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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…
The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
one thing i learned when I was losing weight and gaining muscle. I was building muscle faster than I was losing the fat. The muscle caused my weight to go up and down .. so I stopped weighing myself except at the Docs.
you are doing great my friend very proud of you! … It took me 62 years to be this goddess and as long as I am healthy it is very cool …
Thank you so much Julia, it is a journey indeed. But you don’t build muscle if you’re not moving! I know that will play a part as I exercise more but for most of the past 2 decades I’ve barely gotten out of my desk chair all day. It is good to get the blood circulating!
And good for you honey, the most important thing of all is that we accept and love ourselves just as we are in THIS moment no matter what the scale says, because if we don’t love ourselves now we will not embrace life as it opens up to us in myriad ways. I want and need to lose the weight but as I said in yesterday’s post most of all I want to LIVE, there is nothing more important than that. You GO! you beautiful Goddess! Good for you! 🙂
Congratulations Maitri. I’m glad you have found ways to move more that you enjoy. I also wondered whether all your gardening activities would be a help as well.
I have reached my goal weight, but still weigh myself almost every day. I no longer religiously track my intake but still only eat two meals a day. I have re-introduced some occasional higher carb vegetables on an occasional basis.
I agree that each person needs to figure out what works for them. I was already, and still am, exercising a lot. When my weight stalled I found what helped me was to fast one day a week. I also have a higher overall intake on one or two days a week. This feast/famine cycling is helpful for some people and it has worked for me.
Onward and downward! 🙂
Thank you Joan, and yes, exercise is key for me and I’m glad to be moving.
The interesting thing about the ketogenic diet is that once you are on it, and have eliminated all of the foods that you are no longer going to be eating, there is still a lot to learn. Some people cannot lose weight if they eat any dairy at all. Others find that even natural alternative sweeteners can stall them. Some people eat 3 meals a day and lose weight a lot faster than I ever did but then again there is the thing where you don’t have to eat many calories to stall or even gain if you are not moving at all! There is so much to learn in terms of what works for you as an individual.
There is a lady here in town who lost a TON of weight and has maintained it for a decade. She is religious about the diet 6 days a week but on Sundays she just BUSTS OUT and eats anything and everything she wants to. All kinds of non-keto foods. She says it keeps her on the straight and narrow the rest of the week and she has maintained her weight loss all these years. I have a friend here who went keto a few months after I did and admits that she “cheats” once in awhile and she has been losing weight a LOT faster than me. Our bodies are all so different.
Good for you to have lost the weight you wanted to lose and good for you for getting all that exercise. I have never liked to exercise, I am not going to join a gym (I did for a few months in 2016 and I hated it, it gave me panic attacks, I just couldn’t bear it!), but I can exercise at home, this works for me. As in every other aspect, we each find what works for us.
Onward and downward indeed. And as we say in Casey’s group, Keto ON! 😀
So true! BTW, I did watch The Magic Pill a few weeks ago and thought it was very good. One of my friends, who is a Weight Watchers follower, had watched it at someone’s recommendation and told me about it. She had heard me talk a little about keto but after watching ‘got it’. 🙂
Joan, isn’t The Magic Pill incredible? You know I have talked to other keto folks about this but the huge difference for me with keto are all of the amazing health benefits. What I mean by that is that I have been on every diet known to modern woman, I have been a member of Weight Watchers so many times I’ve lost count (Back to when I was in gradeschool and Weight Watchers was a brand new thing!). But they were ALL focused on weight loss, NOT on health. Yes, it’s healthy to lose weight but if you look at the food a lot of people eat on Weight Watchers or those prepackaged foods they are NOT healthy. Now I’m losing weight and that’s good but what’s happening for me in other areas than just weight loss is amazing for me. I never cared before about anything but losing weight. It’s quite something how “The diet industry” can push weight loss products that are pure crap, pardon me, healthwise. I am so grateful to have found the ketogenic diet and I am keto for life. I know I don’t have to tell you! 🙂
love the graphic!
can’t wait to listen to your play list and move and groove too
thanks for updating us about your temple beautiful
xoxo
ka
Thank you sweet Ka, hope you enjoy the music. I had a lot of fun putting it together. And today I have danced and ridden my bike, done keto cooking for the week ahead and Rachel will be here in an hour. I will make dinner for us and we are going to watch a movie. A very sweet day… 🙂
Love you honey…
M. xoxox
The keto way of life really suits you, I admire your willpower! xxx
Thank you Jenny, it does indeed. I have been on every diet known to modern woman since I was in gradeschool. Everything. Nothing has ever worked for me, or did to lose some weight but then I put it back on. Nothing has been sustainable. The ketogenic diet is difficult for some people because you must give up a lot of foods that people have eaten all of their lives but for me the transition was easy both because I was so ready and because of the amazing health results that happened really quickly. And I feel so good. Keto is a way of life for me. There is no going back. To each her own but this is a perfect fit for me and I’m so grateful to have come to this.
I hope you’re having a wonderful Sunday honey…
Congratulations. You’re doing a great job. I’m proud of you.
Thank you so much Paula! It feels good! 🙂
You have done such amazing things for yourself – very inspiring! They appear to be small steps- but what you have accomplished over the 365 journey (that is not over yet!) is a turn around in your life! You have made me think about my own goals (or seriously, the lack of goals) and so today I will sit down and and think of one small thing I can change for me. Thank you Maitri for sharing your journey! And happy dancing!! Dancing does make you body, mind and soul feel good. I think I found my first small thing! I will dance every day!
Thank you dear Lorraine, they feel like they have been very small steps indeed, some days almost invisible! But it’s amazing how they add up. And if you can choose one thing and stick to it every day, as I have these blog posts, even on the days that you don’t get anything else done doing your one thing is very empowering. There have been many a day when I could barely get the blog post done but I was deeply committed to doing it and just doing it and getting it up and out saved me on those days. Good for you, and good for you dancing, it does so much good, not just for the body, but for the mind. And on days when I don’t feel it I tell myself, “Just do the first song.” Once I’ve started I can get through 4 or 5, about 20 minutes, and that’s good enough if it’s all I can do. Just getting my body moving is the goal.
I wish you lots of luck. Let me know how you’re doing! 🙂