I have yo yo dieted for many years, and boy do I love a great competition. So I would join as many weight loss competitions as there were and I won a few, only to gain the weight back!
Then my health started to suffer, GI issues, heart arrhythmia, and I needed to get a hysterectomy. I gained lots of weight. At my highest weight ever I blamed my gain on my health issues, when all along my health issues were a product of the weight I had gained. I found every time I lost weight I limited carbs, so I researched Keto and jumped in 1 1/2 years ago.
The number on the scale means nothing to me, I am so happy with my size now and I have been able to maintain as well as feel great. I love to cook so Keto is far from boring! Especially with sites like Ruled.me, I can search recipes for Keto copycats and even make up my own with huge success!
I love this lifestyle and am never going back. Keto is so easy for me, and I never get bored with my meals! This year, my New Years Resolution is not to lose weight and get healthy, I am already there and loving it!
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 realized that everything I’d done in the past to lose weight was all for nothing if I slipped back into old habits. Even incorporating the “good carbs” such as fruit and grains caused me to gain weight. So in order to make my goal I had to do something more sustainable and not just a quick fix restrictive temporary diet, but really focus on a lifestyle change that I could live with.
I didn’t have a deadline, and I didn’t weigh myself often, I changed my eating habits and found treats that were keto so I never felt deprived. One other important thing, because I was cooking for my family as well as myself…I made one meal and added more fat to mine and a side starch to my family’s meal so I wasn’t doing extra work.
2. What is the most impactful change you’ve made to your diet and why do you feel it’s been the most important?
The most impactful change I’ve made to my diet is knowing what I prepare and checking ingredients in everything prepackaged. We have never eaten out that often, but I have been very mindful when we do and have found many restaurants are very accommodating and I will ask for a double vegetable rather than the regular starch and veggie or sub a salad.
If sauces are offered I will ask for ingredients many saying they are a cream sauce or gravy are filled with flour or corn starch. I can easily bypass dessert, doesn’t bother me. I also have Keto snacks with me in my purse in case I’m somewhere that doesn’t have any options for me.
3. What is the best single piece of advice you can give to someone that is just starting out?
For anyone just starting out, keep it simple, also change your mindset about limiting fat! I have friends who say they are bored and unsatisfied on Keto, and then come to find out they are limiting their fat because it is stuck in our minds that fat is bad!
Fat keeps you from being hungry, so initially I suggest getting an app to track macros or journal what you are eating. It really is the only way to learn this new lifestyle. So get a list of keto approved proteins, veggies, and fats and put them together simply.
I started with a protein and a salad, also eggs and omelets were a staple for me early on. Keto coffee was essential to keep me from being hungry in the morning at first…add the fat! Don’t be afraid!
4. How do you feel your life is now that you’re at your goal?
Being at goal was a fantastic feeling, but a feeling I’d had many times before! More exciting for me is that I have maintained for over 8 months and I do not feel any hardship because of my way of eating…as a matter of fact, I am eating 2 meals a day with intermittent fasting and I do not feel deprived. I have finally been able to get rid of my fat clothes in my closet and feel good about my wardrobe…no more size ranges, because I’m not going back!
5. What do you consider the biggest change in your day-to-day life?
The biggest change in my day to day life is no more addiction to sugar, no more guilt feelings from binge eating (binge eating has been cured), and I am clear headed and much healthier than I have ever been before. Keto has cured or controlled my cravings for crazy sugar filled and starch filled “comfort food” I will on occasion eat “Keto sweets” but in moderation and I do not spiral out of control.
6. What did you do to find support throughout your journey?
Support through my journey was easily accessible through Facebook groups. It takes time to find one you can fit in with that is encouraging and not trying just to sell products or call you out for using ingredients that aren’t keto. Also resources such as Ruled.me have been invaluable in assisting me in adapting recipes now that this is my forever life, so if I want “rice” when I searched it on Ruled.me I got a fantastic recipe for Hemp heart pilaf and also any baked goods I’m craving I can search on your site for acceptable yummy recipes! I love to cook so resources such as this are fantastic way to ensure I will never get bored!
7. What do you currently do to manage your day-to-day diet?
Currently I know what is acceptable in the Keto lifestyle and although I really don’t track my macros as closely anymore, I am very aware of the carb content in everything. I have nuts, beef sticks, cheese sticks on hand in the off chance I need a healthy snack, and I do always bring lunch to work with me and plan ahead to have fantastic meal options at all times.
8. What is your favorite keto recipe from www.ruled.me that’s become a staple?
Mug Cakes, and the Hemp Pilaf as well as using hemp and chia in noatmeal… there are so many I love your site!
9. If there is one thing that you could do differently during your journey, what would it be and why?
I may not have told people I was on Keto, but just told them I was low carb, high fat, moderate protein without labeling it until they asked me how I got such fantastic results, it is not a diet for sure, but a way of life for me…and simply calling it “keto” unfortunately invited much criticism and warnings from too many people. I had to reassure them I was being followed by a Dr. and then a firm, my life my journey, thanks for your concern! 🙂
