Eating tomatoes is not a sin.
The ketogenic diet is taking the world by storm. Everywhere you turn, there’s someone eating an avocado with a fork or going on about the “delicious fat bombs” they made over the weekend.
More bacon and a smaller waist, what’s not to love about the keto diet?
If by some small miracle you don’t have a neighbor, friend, family member, or co-worker who has been long-deprived of carbs in this high-fat, moderate-protein, virtually no carb diet, congrats.
For the rest of you, I’ll tell you what’s not to love. Keto cops.
We’re all familiar with them. It’s the coworker who has seemingly been surviving through photosynthesis, or the friend who adds you to cult-like Facebook groups filled with recipes for keto cream cheese pancakes, keto carrot cake, and other keto creations. I think the keto cops call the latter “dirty keto.”
Supporting someone who is trying to lose weight (let’s face it, loading up on fat is not making you healthy) is one thing. But shaming one another for having the audacity to munch on an undressed caprese salad at lunch time is another.
A cup of tomatoes is about six carbs. Six. One ruby red tomato from my garden is less than three-fourths of a cup.
I’m a writer, not a mathematician — or a farmer for that matter — but even I know that “indulging” on the juicy red vegetable (fruit?) is not going to throw my body out of a state of ketosis so fast I get whiplash.
And if it does, I’ll survive.
Which brings me to my next point.
Keto woes.
Why is it that day three of keto is so hard? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I cried over a piece of chocolate sitting in my freezer (where I hid it from myself) that I couldn’t devour as my uterus writhed in pain.
So I get it, cravings are hard. And when you limit your food groups to a diet of mostly fatty meats and cheese, you’re going to want a vanilla shake or a slice of carrot cake.
So if you’re on a diet, don’t take it out on your friends who dare to eat a slice of pizza within a five-mile radius of your being. Your friends know eating pizza isn’t good for them. You don’t have to tell them.
Personally, I know that even if I don’t continue with keto — which I probably won’t — I’ve learned a lot about my eating habits. For starters, vegetables can be carbs. And not just potatoes but carrots, corn, peas, and beans.
You heard me right. One cup of peas has 21 grams of carbs. One ear of corn has 32.
So (don’t) eat your peas kids?
And for fellow dieters, it’s tough enough to stay on track. Don’t berate your friends for so much as eating a tomato.
