Here is the blog post I’ve wanted to write for months. I wrote about Intermittent Fasting (IF), giving up artificial sweeteners, gut health, and how effective those things were for me. What I hadn’t written about to-date, is my first experience with the Ketogenic Diet, and now my return to it.

Back in May 2018, after I competed in a shawl dance competition for the first time for an entire powwow, I decided to give the keto diet a whirl. I was getting ready to begin another wellness challenge, and I noticed the benefits of IF and giving up the Splenda on my joints and eliminating my sugar cravings. I follow Dr. Jason Fung and Dr. Eric Berg on social media, and I read Dr. Fung’s book, as well as the book pictured above. What intrigued me the most was not the weight loss, but the anti-inflammatory benefits of the diet, and being pre-diabetic still, the positive impact it would have on my labs/bloodwork. I got my labs done and found my A1c had come down another point from a high of 6.1 to 5.9. I have yet to check it again, but I have plans to in May 2019.

When I started keto in May 2018, I experienced what people call the “keto flu”, which is actually withdrawal symptoms from carbohydrates. I made a homemade electrolyte drink that my sister-friend Makyla sent to me and that helped alleviate the flu-like symptoms. Once I got through that, prepping my  lunches was fairly easy because I was lowering my carb intake for a few months prior. I did not do the high fat thing very well….I didn’t use it as an excuse to eat fatty meat and bacon, etc. But I did lost about 5 lbs in my first week. I checked my ketones regularly and knew I was in ketosis. Overall, the keto diet contributed to me losing 22 lbs from my highest weight at the beginning of 2018. The biggest benefits for me were that it gave me good energy all day long, and I didn’t have many food cravings. It also reduced the inflammation in my bad hip enough to where I ran my first 5K in years one month in. I danced jingle dress all summer and even got to the point where I was able to compete in fancy shawl and a few more powwows. I was feeling like my old self. It was very difficult to maintain at powwows, but it is difficult to maintain any healthy way of eating when you are on the road and away from your own kitchen, so that’s not really an excuse.

But I fell off over the summer, and I fell off further in the fall and early winter of 2018. I gained all my weight back because I wasn’t managing my work stress. I was very sporadic with my workouts with Travis and I felt tired all the time. The plus side is I got my crafting mojo back and that felt great!!! I made some beautiful things for my husband and kids and other close friends. I volunteered in my community and continued to attend my Al-Anon meetings and do my step-work with my sponsor. So it definitely wasn’t all bad. I look at it now as a time where I deepened my learning and deepened my work on my personal healing, and how that will help me balance and manage the stress from the challenges that will always be a part of life.

I wrote about joining the wellness challenge the beginning of January. And I started back on keto January 6. I was able to get back into ketosis within 3 days with no sleep issues and no keto flu. And I lost 5.8 lbs my first week back. I haven’t missed a day of training with Travis and I’m working my 5K training plan. We have had some really yucky weather here in KS for the past few weeks, but being in ketosis and reducing the inflammation has made it to where my joints don’t ache at all when the barometric pressure drops. I have so much energy, which is amazing because I’ve had alot of demands on my schedule and personal resources. I’ve been able to meet the demands on my time and energy and feel good about it.

The biggest difference for me is my approach and mindset. I truly believe that keto is working for me because I’ve embraced this Way of Eating (WOE). I’m committed to eating non-starchy vegetables, healthy fats, and good sources of protein. I’ve read over Whole 30 blogs and articles and one thing that struck me was how the Whole 30 diet does not have any recipes for “whole 30 brownies” or any other substitutes for the sweet and crunchy foods we have a type of dependence on. They said that trying to find substitutes for sweets and starchy goodness while on Whole 30 was like “sex with your pants on”. Lol. That’s where I was on the wrong track before. I wanted the benefits of keto without giving up the foods that were making me sick in the first place. My sister tried to explain this very thing to me a few years ago, but it didn’t click with me then. It has clicked with me now with resonance. I no longer look for recipes for fake sweets like muffins or cakes that use almond flour and a lot of artificial sweetener. Same with coffee drinks and other sources of sugar that I craved before. This time around, the ketogenic WOE is a complete mind-shift. I’m not focused on weight-loss, I’m focused on pain-management and energy. I don’t weigh myself with any regularity because I’m focused on managing the day to day things I want to do to treat my body with respect and reverence. I feel stronger, I can see the definition in my legs returning. And I did a fancy shawl dance practice yesterday and my legs felt great!!!!!

So there’s my keto testament. It’s not for everybody, so I won’t be a member of the “keto-police”, but I am happy to share what it’s done for me.