First post in Lose it. I have posted in progress pics and xxketo before, but I wanted to introduce myself to all of you lovely people! This may be long, a lot to unpack :-)
I had a wake up call in December of 2017. I was a mother or 2, a wife, a hard worker. I was also 204 pounds at 5'7". My knees and back hurt all the time. Blood work from doctor came back horribly, probably insulin resistant, Vitamin D deficient. All related to my obesity. There I said it, I was obese. I was in denial for so long, but that is what I had become.
January 1st, I went strict Keto. Carbs below 20 a day, I also counted calories, because I wanted to do it right this time. The first month was rough. I realized I was addicted to sugar. The hunger, the stomach issues, the..ahem...bowel issues were bad for the first few weeks, then subsided. I lost 14.8 pounds that first month.
I managed to keep up Keto and 1200-1300 calories for 7.5 months. In that time frame, I went over carbs maybe 3 times, calories, usually right at or under 1250. After 30 pounds down, people started noticing I was losing weight. They asked me how and of course "The first rule of Keto is, Don't talk about Keto" so I would just say I cut out sugar and processed foods.
In mid July, after I had lost just about 50 pounds, I came to realize that I couldn't keep up this way of eating forever. Denying myself an entire food group would never last long term, it just wasn't possible for me to never again eat a piece of pizza, or eat an apple for crying out loud! My weight loss had slowed so much! I lost 7 pounds in 2 months, and it was really getting to me that I was counting calories AND carbs and I was barely losing anything. That is when I started researching other ways of eating that would be more acceptable to my life, and more manageable in the long term. I have realized that the only way for me to lose the remainder and maintain it was CICO. If I kept denying myself a food group, I was going to drop right back into my old bad habits. I could feel it starting to happen already. I was still strict Keto, but I could feel my old thinking patterns creeping back. I would go over on calories, so I would eat a bunch of cheese, or pepperoni, or peanuts. I could feel my mind starting the old "justifying the bad habits", the "well, I am over on calories already, might as well go WAY over on calories" That bullcrap. I am sure some of you know what I mean :-)
While I would recommend KETO to anyone who has problems with sugar, and wants to lose weight, I wouldn't recommend it as a long term solution. To me, it was a way to fix my body, my hunger, and my brain. I have always had a problem with "rewarding" myself with food. KETO made it easy to get past that. It reset my way of thinking about food. It taught me a lot about what my body needs to feel good.
In August, I went on a family vacation, and that was when I transitioned to CICO. I did move my calories to maintenance for our trip, about 1500-1700 calories a day, with exercise. That worked pretty good. Came home and went back to 1200-1300 calories a day. I ended up stalling out for all of August. Starting in early September, I started "cycling" my calories. I eat 5 days at 1200-1250, then I go up to around 1400-1500 for 1-2 days. Repeat. Finally, mid September, I dropped to 151.2 and that is where I have been since. I actually saw a 148 on the scale the other morning, but I have to see the same number for at least 2 days in a row before I count it, and this one didn't last for 2 days. Oh well, I know it is there, waiting for me!
Keto did teach me that I have to watch my sugar. It did teach me how to avoid fast food. It did teach me how to be satisfied on 1200 calories a day (lots of veggies and protein!) It also taught me that it isn't sustainable for everyone, and I am one of those "everyones".
If you made it this far, thank you for reading! Face progress pics below :-)
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