Keto success story from an ex-vegan

newbies
(Yogi Cat) #1

Hey dear Ketoers,

Here is my very long story. Before I start, here’s a little disclaimer: I personally know many vegans that are slim and healthy. It is not my intention to trash the vegan nutrition or veganism in any way or nor to argue that it’s wrong.

So here we go: I decided to go vegan two years ago. I was a regular yo-yo dieting vegetarian woman in her late thirties, doing yoga regularly and walking her 10.000 steps every day. I was overweight but not yet officially “obese” according to BMI by that time. I have had struggled with excess weight since I was a teenager and was always looking for a “cure” fo fix it all. One day I stumbled across Dr. Fuhrman’s book “Eat to Live” which advocates vegan nutrition. I was fascinated by the philosophy and was completely convinced that this was THE right thing to do. I was going to get super healthy, do something great for the environment and naturally shed pounds while saving the world. :grin:

I was definitely happy to shred some pounds off when I first started. But that didn’t last long and I ended up eating rice, noodles, falafel and hummus regularly instead of fresh veggies. I also discovered the packaged vegan “junk” food. Yeah, there is such a thing. I currently live in Germany, and in urban areas veganism is becoming quite the alternative super-cool life style option. There are a few vegan groceries and a couple of restaurants that serve only vegetarian & vegan foods. You can see a whole industry developing around vegan lifestyle. I was pretty happy about this, and enjoyed buying vegan cheese, vegan hotdogs, vegan cookies and vegan chips without feeling the least concerned. I thought, they were safe stuff and good for me because they were all vegan.

One might argue that consuming packaged and processed foods would actually goes against the principles of being vegan. I completely agree with that but you end up consuming those anyways because 1- it’s convenient, 2- you become highly carb addicted and 3- you’re constantly tired and crave snacks and sweets.

After spending a year as a vegan, I realized that things were getting out of hand. I had to go shop for new outfits because I was getting bigger. Some of the yoga poses became impossible for me. In fact I didn’t even had the energy or desire to do yoga. I was feeling tired, depressed and even experienced a couple of binge eating episodes. I gained about 10-15 kilos in one year. When I went back home, I went to see my doctor for a check-up and told him about my fatigue. He wanted to run a blood test but without even looking at the results he pointed out that my big belly was an indicator that I would probably end up having diabetes in 8-10 years.

This was a wake-up call. My father had in fact type-2 diabetes and being almost a carbon copy of my dad, this did not sound good at all. The lab results were pretty bad. Most of my bio-markers were going crazy (except for cholesterol, which was lower than I’ve ever had). My fasting insulin was 47 u/mL (standard range should be 3-19 u/mL). My doctor said I had a very high insulin resistance. He prescribed some drugs and gave me one extremely (!) useful advice: he told me to exercise and eat less! (Don’t you love this?) :roll_eyes:

I said, sure, I’ll do it. The drug he described suppressed my hunger, yet it had so many side effects and I had to stop taking it. I was just feeling terrible and like a complete failure. I decided going back to being vegetarian again, right around the time a miracle happened. I met a friend of mine and could not believe how much weight he had lost. He told me all about Keto and how he lost 15 kilos. He was pretty enthusiastic and he encouraged me to give it a try. I decided to check it out. I took me a while to get started but I did it.

I’m doing keto for two months now. Here’s what happened:

  • Survived a hard-core keto flu that completely knocked me over (I wasn’t listening to 2KetoDudes by then).
  • I tried to maneuver my way around being a vegetarian and doing keto for a while. After two weeks, I was convinced that I should eat meet and bought myself some, guess what, bacon. I’m no longer a vegetarian.
  • I’ve lost about 6 kilos, BUT my waist line is getting smaller although the number on the scale doesn’t change that quickly. Talk about non-scale victories! :grin:
  • I don’t think about snacking and food like I used to.
  • I cook more and I bring my own lunch to work.
  • My 78 year old mom got so impressed that she started doing Keto! She’s full on board and doing great.
  • My energy level is pretty good.
  • I started listening to my body. Or, shall I say, my body started “communicating” with me. I’m totally aware of my hunger, craving, moods and satiety.
  • Oh, and let me tell you about satiety! I don’t think I’ve ever felt it this intensely and clearly before. It’s my new best friend. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
  • I only eat when I’m hungry. Now… HOW COOL IS THAT?
  • I am in control of food, not the other way round. I’m the boss. :sunglasses:
  • I do a 24 hour IF every week now, the rest of the week goes 18-6.
  • I’ve had my first 36 hour fasting two days ago and couldn’t believe that I could do it.
  • Did I say my waist is shrinking? Yeah, my waist is shrinking. yay!:tada::confetti_ball::balloon: I can tie my shoe laces like everyone else now (if you don’t know what that means, just be glad.)
  • My friends and coworkers are not stressed out about finding a vegan or vegetarian meal option when we go out anymore.
  • I almost gave up alcohol, because I discovered that half a glass of wine on Keto equals two glasses of wine before Keto. Ask me how I know… :scream::sweat_smile:
  • I’m still not a great meat eater and have vegetarian days. I will try having a vegan/keto day at some point.

The results speak for themselves and people started noticing the changes. I’m getting questions, and answering them with great pleasure, telling them about Keto. I’m doing my share of paying it forward. I’ve already turned my mom, a friend and a coworker Keto. And I will go on sharing my knowledge with friends and family.

So, conclusion to this very long post:

This journey was almost like waking up from a bad dream for me. I might switch back to being a vegetarian maybe in the future once I get my blood insulin level under control and get fully fat adapted. If that happens though, I will make sure to check my bio markers, listen to my body AND not make the mistake of consuming high carbs, now that I know the science.

Listening to 2 Keto Dudes podcasts helped me really A LOT. I have learned a ton of new stuff.

Thank you Dudes, you rock! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

And thank you Keto Community! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Love,

Yogi Cat

(Daisy) #2

I was grinning all through your post, your enthusiasm and joy are contagious! Way to go!!

#3

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Wow, @yogicat, that’s a great testimony!

Thank you for sharing such a detailed post. Loved it! :+1:

(Carl Keller) #4

This is the best thing I’ve read in days. Keto really makes you enjoy the success of others and this definitely made me smile. Thanks for sharing this. :slight_smile:

(Yogi Cat) #5

Thank you all so much, it feels great to share my story :blush::smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #6

Your story is very similar to mine. I went to the doc because I was tired and had a headache for three months.

She asked me what I was eating and I said (so proudly) total vegetarian diet. It was as I was listing what I ate that it dawned on me… “Fruit, veg, cheese sandwiches, vanilla yogurt, lots of veggie Mexican, tortilla chips…tortillas…shit. Well shit!”

I didn’t get meds, but I was told to change my diet and exercise. It’s like being told to get healthy and stop feeling bad. Good luck.

Thanks for sharing. Once I got over the guilt of eating animals, I am overall doing very well. Keep up the great work.

(Randy) #7

“Hope” is a powerful feeling, huh? :sunny:

(Karen) #8

Many likes for this post! I wish I could talk my vegan daughter into reading it. She was a very healthy emotionally stable child who loved meat . When she went into middle school they showed a film about how poorly treated were food animals. She decided that she would go vegetarian and hope for vegan. In the meantime she’s been emotionally unstable, on and off and various prescription drugs, and doing lots of counseling, looking terrible, lots of inflammation. If I could only get her back to what her body craves.

#9

FYI, it is possible to do LC vegetarian or even vegan. The focus is on getting fat (and calories) from sources like nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, and edamame. A HFLC doesn’t need to be high protein.

I’m interested in optimal health, so my approach is basically LC Paleo, which includes limiting dairy. Convinced by the growing chorus of LC gurus warning of the dangers of large amounts of animal protein and the importance of vegetables, I’ve cut way back on meat and drastically increased vegetable consumption. Though it varies, I usually eat about 2 lbs of veggies, 0.5 pound of meat, 1-2 avocados, and 4-6 oz of nuts/seeds per day. This is about 70% calories from fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbs. I can maintain a state of ketosis eating like this in combination with intermittent fasting. YMMV.

Dr. Will Cole, a DC who practices functional medicine, wrote an excellent book about a plant based ketogenic diet:

(Annett McDavid) #10

Awesome story, YogiCat!
I was laughing, because I was just told today that Keto can be dangerous and I should go vegan!

(Yogi Cat) #11

Thank you @PetaMarie I definitely know what you mean by being “proud” and thinking if it’s vegetarian, it must be absolutely healthy and right.

Once I got over the guilt of eating animals, I am overall doing very well.

I experienced the same guilt problem and the transition was not that easy. I was pretty much grossed out by animal products, especially meat. Maybe you’ve experienced this too? It took me a while to get used to the smells and texture of the meat. The day I made meatballs (so bravely) all by myself was my turning point, though :slight_smile:

(Yogi Cat) #12

Thank ypu @dlc96_darren

Yeah the bacon is the answer, right? :grin: :bacon:
But it wasn’t that easy, you know took me some serious thinking and guts before I got that bacon. I’m glad I finally did :relaxed:

(Yogi Cat) #13

@Keto6468 this is a very difficult situation and know exactly what you mean. I was basically just like you daughter. I was approached by my friends and family who were concerned about my well being many many times. That just pushed me further being a vegan because I can be pretty stubborn. :grin:

I think the best thing you can do is just to set an example to your daughter by showing direct benefits of Keto/LCHF on yourself. I think she will see it for herself, do the math and hopefully educate herself on the science. It is also possible to have vegetarian LCHF, I’ve even seen vegan Keto blogs/websites.

(Yogi Cat) #14

@sitoga sure :grin:
Bacon and eggs could definitely kill us all :grin: :joy:
Let’s have some over-processed vegan soy cheese and vegan muffins with fake chocolate chips instead :smiley:

(Yogi Cat) #15

@4dml great information, thank you so much :+1:

This is definitely the direction I want to go in the future since I don’t really like meat all that much.
I will definitely check this this book out. :relaxed:

(Joanna Parszyk ) #16

I hope that there will be soon the same happening but where you used word “vegan” it will be replaced with “keto” or at least decent low carb

(Candace) #17

…so, how do you know? :wink: LOL

(Yogi Cat) #18

I hope so, too @Chipmunk

Keto will be and got to be the new cool!

(Yogi Cat) #19

It’s a saaad sad story :joy::joy: @cansel

(Debi) #20

I find myself in a similar position. I have been vegan for 6.5 years. Initially I lost 30lbs, but then my weight began creeping up and by year 3 I had gained back 20lbs. I started IF (just 14:10 and 16:8) and vegan and lost the 20. Fell out of the habit and the 20 came back. I was eating mostly plants - but did include potato chips and a fair amount of rice and bread and potatoes. My macros were all out of whack. I am a gymnastics coach ( adults and children) and one of my incredibly lean and strong female athletes is keto. I started asking her about it, and decided to try 3 months ( that was August) I am mostly vegetarian and eating a little shrimp now. I do love not eating animals ( although was vegan primarily for health reasons) I will be resuming no dairy soon because of the link between casein and cancer, but I very much like the perks of being keto. I am down 34lbs, but have hovered around 160 for the past 3 weeks (if this as as low as I go it is totally fine, I am an active gymnast myself, so have a lot of muscle and it is the lowest I have ever been since before kids (my competitive gymnastic weight was 145, but that was 1989 and before) but my scale has a fat calculator that is still decreasing almost daily. Just by .10, but I will take it. Most scales that do fat calculation are not super accurate, but down is down! My waist is slowly dropping as well, this morning it was 30.5 inches - again, numbers not seen since before kids 19 years ago. Even when I dropped the weight as vegan (to 171lbs and a comfortable size 12 - only one size up from my competitive years) my waist was 34.

The fact is, it is much easier to eat keto as a vegetarian (or full on meat eater) than a vegan. I still have days where I eat plant based, but in a pinch, if I am out of net carbs come dinner time a low carb egg and cheese something is much easier than planning low carb veggie protein meal.

Yes I have had a slice of bacon too!! I felt a little guilt, but I cant deny the taste is good. LOL

Thanks for sharing your story :slight_smile: