A Wholesome Approach to Banting
Prof. Tim Noakes' Banting lifestyle... controversial, out-of-the-box yet effective for many. How do you make it work?For the last few months I have been following the Banting diet and joined online groups which aim to support fellow Banters. It's obvious there are many perceived challenges to adopting the Banting lifestyle, ranging from obtaining unfamiliar and expensive ingredients to breaking unhealthy eating patterns. Most of the comments and questions I have encountered online and in conversation are around the technical aspects of the high fat, medium protein and low carb way of eating. However I'm not going to go into the creating meal plans, finding the right products, how the Banting diet works or how to break through weight-loss plateaus here though. There is adequate information in Prof. Noakes' book "The Real Meal Revolution" and online resources for that.
Instead, the focus here is on support for a potentially massive change in one's dietary lifestyle and what you can do to undertake a wholesome approach to change.
The Impact of Change
Let's face it, change can be overwhelming. It is a disruption to our routine, bops us from our comfort zone, it challenges our knowledge of the world and our psychological reference system. That's quite a lot to handle, especially when eating differently has an impact on our sense of being physically, emotionally and even influences our effectiveness in thinking! It comes as no surprise then that we naturally tend to cling (sometimes desperately) to what we know. Hell, it's gotten us this far, it must work!But it is precisely that combination of thinking, feeling and behaviour which slowly has us ending up unhappy or in danger of health problems. On the slippery slope of a lifestyle of unhealthy eating, many people are unaware of problematic behaviour until it is too late. The hard truth is, we rarely eat to sustain our bodies alone. It doesn't take much to see the marketing strategy of fast food outlets and chain restaurants is often aimed at satisfying desire more than health. That, combined with a widespread societal culture of instant gratification, the stress of meeting work deadlines and the demands of modern living, contributes to some grave health statistics. According to the World Health Organisation, in 2008 31.3% of South Africa's total population were deemed obese, with double the amount of women being affected compared to men.
Considering that close to 1 in 3 people struggle to manage their health and weight in South Africa, this is a very real problem.
Am I Secretly Resisting the Change I Say I Want?
Resisting change is normal and it can be a strength. Without a built-in resistance to any change, we may have no direction. But like many things, context it important. If we resist something that is actually good for us just because we are unfamiliar with it, we may need to review our thinking on that particular matter.Asking these questions may be useful in such cases
- Am I putting a lot of energy into seeing how much of my old/undesired behaviour I can fit into the new lifestyle?
If you're asking a lot of questions like "Is it OK to still eat this?" and "Am I still allowed that?" as opposed to questions about the 'rules' of the new eating lifestyle, you may indeed secretly be trying to support the old one. Ask questions about what the new lifestyle is about rather than ones about the old. Bringing about a paradigm shift happens by inquiring into the as-yet-unknown, instead of the known.
- Am I considering giving up due expecting this change to be easy?
When we change old behaviour, especially if it was satisfying a psychological need, there is likely to be a physical reaction to that change, perhaps even when just thinking about it. This is normal. Sometimes this reaction can be so strong that is scares us from pursuing or continuing with a new lifestyle. The course we take when we realise this is happening is probably the crux of this article.
Making it Happen
Whether you are in the planning phase of changing to the Banting way of eating, or have already started, keeping in mind your needs on the continuum of challenge and support is a useful way of inviting positive and even enjoyable change.Knowing yourself, or using stories from your life as examples,inquire into the support and challenge you experienced as helpful to change. What was going on, who was there, what were they doing, how did you respond, what did you believe about yourself, others and the world that made this process so powerful? Applying these positive and energised influences to present situations can be a great help in achieving goals. If you notice that you need more support than challenge, put into action supportive things that got you places in the past. The same works for people who respond more powerfully to challenge.
As a coach, I sometimes see how my clients try to follow the advice of friends or chat forums and find that it doesn't work for them. We all have different needs when it comes to wanting to behave differently. Asking support from friends who can support you even if you do things differently from them is valuable. Sometimes we can benefit from someone who is trained to see things objectively, to act as a sounding board, mirror, confidant and who can stretch our minds just the bit we need to overcome difficulties.
If you're looking to find the perfect balance of support and challenge for a lifestyle change, contact me here for Skype or face to face coaching.
