Two of my favorite activities are exercising and eating. For many years I believed that if I exercised enough I could eat whatever I wanted. I earned it, didn't I? However, I did not like the reflection I saw in the mirror. No matter how much I exercised, I was chronically 60 pounds overweight. In the past 10 years, I ran a marathon, nine half marathons, more 5K's than I can count, and even a 200-mile relay; however, the weight stubbornly stayed on.

In April 2020 my husband discovered Dr. Annette Bosworth (Dr. Boz) and read her book Anyway You Can: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079RLTKS9. The book tells the story of how she saved her mother's life by adopting the ketogenic diet.

In June 2020 @LeeAase started blogging about his and his wife's health journey, and I was inspired. At the same time I read Dr. Boz' book, and I was convinced that I needed to give keto a try. My husband and I followed Dr. Boz' course "Consistently Keto", and on September 7, 2020 we began in earnest. We dropped our total carbs to <20g per day, started measuring our urine ketones, and tracking our food using the Chronometer app. I intermittently fast 18:6--meaning I fast for 18 hours, and eat with a six hour window. To date, I lost 25 pounds, I have more energy and feel better than ever, and I am now training for my second marathon.

The hardest part about following the ketogenic diet was making the decision to do it because it is such a different way of eating. How can a diet that says that "bacon is good" and "apples are bad" be healthy? It required letting go of everything I thought was healthy and learning what truly is. I know this group is titled Low Carb/High Fat (LCHF); however, I think of it more as High Fat (as the first priority) and then Low Carb. On the first day of eating like this, my sugar cravings disappeared. I am rarely hungry because my body now taps into my stored body fat for energy rather than depending on carbohydrates. The volume of food I consume daily has decreased significantly. This is really the easiest thing I've ever done and the only thing that has ever worked. Keto is a piece of steak!

Jump to this post