Another milestone in my keto weight loss journey: I hit the 140s. I haven’t seen a 14 on the scale since I starved myself for the first 6 months of 2012 eating 100 calories a day – usually just an egg white and a tomato for dinner. Now instead of going to bed clutching my growling stomach and looking at fat picture of myself to overcome the hunger headaches and urge to eat I’ve lost all this weight without any effort it seems. This has never been so easy and I’m so incredibly grateful that I found keto. There’s no hunger, no need for self-punishment or unhealthy body shaming. No headaches and no grouchiness. Finally a sustainable solution. I used to think I was meant to be this way, but I’m finding that that’s not the case and couldn’t be happier. Continue reading “Diet Update: 140s!”
Category: Keto
From Obese to Normal BMI
I did it and I can’t believe it. It’s been a crazy ride (weight loss for me is SERIOUSLY not linear given how often I went off it for vacations), but I made it. I went from 182lb (officially obese) over Christmas 2016 to 154. I have lost 28 lbs along with 14% of my body weight and have a normal BMI without starving for the first time since middle school. I’ve always struggled with my weight and have starved myself thin several times only to become ravenous and gain it all back and then some. I’ve also gone to the other side of the spectrum and tried to exercise myself to death (e.g. 6 hours a day in the gym) without results. Continue reading “From Obese to Normal BMI”
Sugar Makes Me Ill
Of all the weird things about me the one that seem to provoke the strongest reaction is that I don’t like sugar, sweets or really carbs. Yes that includes chocolate (cue the shocked gasps)! I’ve always been like that. My Mom is the complete opposite and routinely asks “Are you my child?” She loves sweets and intentionally doesn’t keep them in the house because of that reason. She is also a general carb lover (not just sugar) which I kind of understand, but the carbs I love are delicious because of the fat on them (hello buttery croissants!) Continue reading “Sugar Makes Me Ill”
Diet Update: 150s!
It’s been 2 years since I’ve seen a one five on the scale. I hit 159 for the first time since the beginning of 2015 and I look completely different. The effect of the whole calories in/calories out starvation diet are really apparently when I look at pictures of myself two years ago and now. I look about 20 lbs fatter two years ago despite having the same scale weight – and I might have been. I’ve been able to retain an insane amount of muscle while getting rid of my fat this year and two years ago it was the opposite. Like my diets before it was clear I was getting skinny fat and my body was eating at my muscle to survive: my weight would decrease, but I’d look even squishier.
But that’s all changed. I’m so excited to reach this milestone and have officially lost almost 20 lbs without hunger and while drinking and living my life normally. It’s insanity. Only 5 lbs to go until I’m finally a normal BMI again. I’m so pumped. Let’s do this!
Sleep
I’ve always been bad at sleeping. For some reason I think of it as a waste of time. Yes, I know my body needs it to survive and have experienced what I feel like sleep deprived: Horrible :). But my brain still thinks of the (hopefully) eight hours I lay in bed as a waste. Despite most likely running on solar power I almost prefer the night. It’s so still and empty of people :). Finally quiet enough to think and reflect. It’s when I’m most inspired and alert. Going to sleep right when I start feeling that at night seems like a waste of time and by extension my life. Sadly there’s no way around it. Continue reading “Sleep”
Diet Update: LCHF Success
Not that this is what this blog is about 🙂 , but since my goal is to catalog my life and in it my journey to financial independence for myself I’m going to talk about it anyway. Diets. What we eat. Like a lot of women I’ve always had an issue with my weight: no matter if I was 150 or 180 pounds (shaking my fist at you society!). I’ve tried to lose weight almost consistently for about 13 years (and I’m 27 🙂 ). They have never worked. I’ve starved myself down to 125 – seriously, I ate 100 calories a day for three months, which is about the number of calories in 1 egg. Dumb, but it worked. I just didn’t realize that my body was mostly eating my own muscle so even though the scale was dropping I still looked plump because I had mostly lost muscle. Disappointing. That was the most ‘successful’ diet I’d ever been on to that point. Prior to that I would try to count my calories, be hungry, have headaches, not be able to concentrate and eventually give up and gain any weight I had lost back – and then some. Continue reading “Diet Update: LCHF Success”
Eating High Fat Made Me Like Cooking
I’ve never enjoyed cooking. I’ve always seen it as a chore. I cook something for an hour, dirty many pots and pans and since I’m a fast eater scarf it down in about five minutes. This does not seem like a great use of my time. Bad ROI 🙂 . Now that I’m eating Low Carb, High Fat food while doing an Uber Frugal Month challenge I’ve discovered something weird. I don’t hate cooking anymore. I haven’t done a full 180, but I don’t mind cooking. I usually do it at least once a day. I make my breakfast from scratch: 3 scrambled eggs cooking in half a tbsp of butter, an ounce of mozzarella cheese, an ounce of an onion (high carb/sugary – who knew?) and whatever treat I want to put it in: yesterday it was pesto (yum), today it was avocado (YUM!). It takes maybe 10 minutes and I eat it slowly with my tea in a sun-soaked living room. Continue reading “Eating High Fat Made Me Like Cooking”
Dietary Musings Part II: High-Fat, Low Carb
I’m surprised by what my brain absorbs and clings onto. I just re-read my original Dietary Musings post. It was two years ago when I looked into a vegan/whole food plant based diet. I planned to record my ailments that the books I was reading claimed would be resolved by eating this way to track my progress. It….didn’t go well :). Cutting all animal products out of my diet made me tired, constantly hungry and didn’t cure anything. I dropped it after less than a month of creating unique recipes that frankly didn’t taste like much of anything at all and went back to my original American diet which includes bouts of low calorie eating combined with overeating at restaurants and binge drinking. Continue reading “Dietary Musings Part II: High-Fat, Low Carb”