I started keto in April 2017. At that time, I was a 54 year old menopausal woman. I was skeptical. My husband found the keto information and said, “I think this will work for you”. I was thinking it was just another gimmick, but I was desperate so I started reading about keto and why it works and it made sense. Not things like pepper makes you burn more calories or cinnamon makes you burn more calories, but things like hormones can keep us from burning our body fat and keeping insulin low by eating low carb allows our bodies to burn it. It isn’t only about calories, if it is about them at all. I’m not quite sure of that yet. I was hooked. I had been getting heavier and heavier even though I was very active and didn’t overeat. My biggest contributor to my weight gain was having 10 children. I just never could lose the baby fat. So I bought books and read how to do keto. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right. I got an app to track everything I ate. It didn’t go in my mouth until it was entered on my app. Lol. I was strict. Trying to stay as close to zero carbs as possible. Lower is better. Right? 1200 calories a day. That’s what I was doing on calorie restrictive diets and wasn’t able to lose weight but it seemed like as good a place to start as any. And like I said earlier, I am very active so I just kept doing my activities and wow. The weight started coming off. A lot of weight. I lost 90 pounds in 5 months. 5 pounds short of my goal and according to the weight charts, just barely within the normal weight for someone my height. I was so pumped. I even got a personalized license plate for my car that says KETO ON. A personalized plate is another first for me. Lol. I spent the next year trying to reach my goal and I finally did but I feel like I am just too thin at that weight so have decided as long as I can wear my clothes that I bought when I was at 165 lbs at 5’8", which by the way is a size ten. ( I haven’t been there since before high school). I was okay with that. I now weigh 175 and definitely feel that I have gained some of the muscle back that I felt like I was losing by getting so thin so I don’t look so emaciated. I don’t track anything anymore, I stopped that last summer but just eat whatever I want as long as it is keto. I know what that is by now. So that was my story in a nutshell. Now for my family. Like I said, I have 10 children. Of them, several could benefit from keto. First one to give keto a shot was my oldest son. His goal was to lose 50 pounds. He lost 40 or so and was so much more comfortable and content at that weight that he decided he would stop there. Then I talked my oldest daughter into giving it a shot who is a very bad type two diabetic. She stayed with me for a month doing keto and we got her blood sugars under control but didn’t have any success with her weight so the blood sugar improvement wasn’t enough to keep her doing keto so she got discouraged and gave it up. I did more research about diabetics and keto after that and that was when I found the info on insulin. She was taking insulin shots so it was no wonder she didn’t lose weight, the insulin was working hard to KEEP all of her fat. I wish I could get her to give keto another try but she isn’t ready yet. Next was another daughter. I think she wanted to lose 30 and maybe lost 20. Decided no calorie sweetener was okay. That led to carb cravings and went back to eating the SAD. She was able to keep some of the weight off but admits she should probably still lose more. So that was where we were until this past month. My youngest daughter, who is only 11, was getting very overweight. She was all about carbs. Loves everything sweet, BUT, she likes steak too. 
She had been noticing that her tummy was bigger than she wanted and kids were saying mean things to her about her weight so I explained the hormonal reason for her weight problem and she agreed to give keto a try. Short term of course. But hopefully it will help her for the rest of her life. She has been doing keto for 3 weeks and lost 20 pounds. I know. That is a lot but her body just works well on keto. After starting her out on high fat and no carbs, once she went into ketosis which was probably within a week, she just is never hungry. But she has more energy than she ever did on all the carbs. We ride bikes together and she used to have to push her legs with her hands because her legs hurt. But now she rarely feels like she needs to do that. It is so wonderful to see her getting to a weight that will keep her from being bullied. She is about 5’4" and still weighs 160, but I am hoping that she’ll be able to stick with it for another month or so and get down to 140. Giving up carbs at that age is really tough and she has been doing a really great job. We will have to try to figure out a compromise when she comes off keto so that when she starts eating carbs again she doesn’t just pack the pounds back on but I think we’ll be able to figure something out. I have another son and daughter using keto right now just trying to shed a little body fat and are both having good results. Hoping they will reach their goals by the end of the summer. Then there is my husband. Lol. He didn’t have a lot of extra weight, but he admitted he could stand to lose a few pounds but his triglycerides were very high last time he had blood work. I told him that when I had my blood work 9 months after starting keto, mine were 45. His are almost 500. The doctor wants to start him on drugs to try to bring it down. I suggested keto. He sees my little girl losing the weight, he sees my results, but he likes his sweets with his coffee so he was really resistant to taking the keto plunge but he is 4 days into his keto journey and has already lost 5 pounds so is so excited. I have explained that it is only water weight but he doesn’t care. Lol. It is weight. I am hoping he will stay on the keto for at least 3 months and then go have his triglycerides checked again. Hopefully they will have come down enough to encourage him to stick with the keto to get it down to a safe level. We’ll see. Overall. Keto has been a godsend for my family. Several members have been successful with their keto journey. One disappointing result due to my lack of knowledge and only one child that could benefit greatly from it that hasn’t given it a try. Mainly because she went to culinary school and they are all about feeding everyone lots of carbs and convince their students that keto is bad. But the results the rest of the family has had is going to be hard to argue with so I have hope for her too. This has been a long post and if even one person is encouraged by it to change their life by adopting a keto WOE it will be worth it. I truly believe that the high carb SAD is behind so much of the health problems we see in the world. I hope the medical profession as a whole will recognize their role in the poor health of people and learn how to use keto to get us back on track to healthier lives.
My keto life
First of all, congrats on your success Martha. You’ve come a long way and have stayed with it, which in the long run is what matters. You’ve no doubt added more years with your kids to your life.
Secondly, I think the fact that many of your kids have given it a try speaks volumes about the effect modeling has on our children. They watched you struggle, find a better way, and have success with it. You’ve researched and are a great resource for them as they begin their own journey. I’m most excited for your 11 year old. It’s a great time to learn how her body works, what effect she can have on it and how to feel her best.
I was surprised to hear that culinary school also advocates a high carb diet. The message is coming from yet another corner of the food world that I wouldn’t have thought of. Hopefully watching her siblings look and feel better will inspire her. Family generally has more influence over us than the outside world.
Thank you. I am so happy that there are so many places to get good keto info. So much bad nutritional information that needs to be dispelled.
She doesn’t have to ever go off Keto, @KidKeto has just made a new subforum on here for teens doing Keto, and I know she is pre-teen but still, she should join his forum on here and talk, and meet other kids in her age range doing Keto =).
Welcome back to the forum, Martha, and wow 10 kids (I thought I was busy with my 5!). You have done awesome, major congrats to you.
I commend you for getting so many of your children into Keto too, that is really awesome. I hope that your hubby with stick with it too. Best wishes for health and happiness for all of your family, you are certainly a great cheerleader for Keto, well done!!
Hi Martha, Great intro story. As you seem to have discovered keto works as a lifestyle. Not so great as a weight loss diet. Returning to a carb diet means returning to your former body 95% of the time.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with your youngest daughter adopting keto as her way of eating on a regular basis if she keeps getting healthier and is happy with her accomplishment. It’s never to early to adopt healthy eating habits. There’s plenty of parents with keto kids around the forum. Kids who’ve done it for some time and grow into very healthy teens. This is the time for her get early health, metabolism and body optimization while she’s still growing. Which it sounds like she’s headed for.
As for you Culinary School daughter, I didn’t go to culinary school, but I worked in restaurants and bakeries my whole life. It is the mark of a great cook to be able to utilize whatever’s on hand to create delicious food. I worked 20 years cooking Chinese food with all the carb and sugar heavy ingredients. I find great pleasure using my skills to create keto versions of foods that I loved before. Think of it like someone converting to a vegetarian diet and making vegetarian versions of what they loved, (except I moved in the correct direction!). Anyway it’s unfortunate that we can’t help everyone, keep being a good example is your best bet. Just out of curiosity why did you feel too thin at 165?
Just so bony. Bump your elbow and it is painful. Try to sleep on your side and your knees pressing together is painful. Sit in a highback wooden chair and the shoulder blades pushing against the wood is painful. Just me.
I don’t know if that is even an option. She loves her carbs and is getting very depressed about being keto. It makes her cry. I really do think her issue is insulin related. We really will have to work it out. Maybe after hitting a good weight
she’ll decide she doesn’t want to chance gaining weight he weight back and will try to stay low carb. Idk.
If she joins that section of the forum that @KidKeto has just set up today, it might be interesting for her to talk to other young people in her age range doing Keto as well, and get ideas, etc.
There are a bunch of Keto Deserts and treats that you could make her, that would make her be less upset about missing out on them. Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and even SAD type things in Keto form, like bread, pizza, etc. There are a lot of recipes in the Recipe section of the forum.
I only am concerned because I don’t want her to end up like me; I was an athlete and started dieting when I was her age, and ended up with eating disorders of anorexia nervosa and bulimia, and yoyo dieting all my life until this past February when I found Keto.
I just think if you could convince her to keep on track then in the long run she will be very thankful to you that you did, and thought if she is talking to other kids her age on here she would be more motivated, etc. to stay on track.
This is the sub-section of the forum I am talking about:
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/c/community/keto4adolescents
Thanks for sharing your experience Susan. I am definitely concerned about "what after Keto " for my daughter. I am 57 and do have occasional high carb days but I have been keto for over two years and just go right back to keto the next day.
I know it is early on in her keto life but I let her have a high carb day two weeks in and we’ve both been paying the price since. Her having carb cravings and me listening to her saying how miserable she is. I will look at the kidketo and show it to her explaining
it is just to help her see that she isn’t the only kid out there doing this. If she can decide to do it for herself it will be so much better. Thanks for sending me the information links.
I have to admit something, it’s mindset that really determines if she’s gonna stay on it. What does she desire from it? Because I found my happy place doing keto, that’s why I’m having the word keto in my grave. (Sarcastically) But really, It’s tough finding people my age because well, it’s more than a weight loss of body recomposition tactic. It’s a whole another relationship with your body and food, and to be honest, I don’t feel like pushing keto on anyone after they say “this is too hard” or “I don’t want to do this”, and it’s this kind of attitude that doesn’t promise consistency and adherence to the ketogenic lifestyle.
But the last thing I want your daughter doing is “buying the egg white omelette and fruit cup breakfast” at the diner and punching in macros on my fitness pal before the food gets to the table. Trust me I’ve been there sadly…
Yes. I don’t want that either. I am glad you were able to become a successful keto eater for life at such a young age. I know it would be easier for her if I was a good cook but I’m not so I have to keep my keto pretty simple. Breakfast is my favorite meal to cook. Pretty hard to mess up bacon and eggs. Lol.
Martha.
It’s a pleasure to see that your results sparked a desire in your loved ones to also try LCHF. Thanks for sharing your story. Best wishes to you and all those you spoke of.
Thank you. My post today was mostly to recognize my 11 year old daughter’s accomplishment. I want all those parents out there to know keto can work for our children too. No one wants their child to grow up dealing with the prejudice directed
towards overweight children and it is great knowing we can give them the hope of being able to control their weight.