Chow Creep

I’d rather be eating CHOCOLATE!

Low-carb dieters are very familiar with the term Carb Creep. You start out with a target daily intake of 20g of carbs a day but mysteriously, if you check towards the end of the week, you’ll be up to 50g. Or worse! Unless you’re one of those people who carefully weights, measures, & logs every morsel, all the time, carb creep is almost inevitable. Interestingly, it doesn’t matter what macro-nutrient, or category of food, that is being limited, I’ve discovered they will all creep. Hence my adapting the name “Chow Creep” for what ails me.

I’m not following one specific dietary regimen. I’ve discovered that I can undermine just about any single-strategy dietary program with this creep phenomenon. If I’m going vaguely vegetarian for a few days, I’ll start out with a tablespoon of bacon bits (this is just for the flavour, you understand!) on Monday. But by Friday, there’s half a pig in the pot. Low-fat eating is not part of my approach but I do recall the gradual increases in the fat content of my meals when I tried such programs. It doesn’t matter what the banned macro-nutrient du jour is, I’ll find it creeping within days. I think this is true for most of us on most single-strategy dietary programs.

And that’s the beauty of the hybrid approach. I flip from one dietary philosophy to another. And I do that pretty frequently. It sounds a little heretical to go from keto to potatoes in such short order, but I’m not a purist. I don’t have allegiance to any one diet. Most dietary programs work, at least for a while. And then they creep. Okay, it’s me! I let things creep, it’s not the diet’s fault.

However, the notion of flipping from one, to another entirely different strategy, provides a mental reset with each new start. A new start usually brings tighter, albeit temporary, control. And, knowing that I’m going to flip again soon, it matters less when things start to creep. Indeed, there is less likelihood of creep, knowing that I’ll be getting a much-welcomed change tomorrow or the next day.

Now that’s the kind of dietary flexibility I can live with. And hopefully lose weight with.

Though there is that challenge with Chocolate Creep that I have yet to fully master! 😁🍫😁