It’s time for a motivating weight loss success story!
Today on Keto Island we have a special guest her name is Shana. She has been living a lowcarb high fat lifestyle for over 10 months and lost over 40 lbs / 18 kg.
So we can definitely learn a lot from her journey.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Shana and I am 33 years old and live in Arizona with my husband, 3 children and my 2 fur-babies (dogs). They are all a source of support and motivation for me to stay healthy and happy. One of my hopes is that I can inspire them to lead healthy lives and make good choices, by my example. Its really not hard to preach to live a good life, but the weight of my words will hopefully be carried through my actions. I have been a stay at home mom for 10 years, now I am in school full-time to accomplish my goal of becoming a nurse. Its finally my time to shine and get my career goals accomplished, which really excites me. Since I started Keto, I have been on a journey of self-discovery. I have learned a lot about myself, my body, my mind, my spirituality. I can thank Keto for kick-starting that whole process.
What moment or event started your weight loss journey?
It was a culmination of couple things that led to my finally focusing on getting healthy.
– The feeling that time is fleeting, because lets be honest, it is. I did not want to be in my 40’s, and needing to lose 60 pounds. The amount of work it would take to get in shape later as opposed to earlier was terrifying, and it wasn’t a guarantee.
-Being surrounded by insecure, negative, “overweight-and-proud” friend(s). I know this sounds harsh, but it was my reality. (Friends that are only happy if you are fat and miserable alongside them are not true friends. Asking for a friends support in trying to become healthy should be applauded, supported and encouraged). Whenever I mentioned getting healthier and losing weight, said friend would be passive aggressive. And when I did start to do something, I was made to feel bad about myself.
– I was depressed, and knew that the only way to crawl out of the hole I put myself in was to be proactive in losing weight, getting active and changing my life.
-I was tired of being overweight, tired of being tired, sick of feeling invisible, but mostly unhappy that the woman I saw in the mirror or looked at in pictures wasn’t an accurate representation of who I was inside. I knew that I was overweight and I would make excuses to and for myself as to why I couldn’t lose weight
“ I’ve had three kids”, “I need to love myself at the size I am ”, “I cant live without the foods I love”.
All of which were true except for that last one. But the fact is, if you truly love yourself, then you treat your body with respect and give it the nutrients it needs and make it as healthy as you possibly can. I was upset at myself, I was tired of my lame excuses, tired of failed attempts, and I knew it was time to change. I wanted to change.
What was your starting weight? What weight are you at now?
My starting weight was 189lbs and I am 5’5. My current weight is 148lbs and my goal weight is going to be around 135-130lbs. I have a goal of 20% body fat and I am currently at 24.5%
I’ve lost 4 dress sizes and I wish I had kept track of the inches I lost because I know that would have been such a satisfying number to see.
How did you discover the Keto lifestyle and how has it affected you?
I found Keto through the website Reddit. Every once in a while there is a post that makes the front page of someones “before/after” weight-loss picture; I find them to be very inspiring. There was a picture of this lady who had lost 90 pounds! My jaw dropped, she looked like a completely different person, and she looked happy and in-shape. I wanted that to be me! I began searching the comments for how she accomplished this. She had mentioned she was following a diet called keto, I had no idea what she meant, so I did a google search. I learned I could eat bacon and still lose weight, and I didn’t have to pay anyone, or drink my meals. I was sold.
What is your favourite Keto recipe / food?
The greatest thing I have found about Keto, is that nearly all of the foods I love that are considered to be forbidden, have been recreated into keto-friendly masterpieces. (except for nachos, there are no keto-friendly nachos that have ever met my standards)
The majority of my favorite keto foods came from this wonderful blog “ I breathe, I’m hungry”. It has been such a great resource for me and a source of inspiring and delicious recipes:
http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2013/02/jalapeno-popper-soup-low-carb-gluten-free.html
that is a link to my favorite soup. Yummm, seriously. You should check it out.
MUG CAKES! These have been a savior for me and have brought me through some crazy temptations. The easiest of which to make is here. I suggest topping it with a low- carb, sugar-free whipped cream : http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1030911.
And this amazing broccoli salad : http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bodacious-broccoli-salad/
For people currently doing Keto what motivational tip or advice would you like to share?
KEEP GOING! Every tiny victory, no matter how insignificant it might seem at the time (like choosing water over coke zero), is one step closer to the big victory of achieving your goal.
My advice would be to Track Everything!! Keep a journal (or blog), use an app. Keep yourself accountable to your foods, and calories. Track measurements of your body and update them monthly (something I regret not doing). Weigh in once a week, I chose Fridays because I am usually very well behaved with food through-out the week, and this day has the most potential to showcase the hard work I have been doing. I also found it helpful to utilize forums and websites that are full of people going through the same things I was going through, I found motivation and comfort through them. They were my source of supportive friends when I had none in real life ( aside from my family).
If someone wanted to get into the Keto lifestyle what advice would you give them?
You can do it!
Gather up some knowledge first, it helps to have an idea of what to expect and how to plan your beginning stages. This is where I started. http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2014/01/3-day-keto-kickstart-menu-plan.html
and here
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ is where you can get all of your macro information
