Keto Lifestyle

I have been following the Keto lifestyle for over a year now.  Initially it was a last attempt to lose weight.  I had tried so many other methods of weight loss that I figured I would give it one more go around.  I went into this with zero expectations.  I didn't think it would work because nothing else did, at least not long term.

I should probably take a step back and explain the 6 months earlier I went low carb to try to lose weight.  I started working out every day, no matter how tired I was.  I lost 20 pounds after about 4 months.  Then my weight stayed.  It started to creep  back on in little bits.  I was tired of it.

Going into Keto, I decided that the only way it would work was if I didn't have to count calories or macros.  I knew that if this was the case I would not stick with it.  I have a busy and stressful life, and if I wanted to give this a chance it needed to be as simple as possible.

My new diet started out by removing the non Keto foods.  I did not find substitutes for things at all.  No Keto baked goods, bread or desserts.  Instead I concentrated on the foods I was already eating that were Keto friendly.  I slowly started trying new foods as well.  My goal was to keep my diet high fat, while keeping it as simple as possible.

I waited a month before weighing myself.  I was surprised to see that I had lost a decent amount of weight.  From that point on the weight seemed to just fall off.  I was dropping clothing sizes pretty fast.  It was awesome, but it also brought out a bunch of other problems for me.  I knew if I did actually lose weight that I would have to deal with the psychological impact of it at some point.  When this hit, it hit hard.  It made me do a lot of evaluating of my life, actions,goals, needs and wants.  It forced me to come face to face with a lot of psychological baggage I had buried deep for a long time.  I started to realize some things, and make changes in my life.  Baby steps to future goals.

It's funny, looking back, that I was worried about the cost of replacing clothing if I did manage to lose weight and keep it off.  In reality that was an insignificant result of the journey.

I have been maintaining for 7 months now.  I have to say, maintaining is more difficult than the losing of the weight.  It is worth it though.  This is a lifestyle change, not a quick weight loss and then reverting back to old eating habits.  I have never felt better eating this way.