Healthy eating isn't just for the younger generation.

I never ever thought about my weight, healthy eating, or the foods that I ate until…..

I was always the skinny one. My knee caps stuck out so far, that we used to pretend they were channel changing knobs for the TV (WAY before remotes). All through my adult life I weighed close to 115 pounds. I could eat a sleeve of oreos in one sitting and not gain an ounce. I would go out, eat dessert first, and if I was hungry after that, order food – usually appetizers. (No lie – I have a crazy sweet tooth!)

Getting healthy after pregnancy

And then I got pregnant – which was wonderful. I was 35 when I got pregnant (considered a geriatric pregnancy – what!?) I had cravings – nothing unusual or out of the ordinary but my metabolism shut down – completely. When I gave birth to my son I weighed 202! Yes, you read that right – 202!. I gained 87 pounds!

Why am I telling you this? Because, after I gave birth to an amazing son, I was faced with losing that weight. And I had no idea how. I found a exercise cassette tape (for those of you who don’t know me – I am currently 65) with a meal program and went to work. I lost all but 10 pounds (I count that 10 pounds as my quitting smoking while I was pregnant weight). It was hard work. It took me over a year. But, I was so proud of myself and I felt great….for a little while at least.

I have tried every diet out there!

Since then, I have tried every diet out there. Jenny Craig. Weight Watchers. Paleo. Whole 30. HCG drops. Salads (I hate lettuce). Boring foods. Going without foods. Never a cookie, dessert, or anything sweet. I exercised. Hired a personal trainer. Started running. Went to the gym. Counted calories. Less calories and more exercise….right!? And each time I had success for awhile – maybe a year or two at most. And then the brownies would call. Or the bread. Or the cheese. Or I didn’t want to run or go to the gym. And back up I would go again. And up again. And again.

Why Keto?

Now, my oldest daughter and oldest granddaughter have been ‘doing keto’. They told me to eat fat and I would lose weight. That did not sound like a good plan to me based on everything I have been told about fat. What about my cholesterol? Wouldn’t I gain weight? So, I hit the web. Now, I tend to hit the web alot and it is really hard to separate fact from fiction, but fortunately I stumbled upon Shawn Myner. She has a ‘Keto for Women Show’ Podcast on iTunes. As I listened to her podcasts I had a shift in perspective – she asked her listeners to ask themselves –

‘What is your bigger why?’

She said (I am paraphrasing here) – ‘Diets come and go. (as I can personally testify). What if, just what if, we changed our mindset and looked thru the lens of being healthy and healing our bodies? – rather than the scale and weight loss. And, what if the Ketogenic diet became a lifestyle? What if I could heal my body from all that dieting? What if it took away my achey joints? What if it cleared the fog in my brain? What if I was less tired all the time and didn’t need a nap every day?’ What if, even at age 65, I could feel better than most others my age? What if fats were good? I was so intrigued.

And so I began healthy eating.

I decided to begin the Ketogenic Lifestyle on January 2nd. Before I began, I listened to more of Shawn’s podcasts, subscribed to her ‘Fat Burning Female’ Course (I did the self study), and gathered food supplies.

It is now April 25th. My knees don’t hurt anymore. I can almost run up the steps. I don’t need naps. In fact, I used to go to bed at 9 and get up at 7. I am a 10 P to 5 A type of girl now. I love love love my meals. Eating is a pleasure. My husband says I am making the best dinners I have ever made (after 38 years of marriage that’s pretty good! – or maybe it means they were all terrible before……hmmmm….I don’t think I will ask him. Ignorance is bliss in this situation).

What about you?

And you can feel better too – it is not too late. Don’t blame all those aches and pains and memory lapses on old age. I found out that I was killing myself (literally) by what I was eating. There is so much science out there that is fascinating – I will save all of that for another blog post.

What is Keto anyway?

It’s a very low carb, high HEALTHY fat, and medium protein eating program. (This is NOT an Atkins diet where you eat all the fat you want.) Once you get into what is called ‘ketosis’ your body no longer reaches for carbs for fuel – it reaches for fats. And, just to interject, animal fat does NOT cause cholesterol in our bodies. We have been lied to all these years – AND IT MAKES ME SO MAD! A rant for another day……stay tuned.

Have I lost weight – about 4 pounds. But, because I am focusing on ‘What is my bigger Why?’ I am ok with that. There are alot of tweaks that I can do and resources available to me to to figure out why. For right now I am focusing on healing my body after years and years of abuse. And I am loving the fact that I can ‘almost’ run up the steps and not forget what I am typing right now. BONUS!

PS – There is a great Keto Coconut Milk Yogurt Recipe on my blog. My husband’s personal favorite.