Dance It Out Mama!

Would you like to dance with me? Click here to go to my YouTube playlist!
(And fyi you will have to click the “Skip Ad” button on some of the songs
when they are starting!)

I have not written about my journey on the ketogenic diet for some time. This is because while I was staying on it religiously not a whole lot was happening other than ongoing good health markers. My weight just wasn’t moving.

To briefly recap for those of you who don’t know my story I started on the Ketogenic diet on October 11 (Tomorrow will be my 8 month anniversary.) at 333 pounds. I lost 25 pounds in the first 2 months and then stalled for the next 4 months, and then I had a wee tiny bit of movement but I couldn’t for the life of me get under about 303. The beginning of April I broke 300 and in the last 2 months got as low as 295 but would inch up and down. I never went over 300 again but I inched up towards it. For some time now I have hovered at 295. BUT THEN this week I have lost 7.2#! Last Monday I weighed 295.4. Today I weighed in at 288.2.

What has changed for me? Exercise. Plain and simple. In 8 months I have not had ONE BITE of anything not on the ketogenic diet. I have followed Casey’s (I have followed Casey Durango on keto since I started last fall. She has worked with Dr. Eric Westman from Duke University for some time, has a website, huge YouTube Channel, and I follow her on Patreon where I get her videos every morning.) advice, I have tracked what I’ve eaten, have always been 20 grams of carbs or less, most days much less, and have averaged 900-1200 calories, most often on the low end, sometimes less than 900. I do have BulletProof coffee every morning. I tried not having it when I stalled for so long but I went weeks not having it and still didn’t lose weight, started having it again and didn’t gain weight, so went back to having it because I like it so much and I feel the coconut oil in it is important for my brain health. I have written often about the fact that while I had a lot of weight to lose I went keto to try to help my mental health and amazingly, after 2 months on keto, was able to go off all 3 psych meds which I am successfully still off today. Research shows amazing properties of coconut oil for the brain so for me the BulletProof coffee is part of my health protocol. It works for me. I wouldn’t begin to suggest what anyone else should do and it doesn’t work for some people. As Casey says do what works for you.

So, the thing is I have racked my brain and done all the research I possibly could into why I could be eating the perfect ketogenic diet and stall for 4 months and just not hardly be losing weight. I have found the answer, for me. It was lack of exercise. For a very long time now I have led such a sedentary life I have hardly moved all day long. As a vascular surgeon said “If you’re not going to run the lawn mower you don’t need to put gas in it,” inotherwords it takes very few calories at all to gain, or not lose, weight if you are not moving!

Now I am not talking about going to a gym, I don’t even get out and walk for exercise. It is hard for me to leave my house and I have issues with my feet from having broken them badly some years back and then having neuropathy in them from years of being prediabetic (Which I no longer am thanks to keto!) A year and a half ago I bought a recumbent bicycle which I used for a very short time and it has been gathering dust ever since. Recently I looked at it warily and thought, well, maybe if I exercise I will lose weight a little faster.

I thought I would die. 5 minutes seemed impossible. I could barely do it. Then I worked my way up to 10 minutes. Yesterday 11 1/2 minutes (I am working my way up to 15 minutes now.) And in addition to that I did something for fun that has just been a huge thing. I made up a Playlist on youtube of fun songs from the 70’s to the present. The play list is 45 minutes and I only once got through the whole thing but last night I made it through 30 minutes. I put it on and I DANCE! Now, as I get through it I might just be stepping around in a dancey sort of way but I keep moving, and it’s fun, and I sweat like a pig. I dance, I take time to rest for awhile, and I use my bicycle. The results…

Last Monday I weighed 295.4. Here’s the rest of the week…

Tuesday: 293.4
Wednesday: 292.8
Thursday: 291.4
Friday: 290.0
Saturday: 289.4
Sunday: 288.2

Now, I know that I will fluctuate, that I won’t keep losing at this rate, that there may be stalls, but for me following what Casey says, 20 grams of carbs or less, fatty sources of protein, only eat when I’m hungry, stop when I’m satiated, AND EXERCISING is what is working. In a way the old “Eat less, move more,” IS working because early on I was eating “a perfect” ketogenic diet but I was eating too much. Beginning to track my calories was an eye opener, and noticing how often I ate when I really wasn’t hungry was too. Most days I have my bulletproof coffee and then eat one meal a day, dinner, though sometimes I will have a very light snack in the afternoon if I’m really hungry. The amazing thing about the ketogenic diet, when your body burns fat for fuel and not sugar, is that you honest to God lose your appetite. I have found it shocking but anyone on the ketogenic diet will tell you that. And your body is burning fat reserves on your body. You are not “starving.” And you eat when you are hungry, good, ketogenic food.

My blood sugar is normal, my blood pressure, which had risen to the point that I would have been put on blood pressure medicine is normal, I am off all psych meds, and physically I feel better than I ever thought I would in my lifetime. The P.A. who has managed my psych meds for some time — now I just go for a check in every 3 months — said to me a few weeks ago, “You are a miracle! I wish all of my patients would go on the ketogenic diet!” What removing sugar and carbs from your diet does — except for some carbs from vegetables — is nothing short of a miracle. For anyone interested I highly recommend you watch the documentary called The Magic Pill. It is available on both Netflix and Amazon. I had already been on the ketogenic diet and committed to it for some time when I saw it but it is nothing short of astonishing. And I’m telling you right now that those who say the ketogenic diet is “dangerous” very likely have a vested interest in “Big Pharma.” I absolutely believe that with all my heart.

So that’s me. I know that our bodies are all very different, that we lose weight at different rates, and that different things work for different people. Because I shared so often (And moaned and wailed and complained!) about stalling for so long and not losing weight very fast when I finally did see a little movement I thought I also needed to share my good news, my success.

Thanks for listening, for being here. I didn’t want to “keto” everyone to death so I haven’t been writing about it much but I did want you to know that I am still following the diet, am absolutely committed to it, and that it has changed my life in more ways than I know how to express. I will keep you updated as time goes along…