I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. (Or on the internet for that matter). Recently, I’ve had many people contact me regarding my success following a ketogenic way of eating. So this is my disclaimer going forward, I am not handing out medical advice. Always consult with your doctor before starting on any type of diet or lifestyle change whatsoever. The information I share is readily available online and I’m not claiming to have made any medical breakthroughs. My own doctor is still skeptical of this way of eating (WOE), but he is open to what I have to say, and sometimes that’s all we can ask of them. Most medical professionals today are reluctant to support such a radical approach to eating since it goes against much of what they were taught in medical school. Lately, major news outlets such as CNN, have been publishing articles criticizing a lot of the low carb/high fat (LCHF) types of diets. But when it comes down to it, if you really read, their only substantial complaint is that they are difficult to stick with due to their highly restrictive nature.
With that being said, I am excited to share with people my experiences so far. In my opinion, it’s been nothing short of remarkable. Like so many others, I started following keto to lose weight. I’ve been a runner for many years now, and it has been something of a life line for me. When I got pregnant with my second child, I was so sick the whole time that exercising just wasn’t an option. After I had the baby, I was pretty skinny from yakking my guts up for 9 months, so again I put off running. The kid was and still is a handful. I could barely stay up past 7pm let alone find the energy to workout. When you run regularly, you get used to eating and drinking anything you want for the most part, and still remaining relatively in shape. Besides the obvious physical benefits of running, I also reaped psychological rewards. Running is my “church” so to speak. It’s where I go to clear my head, work through my daily issues, and remind myself why it’s wrong to choke people out.
I resolved in January of 2017 that I was going to get back into running for sanity’s sake. I did well for a short while until an ankle injury in March of 2017 sidelined me. Things really started to spiral out of control. I was drinking my face off, eating like shit, and contemplating hurting myself and others. I posted something on Facebook about eating a pint of ice cream for dinner, and a friend mentioned that he could eat a certain brand and not feel guilty because it was keto friendly. I didn’t give it much thought until my PT mentioned it again during a session. I was speaking with him about my physical and mental state brought on by my inability to run. He, again, mentioned keto. I checked into it and learned that it was a very low carb approach to eating. So I figured I’d give it a shot. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I cut out what I thought were all carbs for like two weeks and nothing was happening. WTF. At a later visit to my PT he asked if I had tried keto and I said yea, and the shit doesn’t work. He asked me what I had eaten, and as I listed my food choices he started laughing. He proceeded to tell me that everything I was eating still had carbs. Well, crap. He told me to start reading labels. ALL OF THEM. I was flabbergasted by the amount of carbs in things I never would have expected. My morning coffee creamer had more carbs in it than my entire daily allowance. The vegetables I thought I was being good eating were loaded with carbs. Even my goddamn bacon had carbs. I felt like an idiot, like I should have known better. But that was then, I am now a fervent label reader. And you will be, too.
My goal with this blog/website is not only to share my experiences and knowledge, but also to help others who are interested in trying keto. It works, I can assure you of that much. But the beginning is difficult, I’m not going to sugar-coat shit. This isn’t a WOE where you can cheat, or yo-yo, or half ass it. You can however, with some measure of discipline and prep, live and eat pretty normally without feeling like you’re sacrificing foods that you love. I’ll share recipes, both mine and others, and will be here for questions and support.
Thanks for reading and as always, your feedback is appreciated.❤
~nicole