I first want to say that I made this site to try to help and motivate people that are in the same situation as I was. Confidence almost hitting ground none – not able and not wanting to live the life of being overweight.
I’ve made a group on Facebook where all low carb high fat dieters’ can talk and get together for support, so if you’d like to join you can! Even if you haven’t started a low carb high fat diet yet, don’t hesitate to join us – we try to help everyone and answer everyone’s questions! Join The Ketogenic Living Group on Facebook
Now, let me tell you a little bit about myself and my past. I’ve been struggling with my weight for the past 12 years, ever since I was progressing into my teenage years. At that point in my life, I never really thought about weight or my body, so I just ate what I wanted to and didn’t care for the consequences. Nobody says anything to you when you’re young; people find it cute that you’re a chubby kid – so I never saw it as a negative thing.
I continued to eat as I pleased, and grew in size. Fast forward to my high school years, I was a pretty hefty guy. I made the horrible decision to grow my hair out and TO THIS DAY I still wonder why the hell I did that! I thought it looked good, but I guess hindsight really is 20/20.
A few years back, when I was in college, I decided to start a low carb high fat diet to get into better shape. At first, I was seeing weight coming off slowly, and I started to love it. I was starting to gain more confidence and was really proud of myself for taking the initiative to finally lose weight. As I made more friends, partying became more frequent. My outlook on partying was fine and dandy, because I was just drinking hard liquor – no carbs, right?
I started drinking a lot more than I should, never letting the consequences really sink in. The drinking started taking a turn for the worst – to the point where I was drinking all day every day. All I wanted was to get drunk, so I started skipping meals to get the most out of each drop of liquor.
I was extremely lucky that I never had a problem with my health. I never really read into a low carb high fat diet, so I didn’t know that being in ketosis and being an alcoholic is extremely dangerous due to ketoacidosis.
As my daily intake was about 1400 calories from alcohol and 200 calories from food, I unhealthily dropped from 225lbs. to 130lbs. I was pretty much a skeleton, I was getting those looks from people where they wonder if you’re sick or not. I had dark circles under my eyes, my face was gaunt, and people were starting to worry.
I am about 145 pounds in this picture, so imagine 15 pounds less than that.
Turns out I wasn’t doing very well in school since I thought skipping class to get drunk was a good idea, believe me it wasn’t. I had to drop out of school from having a low GPA, and that’s when I decided it was time for a change.
I moved back in with my parents to try to get away from everything around me. This was a shock to me, I didn’t know anyone in this area and I was staying inside my house – not really making an effort to do anything active with my life. I rocketed back up to 225lbs. within 5 months. I was constantly eating and making midnight meals for myself before bed.
One of the heaviest points I have been at, sitting at 225 lbs – right as I started low carb high fat. It wasn’t a good time for me. Once being confident from the weight I lost, to slowly not being able to look myself in the mirror. My self-image was sinking fast, and it was affecting me in my everyday life. Just going to the store and not being able to give eye contact to the cashier, being embarrassed about how I looked, it was crushing me on the inside.
One day, I had a great opportunity land straight in my lap. It was to work on a cruise ship, and decided to jump at that opportunity. I thought of it as a new start, something fresh. One month before I left, I decided that it was time to get myself in better shape.
I started eating low carb high fat, learning more about it each and every day. I calculated my macros and made sure I stayed on point, learning about what was happening to my body became a new passion for me.
The life on the ship turned out to be fantastic! I worked in the gift shop and luckily when the ship was in port, I would be able to get off and enjoy the cities! Now, I’ve been to most parts of the Mediterranean and have met tons of people that I grew close to in the 5 months that I was there.
It was a challenge to eat low carb on a cruise ship, as I’m sure you know how the food is there – but I was determined. As I lost my weight, my confidence grew, and I started opening up a lot more than I used to. I was able to make friends, approach people, and genuinely be more social than I was for a year before the experience.
The difference that a low carb high fat diet makes is astounding. When I got back home, everyone had noticed a huge change in me, but it wasn’t enough. I started on a workout regimen and figured it was time to look my best. So here I am today – working my way to what I never was, and it really is all thanks to a low carb high fat diet. It’s amazing what weight loss can do to you, both mentally and physically, and all it takes is a little bit of determination.
Here’s a side view of the progress I’ve made on a low carb high fat diet in 6 months.
Here’s a front view of the progress I’ve made over the last 6 months on a low carb high fat diet.
Am I finished? Of course not. I have started weight training now and want to get to about 180lbs with around 12-14% body fat. I still have a long way to go, but the idea of being able to share my story and hopefully inspire and motivate one person really means a lot.
If you’re interested in a low carb high fat diet, I made a great guide for people that are starting out: The Ketogenic Diet.
