Can You do Keto Long Term?

And now for something a little different...

I've been so excited to write about our life in Lebanon (https://therealjoebobsicle.home.blog) that I've almost forgotten to write about my weight loss journey which, by now could rightly be called my "weight maintenance" journey by means of the Keto diet. This is a topic as dear to my heart as my experience as a Canadian expat living in Lebanon. I don't want to neglect writing about it because I think that my story and experiences with Keto living could actually help others. Maybe in a big way. 

I'm interested in Keto stories. I've read a lot about people that have lost upwards of 100 pounds or more on Keto. These are impressive accounts. They are not like my story. I lost 27 pounds on Keto. I have kept those pounds off since September 2013. I am a very average person. I'm an average height of 5'4.75" tall. In my adult life, have always been an average size of about 8-14. I have weighed between 130 and 185 pounds. Pretty boring. In my late 20s, I got my weight down from 185 to about 140 pounds and I was quite happy there. At 32, I married and moved to Quebec from Vancouver. The marriage is a happy one but life in Quebec wasn't easy on me. I became depressed and I gained back most of the weight I had lost. For seven years, I worked out at the gym. I did Jillian Michaels workouts, counted calories, went vegan, went RAW vegan, tried every diet I could read about. I could not lose the 25-30 pounds I needed to lose.

In 2012, we moved back to Vancouver and I was desperate to get my weight off and get back to living the life I had enjoyed so much there in my 20s and 30s. Vancouver is full of things to do outside, year round. I wanted to have the energy to go on hikes again, walk the seawall. I wanted to look good too. On June 14, 2013 (yes, the date is engraved in my brain for some reason), we were driving home from a weekend in Seattle. We had just enjoyed a barbecue with some friends and I was miserable about my weight. I turned to my husband and said "I'm starting Atkins tomorrow". He started laughing. We both did.

We had always laughed at "Fatkins". We knew people that had lost weight on it and then gained it all back. We knew that the guy that started that bacon diet had died of a heart attack. I also knew that I had tried it once about 12 years before and lost ten pounds on it for a wedding. This time, I was going to go back on this foolish, dangerous scam of a diet. I was going to use it to lose ten pounds and then I was going to lose the rest of my weight sensibly. 

That was the plan. That night I googled the Atkins diet and found out what I'd need to do to start the next day. I read for a couple of hours and started getting kind of excited. I learned that Dr. Atkins had actually died from a slip and fall and was in good health when he died. I started to learn the science behind why Ketosis works for weight loss and why it's sustainable as a lifestyle. I started in induction on June 15, 2013. Atkins and Keto are different diets but induction really is Keto. I didn't know it at the time, but I had started the Ketogenic Diet. 

I did have what we all know now as "Keto flu". It lasted about four days. I was prepared as I had read about it and knew that I had a major carb addiction. I could have eaten candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If something tasted sweet, I wanted it. By the end of those four days, I was down about seven pounds. I was hooked. Then I started feeling better. 

For the first month, I stuck to the diet religiously. I did not mess up even once. I was addicted to the scale and I couldn't believe the numbers I was seeing. In the middle of July, I went on vacation and vowed to stick to my program. The only exception was that our wedding anniversary would fall during that time and we were going to be in wine country. I was going to have wine on my anniversary. I'd read that some don't stall in their weight loss progress from alcohol and I was okay with taking my chances with a glass of wine or two. I came home from that vacation weighing two pounds less than I had when I left. I couldn't believe it. 

By mid September, I was at the magic number that I had had in my head for years. Goal weight! I was thrilled to walk into any store I wanted and try on anything I liked and look cute in it. I couldn't believe it!

Not only did I look different. I WAS different. The outlook I had had about food and dieting my entire life had completely changed. I'm going to write more about this in the future. This is just the story of how I came to know Keto and I'd love to hear your story too. 

Before I head out, I want to tell you that when I started Keto, I went to my local book store and looked high and low to see if I could find a journal for Keto diet. I love to journal (which is why I'm blogging now). At the time, I couldn't find anything suitable. Nowadays there are plenty of Keto journals out there.

I'm always available to help with any questions you have about the Keto diet so please get in touch if you'd like to have a friend on this exciting new venture. I know you can do it and I'll write more about why I'm sure of it soon. 

*Hey guys, my blog is pretty new and I’m just trying it out as a hobby. I have signed up with Amazon Affiliates to see if eventually I could monetize these writings and, because of that, you’ll see there’s a link in today’s blog to something that I think might really help you get started and stay focussed on the Keto way of eating. I'm pretty passionate about this as it has worked so well for me. As an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. In the interest of full transparency to any readers I may have, my total earnings to date have been $0.00.