The Keto Diet

At this point, I am sure that a lot of you have heard about the Keto Diet which is short for The Ketogenic Diet. It's a diet that is high fat, low carb, and moderate protein. The Keto diet has been gaining popularity and celebrities like Vinny from the Jersey Shore aka "The Keto Guido" have brought a lot of attention to eating this way. Before my wedding in 2017 I decided to give this diet a try as I had ordered a wedding dress three sizes too small and had 6 months to fit into my dress. I know, I'm totally crazy! Typically I don't do well on restrictive diets and always end up giving in and then going to town on sugar. I was a bit nervous to try out a high fat/low carb diet. You see, I'm a big sweets person. Giving up sugar seemed like it would be awful, but I really needed to drop the weight. When I first heard about the diet, it seemed a bit contradictory to everything that we've been taught about whats healthy and how you should eat to lose weight, but I did a lot of research and what I was reading made a lot of sense.  I had read about so many success stories. I decided that I really didn't have anything to lose and that I would give it a try, I needed a change.

In January 2017, I started working out about 4-5 times a week, watching what I eat and as a result I lost 10.6 pounds that month. My husband and I started the Keto diet February 15, 2017 and  I was hitting the gym 5-6 times a week. From that point until my wedding day I dropped a total of 55 pounds and felt completely amazing. In January, I weighed 269 pounds and in June I walked down the aisle at 216 pounds. The Keto Diet didn't make me feel restricted like I thought it would. I was able to eat so many foods that I enjoyed. Surprisingly, I didn't crave sweets like I used to. I also found that my acne had mostly cleared up and my skin looked the best it had since I was about 11 years old. I have always struggled with acne and had problem skin. Before going Keto I thought that I had a sensitivity to dairy as anytime I ate cheese or moderate amounts of dairy I would get an upset stomach, but my stomach issues cleared up. I think that by me eliminating sugar and gluten from my diet it really cleared up a lot of the issues I was experiencing.

Nathan and I decided that for our honeymoon, we would treat ourselves and eat however we wanted. Well, we kinda spiraled and continued that after the honeymoon. I found a million excuses to I found skip the gym, eat whatever I wanted and of course drink beer. This lead to my weight gain and here I am almost at my starting weight again. My clothes are tight, I can see the gains in my face and other areas of my body  and my energy levels have been so low. My acne is back to being problematic and some of my stomach issues have returned. I did briefly try weight watchers and I liked that there was a lot of freedom and less restriction with the diet. I also loved the weight watchers app, but I haven't found it to be as good of a fit for me personally as when I was doing Keto. All of that to say is that I am going to start eating high fat, low carb, moderate protein again and Im really excited to share my journey with you all.

I will post updates on my progress as well as recipes of Keto recipes I love and enjoy. For the time being, here are a few pictures of my progress from 2017 doing the Keto Diet and exercising. If I did it before, I can do it again!

Please note that I am not a nutritionist or doctor and am not qualified in any way to give medical advice. I am just simply sharing what has worked for me. Please consult with your doctor before trying any new diet plans to find the right fit for you.