Mental energy

Maybe its just the things I read and watch, but it seems like not many people made a resolution this year. Some of the Creators I watch have instead switched to "doing what makes me happiest" or "practicing consistency" instead of having a specific goal or focus. Maybe that's where a lot of people are right now, and that's OK. I wasn't super specific with my goals either. I feel like I indulged a lot this holiday season. We had extra days off which meant more eating out, and I let my guard down with food, even at home. My birthday was on the Friday between Christmas and New Year's so I indulged then too. I did make myself a keto dessert that I dreamed up. I made a layer of crushed cashews with melted butter and sweetener, then added 4 boxes of sugar-free pudding (white chocolate and pistacio) and then topped it with sugar-free whipped cream. It was delicious! After all the indulgences, I knew I couldn't jump straight into resolutions on Jan 1, so I gave myself a week to just get back to my keto basics and cut out the junk. I was craving junk food but was able to avoid eating it but snacking on roasted pumpkin seeds, or sometimes just putting a pinch of salt under my tongue because I tend to crave salty things but I wonder if my body is just telling me it needs more salt. Anyway, last week was fine and I indulged over the weekend again with my dad visiting for our Christmas celebration. This week I decided to jump abruptly into 2 meals a day. I eat my breakfast around 6AM then eat lunch at noon. I'm doing a chicken taco bowl with plenty of fat from cheese, sour cream and avocado for breakfast and for lunch I am having a 1/2 pound grass-fed beef cheeseburger patty with mayonnaise. So far, it's going well as far as not being physically hungry, but I must admit, it will take a little more time to get over the "mental munchies" after letting my guard down the past few weeks. If I can stay the course and not give in, I know this will eventually get easier. The way I have my eating scheduled,each week will have four 18-hour fasts, one 20 hour fast, one 24 hour fast and one 13 hour fast. I think this will be easier to maintain because I just don't have to think and plan it, the length will just be associated with the day of the week. We do have our final Christmas celebration scheduled for January 19th, my husband's work party. It will make my fasting times change that weekend but I'm not worried about it. I aim for progress, not perfection! My other thing I wanted to work on this year is refraining from giving unsolicited advice and I am finding this easier than I thought, I just have to scroll past something before I spend to much time crafting a response in my head, then I'm fine. sometimes I do really want to give advice and I will allow myself to craft a response in my head but not post it. It does make me feel better. Everyone is full of advice, but sometimes people say something just to express how they feel and not to be told what we think they should do. So I think I am doing more of a service but not interjecting my thoughts about a life that I don't live. So all-in-all, things are going in the right direction. I'm not saying there aren't challenges but they are mental, not physical, so they can be overcome. I came to a realization today, when thinking about removing sweeteners from my fasting window again. You have to have the mental energy to commit to the idea of sacrificing something in order for you to be successful. What is sacrificed might be a food, a habit, a luxury such as time, or energy, etc, but whatever the case, if you don't have the mental energy to give to the withdrawal of that thing, it probably won't "stick". So for now, the sweeteners stay. Maybe once I get used to my new fasting schedule I will focus on that. As I said, I have a lot of things I want to change this year but I know better than to try and take on too many changes at once, it always backfires! When I have the mental energy and focus to tackle a goal, I'm nearly unstoppable, so they will all happen eventually.