I was pretty fat and didn’t even realize it. However I was unhappy and that I knew for sure. Taking care of myself, thinking positive, being grateful, eating well and exercising were staples in my life but suddenly no more. We, my husband and I, were eating crappy fast food and sugar-filled snacks, drinking heavy beer, always leisuring never really being active. Where hiking a beautiful state park was a motivator to get moving that motivation was replaced by going to the store for more food or alcohol. In fairness there was a lot going on in our lives. Nearly lost a dear friend to depression and suicide. Two other dear friends died unexpectedly, just months apart. Medical issues. Financial woes. You name it, we were going through it. So self-care became non-existent. I was emotionally ravaged. Unambitious. Clouded. Basically I had given up. To the point I was just existing, not even living.
I had not a weight problem but I weight symptom. My weight gain was the product of my self-abuse. Self-abuse is the equal opposite of self-care. By me giving up on myself, my body had started giving up too. I was having various GI issues, I had believed I was lactose intolerant, I thought I had ulcer because I couldn’t handle spicy foods. And then I became depressed about my weight because I knew it was holding me back. When you’re the “face” of a brand, when your job is to market and brand your business which is based upon your image, not feeling confident in getting in front of folks to tell them your story is a huge problem. Thus my business suffered. The effects of not taking care of myself aka living well was destroying every aspect of my life.
My husband was overweight, depressed, suffering from many medical woes, including diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, chronic headaches and migraines. His bathroom cabinet was a mini-pharmacy filled so many medication and prescription bottles, injection needles, etc. He wasn’t practicing self-care either and he’s an accomplished healthcare professional. And when two people are grappling with a series of traumas and medical issues they aren’t going to be the best person to be around. Not a healthy environment for a happy marriage. The effects of not taking care of ourselves was destroying us.
A single picture was catalyst to say enough is enough.
I had received a group picture from a baby shower we attended. I was horrified by the sight of myself. “OMG, is that what I look like?”, I thought. The receipt of picture was divined timing. Because instead of reaching for a bottle or fast food, I reached a conclusion. I’m in this state because of self-abuse so why use more self-abuse to self-soothe. I’m getting off this roller coaster. And I did…using a Ketogenic (Keto) diet, intermittent fasting and exercise.
What is a Ketogenic diet?
As defined on Wikipedia The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat difficult-to-control (refractory) epilepsy in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose, which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in fueling brain function. However, if little carbohydrate remains in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The ketone bodies pass into the brain and replace glucose as an energy source. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood, a state known as ketosis, leads to a reduction in the frequency of epileptic seizures.
The Ketogenic Diet doesn’t actually do anything. You do. Keto is just a road map…it was my job to GPS the route, figure out the stay overs, get the oil change, fill up gas tank and wiper fluids, pack up the car and drive for a thousand miles. Keto showed me the way but I had to do it. Which is why I changed this original article title from “Keto Saved Our Lives” to “I Saved My Husband’s and My Life With Keto & Self-Care“. I researched and read up, I’ve bookmarked a gazillion Keto success stories for over a year, I found recipes and created weekly meal plans, did the grocery shopping, made the food and packed lunches nearly EVERYDAY for last several weeks. It worked! And it worked very quickly. We felt great right away. We were satisfied, appetite-wise..never hungry. And once the sugar and carb cravings wore off after about the first three days, it has been really nothing but smooth sailing.
The Results
As of this article date, we’ve lost 50 pounds combined since July 28, 2019. I’ve decreased my body fat from 28.1% to 14.5% which is near that of athletes. Reduced my metabolic age, BMI, subcutaneous and visceral fat. I also realized I didn’t have GI issues, I’m not lactose intolerant (hello cheese!) and I don’t have an ulcer (hello Mexican food!).
Now weight loss is great and all but want to hear something really mind-blowing and amazing? My husband’s doctor took him off 5 medications that controlled his diabetes and hypertension. As a matter of fact, the results of his most recent medical exam two weeks ago reveals he is medically undetectable for diabetes or high blood pressure. Meaning HE NO LONGER HAS EITHER! And before we started Keto he was having about 25-30 migraine days per month at one point and that was lowered to about 15 per month after he started taking a very strong injection per month. As of this writing, he has had NOT ONE MIGRAINE since we started Keto. He hasn’t even had complaint of a headache, which is extremely rare.
So when you’re looking good, feeling great, sleeping fantastic, thinking clearer, practicing self-care, and being grateful, you end up being a lot nicer to everyone around you. You become more fun to be around. Life becomes richer and living well makes nothing but perfect sense. We’re pretty happy living well and that I know for sure!
