Keto Way of Eating Post (Not writing related)

It is the end of August! I thought I would write a post about my way of eating.

2017 after a year of steroids.

June 2019

With siblings July 2019

 I have written before how my asthma doctor told me I should check out weight loss surgery. In ten years my asthma (allergy, inflammatory asthma) had not really been controlled. Nor had my weight changed significantly. But studies had shown that even a 20% loss could significantly reduce asthma symptoms.

Not sure you can see the differences, but I went from a size 24 to a size 14-16. I didn't keep a photolog so you get random pictures! I still have weight to lose and journey onward.

I was not thrilled with the idea of surgery, but I was pretty sick of ER visits and steroids. Steroids raised my blood sugar to diabetic levels, also not good. So I started looking online for anti-inflammatory diets and found keto. Someone I know online had lost a lot on keto, and years ago I had lost weight and kept weight down with a high protein diet. I decided to give keto a try. 

I got some books, read keto Facebook forums, watched all of the Dr. Ken Berry's keto YouTube videos (plus other Doctors on YT) and started.

A week later, my husband joined me. He had lost over a hundred pounds on high protein years ago. Keto is a bit different, being moderate protein, high fat. A keto diet is an insulin regulation diet. Keep insulin normal, no carb/sugar spikes, and fat cells will release fat.

In my first month, I lost 22 lbs. All water from inflammation. Constant arthritis pain in my neck and back vanished. I still have a bad knee, but it improved, too. Asthma, no way to tell, because it was June and almost all of my awful asthma is from October through March, when it is frigid and windy in Casper, WY. Usually, I would catch a cold, develop bronchitis and have recurring bronchitis and asthma exacerbations for months. I was always sick at Christmas.

My goal was to be at a 20% loss by winter, in the hopes fo less asthma. I stuck to the eating plan( which is much easier to do after the initial weeks) and kept losing weight.

I did catch a couple colds. I used my asthma albuterol inhaler a couple times through the entire winter, not a couple times in the morning. No expensive controller meds, no steroids, no antibiotics. For the first time in a decade.

Hubby has diabetes controlled by insulin. He had frequent foot infections, very dangerous ones that led to hospitalizations, pic lines and high level antibiotic IVs. He also got a lot of bladder infections that came on so quickly we had to get to the ER for very high fevers. His diabetic doctor was all for lowering the insulin as he lost weight on 20 carbs or less a day. He takes about 1/6th of the insulin he was on at start. Due to his pancreas, he may never be off insulin, but that is not for certain.

In April I decided to retire early. Having no extreme medical costs in the past winter, I felt confident I could work with a lower insurance plan and lower salary. I picked up a 20 hour a month editing job. The cost savings of premiums and lowered prescription costs basically make up for my old day job, which was stressful and exhausting(medical billing). From $800 a month on rx meds to  $50 or so.

This, along with so much less pain from arthritis, gives a sense of freedom I never thought I would have in my sixties!

By our one year anniversary of keto, I had lost nearly 60 lbs, hubby more than that. Neither of us had been in the ER in the past year. No foot infections or bladder infections for hubby, no asthma other than one day of mild tightness with a cold for me. Both of us still have mobility issues but those are better than in the past. We have no plans to add more carbs and sugar back into our way of eating. Those foods just don't work with our bodies. 

I am not an evangelist for keto. I think people should research for themselves. But I do want to share my experience for those who might be where I was in 2018. 

Happy Trails,

Melisse