In August, I got what my doctor called “the last talk”. My lab work was a disaster, and if my A1C got any higher I would be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I went home that night and knew I had to make a change.
My wife’s friend had lost a significant amount of weight so we asked her how she had done it. She introduced us to keto. I was skeptical, but my wife and I both committed to doing keto for 60 days. We started in October. When I went back to the doctor in January the following year, my triglycerides and my A1C were back down into normal ranges for the first time ever.
Keto just makes it so much easier. The constant food cravings are gone, and I have better mental clarity and more energy.
Ruled.me was instrumental in our journey. The sample meal plans and the huge recipe archive took out a lot of the guesswork when we had no idea why we were doing. We made every mistake imaginable; it’s not the end of the world… you learn from your mistake and move on carrying that newfound wisdom with you.
We have both battled our weight nearly all of our lives. Jenniffer had gastric bypass surgery about 15 years ago. She lost a lot of weight at first, but wound up gaining it all back and more, because we didn’t change our eating habits. It didn’t help that she owns a boutique bakery, where she creates desserts and wedding cakes on a daily basis. In February (4 months after starting) she was invited to LA to participate in a baking competition (Netflix’s Sugar Rush).
She had received other TV offers before, but she had always turned them down because the thought of traveling across the country in a plane at 330 pounds was something she couldn’t bring herself to do. There’s a lot of shame and embarrassment in not fitting in a seat, or having to buy a second seat just to fly, not to mention that extra “10 pounds” the camera supposedly adds.
But the weight loss also brought a newfound sense of confidence, so she gladly made the trip to LA. She placed second in the competition, but just making the trip and appearing in front of the cameras was a huge win for both of us.
Although I help out in the bakery when needed, I have a regular job in IT at a healthcare facility. It’s a job that can be quite sedentary if you let it. Now I like to take walks around the campus after lunch, and have been known to join conference calls on my cell phone so that I can walk around and get a few steps in while taking care of business. I’m always trying to find little ways of adding more activity to my desk job.
My wife and I have both lost 120 pounds each since we started 2 years ago. We feel so much better physically and mentally, and we now have more confidence to do things e never thought we could do again… fly in a plane, ride amusement rides, go hiking, ziplining… a whole new world has opened up to us!
1. What tactics did you employ to help you get to your goal? What did you find helped you get to your goals best?
We got rid of all the carb-filled foods from the house when we started; we gave it all to neighbors or the local food bank. It made it nearly impossible to fall back into our old habits. Initially we were finding so much conflicting information online; the Ruled.me Getting Started Guide and sample meal plans took a lot of the guesswork out of what we should be doing.
2. What is the most impactful change you’ve made to your diet and why do you feel it’s been the most important?
Besides restricting carbs and the advantages that brings (no food cravings, better mental clarity, no blood sugar spikes) we have found that we now focus much more on the quality of food we eat, not the quantity. Now we eat real food, and not the filler, like rice and bread.
3. What is the best single piece of advice you can give to someone that is just starting out?
Use Ruled.me as a guide and follow it strictly. Get yourself into the habit of looking at all food labels, many foods are packed with carbs (like night-time cold medicine). Commit to yourself that you’ll be on your best behavior for 6 weeks. You will feel so much better that you won’t go back.
Also, as your weight is dropping, consider shopping at thrift shops, buying an entire set of new clothes every few months can get expensive fast!
4. How do you feel your life is now that you’re at your goal?
Well, we’re both still a little way for our goal, but we’re still working on it. I don’t think we’ll ever go back to a standard carb-based diet. We feel too good eating keto. Also, back before we started our journey we went to Universal in Orlando and were so embarrassed that we couldn’t fit in several of the rides.
We went back in December and rode ALL of those rides, just because we could. It was SO exhilarating! The weight loss has brought us confidence to get out more, do more, and feel better, physically and emotionally. The weight loss has really allowed our personalities to develop and shine; we’re no longer trapped in a fat bubble.
5. What do you consider the biggest change in your day-to-day life?
We no longer plan our activities around eating. Before, our days were all about which restaurant we would visit and then what we would do next. Now, eating isn’t even on the radar. Most weekends we’ll be out all day, running errands, taking a walk, hitting up a thrift store. It will be late In the afternoon when we realize we haven’t eaten all day. Then we’ll eventually meander home and make a salad.
6. What did you do to find support throughout your journey?
Having each other for accountability and support was key, but we also partnered with our family physician to make sure he was on board. He was a little skeptical at first, but as our lab work improved and the weight fell off, he was convinced.
Other than that, we relied on Facebook and Reddit groups to ask questions and find support with others going through the same thing. We still hang out there on occasion and enjoy helping others get started on their keto journey.
7. What do you currently do to manage your day-to-day diet?
We spend some time on Sunday evenings doing meal planning and meal prepping. We’ll usually fry up a big batch of ground turkey or make a big batch of Vegan Keto Porridge that will last through the week. We both use a tracking app to monitor our food intake and macros for the day.
8. What is your favorite keto recipe from www.ruled.me that’s become a staple?
This may be the hardest question! We LOVE the Beef Shawarma Bowl, and the Chili Lime Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I eat Vegan Keto Porridge almost every weekday morning.
9. If there is one thing that you could do differently during your journey, what would it be and why?
We would have started it sooner! We almost didn’t start keto because we didn’t understand it completely, and didn’t understand all the concepts. We spent a good month researching and printing recipes and we still didn’t seem ready.
When we found the Ruled.me Getting Started Guide, we said “let’s just do it”. Also, we would have made sure that We focused more on hydration and electrolytes; it would have saved us a few lightheaded spells in the beginning.
