today's keto meal

I promise I won't foodblog like this every day:

That pesto is awesome, if I do say so myself.

Same salad as yesterday, just a different bowl.

I admit it: I went overboard on calories yesterday. Huge salad, nuts, almond butter, and some other stuff. I was quite full by the end of the day; maybe I was making up for not eating most of Saturday. I'm kind of on the edge of overdoing it today (two salmon steaks is a lot), but tomorrow is a fasting day. One commenter wrote that I should skip the cheat days until I reach my goal weight; that might not be a bad idea, although my sanity is as important to me as my weight is. We'll see how this week goes, and if it turns out I've allowed myself too much leeway, I'll slap on some extra strictures. As things stand, my next cheat day won't be until after my September 16 doctor's appointment, and since I start my east-coast walk on September 18, the cheat day won't actually happen until late October.

One temptation I'll need to avoid: the urge to justify any indulgences by saying, "At least it's keto." I can feel myself already thinking this about yesterday, and I know, intellectually, that it's wrong to think that way. As I said before, keto means nothing if you're shoveling down 4000 calories a day. CICO is still a reality, and a caloric surplus will make you fat, even if you're eating healthy food. So no excuses. I just need to own up to having gone a little nuts, then make an effort not to do that again. As personal trainer Lucy Lismore says on YouTube, ups and downs are part of the path. No one is perfectly consistent. I bet even David Goggins has bad days. Personally, I'm still feeling out what it means to eat in a healthy, disciplined way. Portion control is my downfall; I've known that for years. So in some measure, I still need to practice caloric restriction, even though I'm allowing myself to eat more post-Newcastle.

That said, today's lunch was huge, and I feel a bit bloated. Can't believe I'm actually looking forward to fasting tomorrow. What kind of monster have I become?