I Am On A Weight Loss Journey
Around this time last year, I was 253 pounds. Yesterday, when my husband and I bought a new bathroom scale and decided to test it out, it told me I was 235 pounds. SUCCESS!
It’s almost surreal. I never thought I’d ever be able to lose weight. I hate veggies, and my motivation to work out is very poor. But I’ve been able to make lifestyle changes that, while it doesn’t make me the healthiest woman alive, have served to kick start my weight loss and motivate me to make more changes.
I know 18 pounds in a year isn’t that impressive, but a lot of that time was spent find a diet plan that I could easily stick to and getting myself on it (and going through the stress of wedding planning). What I decided on and what has been working for me is a semi-keto diet paired with intermittent fasting. Really, a good ten pounds of that was lost in two months, I’d say.
We (my husband and I) don’t count macro-nutrients (proteins, carbs, fats), but we try to eat within a keto-styled diet (high fat, moderate protein, low carbs). We started with cutting out most sugars and processes carbs like white flour. We’ll still eat some sugar here and there (like in packaged foods), but we make as much of our own food as possible and we don’t eat sugary sweets, carbo-loaded foods like pasta or pizza crust, or drink sodas. We try to make our own sugar-free sweets and find low-carb versions of our favorite foods. We’ve found three cookie recipes, two of which use almond flour, a keto-friendly pizza crust that’s to die for, almond flour-based crackers (to have with our homemade hummus), and tonight we’re going to try and make “noodles” out of chicken breasts and eggs.
It shocked me too that a high fat diet could actually lead to weight loss, but it’s been working wonders. A lot of the fat comes from healthy sources, like olive oil, avocados, nuts (like from the almond flour) and even cheeses. We try to stay away from most sources of saturated fats, fancying chicken over fattier meats, and we steer clear of trans fats altogether.
If you're wondering, a keto diet has something to do with not giving your body easily-burnable carbs, and instead get it in a fat-burning state by feeding it healthy fats. That way, you’re body is primed to burn that fat stored in the body… something along those lines. I’m no expert. I just know that it’s working for me.
Something else I know is how easily I get full on this diet. Even though the keto-friendly pizza crust is fattier than a bread-crust, it’s also way more filling. With a bread-crust, I could plow though four huge slices and still go back for more a few hours later. With a keto-crust, I feel stuffed after two medium slices and don’t feel a desire to eat more afterwards. So in the end, even though fat has more calories, I end up wanting less and eating less.
The intermittent fasting is also a big part of it. The idea behind it is that if you don’t feed your body through the day, and instead stick to an 8-hour eating window, your body will burn fat stores instead of burning the new food you feed it through the day. Also, through having a small window to eat, one is likely to eat less and reduce calories. Through doing this, I’ve completely reset my appetite. A meal that would usually leave me a little full now leaves me absolutely stuffed, and I’m not constantly thinking about doughnuts or snack cakes like in the past.
I’ll admit, sometimes I have a cheat meal. If I’m having a really horrible day, I’ll buy unhealthy, carbo-loaded snacks and just go to town. And sometimes I allow myself to go to a restaurant and eat something off my diet plan. However, when I mess us, I just try again. And allowing a cheat meal once every few weeks helps me to stay on my plan for the weeks to come. Knowing that I don’t have to forever give up some of the things I love to eat helps me to see those things as a treat and not the norm that they once were.
Lately, the weight loss has really taken off, so it’s bound to start really coming off soon, if I keep at it. I’m not saying this to convince anyone to do exactly as I do, but I do feel like I want to celebrate by talking about my success so far. But I have to say that if other diets haven't worked out, intermittent fasting and the keto-diet are worth a shot. And after a few weeks, it'll hardly take any concentrated effort at all to keep focused!
It’s almost surreal. I never thought I’d ever be able to lose weight. I hate veggies, and my motivation to work out is very poor. But I’ve been able to make lifestyle changes that, while it doesn’t make me the healthiest woman alive, have served to kick start my weight loss and motivate me to make more changes.
I know 18 pounds in a year isn’t that impressive, but a lot of that time was spent find a diet plan that I could easily stick to and getting myself on it (and going through the stress of wedding planning). What I decided on and what has been working for me is a semi-keto diet paired with intermittent fasting. Really, a good ten pounds of that was lost in two months, I’d say.
We (my husband and I) don’t count macro-nutrients (proteins, carbs, fats), but we try to eat within a keto-styled diet (high fat, moderate protein, low carbs). We started with cutting out most sugars and processes carbs like white flour. We’ll still eat some sugar here and there (like in packaged foods), but we make as much of our own food as possible and we don’t eat sugary sweets, carbo-loaded foods like pasta or pizza crust, or drink sodas. We try to make our own sugar-free sweets and find low-carb versions of our favorite foods. We’ve found three cookie recipes, two of which use almond flour, a keto-friendly pizza crust that’s to die for, almond flour-based crackers (to have with our homemade hummus), and tonight we’re going to try and make “noodles” out of chicken breasts and eggs.
It shocked me too that a high fat diet could actually lead to weight loss, but it’s been working wonders. A lot of the fat comes from healthy sources, like olive oil, avocados, nuts (like from the almond flour) and even cheeses. We try to stay away from most sources of saturated fats, fancying chicken over fattier meats, and we steer clear of trans fats altogether.
If you're wondering, a keto diet has something to do with not giving your body easily-burnable carbs, and instead get it in a fat-burning state by feeding it healthy fats. That way, you’re body is primed to burn that fat stored in the body… something along those lines. I’m no expert. I just know that it’s working for me.
Something else I know is how easily I get full on this diet. Even though the keto-friendly pizza crust is fattier than a bread-crust, it’s also way more filling. With a bread-crust, I could plow though four huge slices and still go back for more a few hours later. With a keto-crust, I feel stuffed after two medium slices and don’t feel a desire to eat more afterwards. So in the end, even though fat has more calories, I end up wanting less and eating less.
The intermittent fasting is also a big part of it. The idea behind it is that if you don’t feed your body through the day, and instead stick to an 8-hour eating window, your body will burn fat stores instead of burning the new food you feed it through the day. Also, through having a small window to eat, one is likely to eat less and reduce calories. Through doing this, I’ve completely reset my appetite. A meal that would usually leave me a little full now leaves me absolutely stuffed, and I’m not constantly thinking about doughnuts or snack cakes like in the past.
I’ll admit, sometimes I have a cheat meal. If I’m having a really horrible day, I’ll buy unhealthy, carbo-loaded snacks and just go to town. And sometimes I allow myself to go to a restaurant and eat something off my diet plan. However, when I mess us, I just try again. And allowing a cheat meal once every few weeks helps me to stay on my plan for the weeks to come. Knowing that I don’t have to forever give up some of the things I love to eat helps me to see those things as a treat and not the norm that they once were.
Lately, the weight loss has really taken off, so it’s bound to start really coming off soon, if I keep at it. I’m not saying this to convince anyone to do exactly as I do, but I do feel like I want to celebrate by talking about my success so far. But I have to say that if other diets haven't worked out, intermittent fasting and the keto-diet are worth a shot. And after a few weeks, it'll hardly take any concentrated effort at all to keep focused!
