I remember the first time I really thought about what the statement “nothing tastes as good as healthy feels”. I was trying to reason my way through changing my not all the way healthy diet. I realized, though, this reasoning was at odds with my feeling about it.

I had a very positive emotional response to the sugar-filled foods I was ingesting. I was ovo-lacto vegetarian at the time. Pasta, beer, wine, chocolate chip cookies, and ice cream were a big part of my daily intake, and I usually weighed about 25-30 pounds more than I do now.

I remember learning I should try to associate as much pain as possible to that feeling to try to overcome it. I just wasn’t willing to do that. As someone who suffers from clinical depression, trying to eliminate things that feel good (at least in the short-term) isn’t high on the list.

Over time, I just ignored people or books who said this kind of thing. It just didn’t vibe with me as a way to make improvements.

I eventually felt the urge to give up my vegetarian diet. Besides the cheese and eggs I ate, I hadn’t missed any of the animal products I had given up for over a decade. Then, all of the sudden, I reached out for a piece of bacon before I stopped myself. Within weeks, I wasn’t vegetarian anymore. Something in me changed.

While integrating animal meats, I naturally ate less carbohydrate-filled foods. I’d always like green salads, so those filled a portion of my plate. Meat filled another portion, and there just wasn’t room for as much pasta as before.

That trend continued, and I started to learn more about low carbohydrate diets. I’m an intelligent guy, but I’m usually very slow to accept different viewpoints. Grains felt healthier to me than animal proteins and fats. My tie-breaker for a lot of decisions is often my “gut feeling”. In this case, it was literally my gut and my hungry gut bacteria, telling me what was correct.

Slowly, but very surely, my trend away from carbohydrates continued. After my daughters weren’t at home as much and then were away at college, there was again less pasta to be consumed. My partner, Cat, also never desired carbohydrates, so we just naturally consumed less out of decreased desires.

Finally, based on the results of friends, I decided to try a modified keto diet. At first, it went horribly, as replaced my morning oatmeal with eggs. It turned out I was allergic to egg whites, which was a complete surprise to me and felt like a big loss, as I just love them.

After switching out the eggs, though, it went much better. I did lose weight, but the more important thing was that my mental health and clarity was better. Life in general felt lighter and brighter. Again, as a lifelong sufferer from clinical depression, this was a critical factor.

When doing keto, friends are wont to say, “I don’t think I could give up X”. For whatever reason, that got me thinking about the “nothing tastes as good as healthy feels” saying.

At that point, I realized I didn’t miss those things my friends said they would miss. I really loved what I was eating because it made me feel good. And that’s the same feeling I had before. I was eating what made me feel good all along. It was just that the foods were far different than they were before. I replaced the foods I was eating before with foods that suited my new tastes. Instead of beer or wine, I have tequila or hard seltzers. Instead of chocolate chip cookies, I have keto peanut butter cups. Instead of pasta, I now have salads with a protein mixed in.

When I’m fully engaged in what I love to eat and what feels good to me, I don’t miss the old foods I ate at all. If it’s my birthday or we’re on a vacation, I’ll stray from it, but I almost always regret it even while I’m doing it. (Beer may be the exception. I still love it, even if I don’t really miss it.)

Now, when I hear people saying “nothing tastes as good as healthy feels”, I somewhat question their motivation. I suspect they actually love the foods they eat in the same way I love the foods I eat. If you put something unhealthy in front of them, they’ll push it away in the same way a child pushes away broccoli.

Are they really doing something different than what others are doing and that’s why they’re more healthy or more fit? In one way, yes, the foods are healthier overall. However, in the sense of the emotional response to the foods they eat, it’s almost exactly the same as what everyone else does.

So I don’t trust them when they state, “I’d love to have a cookie, but I value my health more than the cookie.” I suspect they actually don’t want a cookie all that much. Maybe a little.

They’re trying to convince you to do something they’re likely not all that good at doing themselves, possibly to signal some sort of moral superiority or mental toughness.

I’ll continue to eat the way I eat not because I’m denying myself of anything or I’m stronger than other people. I’ll continue to do it because I love it.

It took me decades to change this behavior. When I decided to try keto, I “practiced” by replacing things one at a time until eventually all the foods I wanted to avoid were replaced with others that suit me better.

Like I mentioned, I’m a bit slow on changing my ways. I’d imagine, though, I could have done it much more quickly. The lesson here is that slow and steady changes work better than punishing yourself for not having what it takes to do it better. You likely have the exact same capability for willpower as people who have habits you’re wanting to emulate. You just haven’t had the chance to practice it enough yet.

Don’t give in to statements that make you feel less than you are. Just practice and know you’ll get to anywhere you want to be when you approach it the right way.

As for me? It’s currently 10:41 am, and I can’t wait to make and eat a salad for lunch. I’ll almost surely have another salad for dinner. I love how it tastes, and I love how it feels, and I’m not going to deny myself that pleasure.