How I Lost 50 Pounds on the Keto Diet
Have you ever had one of those bodies as a mother where you got pregnant and then after the baby was born you immediately shed the weight and bounced backed to normal in no time? Yeah, me neither. In fact, quite the opposite scenario took place for me with all three of my pregnancies. I remember this last time I found out I was pregnant, I started sobbing at the thought of my body growing out of control again because I knew too darn well how hard it was for me in particular to loose the weight. And yes, I know how vain this sounds, but I'd be lying if I said being in good shape wasn't important to me, and getting pregnant for me was the equivalent of kissing that goodbye again. And I know some of you out there are reading this and asking yourself why I didn't just work out while pregnant. Me working out while pregnant was a sweet thought but the reality was that I was working full time plus had two other children at home and my energy levels majorly plummeted. Plus I couldn't exert myself in an active way without peeing myself a little. Good times.
Now, I was one of those pregnant ladies who gained WAY over the recommended weight, and then had a super hard time getting it off afterwards. And I know everyone says breastfeeding helps, but I am living proof that breastfeeding does not always help the weight melt away. It was almost as if my body stored extra fat while I was breastfeeding. Like it retained each and every gram of fat possible and just piled it on.
After many years of getting into exercise and nutrition I knew there was only ONE way for my body to shed weight, and that was through diet & exercise. Caloric input needs to be less than caloric output. Plain and simple. Now I have some mama friends who were out there running a 5k around 10 weeks postpartum, but girlfriend that was NOT me. My lack of inhibition to exercise plus my immense lack of sleep mixed with my love of baked goods equaled one chubby mama. Now let me say, I am ALL for being a chubby mama. Especially right after you give birth. If there is ever a time in a woman life she gets a free pass at being chubby, it's right after you have a baby. Mama needs to heal. Mama needs rest. Mama needs nourishment. And gosh darn it Mama needs something enjoyable while her body goes through this immense transformation and sometimes that comes in the form of baked goods. But then when the baby starts crawling around and life starts to pick back up again and you slowly start coming out of the dark hole of your postpartum life....it's go time.
Now after the birth of my third, I had gained 80 pounds of pregnancy weight. Yes you read that right. 80. Double the recommended weight gain for women my age. After the birth of my daughter I had lost approximately 20 pounds immediately. That left me 60 pounds overweight. Awesome. Now this is also the time my lovely husband started training to do a 100 mile bike race and needed to loose some weight himself. And not only did he need to loose weight, he needed to do it fast. Insert the keto diet. My husband lost like 40 pounds and looked like David Beckham right out of training camp, all the while I was over here only being able to wear maternity pants, not fitting into any of my clothes and feeling a little more like Shamu than Victoria Beckham. Yes, I know what you're thinking: What kind of husband even considers doing something like this while his wife is the size of a small house? I thought men were supposed to gain baby weight too out of sheer emotional support(#thingstoconsideraddingtoweddingvows). So for reasons that I can't quite decide were fueled by spite, anger, or being down right competitive, I decided to give this whole keto thing a try and show my husband who gets to loose all the weight around here! It took me not one, not two, but three attempts at the diet before I finally found my groove. And I am here to share with you today my keto journey: how I lost 50 pounds on the keto diet, how I made it work for me, and how I continue to incorporate it into my busy life today.
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| Before Picture was taken 4 months postpartum, After Picture was taken 18 months postpartum. |
The keto diet is a world of its own with so many rules and guidelines to follow in order to put your body in a state of what's called ketosis, or in other words, a state where your body burning fat as fuel. Basically you starve your body of carbohydrates, and your body stops using glucose as it's main source of energy, and instead uses fat. Once your body has been entirely depleted of glucose and begins using fat for energy, your body produces chemicals called ketones by turning your fat into a type of acid that gets sent through your bloodstream. Pretty cool huh? Especially cool if you are overweight like I was. But in order to get into ketosis, you need to go on a strict diet of basically ZERO carbs. Now, for a healthy female, the daily macros of carbohydrates you should consume in a day is about 200-300. On the keto diet, your net carbs are limited to 25-50 grams per day. Net carbs are counted by taking the total number of carbs and subtracting the amount of fiber, and any sugar alcohols. For example: My favorite keto friendly cookies have 19g carbohydrates, 9g fiber, and 6g sugar alcohols, or in other words 19 - 9 - 6 = 4 net carbs. Whenever I do the keto diet I always aim to get 25 grams of net carbs a day, knowing that I can have 50 grams or less to maintain a state of ketosis, this way I give myself a little wiggle room.
First - I had to determine my food Do's and Don'ts. Now the list of foods you CAN have on the keto diet is much smaller than the list of foods you CAN'T have. Check it out:
Next - I chose meals and snacks that I knew I'd enjoy. Bacon gets super icky pretty quickly, trust me. Used to having cereal for breakfast? Have some keto cereal with almond milk. Love pancakes? Here's a super yummy keto pancake recipe. My point is, there is usually ways to modify foods you already love into being keto friendly. You can get creative with this! Whipped cream is keto friendly! A keto waffle with whipped cream and berries is super satisfying. Making spaghetti for dinner? Swap out the pasta for some zucchini spirals (but make sure your sauce does not have added sugar!).
Lastly - MCT oils are your friend. MCT oils, or in other words medium-chain triglycerides, are fats that are broken down by your body quickly and cause the body to burn more calories through digestion, thus enhancing your levels of ketones! The easiest way to get MCTs in your diet is through coconut oil, and avocados and cheese. I stir coconut oil right in my morning coffee.
Now that I've shed all my extra weight and am at a healthy range again, I've quit doing the keto diet on a steady basis. Instead I keep it in my back pocket and use it to: event prep (i.e.special events or vacations) or to get back on track if I notice my habits starting to slip. I think by personalizing how I use the diet and modifying meals to best suit my tastes, is what makes keto work best for me. Below I'm leaving you with my favorite keto recipes. And also, Jenna Jameson (who would have thought?!) has a super awesome keto product list on Amazon that I really love and think you should check out too.
Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Bacon Cream Sauce
Fat Head Pizza Crust (<- This is Delicious! I have a gluten allergy and need to do GF pizzas always, and this crust is better than lots of GF pizza crusts I've tried!)
Everything Bagel Chicken (<- This one is so good my family requests it even when I'm not doing Keto!)
Charcuterie Board (<- Perfect for wine night!)
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