Like so many others, I’ve started over so many more times than I can count. I’ve tried everything under the sun to lose weight and was successful the year before I got married because I knew it was fast approaching. But I kept my diet super low in carbs and hours and hours at the gym to get there only to gain that weight back after I had my girls (within 3 years).
After that, I would yo-yo diet. This time was different, my 9-year-old received a letter from her school saying she had to be tested for diabetes because of her weight. She opened that letter and read it and immediately thought she was dying. I reassured her she was not and told her we would figure this out. I took her to the doctor and that day I saw an ad on Facebook for a 6 week challenge at a local gym.
I went there the following Monday and signed up. They gave me a binder with a diet to follow (Paleo) and I had to show up at least 3 times a week to work out. That same day, my daughter’s doctor recommended Paleo. I thought it’s meant to be! Well, the diet was very expensive to follow and after six weeks, I lost 7 of the 20 lbs I had hoped for and my daughter was at the same weight.
A girl at the gym told me about Keto in the beginning and I thought she was crazy. The last day when we weighed in, I was SO upset I went up to her and said, “okay… tell me about this keto diet”. She told me, “go to this website (www.ruled.me) and read. If you have any questions, send me a message. I did. I jumped in head first after about 3 weeks of researched and dropped 7 lbs the first week.
I never looked back on carbs after that. Keto has helped me lose weight of course but most importantly change my mindset about food. That is the biggest transformation I’ve made thus far. My relationship with food has changed. I never thought that would be possible. I am an emotional eater. I eat when I’m happy, mad, sad, nervous, anxious, bored, tired… you name it and I was eating.
I don’t depend on food anymore and it’s such an amazingly freeing experience. To this day I cannot believe those words come out of my mouth. Me! The cookie queen! Thank you for this website and everything it stands for. I’ve been transitioning my family’s diet to be keto and so far I think its working. My husband has dropped 25 lbs, I’m down 81 as of 3 weeks ago and my daughters have had a significant change in their mood and attitude not to mention my 9 year old’s chicken skin is gone and so is mine!
This website really was my starting point, my foundation to my new lifestyle (that’s right! Lifestyle! Not a diet). Thank you again!
1. What tactics did you employ to help you get to your goal? What did you find helped you get to your goals best?
I find that staying about 500 calories under my allowed caloric intake helps me burn fat and drop the weight faster.
2. What is the most impactful change you’ve made to your diet and why do you feel it’s been the most important?
I feel the most impactful change has definitely been the sugar. If you would’ve told me a year ago I would live a sugar-free life… I would say there was no way in the world. Not this girl. Thankfully it’s not a craving anymore.
3. What is the best single piece of advice you can give to someone that is just starting out?
The best advice and the one I say over and over is to commit yourself to 2 full weeks with no cheats no breaks. All those cravings and temptations will go away soon after that if they haven’t already.
4. How do you feel your life is now that you’re at your goal?
I’m still about 16 lbs away from my goal but I’ve never felt this confident that I’ll reach it. This time it’s actually q matter of when and not IF.
5. What do you consider the biggest change in your day-to-day life?
The energy I have today and the mental aspect is the biggest change I’ve had. I’m a different person not because I look different but because I think different and I feel completely different. I’m always happy now.
6. What did you do to find support throughout your journey?
I made friends online that understand this journey as well as support from my family.
7. What do you currently do to manage your day-to-day diet?
I still update my macros using the ruled.me calculator every time I approach my next goal. I measure and track my food occasionally to make sure I’m on the right path. When I don’t measure is because I’m eating something I’ve had recently and already know how to calculate it.
8. What is your favorite keto recipe from www.ruled.me that’s become a staple?
I make the almond flour flaxseed pancakes regularly for my daughter. She loves them and so do I!
9. If there is one thing that you could do differently during your journey, what would it be and why?
If there was one thing I could do differently in this journey it would be to not have hesitated for 3 weeks before I started.
I was so scared and overwhelmed that I was afraid to try something else. Especially something that seemed too good to be true. But I did learn a lot those 3 weeks of research so it’s okay.
