I Did Keto For a Year

Let me take you on my food journey, one that has been incredibly unhealthy for the majority of my life up until now. In my 20's, I did not care. I ate whatever I wanted because I could do so and not gain weight. I frequently binged on junk food, priding myself on other people's amazement at how much I could eat.

That soon grew into a pathological behavior and something that I tried many different ways of eating in order to stop. Before I started Keto last year, I was vegan for a year. While, that helped me develop an appreciation for vegetables and how to cook them properly so that I actually wanted to eat them, I still found myself bingeing on chips and Oreos almost nightly.

Veganism is touted as the healthiest diet ever, but it is not healthy if all you were eating was vegan junk food like I was. I could go for a week or so without bingeing, but inevitably found my way back to it when something stressful happened or I wanted to reward myself for something.

Starting Keto

I had actually tried the Ketogenic diet a few years before, but looking back, I did it all wrong. This was before there was a wealth of information online. I loaded up on fat, ate mostly meat and cheese, and had no idea about why I should be getting enough electrolytes. I felt weak all the time and lost no weight at all.

I actually started keto while I was still vegan, which was challenging but not impossible. It was a good think I LOVE avocados. However, after reading about the importance of Omega 3 and how the body actually utilizes plant based sources ( I won't go into that here), I decided to go back to consuming meat.

Misconceptions

Keto is not all about eating meat. The meat I consume is actually pretty limited to what people eat on the Standard American Diet. I try to fill my plate with just as much if not more keto friendly veggies and healthy fats as I do with animal based protein. My body thanks me for it. Before eating the foods I do on this diet, I can't recall eating a meal that leaves me as satisfied and with a feeling of such wellbeing as a good keto meal does.

I learned from my mistakes the first time around and being vegan first actually helped me consume more vegetables once I tried again.

What Has Changed

I could wax poetic about all of the benefits I've found after being on this diet for a year. The fact that I no longer binge eat because I don't really feel hungry in the way that I did before anymore. I do keto in conjunction with Intermittent Fasting and no longer have the blood glucose dips that leave me feeling dizzy and weak if I don't eat every 2-3 hours. It has changed my relationship with food in that I now use it to fuel my body and only eat until I feel satisfied, never more.

The diet has also worked wonders for my hormones. I no longer have period cramps that I have struggled with all of my life, sometimes being painful enough that I passed out or vomited. I no longer suffer from horrible cystic acne around the time of my period.

I also did lose some weight, which is why I originally did the diet along with trying to stop binge eating. I lost around 15 pounds in 4 months and have been holding steady at 140 lbs since. In years past my weight would fluctuate throughout the year due to frequent diets and exercise. But, I have no reason to change my diet now.

I've also discovered that I actually love baking. Making delicious keto baked goods is a challenge and I pretty have to do it myself if I want something because options are limited in stores.

Eating refined carbs and sugar makes me sick now. These foods are highly inflammatory in the body and now that my body is no longer used to it, anything other than a small cheat meal leaves me feeling sick for days. Ever so often I do this to myself (bad long-term memory) and the renewed fear it gives me keeps me on track for several months longer.

The new goal is to cheat on delicious keto meals instead of carbs.

The Takeaway

Should you give keto a try if you struggled with similar problems? I say go for it as long as you are otherwise healthy. The way of eating may not be for everyone, but it certainly helped me resolve my life-long problem with food (along with a few other problems). It's not just a diet to me anymore, it's my way of life and I feel that that is how it should be approached by anyone looking for a healthier lifestyle.