So I’ve been on the ketogenic diet since January 1st. When I first started I decided to do a two day “fast” to try and switch into ketosis faster. I put fast in quotation marks because it wasn’t a total fast. To prime me for burning fat as fuel while still getting some calories in so I didn’t feel like I was starving I decided that I would abstain from everything but bulletproof coffees. So I had the caffeine from coffee plus MCT oil and Kerrygold butter to help power me through. That did make the transition easier but it wasn’t a long term strategy for success. So on day three I started eating a ketogenic diet. Over the course of the next week or so I fully transitioned over to being keto adapted. And that meant slowly losing my cravings for sugars and simple carbs. Although it got easier as I went along it still required a lot of discipline at first. And even though I’m months into the diet and my body is happy to go along in a ketogenic state, I still occasionally get cravings. So what keeps me from stopping off at a fast food joint on the drive home from work. It’s the same discipline I used while I transitioned into ketosis.
One of the things that help create that discipline was certainly desire. I was ready and really wanted to take the weight off this time. And belief. I truly believed that I had found the right diet that would get me the results I wanted. I just had to stick with it. Finally, there was Jocko Willink.
Jocko is an ex Navy Seal who’s all about discipline. I found his book “Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual” on Amazon while searching for books on discipline. The cover image just drew me in. It’s a simple design. All black with the title in white typewriter lettering with a gray image of Jocko in the lower right corner. I had been also reading about Minimalism at the time and this book cover seemed to scream minimalist to me. So I purchased it and downloaded it to my Kindle.
I started reading the book, but it was more like listening to it. The book reads like a good friend sitting down with you to explain the concept of discipline to you. It’s a one sided conversation of course, but why would you want to interrupt your Navy Seal pal when he’s explaining discipline to you. They’re like the experts in discipline. Nobody is getting in to that group without having discipline oozing out their pores.
The book is divided into two parts, Thoughts and Actions, and then finishes up with some advice on nutrition and taking care of your body. Thoughts is about having the discipline mindset. And if you don’t have the discipline mindset, how you go about getting one. Actions are the works you have to perform to develop discipline. Then comes the section I liked the most because I hadn’t expected it, the nutrition guidance. Now he refers to it as Paleo, but he still is a proponent of a high fat, moderate protein, and low card lifestyle. He doesn’t get into percentages so it may be more paleo then keto, but it certainly follows a keto mindset. It makes being disciplined and staying in ketosis easier when an ex Navy Seal is pushing it as a good game plan. The final section covering taking care of your body is the icing on the cake with some workouts at the end for the cherry.
I highly recommend this book for anyone starting a ketogenic diet or anyone just looking to keep to a tighter path in life. Jocko preaches discipline and I think his book delivers it. If you’re interested in getting a copy of the book for yourself, here is an Amazon affiliate link for the Kindle edition. It is also available as a hard cover for those people who still like having the book in hand. Just click on the pic below.
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