By Popular Demand: Another Keto Event in CANADA!

Hey all!

The keto event I was part of in Perth, Ontario last month was so well received that the organizer has been inundated with requests to have similar events in other parts of Canada. And since we aim to please, I’m happy to announce that the second keto event in Canada is already on the calendar! We’ll be in Ontario again—this time in Kingston. (I’m sorry to all my keto & low carb readers and friends in other parts of your beautiful country. But I assure you, we’re aware that there’s an interest in bringing these kinds of events to other provinces. Stay tuned to the blog for announcements when new ones are being put together.)

It’s coming up soon:

Saturday, December 1, 2018 (Just a one-day thing!)

9:30am – 5pm (Doors open at 9am)

The Ambassador Hotel and Conference Centre

1550 Princess Street, Kingston, Ontario, K7M 9E3

(Click here for all the details, including how to register.)

Coming to Kingston? I will be happy to accept
a T-shirt from your favorite Canadian team!
(The Canucks are not necessarily my favorite;
this was a gift.)

I’ll be speaking with the same people who made the Perth weekend such a success: Megan Ramos (fasting expert extraordinaire and the powerhouse behind the Intensive Dietary Management Clinic in Toronto), Dr. Doug Bishop (LCHF/keto-oriented physician in Ottawa), and Tiia Bishop, a health coach who made her public speaking debut in Perth and knocked it out of the park.

Considering the Perth event was organized by one woman, and it was her very first time planning something like this, I’d say it went phenomenally well. There were a couple of glitches with some malfunctioning toilets and air conditioning on the fritz (yes, even in Canada in September, it gets HOT!), but other than that, there were great people, great low carb food (and wine!), and, of course, I hope people left feeling like they learned something. I know I definitely made new friends.

The theme of the Kingston event is “Navigating Low Carb and Health Over the Holidays.” Megan will be offering expert advice about feasting and fasting, Dr. Bishop will talk about exercise, stress, and insulin, and Tiia will be sharing insights and advice about mindfulness and low carb eating. I met Tiia for the first time in Perth, and I really enjoyed her talk. (Okay, honestly, I actually shed a tear at one point.) She said some things I really needed to hear. Y’know, sometimes it’s not only about the food, dear readers. I kind of loathe the words “mindful” and “mindfulness,” but she hit on some of the emotional and psychological aspects of diet that don’t get discussed anywhere near enough in the low carb and keto community…in my opinion, anyway.

So what am I going to talk about?

I have two talks planned. The first will be on the personal fat threshold concept. This is a fascinating perspective on how type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome develop – and why they occur in people at all body weights, not solely in people who are overweight or obese. I did a video presentation on this a few months ago (check it out here), but I’ll be giving the live version in Kingston, possibly with a bit more detail, and of course, sweet lookin’ slides and snazzy graphics.

Intro to the Personal Fat Threshold Concept

Learn why:

• Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic dysregulations occur in people of all shapes and sizes
• Keto/LCHF diets, fasting, and bariatric surgery often reverse metabolic problems long before significant fat loss has occurred
• Low fat diets do work for some people (it's true!)
• Overweight & obesity may be “protective” against certain metabolic complications 

  

The second talk is…

Well, the second talk is something near and dear to my heart, and it will be quite different from any talk I’ve given before, and, I think, different from any talk anyone has given at a low carb or keto event.

I’m still deciding between two potential titles:

Keto Beyond the Food: You already know what to eat and what not to eat, so why's it so hard to do it?

Alternative title: Keto Fixed Everyone Else; Why am I Still Struggling? 

• A frank & honest conversation about the emotional & psychological aspects of dietary adherence
• Opening the conversation for those who struggle with emotional eating, binge eating, and other self-sabotage even on keto
• Tips for changing negative inner monologues that are roadblocks to success
• Actionable advice to start getting the results you want

Why is this going to be different from the talks that usually go on at these things? Well, people typically talk about what to eat and what not to eat, metabolic and biochemical pathways, blood sugar and insulin, protein, sleep, exercise, omega-6, and other stuff centered around the hormonal effects of our food and lifestyle choices: the physical stuff. But what about the emotional side of things?

There are people who adopted the LCHF or keto way of eating, and within days, they felt like an unstoppable, all-powerful ninja/rock star. The minute they got over the keto flu, they felt great and have never wavered. They’ve never, EVER craved (let alone given in and eaten…*gasp!*) a donut, a pint small scoop of ice cream, a family-size bag handful of potato chips, bowl of pasta, pile of french fries, or any other unthinkable friggin’ delicious sugary or starchy food. If you’re one of these people, great. All the love in the world to ya.

But if this doesn’t describe you, pull up a chair, friend, because you’re in good company. It doesn’t describe me, either. Many of us know darn well what to eat and what not to eat, so why’s it so hard to actually do it? We’re intelligent people. We’re hardworking people. We’re highly disciplined in other aspects of our lives. So why, when it comes to food, and when it comes to something as simple as just not eating sugar and starch, is it sometimes so damn hard?! (Note that I said it’s simple. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. These two words don’t mean the same thing.)

Maybe you used to binge on cookies or cake, and now that you eat keto, you binge on keto cookies and cake. Maybe you eat when you’re not hungry. Maybe you make great choices with what to eat, but your behaviors around food aren’t something you’re proud of. Compulsively overeating, compulsively restricting, or maybe you do still have strong attachments or even outright addictions to certain high-carb foods. You’re the poster guy or girl for keto in public, when other people have their eyes on you and your plate, but at home, alone, things completely fall apart. You’re not the only one.

Allow me to repeat: you’re not the only one.

And it’s time for us all to start talking about it.

To be clear, I am not a psychiatrist or psychologist. I am not trained nor qualified to help anyone navigate and overcome these issues. All I can do—and what I am so very looking forward to doing—is open the conversation. Let people know they’re not the only one, and that keto doesn’t immediately and magically reset and regulate appetite or dissolve emotional attachments to food for everyone. Some of us (yes, I said us) still fight ourselves. We self-sabotage. We can’t always relate to the people we see on social media who swear they’d rather have a spinach omelet than a big honkin’ stack of fluffy pancakes doused in syrup for breakfast.

Giving this talk is going to be a little scary, to be honest. I’m pretty open about my life on podcasts and even here on the blog. But this talk will be me uncensored and brutally honest about some of my own behaviors around food that I’m not proud of. But you know what they say: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” There’s nothing more cleansing and healing than bringing something out into the light. (Okay, maybe an autoclave is more cleansing, but you know what I’m saying.)

Also happy to accept a bottle of your favorite Canadian wine!
Did you know WAYNE GRETZKY owns a WINERY?
Hockey and wine...I think I should emigrate. 

I think this is a conversation that is desperately needed, and since I don’t see anyone else getting it started, I guess it’s up to me. I’m either going to lose everyone’s respect over it, or they’re going to respect me even more, and be grateful someone finally had the courage to speak up for all those who are in the same boat but are afraid to speak up, themselves. Time will tell.

Also: I’ll be available in Kingston for individual consultations on Sunday, December 2. You can sign up for 30 or 60 minutes and have me evaluate a food journal, help you troubleshoot your low carb/keto diet if you’re not getting the results you want, or just pick my brain and ask me whatever you want that’s related to low carb, keto, or health and nutrition in general.

Here’s the site to get all the information about the event on December 1.

See you in Kingston!

P.S. EVERYONE is welcome at this event! You don't have to be Canadian! Live near the border? COME UP and see us!

P.P.S. Canadian liquor stores know what they're doing. (Or, at least, the ones in Ontario do.) They post the residual sugar content for every single wine they sell. How cool is that? I wish we would adopt that policy in the US. Man, was that helpful when I was up there. I was pleasantly surprised at how low in sugar some of the rosés were. (I'd always assumed they were sweet.) And it was eye-opening to see how high or low the reds and whites were. Very useful information. Seriously, USA, get with the program. (Maybe there's an app I can use to look up sugar content of wines...)

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.