New to forums, not to keto...restarting my life!

(Bee) #1

Hi everyone. I’m new to the forum, not so new to keto. About a year and 1/2 ago I was diagnosed t2 diabetic and had a host of metabolic issues. I had been allowing so much life stress to take over (marriage issues, special needs child, move away from family and support network, etc.) and I let myself go. I always fed my family well, but I would end my day with fast food (or massive portions of whatever I made) and alcohol to numb out. When I was diagnosed, I was scared straight, so to speak. I went strict keto and incorporated IF and brought my bg down to perfect non diabetic levels. I lost 70 pounds, liver was healed, I had loads of energy, I was looking and feeling like myself again and I truly never felt deprived! I was a keto success story!

Within that time frame, my son was diagnosed with T1 diabetes…and I hope I don’t have to tell you all this…T2 it is NOT. It requires constant vigilance and he will always be insulin dependent. This fundamentally changed our family. Not only does he struggle with ASD and ADHD, but he now had a life-threatening chronic disease. All of my energy was/is funneled into this. Our family all adopted a low carb lifestyle (aside from sandwiches on regular bread my husband and daughter have kept in their lunches), which definitely helped. But somewhere along the way, I started losing myself again.

It started just with over eating my portions, particularly proteins. I was eating more, even when not hungry. Just nighttime stress eating. Then I moved from my occasional low carb adult drinks to carbier options, which then led to more eating, which lead to some fast food cheats, which led to weight gain…higher bg levels. Basically, I’m back where I started.

I feel so ashamed. I don’t want to see friends who were so, SO proud of me before. I don’t want to visit family who thought of me as inspiration. It’s just brutal knowing I was so close to my goal only to sabotage myself again.

I would love to go to counseling again, but unfortunately all our extra money is going to T1 care for our son. It’s taken everything we have. It simply isn’t an option.

If this sounds like a pity party, it really isn’t. I just need to get my story out there, get some accountability and get back on the horse. Keto IS my lifestyle, I know I can do this forever. I’ve seen what happens when I don’t and it’s not worth it. If you’ve read this far, bless you! haha I will try not to ramble as much going forward! Looking forward to hearing your stories and making new friends!

#2

You landed in a good place! This forum is full of good people with solid experience and advice.

I’m sorry about your son’s diagnosis…

Good luck to you as you dive back in! My guess is that it will actually be easier the second time (you know the success that keto brought, you know you can do it, you know how it feels).
For some folks, just going keto seems to resolve issues around food, but for others - there’s plenty of talk about this on various threads here - the emotional aspect of eating/overeating can still be an issue, and you’ll see lots of strategies as you read through the posts.

(Erin Macfarland ) #3

I just want to say that i am sorry you have had so much stress and so many challenges to face. Hugs to you!

(Julie Anderson) #4

Think of Keto as your oxygen mask. You need to take care of yourself first, so that you can deal more effectively with those who depend on you. Being Keto saved my sanity when making my father’s end of life decisions and finding a safe situation for my mother who has dementia.

Keep calm and keto on. We are here for you to vent to or get support from when you need it.

(((((Hugs)))))

Julie

(carl) #5

I feel for you. This stuff is hard, especially when you’re going it alone. Hopefully you’ll make some friends here. You can start to turn around in as little as 2 hours.

Carl

(Sarah Herlihy) #6

Life is hard and im sorry to hear about all your stresses. I enjoy this little community as a bit of a time out too. Good luck and i look forward to reading about your adventures.

(Bee) #7

Thank you all so, so much. I definitely need people around who really get it. I am blessed to have a supportive spouse (we’re working through our issues, lol) but man…sometimes those life curveballs hit harder than you thought they would.

So today is my first full day. I’m going easy (lazy keto) my first week in, next week I want to get back to IF to get me really back into the groove.

Thanks again for the warm welcome and encouragement!!

(Leslie ) #8

You’re definitely in the right place. I just found this forum recently, and although I’ve only posted a couple times, reading the posts has helped me stay on track so much! When I feel like giving up, or just having a cheat day (which I know for me would be the same as giving up because one day leads to another to another…) I read insights from people here and know I can KCKO! You can too. You got this! :slight_smile:

(Mark Rhodes) #9

Thank you for sharing your story of experience, strength and hope. You are telling me that this could be my family and that I could be in your shoes except for a few different decisions. By sharing you have strengthened my resolve to keto on because one more person is letting me know how well it doesn’t work eating carbage and avoiding dealing with stressors. I hope that you will find a way through your hardship and welcome to this forum. It helped me understand why I was doing this lifestyle far more than it showed me how.

#10

What a rough ride you have had. I am sorry.

Keto will be very beneficial for you, as you know, but also your son. Although there is always the need to take insulin as a T1, it is possible to make the need for it less and way more stable by controlling insulin levels. Have you heard of this FB page - I would recommend it…

I have also heard a few stories now about how keto has dramatically helped children with ADHD.

The problem is that going off keto, which you are perhaps more likely to do during a stressful period, will likely make you feel bad. Then you are more likely to go off plan because you feel bad and then you will feel worse and then… It is a spiral that can be very hard to get off. The good news is that by making the change back to keto WILL start making you feel better. You may well have to grit your teeth for a while but you will ride it out. Please come here for support and chats. You can do this, I know you can. You sound like a fighter. xxx

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #11

Everyone here will support you, never fear. Just keep as calm as you can, and get back to keto-ing on. :bacon::bacon::bacon:

(Bee) #12

Hi, Daisy. We’ve been members of Typeonegrit from day one of his diagnosis and wouldn’t manage his diabetes any other way. The admin/members walked us through everything…that initial diagnosis phase was pretty harrowing. The support there has been AMAZING.

I generally don’t talk about my own issues there, though. Just wanted a space here where I could anonymously talk about how I personally backtracked. Thank you so much for the encouragement…you’re so right about the downward spiral of getting off plan. But, I can do this!!! :slight_smile:

#13

Awesome.
YES you can.