.
Blogger Colin MacRae (2020) explains, “Nothing is unrealistic or realistic; nothing good or evil. There is only what we think of any given situation. We create our own reality.” – Marcus Aurelius
“The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“In many respects, Stoic philosophy is the root of modern Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. The founder of CBT, Aaron Beck, was very much influenced by the Stoics. Modern psychotherapeutic CBT deals with the cognitive side of things as well as the behavioural side of things: meaning, change your thoughts (attitudes to life) and then change your behaviour (actions).”
I’ve been eating LCHF for about six years, practicing Stoicism for about four. (I am imperfect at both.) Becoming aggravated about external things (how other people act, what they think, death and taxes) can lead to anxiety or depression and that’s when the sandwiches and cookies after a funeral look really good. And these addictive starches do, at least temporarily, suppress the HPA axis. The consumption of “sweet, fatty, energy-dense food […] may confer protection against stress, evidenced by suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response [.…] Benefits to mood may be transient, but perhaps sufficient to encourage repeated attempts to prolong mood improvement or distract from negative rumination” (Gibson, 2012).
Having some Stoicism can out-talk the internal voices of misery and the resulting lures of comfort food. My friend had some serious life events, ate the cake, and got back on the sugar rush/dive roller-coaster.
Here’s an interesting guy: Carnivore Aurelius@KetoAurelius
“The Meat Philosopher. Comfort is the worst addiction.”
On Twitter, Feb 16, 2020:
“Fastest ways to accelerate aging and disease:
– Consume seed oils and refined carbs
– Eat inflammatory plants
– Never get sun
– Sleep < 7 hrs
– Sit in a cubicle all day
– Always be stressed
– Avoid exercise
– Drink toxic water
Our modern world is an aging and disease machine.”
On Twitter, Feb 6, 2020:
“The problem with money, relationships and sex is that they delude you into thinking happiness is external. They give you a quick hit of pleasure that makes you addicted to more. But the problem is they don’t lead to lasting happiness. True fulfillment is all internal.”
On Twitter, Feb 2, 2020:
“If we’re in a simulation, I’ve found the cheat codes:
1. Sun
2. Beef liver
3. Fasting
4. Good books
5. Cold showers
6. Meditation
7. Taking complete responsibility
8. Attacking what’s painful and challenging.”
So we have mindfulness, being in the moment, taking responsibility for our (emotional and behavioural) reactions to external events, and Stoically staring down that cake.
References
Carnivore Aurelius@KetoAurelius (2020.) From https://twitter.com/ketoaurelius?lang=en
Gibson, L. (2012.) “The Psychobiology of Comfort Eating: Implications for Neuropharmacological Interventions.” From https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22854304-the-psychobiology-of-comfort-eating-implications-for-neuropharmacological-interventions/
MacRae, C. (2020.) “What Is Stoicism? Stoicism And The Art Of Living: Change Your Attitude, Change Your Life.” From https://mindfulstoic.net/what-is-stoicism/?fbclid=IwAR1K3adPjp3QM430YfpKWyetuskqHGwR4VP0itGd1PyrfsGOGGAOBNmtxO0
Robertson, D. (2010.) “Stoic Philosophy as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy.” From https://donaldrobertson.name/2010/09/10/excerpt-ancient-social-anxiety/
Char Can Cook Keto 