Resistance and procrastination are not just for writers! And even in a writer’s life, these things crop up, obstruct, and delay all sorts of endeavors. For me, lately, it has been dieting. Getting myself to begin eating well again, for the puposes of weight loss, mood balance and to support how my doctor says I’m supposed to eat.
I’m supposed to eat low carb. Keto. And it feels overwhelming. My first three days were, well, not perfect. And I could easily have despaired and thought, quite reasonably, I can’t do this.
Then I saw this book – The Dirty, Lazy, Keto Cookbook, by Stephanie Laska, MEd, and William Laska. Dirty, lazy keto… That’s for me!
I have a friend – I’ll call her Janice – and she ketos like a religion. She measures, records, plans and really likes it. She loves to put together her meal plan the night before for the following day – foods that will create the exactly right levels of macronutrients.
“It’s like a puzzle,” she says gleefully to me.
Not that it was Janice’s fault – even one iota – but that view of how the keto diet was supposed to be done kept me eating oreos, ice cream and bread all these months. (Eek, don’t tell my doctor. Seriously.)
You have to do things your way. I do. Janice does. So do you.
This book, just by its title, liberated me and widened my limited view of how it could work for me. It let me see that YES! I could keto in a way that doesn’t bring out my inner rebel and frog-march me to the pantry to find somthing to eat – something forbidden and delicious that can teach that inner voice and looming expectation who’s boss! For once, I didn’t feel compelled to eat four cookies to prove to my bossy inner voice that it couldn’t make me comply.
How are Dieting and Writing Similar?
By now, you’re thinking, why am I writing about dieting in a writing blog?
Bec you may have a writer-Janice in your life, someone who seems to do everything perfectly, and has books, and short stories and songs and screenplays just growing out of her computer. And you may feel both intimidated and resistant based on your assumptions… your shoulds… your have-to’s. You may be metaphorically eating Oreos to tell the inner scolding or judgement, spawned by “Janice” to SHUT UP.
I’m here to assure you, you can be a dirty, lazy writer and still have great satisfaction writing, great impact on the world, and great value as you write.
Be who you are. Write how you are. To figure out more of who you are, come to the Honeycomb Hideout, er, the Write Without the Fight FB group, gonna write and gonna play.
PS. Don’t worry, Janice doesn’t read my blog.
PPS – Dirty, Lazy Keto Cookbook happens to be well-written, such a welcome change from the earnest, data-laden, hand-wringing tone in most diet books. Stephanie Laska comes through in a clear, idosynchratic voice we can all relate to. From the lead of Chapter 2…
“Why should you listen to me? I grew up in the Midwest where Jell-O with Cool Whip was considered a salad. My childhood diet consisted of processed foods with their own jingles on TV. My preferred snacks came from a box, not a farm. To this day, I’m still haunted by the smells of sizzling Steak-umms! I believed popcorn was a vegetable, since it came from corn – seriously.”
See what I mean? She is the embodiment of being yourself and succeeding your way. (BTW, she lost 140 lbs, six years ago, which was 50% of her body weight!)
How can you make it work as a dirty, lazy writer?