My Keto journey started in March of 2019. I packed on quite a bit of extra weight over the last few years, a side effect of my sobriety. They say you replace one vice for another. In my case, it was food. How could I not? My recovery journey started in New Orleans, and we all know the food is just SO FREAKIN’ GOOD here. At my heaviest, I was 265 pounds. I was uncomfortable and beginning to encounter health issues, but let me make this clear my self-confidence never wavered.
I got a reality check when at a routine doctor’s visit.
I was placed on high blood pressure medicine at 29 years old. High blood pressure at 29?!?! I would have never thought it was something that would happen to me. It was then I decided I needed to make a change. A coworker of mine had mentioned Keto to me numerous times. I swore I could never do it though. Me, stop eating bread? NEVER! I did not have the nickname “breadbasket” as a kid for nothing.
I started off VERY slow, cutting out starches, then sugars, and finally all other carbs. It can be overwhelming to make such a huge change. Learning what to eat, what you cannot eat, what recipes to cook, where to get specialty ingredients. Then, of course, you add in that we, as moms are prepping meals for our whole families.
Being a Keto Mom has been a whole different journey. You do not want to have to cook twice after a long day. My kid is not super picky, but she has very strange issues with foods. I have found that for my mini if the recipe has chicken it’s a go. If the recipe has a sauce, I leave it off her portion. There have been adjustments though. As a snacker, I had to adapt to not eating all the “kid snacks” in the house. I also cannot eat what my kid leaves behind from a non-Keto meal. I do not force Keto on my daughter. I just show her healthy eating habits. Nine times out of ten she chooses the healthier option.
The primary goal of switching my eating habits over to Keto was to be removed from medication. Losing weight was a result I honestly never really anticipated and not in the quantity in which I have done it. Y’all the weight melted off before I even realized. I went from a size 20 to a size 10. To date, I have lost 72 pounds.
If you have ever heard of Keto or wondered about it, know that it can be done by anyone. Start off with simple meals, a meat & low carb veggie. No need to be Julia Child. Plan out meals and snacks, so you aren’t caught out starving and making a bad food choice. Above all else know that Keto is not a one size fits all lifestyle change. The journey looks different for everyone. So, run your race, girl! I will be here cheering you on.