I've been on Keto for a little over two months, and I can tell that there are vast changes. This is more than the 'Keto high' of the first few days. This is genuine benefit and observable effects.
I said before that the Keto diet is like "the fountain of youth on a plate". And it's not Ponce DeLeon's instant invigoration by a long shot. It's a slow but noticeable reversal of the ageing process.
Did you know that carbs encourage the oxidants that cause ageing symptoms?
I didn't.
Now that I have lipids in my bloodstream and not insulin running amok, everything that I thought was permanent is going backwards.
Rewind a few months for a snapshot of my life before Keto...
I once weight one hundred and one kilos. That's 222.6 lb for the Americans in the audience. That was in 2013, when I realised that I did have a weight problem. I did every diet you could get for free. I ate nothing but soup. I made myself huge salads and ate portions of them whenever I was hungry.
I tried all the tricks you hear about:
- Sucking your gut in and holding it until such an action were no longer possible
- Parking the car further away so I had to walk longer
- Taking my meals on smaller plates
- Counting calories
- Removing every trace of fat or salt from my diet
Heck, I even tried going on a Celiac diet, eating only gluten-free foods. Not only was that a resounding failure, but I was completely miserable. I thought it was impossible for me to get to a weight of eighty-five kilos.
Before I started Keto, my daily regime went like this:
- Walk around the block
- Take a dozen supplements for asthma, joint pain, and immunity boosts with a litre of water
- Breakfast of Weet Bix, tub fruit, and almond milk
- Kids to school
- Coffee
- Writing (blogging)
- Lunch of either a toasted salad wrap or mashed avocado and lite cream cheese with carrot sticks
- Chocolate serving
- Kids home from school
- Dinner of slow-cooked meat in simmer sauce, with rice. One small portion.
Snacks would involve popcorn and olive-oil margerine, cans of soft drink, and pick-me-ups of sugary treats.
I was stressed, depressed, and distressed. I had anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, constant tiredness, constant illnesses, and an overall lack of energy. I was in bad shape, and it was an all-out effort to make myself exercise in the way I was. And I was constantly worried about Hubby, who was progressing rapidly through all the stops on the irrevocable (as I thought at the time) diabetes progression list.
And then, a minor miracle. Hubby's sugar levels started going low! He started reducing his medications. And that weekend, he took me on a long tour before I could have breakfast. Gathering this or that. And finally getting me a breakfast at a coffee shop. It was an omelette with ham, tomato and cheese.
That was the day I found out about Ketogenics.
It made a lot of sense. Hubby had science on his side and I love science. He explained that the best way to reduce insulin was to get rid of carbohydrates to a safe minimum. I could get that. I'd known for years that carbs metabolise as sugar. And the escalation of Hubby's diabetes resulted in the steeplechase between sugar controlling meds and adding more carbs to keep those meds from running amok.
I learned about carb points. I learned about all the good, whole foods, and how fats are my friend.
I joined the diet, of course. Everything we found showed that it was no harm at all to anyone. Plus support always helps with diets. The most amazing thing happened when I joined in. I felt wonderful.
The long-term effects are what I mean about the fountain of youth. My persistent eczema vanished. The pudge that I thought was permanent melted away. I have more energy, I can do things I was never able to do in my life, and to prove it, I touched my toes today. I never could, not even when I was a kid.
And Hubby no longer needs any kind of medication for his diabetes. I've also noticed his hairline creeping forward. The sores that used to cover his lower legs are shrinking, healing, and vanishing.
I used to have chronic asthma. After a mere couple of weeks, I barely needed any of my medication. I no longer get so many viruses any more. I sleep better and I no longer have as many of the issues I used to. I feel better than I have in decades. I've had fat drop off of parts of my body that I didn't think could have fat. Even my feet went down a size.
And I don't need any of those supplements. I'm taking a different and much smaller set, now. And this time, they're working.
This time last year, I wasn't even a hot mess. I was a tepid mess at best. Struggling to make it one day to the next. Absent-minded, easily distracted, lost focus... and micro-napping at disturbing intervals. Today... It's like I'm a different person. I'm not a whirlwind of energy, just yet. But I do feel like I'm getting my assorted crap together.
(Picture © Can Stock Photo / Azurita)