Early this summer, I received a call I never had imagined…the call that my dad had passed away unexpectedly in his sleep. It turned my world upside down. See my tribute to him here.
After the funeral, I literally crashed. I was so depressed, couldn’t get out of bed, and was spiraling out of control. I almost lost my business, my marriage and my life. My brother in law who is a health & wellness doctor in Atlanta suggested I get a complete blood panel. The results showed I was severely deficient in vitamin D, B12, Iron and many other nutrients. My thyroid was low, my cholesterol high and my weight was inching up by the day. When I reviewed the results with my doctor, her answer was to put me on a bunch of prescription drugs: anti-depressants, diet pills, anxiety medicine and thyroid medicine. I literally broke down in tears as I left her office, not knowing how I would survive. I didn’t want to mask my pain…I needed to deal with it. I shared the results with my brother in law and he said my adrenals were fatigued and suggested I try a new way of eating, the ketogenic Diet.
I immediately started googling any and everything I could find relating to a Keto lifestyle. The one thing I had a hard time wrapping my mind around was the large amount of fat required to succeed on this way of eating. You see…I am in my mid 40’s and spent my whole life embracing the low-fat mentality and now I am supposed to eat 70% of my calories from fat?
I dove into the Ketogenic WOE (way of eating). I figured I had nothing to lose. It would either work or kill me and honestly, at that point in time, I didn’t care if killed me or not.
My first day on Keto was Thursday, September 7, 2017. I have learned a TON since that first day. Long story short…it has changed my life.
I am not a gourmet chef or even a good cook by some standards but I am a busy female trying to live a healthy lifestyle. If I can share my favorite recipes, meal plans and meal prep secrets to shorten your learning curve, I will. It has definitely been a learning process but hopefully my successes & failures will help you in your journey.
I am going to use this new category of my blog, “my ketogenic journey” as a platform to help others struggling just like I was.
Whether you want to lose 10-100 pounds, increase your energy, or improve your mental state, this way of eating can help.
No one is perfect but together we can find a happy & healthy lifestyle that makes us the best version of ourselves.
What do you say? Are you with me?
I am very interested in the Keto diet. I am, and have been for a long time, struggling with nearly all the problems you were diagnosed with plus I am dairy and gluten sensitive. I have been on one or more antidepressants for many years, I take a thyroid drug as I test low for thyroid function and I supplement with Vitamin D and B12. The thing I dislike most is being on antidepressants for so long, but I am terrified to wean off from them as my life was so miserable before I started taking them.
Anyway, I a curious as to what this Keto diet is like and whether it could be good for me. I am nearly seventy-four and I want to be energetic and up-beat for many years yet!
Well I am no doctor by any means. I, too am still on a low dose of antidepressant but slowly weaning off. I would not go off of it cold turkey. I love the way the Keto diet makes me feel so I wouldn’t hurt to try.