Simply Rediscovering the Good Life

This time last year I was at my heaviest 265lbs. I had high blood pressure and high blood sugar. My doctor said I was considered high risk and would be eligible for weight loss surgery in 6 months time. He told me if I didn’t want to have surgery I would have to cut the sugar and the high carb food and suggested looking into Keto.

Here’s the deal, I haven’t been in the hospital since I was 2 years old. I’ve never had surgery, and I’ve never broken a bone, besides a toe. And I didn’t want to start now.

In December I decided to really buckle down and get my life under control. I was tired of being tired all the time. I was fed up with migraines and not feeling good. I had no idea that it would work and so quickly. In the past tried every “diet” ,every magic pill, counting every calorie, working out 2 hours a day and nothing worked for me.

In the last year I have lost 74lbs, dropped from a size 20 to a size 10, lowered my blood pressure from 140/81 to 117/80, my AC1 (glucose level) was 7.6 and now it’s 5.1. I honestly feel like a new person. I’ve learned how to eat differently and definitely don’t feel like I am “missing out” on anything. I allow myself to celebrate life and enjoy treats occasionally.

The next challenge is to stick to a consistent gym schedule and survive the holidays to get my summer bod 2020!

Ever see a picture of yourself and think how did that happen? Sorry the picture quality of the one of the right isn’t that great, but I had to zoom in to make sure it was actually me. I’ve been really hard on myself lately for treating my self and not sticking to keto hardcore. But the reality of it is that I’ve managed to lose 73lbs in a year. And I’ll make it through Christmas and hit the ground running again into the new year. Last holiday season I had just started so I didn’t realize how hard it would be to get through all the parties and office treats. But I am still better off today than I was one year ago and that is something to be proud of.

I’ve learned numerous things this year about myself. Some I have shared with others, some I have kept to myself. Beginning of December last year I was at my heaviest 265lbs. I had high blood pressure and high blood sugar. My doctor said I was considered high risk and would be eligible for weight loss surgery in 6 months time. He told me if I didn’t want to have surgery I would have to cut the sugar and the high carb food and suggested looking into Keto.

Change is hard. Accepting that everything you thought you knew about diet and exercise was WRONG is hard. Retraining your body, exercising extreme amounts of self control, and saying no thank you to food is hard. However, being over weight and miserable but pretending everything is good is even harder.

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”

Brene Brown

I never realized that I had an eating disorder. My moment of clarity came to me soon after I decided to eat to live, instead of living to eat. Until I started eating right and logging everything I put in my mouth, I didn’t realize how much damage I was doing to my body, not only psychically but mentally as well. I started seeing patterns of extreme eating. I can’t just eat 1 donut, if I eat 1, I will eat 5. And from there it snowballs. Funny thing is, I justified this as normal. Everyone does this right? 5 pieces of pizza, 12 hot wings, and 4 bread sticks followed by dessert and a large soda in one sitting, normal right? Maybe this is how I justified my overeating.

I will happily eat when I am full or not even hungry, eat large amounts of food in one sitting, once I start eating I am unable to stop myself, and the one do most often is eat until I am uncomfortably full, so full that I feel sick. And then I beat myself up afterwards.

I don’t know if I was in some sort of denial or what. I wouldn’t say it’s an extreme daily issue, but it still affects my health and my life. After a year of recognizing I had an eating disorder it’s finally getting better. I still go through phases and even on a bad day it’s still better than what I used to do.

I share my story in hopes that someone can relate. So others can see they are not alone. And know that it’s okay to not be okay. And so I can receive confirmation that I am not alone.

It’s been 1 year of changes for me so far. I’ve lost 73 lbs and then gained a few holiday pounds and am half the size I used to be. My doctor says I am now in perfect health other than still being considered obese.

Cheers to 2020, where ANYTHING is possible

People often have the idea Keto is unhealthy. The ketogenic way of eating is a high-fat, medium protein, low-carbohydrate diet that has been used to treat difficult-to-control epilepsy in children, lower blood sugar, and has many other health benefits, mostly being weight loss. It forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. I don’t sit around and eat sticks of butter and pounds of bacon. As a matter of fact it has required me to eat veggies with every meal, and cut about 90% of processed food. My only sugar comes from low sugar yogurt or fresh berries and most of my carbs come from veggies and cheese. I have been able to detox from sugar all together, and actually get a really bad headache if I consume too much.

People often say, wow, how did you lose so much weight. And I tell them and their response is usually I could never to that. Well, fortunately and unfortunately for me I reached a point where I didn’t have a choice. Because everything I did was exhausting. But I kept doing it. I was tired of being tired. I couldn’t sleep, I was falling asleep at 8pm almost nightly. My blood sugar was high, my blood pressure was high, and because I was high risk, I would have been eligible for weight loss surgery in 6 months. My doctor recommended cutting back on sugar and carbs and told me about intermittent fasting and the keto diet. I started slow by cutting out soda, and cutting my carb intake in half. And after 3 weeks I was down 13lbs and then I was convinced. I struggled with my weight my entire adult life. In high school I was bigger than most my friends, but not crazy overweight. I tired every “diet” every magic pill, counting every calorie, working out 2 hours a day. And nothing has worked or stuck until now. I’ve decided to eat to live, instead of living to eat. And for the first time in a very long time I feel like myself.

This is definitely delicious! About 7 next carbs per serving, if you slice it into 12th. And about 2 grams of sugar, from the cool whip. The great this is that it’s pretty dense and rich so you really only need a small slice and could prob cut the slices even smaller! Even my non-Keto dinner guests said it was delicious!