Winning the Weight Loss Battle with the Keto Diet

It’s been weeks since my last post and I realized that I miss sharing! You never know if something you share might help someone else. It could encourage and provide hope or it could possibly help someone see things from my not so normal perspective.

During my time away, I have embarked on a lifestyle change -That’s right! I have taken charge of my entire self :mind, body, and soul.

You may wonder what brought this on. Wonder no more! Weight gain is the primary motivator. I already had age working against me. Then, I added bipolar medication to the mix. Well, I felt weight creeping on and I felt kinda blah. I saw weight packing on as I squeezed into my clothes. I’ve learned to have various clothes sizes in my closet for times like this. I tried eating less, without calorie counting, but nothing changed. I never felt hungry, so I ate when I thought I was supposed to.

It was time to take a good look at myself and my negative behaviors. I made the choice to actively improve my situation through medication, diet, exercise, and self-awareness. Now, I admit that this is not the first time I’ve tried to turn things around. Yo-yo dieting was very common for me. When riding the high of hypomania, I was on the healthy train. When I was depressed, everything stopped. This is the first time, I have tried dieting with knowledge of my mental illness. And, that is huge!

Living life on autopilot can only go on for so long. Well, in all honesty it could have gone on much longer if I had let it. Luckily, I finally recognized the “invisible” disability after all these years. I faced it and I owned my truth in 2018. The truth is that I am bipolar. It does affect my life in ways that are not always pretty.

My depression and hypomania can lead me down toxic roads. Finally, I realize that!

So, a month ago, I decided to allow the Ketogenic Diet and intermittent fasting into my life. I heard about this a couple of years ago but I figured it wasn’t for me. If I don’t have my mind right as they say, nothing positive would happen in my life.

After getting nowhere fast for the past couple of years, I decided to shake things up a bit. This time I’ve set my sights on a lifestyle change. For me, the key is to stay focused and maintain mental stability.

For those who don’t know, the goal of the Keto Diet is to get the body to burn ketones rather than sugar for fuel. So, if sugar isn’t present, the body is forced to burn fat. This means I restrict my carbs to 20 grams, I restrict protein, and I eat a little extra healthy fats.

I didn’t stop there. Oh, no! I had to take it a step further by combining the diet with intermittent fasting (IF). The fast slows insulin production and forces my body to use ketones for fuel.

I went from 16 hour fast, to 18 hour fast, to my current 20 hour fast.

Following the diet during the first week, made me feel feel hangry! Well, I was hungry and a bit irritable until dinner time. I experienced the keto flu for a day. Keto flu occurs when the body tries to adjust to the new diet. For me the symptoms were nausea and fatigue. I am thankful that it didn’t last long. I am in ketosis according to the keto sticks.

I have no more cravings for Krispy Kreme, ice cream, or other junk food. The family can pig out on sweets and it doesn’t faze me. However, I did crave steak and ribs. I listened to my body and treated myself to a bit more protein.

Another plus is that my family can eat what I eat at mealtime. I count carbs, but that’s it.

The one issue that I am still dealing with is keto constipation. But, I am making adjustments that seem to be effective in clearing out the problem.

The main thing is that I am making progress and I feel better overall. I expect to follow strict keto and IF protocols for another seven weeks. That’s assuming that I lose about 2 pounds per week. At that point, I should definitely be fully “fat adapted”. So, I will increase my carbs and see how much of an increase I can tolerate without throwing myself out of ketosis. If I kick myself out, it shouldn’t be difficult to get back into ketosis, right? We shall see.

This is what works for me. Has anyone tried this diet or a variation of it? If so, tell me about your experience. If another diet has been helpful, I’d love to hear about that as well.

I don’t plan to follow keto protocols forever. I know I will need to switch it up and keep it challenging and interesting.