How Your Scarcity Mindset Will Make You Fail at Weight Loss

When we perceive scarcity, our wiring causes us to act in ways that hurt our best interests. This phenomenon explains why following a new eating plan to lose weight might actually work against us. We have to replace our scarcity mindset with an abundance mindset in order to succeed.

Last October I took a break from my usual MAPS self-care theme and published a series of vegetarian recipes. This October, the kitchen calls again and I’ll share some of my new inventions. This time, they’ll be not only vegetarian but keto-friendly (and gluten-free). Join me for some awesome recipes that diabetics, people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, as well as keto dieters, can enjoy!

Deprivation—Just another Word for Scarcity

I lay on the flatbed of the CT scanner and listened the radiology technician, a friend of mine, give me last minute instructions. The brightly lit tube intimidated me, and I wished that our hospital had one of those modern, open CT scanners.

“When you go inside, try not to swallow,” he said.

I gulped. Not swallowing for five to ten minutes? How in the world would I do that? Even not swallowing for one minute suddenly seemed horrible.

A motor whirred and the flatbed eased into the tube. I swallowed convulsively, over and over again. Holding my breath didn’t work, so I tried easing tiny swallows through a suddenly parched throat. Thoughts of swallowing (or not) filled my mind, and I could scarcely pay attention to the tech’s calm voice guiding me through the procedure.

Finally, the bed slid out of my personal purgatory and I almost choked from gulping in air and swallowing.

“You seemed a little nervous in there,” my friend said.

“Not nervous, just afraid to swallow,” I exclaimed. “I didn’t want to mess it up and have to do it all over again.”

“You didn’t have to not swallow the whole time,” he said, “just when we actively scan.”

“You mean I can swallow inside that thing?”

He laughed, “Sure, we just don’t want you to gulp, because you’d move too much.”

I didn’t know what to say, but I had to say something. “Maybe if you told people they could swallow when they’re inside, and to keep the swallows tiny when you’re scanning, it might help. I could only concentrate on not swallowing, which made me gulp.”

Thankfully, he didn’t take offense. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he said. “I’ll have to try it with my next patient.”

The Psychology of Deprivation

Deprivation (or the anticipation of deprivation) sparks an almost instantaneous scarcity mindset reaction. In my case, I had to force myself to swallow less often—a scarcity of resources.

I immediately adopted a scarcity mindset which made me hyper-focus on swallowing. My CT scan experience left me feeling traumatized. I ended up swallowing (the thing I shouldn’t do) many more times than I ordinarily swallow in the same span of time.

The same principle applies to any perceived shortfall. Marketing experts from the University of Miami discovered that if someone felt a scarcity of food, money, or time, they reacted by eating high-calorie foods or spending resources in a risky way.

This finding explains why restrictive diets often don’t work long-term. Having a scarcity mindset about food (food restrictions) can trigger a deep, primal need for the food we’ve denied ourselves. We can deny ourselves chocolate for only so long before we start to fixate on it, our loss, and our absolute need for a square of divine, dark chocolate.

The keto diet poses the same problems since it restricts carbs (and sugar has a lot of carbs). Fifteen years ago, when I successfully tried a low-carb diet, the plan I followed had a lot of restrictions and suggestions. Lots of protein, no sugar, very little fat, and almost no carbs. In addition, I had to eat two salads every. single. day.

After ten months, just the thought of a salad made me turn green. It took several years before I actually enjoyed one again. I also felt hungry most of the time on the low-carb diet (most likely because I didn’t eat enough fat). The diet guru I followed said I could eat almonds, but no more than ten a day. I constantly craved almonds.

Abundance Mindset Offsets Scarcity Mindset

Our minds play an incredible role in our ability to successfully navigate changes in our life. If we assure ourselves that we have an abundance of resources, we no longer fall victim to the scarcity mindset. When we believe our resources have limitations we fall victim to a frenzy of acquisition—whether we acquire money, food, meaningless relationships, or possessions.

When I first researched the keto diet, I feared the low-carb diet had just found a fancy nickname. Sixteen years ago, grocery stores sold limited amounts of ‘low-carb’ products, and perhaps one or two gluten-free items. Low-carb dieters faced a scarcity of options.

Today, purveyors of keto-friendly goods have flooded grocery stores, restaurants, and the Internet. Instead of agonizing of which direction I want the pile of plain lettuce on my plate to face, I have myriad choices for salads, dressings, entrées, desserts, breads, and snacks. I have abundance instead of scarcity. Which makes it easier to find a wide variety of healthy options as I change my eating habits.

For me, the genius of the keto diet lies in the lack of restrictions. Sure, you have to restrict carb intake, but you can come up with thousands of creative alternatives for the comfort foods in your life. I don’t count calories or keep track of fat. And my cholesterol has dropped. I crave sweets at times, but I can feed the craving with keto-friendly options.

The availability of wheat and sugar alternatives has made eating keto almost easy. I eat salad, but only when I feel like it. Creamy broccoli soup and eggplant parmesan fill my need for vegetable servings without loading up on carbs.

Abundance Awaits

Which proves the solution to scarcity mindset involves an abundance mindset. Now I can eat as many nuts as I want (and not just almonds, either). I usually eat ½-1 cups of nuts a day. A plethora of creative cooks have invented endless keto recipes that not only look good, they taste amazing.

This variety and the availability of gluten-free and low-carb options make having an abundance mindset easy. I’ve started a Pinterest board for keto-friendly vegetarian recipes where I add tasty-looking recipes daily. Ruled.me has great recipes, including vegetarian options.  If you want ideas on stocking your keto pantry, you can click here and find little-known low-carb sources of vegetarian protein.

As I continue to experiment in the kitchen, I’ll post more vegetarian keto recipes. But for now, here’s an extraordinary dessert you can make in minutes.

Is your scarcity mindset sabotaging your keto-diet success? Adopt an abundance mindset and enjoy this chocodamia brittle with sea salt! #keto #dessert #1netcarb #mindset Click To Tweet Print

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