Sometimes I get myself in a mindset of why can't I eat anything that I want, whenever I want. I know there are plenty of people out there in the world that can do that and not gain a pound. All of their lab reports come back normal from their doctors. I see them in restaurants that I go in and wonder to myself why I can't be that way?
After a major health scare of cancer, going through the surgery, the radiation and then the medication, I found that I was packing on weight so fast that it did not seem humanly possible. Yet there it was. I could see it. My clothes did not fit. Hell's bells, my shoes did not even fit. This was very troubling, being the shoe queen that I am. It was a result of many outside reasons that I simply did not have total control over.
I do know that I was not overeating. even though I was not on any specific "diet," I knew that my calorie intact was on the lower side. I concluded that the problem was that there was no exercise involved. From all that I read, once a person reaches a certain age, in order to lose weight, one must have some type of exercise program in their life.
This was not an easy thing for me. I used to walk, I went to a gym and lifted weights with a trainer, and rode a recumbent bike. We even have a room dedicated to three pieces of exercise equipment. So what was the problem? From the surgery, to the radiation and most of all the side effects of the medications hit all of my joints and made it hard to walk from one room of the house to another, much less get on a treadmill and walk a mile or more. Not to mention the loss of breath.
Finally, but not after gaining an enormous amount of weight, I was able to do some yoga. At least it was a small start. It helped my mind and my body through stretching, except one day my left knee gave out. My legs in my mind looked like an elephant's leg. Thick and no shape. Shoes did not go on my feet and even with the extra weight, anyone could see that my knee was swollen.
Off to the doctor I went. It just about killed me to step on the scales. Reality hit hard. My family doctor is such an amazing man. He knew that this was not me and knew that I needed help. So he got me set up that very day with a specialist in bones and joints. After an x-ray, he concluded that while doing the yoga, I knocked my knee-cap off center. I would be coming in for shots in the knee to ease the pain and he showed me what to do for a bit of physical therapy. PLUS, instructed me to wear compression socks. He even showed me his Happy Socks that were compression. He told me that it would help tremendously.
The doctor was so right. My darling husband even gave me some for a present and they were wildly printed and so me. Bless him, he even helped me get them on. In the shape that I was in, that was even difficult.
It was at this stage that something came about that needed to happen at this point in my life. A friend of ours in REAL life and on Facebook wrote about how he was losing weight like a mad man. What the plan boiled down to was what I had been reading from others... cut the carbs. Stop the white breads, cereals, potatoes, pasta...aggghhhh... is that possible? I LOVE LOVE LOVE bread, pasta and potatoes and all of the things that were now no-no's.
He said to watch the You Tube video of "Butter Makes Your Pants Fall Off." I did. Still having many doubts but I kept reading. I was trying to read all that I could before starting a lifestyle change. Believe me. It was a lifestyle change. It is NOT a diet. It will be the way that I eat now and forever.
The normal person consumes a very high carb count. That was me. Not so much calories, but the carbs. I loved sandwiches, cereals and fruits and veggies that were extremely high in carbs. I think I must have part Italian blood because yes, I love most all pasta dishes and pizzas and all the breads that come with it.
Being the kind of person that I am, through research, I found the low carb, high fat program. It showed me what to choose from and how to use an app on my phone called carb manager that was free, that could keep up with my carbs. It also gave me the facts on how many proteins and fats that I ate each day. There is a fine line between eating low carb/high fat and being on the Keto plan. I wanted to do what would work for me.
I chose the plan that keeps me in the 20 - 30 net carbs a day, along with keeping the fat grams higher than the protein grams. This is called your macros. When I researched it, answered questions, it gave me what was a good percentage for me. I work hard to keep this percentage. Plus, I must admit, I did go out and buy the keto strips to see if I actually did go into keto. I did, but never "deep." More than a trace, probably just the right amount for me because I have now lost a total of over 50 pounds. And, I am continuing to lose weight on this lifestyle.
The weight is really coming off all over the place and it is not my choice of where. I am wearing normal shoes again, clothes are going to charities, as they are now too big. I order a few things here and there that are sizes so much smaller, plus I did keep the good clothes that I had before the weight gain, but some of them are even too big. Yeah, me! I am now at a weight lower than before all of this happened. I do not plan to regress to my former lifestyle.
It has been amazing to me that I have been able to follow this lifestyle so easily. Being a chef, myself, as well as my husband, we have found many ways to make this work for us. You see, he is also losing what he wanted to lose. It is just a great program. Our labs tests show how much it has helped our cholesterol, blood pressure and overall well being.
Google and YouTube it if you wish. Here are some of the things that we can eat and there are high price foods that you can order to help such as ThinSlim Breads and Bagels, Good Fats Bars and Fire and Kettle Broths.
Meanwhile, look at just a few of the delicious things that we can eat. Even the pizza, and I highly suggest do not get the cauliflower pizza crust. It was a crust from Thinslims foods that did it for us. Put on the marinara sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella and you have it made. Olives, and whatever!
One important thing for me to learn and I learned it from our friend who suggested this on his FB page. Every so often go off. Not crazy off. But go off some and have a higher carb count and amazingly, it will get you out of a plateau of weigh loss. Just as it worked for him, it has worked for me. I have learned just how much I can go. One Thanksgiving I had a small amount of everything that I made for others and I was not well for days. So, it is a small amount. I know that now.
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