I started exercising and “dieting” at the beginning of Feb 2015. Starting weight right around 270 lbs. 21 Day Fix, T25, Turbo Fire. Hyped! Lost 36 pounds over the year. Great, great feeling. 2016. Gained a few back. Still exercising. Started running. Pretty much nothing else happened weight, size-wise the entire year.
Bring on 2017. Started year around 240 lbs. Saw 1 Instagram post about losing 8 lbs in a week on this keto way of eating. Never heard of it. Researched and jumped in head, feet, face first. Stuck with it and I’m down 53 lbs more pounds in my 1st year of low carb eating. Total weight loss is sitting at 83 lbs. My husband, sisters, mom and a coworker or 2 have also adopted this lifestyle.
I still walk a lot but I’m focusing more on strength training now. I haven’t been this size/weight since 1996. Just amazed at the simple way of eating and living.
1. What tactics did you employ to help you get to your goal?
I read so much about keto when I first started. I looked at the information on the ruled.me website. I found a Facebook group that has been helpful as far as the clean eating aspect.
A tactic I used to get to my goal was focusing on real food ingredients and not just the carb count. The more simple the ingredients, the easier it is to track and manage my carb counting and to figure out if a particular food might not be working for me. I drink ketoproof coffee every morning. My weight loss had slowed somewhat. I read about people cutting out the heavy cream.
I never thought that could be an ingredient holding me back. Decided to cut it out and see if anything happened and, sure enough, the weight started dropping again.
2. What is the most impactful change you’ve made to your diet and why do you feel it’s been the most important?
An impactful change I made was learning not to eat when I wasn’t hungry despite the time of day. Regardless if its break time, lunch or dinner time, if I’m not hungry, I don’t eat. That was my biggest learning curve with a low carb lifestyle.
3. What is the best single piece of advice you can give to someone that is just starting out?
A piece of advice I would give to a beginner would be to keep it simple. I didn’t know anyone who was keto when I started out. I knew to count carbs. I figured out what foods to avoid but wanted to convince myself I could still enjoy all kinds of treats as long as they were low carb. Bought the sweeteners. Bought the flours, whey protein, oat fiber and all kinds of extracts.
Made low carb danishes, cookies, muffins, cheesecakes. It was neat at first but even with substitutions, the carbs are there and are not as satisfying as a meal. Plus the sweeteners were not agreeing with my digestive system. It has been much easier for me to track my carbs, and sometimes not worry about tracking if I keep my foods and meals simple.
4. How do you feel your life is now that you’re at your goal?
As far as life goes, the bottom line is I just feel better. I was not on medication or under Dr’s care for any illness or disease before I started low carb, just still overweight even after doing the exercise piece for 2 yrs. Finding this way of eating has improved my overall well being.
5. What do you consider the biggest change in your day-to-day life?
I am also sharing keto with people I see every day. They ask what about my weight loss and how I am doing it.
6. What did you do to find support throughout your journey?
I look to social media for a lot of my information, recipes, tips, and motivation from other people living this lifestyle. My husband is my daily, real-life support as he is eating this way, too.
7. What do you currently do to manage your day-to-day diet?
I log my food on MFP pretty religiously. I also exercise. I know I’ve read that too much cardio can stress the body and increase cortisol levels, but there’s something about getting out and walking or using my weights. Muscle burns fat and exercise is a habit. I’m a member of Run the Year 2018 so I have to make sure I’m moving if I want to reach that goal, even as a walker.
8. What is your favorite keto recipe from www.ruled.me that’s become a staple?
A new favorite ruled.me recipe is London Broil is Falling Down. The only thing I do is add a bit of butter once it’s done.
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 do differently, it would be meal prepping better. I make a couple of recipes a week that are dinner and them lunch the next day. I know it would be easier to prep it all and pack it away to be able to grab and go.
