Intro to my Weight Loss Journey - Before Keto

June 2017

I had no idea how much I weighed.  Last time I checked, I was around 150lbs.  That was in high school.

8 years later, I knew I had gained some weight, but I did not think it was that much - 20lbs tops. I mean, I did not think I looked that much bigger.  Sure, some of my clothes would no longer fit - but some did..


That's why I was shocked when I stepped on that dreaded scale and saw the numbers 197.9lbs...

Almost 200 pounds!

How did that happen?!

I knew how - pizza and take out for dinner several times a week.  My husband LOVES food - especially the ones that are not good for you, and I feel into temptation time after time. How can you say 'no' to some delicious greasy food delivered to your door, when the alternative is using energy to cook some mediocre foods? Vegetables? Not so tasty. Deep Fried Chicken? Yes, please! Never mind the fact that I would eat an entire family sized bag of chips in one sitting, or several chocolate bars.  Ice cream treats? Those never lasted long either.  I mean, how can you resist some so delicious?

Seeing that number on the scale changed me - I knew I needed to lose weight - I did not want to see that number go up 200! That is the day I started my weight loss journey.

But where do I start?

I had never worked out a day in my life and knew nothing about dieting.

I knew the simple conversion - to lose weight, energy out > energy in.  So, I got a fitbit and I tracked my calories. That's the straight forward way to do it, right?

I decided that I would try to achieve a 1,000 calorie deficit each day; that meant 2lbs lost a week.

The thing was - I was just focusing on the quantity of calories, not the quality. Pizza for dinner? Sure, that's 800 calories, but lunch and breakfast only added up to 400 calories and I spent half an hour on the elliptical that day.  800 calories fits in my budget! No problem!

Oh, I can fit that chocolate bar into my caloric intake! If I just eat half a slice of cake, that should be fine!

Wrong.

Sure, I was losing weight - but not the amount I should have and I was not seeing any changes in my appearance. I also wasn't feeling as good as I could have.

Plus, since I was still eating badly - I had cravings all the time, which often caused me to go over my calorie budget. I was under 100 calories yesterday, it's okay if I go over a little today.

On top of all that, I was getting married in November.  I think that's what had really jump started my weight loss journey - I wanted to look back at my wedding pictures and feel good about myself.  Those pictures are going to be around for a long time and I did not want to look fat or feel fat on my wedding day.  I had made my goal to reach 160lbs by my wedding date and it just was not going to happen if I kept this way of eating...

I needed to figure something else out.  I need more motivation and I needed a better way of dieting.  Something where I wouldn't be restricted to lettuce and carrots everyday for every meal for the rest of my life.

That's when I heard about Keto...