# New Habit - 100 Carbs

By Randall Degges · January 3, 2012 · https://rdegges.com/2012/new-habit-100-carbs/

> I'm trying to build a new habit: eating less than 100 carbs per day.

![Meat Sketch][]


Since finishing my [writing habit][], I decided to kick off the new year with a
health related habit.

Over the past year or so, I've been making gradual changes to my diet and
exercise regimen, with the intention of losing weight, getting healthier, and
getting smarter.  There's a lot of evidence that suggests having a fit body
also leads to having a fit mind, and that is what originally enticed me to give
the whole fitness thing a shot.

When I first started dieting / exercising, I had no clue what I was doing.  No
clue whatsoever.  I thought eating meat was bad for you and fat content in food
was directly correlated to waist size.  How wrong I was!

After several months of eating nothing but vegetables and breads, running till
I couldn't breathe, and struggling for every pound of weight lost, I began to
actually research the whole process.  I started reading numerous books on
health, which foods are good for you, which foods are bad for you, etc.--
eventually discovering the [ketogenic diet][].

A keto diet is essentially a high protein, high fat, and low carb diet.
Without going into all the details, a keto diet restricts carb intake because
consuming carbs increases the amount of insulin in your bloodstream.  When your
insulin level is high, your body stores fat.  When your insulin level is low,
you body doesn't.

During the three months that I maintained a strict keto diet, I lost nearly 40
lbs, and reached my lowest weight since the start of university in 2006.  It
felt great.

Then I started getting busy.  I gained some of the weight back, and gradually
let my exercise regimen slip out of control.

So starting today, I'm working my way back to where I was, to finish this thing
the way I started--a success.  The new habit I'm attempting to build is simple:
**eat less than 100 carbs per day**.

I'd eventually like to cut my daily carb intake down to around 30 carbs and
completely eliminate all sugar intake (sugar is bad for you), but I figure that
to start, 100 carbs should be fine.  Since I haven't been in hard-core dieting
mode a for a while, 100 carbs is enough to make it not so difficult, while
still being a challenge.

These habits are meant to last forever, after all, so I'm in no rush.  I'll
start with 100 carbs now, and then possibly jump down to 75, 50, and eventually
30, depending on how successful I am along the way.

Reflecting back on why I think I failed to maintain my diet / exercise regiment
earlier last year--I think the primary reason was that I jumped into things too
headstrong.  I have always been a perfectionist by nature, and when I decide to
do things, I typically dive in all the way.  While this mentality has served me
well in numerous circumstances, it has also backfired more times than I care to
mention here.

When I eventually started to slip off my diet months ago, instead of simply
getting back into the groove after a cheat day, and treating my diet as a habit
(and thus, a lifestyle change), I instead ended up feeling angry with myself
for messing up, and gradually drawing out the problem instead of fixing it.

Since I dove into it so headstrong before, when I did mess up, I was extremely
upset with myself, and had a really hard time continuing.  This time, to remedy
that possibility, I'm going to be taking things a bit slower, and building
sustainable changes that will (with discipline) last a lifetime.

If you'd like to learn more about ketogenic diets, here are some good resources:

- The [keto subreddit][].
- [A doctor's guide to ketosis][].
- The [Something Awful Keto Guide][].
- The [bodybuilding.com guide to ketosis][].
- My personal favorite, [A Guide to Ketosis][].


[Meat Sketch]: meat-sketch.jpg "Meat Sketch"
  [writing habit]: /2012/writing-habit-complete/ "Writing Habit Complete"
  [ketogenic diet]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet "Ketogenic Diet Wiki"
  [keto subreddit]: http://www.reddit.com/r/keto "Keto Reddit"
  [A doctor's guide to ketosis]: http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf "A Doctor's Guide to Ketosis."
  [Something Awful Keto Guide]: http://lowcarbplate.com/tlcm/ "Something Awful Keto Guide"
  [bodybuilding.com guide to ketosis]: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/keto.htm "Bodybuilding + Ketosis"
  [A Guide to Ketosis]: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=132598293 "A Guide to Ketosis"