Low Carb, Keto, Gluten Free and Paleo Recipes
Home » The Low Carb Diet Journey
The scariest thing to happen to a person who loses a lot of weight is gaining it all back... plus a little extra. The looks people give are hard. Negative self-talk is hard to regulate. Food seems to materialize in my mouth. The struggle is real.
This is what has happened to me my whole life. It is how I got myself to my highest weight of 335lbs.
And I can see it happening again, after four years of keeping the weight off.
I'm terrified that I am unable to stop the momentum the weight gain has started.
After nine months of trying to restart the low-carb lifestyle, it still wasn't working. In fact, it felt like I was losing even more control with every day that passed.
Read the full story on how I restarted low carb after completely falling off the wagon for almost a year.
The story below is my original journey detailing my drive toward a more healthy lifestyle.
I thought this journey could be done alone. I thought I was strong enough to maintain the weight loss for the rest of my life.
I was wrong.
Subscribe below and keep in touch. Join the conversation. I'm here to support your journey too.
Here are the only updates I'll ever send: New Recipes with Low-Carb Tips. That's it. For updates on my Journey, expanding community etc... please visit my subscriptions page.
Unsubscribe at anytime from anything I send.
Let me start out by saying clearly that I never envisioned talking about my low-carb diet journey on this website. For years I was using this site as an outlet for my creative energy, enjoying all the new recipes and sharing them with people who are willing to give new experiences a try. On April 21, 2017, all that changed.
Here's the story... going back almost as far as I can remember, I've been categorized as CHUBBY, HUSKY, OVERWEIGHT or STOCKY. If you've been in the same boat, then you know just how much labels like these affect your way of thinking about yourself. I bounced from one diet to the next, with my weight and health bouncing all over the place for almost three decades.
Nothing worked. The weight always came back with a vengeance.
About five years ago, things started to change... for the WORSE. I moved out of the overweight distinction directly into the OBESE category. It seemed that no matter what I did, the weight continued to pile on my frame. With skyrocketing blood pressure, my doctor told me that I was on a clear path to diabetes, stroke, heart disease or worse.
When I asked him what to do, his response was "lose weight." Great advice, right? I've been trying to do that for my whole life. I left feeling CONFUSED, ANXIOUS and AFRAID. Instead of losing weight, I turned to food for comfort and to mask my stress with all the wonderful flavors that I could create. I wrote recipe upon recipe for this website.
I hit a low point in my life. Call it rock bottom. Call it the point of no return. Call it desperation. It had nothing to do with what my doctor told me. It was a point of self-realization which was much more simple than that. The day that I could no longer bend over to tie my own shoes... that was the day that I decided to take back my life. That was the day I decided to fully immerse myself in truly learning the low carb diet and ketosis way of eating.
When I started living the low-carb diet every day, I have to admit that it wasn't easy. I knew that what I needed most in my life was to become healthier, more energized and vibrant. Every day it was a struggle with new challenges and obstacles to overcome.
My very first decision was to stop writing on the blog. Live the lifestyle and see what happens. The results have been absolutely astounding... over 10" off my waistline and counting in just over six months. I'm not saying that this is what everyone should expect from eating low-carb, but it is what happened to me.
Everything that I learned along the way has been documented. With the exception of meals out at restaurants (and I have articles coming to help navigate that minefield), I relied solely on my own recipes. I have set my intentions to now share my low-carb journey, the new recipes I created and lessons I learned along the way on this website.
The most frequently asked question I get is "why the low-carb diet?" followed closely by "do you think that not eating sugar is sustainable?" The answer to the second question is simple: YES. The answer to the first is a bit more complex.
It is my firm belief that learning to listen to your body is the most important thing you can do to improve overall health. Once I learned how to listen to what my body needed, the path became very clear. My body was responding exceptionally well to reduced carbs, increased greens and proteins along with some more healthy fats.
Within two months my clothes - which were once skin tight - were baggy and looked terrible on me. It was clear that the low-carb diet was really working for me. Fast-forward another 5 months to today as I am writing this... and I now know that it is not only good for me but sustainable in the long run as well. My body just feels really good eating low-carb.
Now that I am a PASSIONATE BELIEVER in the low carb way of eating, I'm ready to share all of what I learned with the world. I really needed to live the low carb life. And I needed to see the true LIFE CHANGING BENEFITS it has had for me to be able to feel confident enough to tell people that they too can achieve wonderful results by choosing this way of eating.
Before we get started, however, I do have to advise a word of caution. PLEASE consult with your physician BEFORE changing your diet. I'm not a doctor. I don't dispense medical advice. All I am doing is sharing with you what has worked for me - and I have no idea how your body will respond to the low-carb high-fat / ketosis way of eating. The body is a complex place so it is really critical that you speak with a medical professional before diving into this lifestyle.
With all that said, I'm so grateful and honored that you are here. Whether you are just getting started on the low-carb diet or have been living the lifestyle for years, I welcome you to the community and thank you for reading.
Over the last year, I've fallen off the low carb way of eating and I know I'm not the only one. I've gained back over 50lbs and have tried desperately to kick-start myself back into ketosis... but it hasn't worked so far.
It's been a long and painful journey gaining so much weight back. I've learned that restarting low carb is so much harder than I'd ever imagined, but I have a plan that I want to share.
I will be documenting my return to the low carb lifestyle on this site. If you're interested in following along, be sure to subscribe below.