My one year update

#1

Hi all! I meant to post something yesterday, but life got busy!

Anyway, yesterday was my one year anniversary of joining this forum. At least, I think it was! I’ve been on Keto since August 26, 2018, so it’s been over a year now. This is, I think, going to be my “normal” way of eating from now on. I feel so much better than I did before Keto, including the years before all my weight gain.

Since joining I have learned a LOT by reading everyone’s accountability threads and all the questions and answers throughout this forum. So, thank you all for the great education!

I realized at some point that even though I didn’t ever feel hungry, I was eating way too little. Months ago I began to add more food in daily and have brought my total calories up several hundred. Occasionally I end up with only around 1200, but that’s not often. Mainly, I add butter or fattier cuts of meat to accomplish the increase.

I continue to lose weight at around a pound every one or two weeks, so I’m happy.

While I rarely get to sit down in front of my computer for long any more, I do keep this forum up and read whenever I get a few minutes. I love all the various discussions and science!

(Susan) #2

Congratulations on your one year Forum Anniversary and over a year of doing Keto. Best wishes for your continuing and lifetime Keto journey.

#3

Thank you, Susan. I enjoy reading your thread and of all you have learned! You are doing great and are an inspiration to many! I think that it was partly due to your own questions and experiences that I have increased how much I am eating. :smile:

(Susan) #4

Oh, great =). I hope that it is going well for you =).

#5

Yes, it is working out pretty well. Weight loss has slowed, but at this point I am more concerned with health. In total, I’ve lost… lets see… 170 lbs, so I’m very happy with that!

(Marianne) #6

Good for you! It is amazing how quickly time can pass, especially when you adopt something comfortably. I feel the same way about keto - it isn’t work at all. I love the way we eat; my husband does, too. I don’t fuss or toil, but our meals are still so delicious. I don’t obsess about weight, food, my body, or anything anymore. What a miracle.

#7

You are SO right! Unfortunately, my husband isn’t a convert to keto (yet). My teen sons are “seeing the light” and more convinced, but aren’t yet ready to give up all the carbs. The younger three (15 yo, 17 yo and 18 yo) are definitely making much better choices these days. My eldest (almost 20) is eating pretty high carb these days but I provide good family meals.

All but the youngest have part time jobs at fast-food places and are tempted by the food. I spend a lot of time saying, “Don’t snack between meals” and “Don’t drink the soda.” :grin:

At home I work to cut out carbs or replace them with low carb versions, but my husband keeps asking for his bread/rice/potatoes and so I provide that for him.

I don’t have a paid job but stay home taking care of a relative with dementia. No one else wants to take on this responsibility and she is now is past helping much with diet and only wants sweet things, hardly eating anything else. Makes me so sad. She always ate cheap, inexpensive prepared foods and this is her reward for being thrifty. Awful!

(Susan) #8

This is fantastic, you should be so proud of yourself. This is such an inspiration to me, personally, as I have lost 52 so far and I still have around 120 to go, so I am very encouraged by this. Especially since my body seems to lose about 1 pound a month, and it feels like it will take me literally ages to lose the rest.

#9

You are doing fantastic! Honestly, you inspire me.

Weight loss is really personal and different for everyone. Keto is healing. This is the most important part of “being” keto. I personally, didn’t know how much damage I was doing to my body by eating “healthy” foods marketed by all these companies who are just out to make money off of me.

For years and years I tried cutting back on what I was eating and would lose weight for a few weeks and then gain it all back and more. Eventually I gave up trying to diet at all since I always ended up even heavier than when I had started. Crazy. I lost all hope of ever feeling better as well.

But Keto made all the difference!! I feel so much better than I expected I ever could.

I’m often approached by the staff at Walmart. Today, another lady who works there told me how great I look. I’ve been shopping there for years and keep getting asked what I am doing. So I told her about Keto and told her how much weight I’ve lost since I started.

Others have asked in the past too. Also, at church I get asked often about my diet. I explain Keto whenever I can. Even my pastor has been eating this way for several years and he doesn’t shy away from talking about sugar and “vegetable” oils as poison and talking about healthy animal fats.

Just last weekend I ran into people who hadn’t seen me in about a year and they didn’t recognize me. They wouldn’t have known me if I hadn’t been with my husband. They looked again and were shocked to see it was me. They asked and I shared how I eat. One of the men was determined to switch to Keto right away. We had a great discussion. I found out that one couple at the same event had been on Keto for 3 years. It was fun to speak with them and they backed up what I was telling the other couple.

Most people are interested up to a point, but then back away. Oh, well. I do try. I hope that eventually, when people are ready, they will remember what I’ve told them and that it will be a starting point for them.

(Susan) #10

Thank you for all the encouragement =). I have periods lately where I am really frustrated, so I am so grateful for this forum =).

(Central Florida Bob ) #11

That’s simply amazing. I don’t have enough congratulations for you!!

I think you’ve taken the biggest step to improving health that you could have taken.

#12

Me too! :grinning: Even though I don’t often post, I do take time each day to read and learn and find encouragement from others on this road.

(Bob M) #13

Bob, I think she lost a whole you. :wink:

170 pounds is amazing.

#14

That is amazing. Good work! Congrats on your anniversary!

(Marianne) #15

God bless you for taking care of your loved one.

:cry: I’m sorry; we are going through something similar.

My mother-in-law, who is the sweetest person, has dementia and is in a memory care facility. My husband’s family always had a death grip on their weight, and being overweight was very frowned upon. I was always the only fat one in the family and would gain, lose, gain, repeat. Now my poor MIL has gained 40 lbs. after about two years from poor eating. She no longer has the filter to eat appropriately and would rather eat dessert than a meal (she is enjoying her meals as well). They really try at the facility to serve her healthy choices, but she can’t stay away from the sweets. Evidently, if one asks for them, they have to give it (?). She just had her six-month review and came way with flying colors. The doctor acknowledged that she has gained weight, however, the medical staff and family agree that at this point in her life (almost 90), she should be able to enjoy some indulgences. SAD food is so addictive - because if that’s all you eat, it is delicious and so hard to stop!

I think if you keep working on your husband, he will convert. Can’t eat more delicious food than we do!

#16

Hi Marianne! Thank you for your encouragement! I’m sorry your family is dealing with something similar.

The woman I’m caring for is 91 and is also from a family who prides themselves on being thin. But that didn’t keep away heart disease, diabetics or dementia in their family.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t stop gaining weight no matter what I did and often felt guilty for it. I would have probably died of something awful (heart or respiratory related) by now if I hadn’t found Keto. My life has changed SO much!

I always liked her, so was/am willing to care for her. Overall, she spent her life taking care of others, so it’s her turn now.

She often won’t eat anything if I try to give her anything savory, but will eat ice cream or yogurt. I hate to feed her that stuff. She doesn’t feed herself anymore very often and only gets soft foods she can easily swallow. It’s so sad to see a life come to this!

I feel it is a good lesson for my children. This has given me opportunity to show them how to “love” someone in need and they can see what eating the SAD diet does to a person.

Perhaps, someday, my own husband will be willing to study everything I have and be willing to convert to this way of eating. While he is thin, I fear he really isn’t as healthy as he thinks he is. He insists on eating low fat, high carb for now.

#17

This is such a labor of love. We took care of my husbands mother with dementia for 7 years in our home. It is a tough thing to do. Very stressful. There really is something to dementia and their obsession with sweets in my opinion. My mother-in-law would eat an entire cake piece by piece if you left it out somewhere…Not sure where that comes from.

#18

How sweet of you to have cared for your MIL! It is very stressful, without a doubt.

I don’t remember where I have read or heard this, but apparently sugar just stokes the desire for more, but doesn’t ever really turn on that feeling of being full.

(Marianne) #19

God bless.

(Ellen ) #20

God bless the both of you! Caregivers need more support and help. You guys have a special place in heaven.