Skip to Content

How Keto Changed My Life

Share this post

 Hello my beautiful and faithful readers! It’s finally summmmma time! ☀️  I LOVE warm weather, sunshine, swimming, and vacationing! Not having a schedule to follow for a few months is an added bonus!  I haven’t been writing much lately because I found myself in a pretty big funk. I don’t like to throw around the term “depression” because I think people use it too loosely or as a catch-all for feeling bad. But, I wasn’t in a good way.  My mind, body, and spirit were a little broken. It all started when my husband and I made the decision a few months ago to start looking for a new church home. We were commuting 30+ minutes each way to our church multiple times a week. With the kids, school, and everything in between, it started becoming too cumbersome for us.  We attended services and served in our church for a long while and had made great friendships (or so we thought). The decision for us to leave did not come without much prayer and discussion but it was what we felt God was calling us to do. So we personally told our pastor, a few friends and relatives, and our mentors and announced publicly to the rest of our congregation.  But what happened afterwards was so devestating.  I’ve contemplated writing this story for SO LONG. Writing is healing for me but I didn’t want to share the story from a place of hurt or anger or bitterness because that is not the kind of woman I want to be. I knew I would share my story when my heart and mind were healthy. And thanks to God, Keto, and my husband, I’m there now. ❤️ After announcing our decision to leave our church, we never heard from our “friends” and “church family” again (with the exception of 2 or 3). The people we socialized with on weekends, served alongside on Wednesday nights, prayed for in Sunday school never batted an eye, said good-bye, or spoke to us after we left. Still to this day, actually.  We were crushed at the realization that the people we considered close friends were nothing more than acquaintances.  I am not exaggerating when I say I felt like I was going through a break-up. I was mourning the loss of a family. A huge part of my identity was essentially erased in minutes.  I couldn’t understand where the disconnection happened. Why it was happening this way. But I was trusting God to see me through.  This sent me in a downward spiral emotionally and spiritually. While I was thankful for God leading us anew, my heart was broken. Aside from God and my family, I felt alone and alienated.  These feelings of heartbreak eventually healed but not because of my own accord. I prayed for God to heal my heartache and to fill the void I felt my “friends” left. After all, no one can take away my relationship with Christ.  I learned that we need to guard our hearts, choose our friends wisely, and remember that no person can fill us with joy the way Christ does. Don’t force friendships with people who aren’t receptive to love and reciprocative with love. We cannot let our identity lie in anything other than Christ.  Slowly but surely, much like healing from a break-up, I stopped thinking about everything and started focusing on myself and my family’s future.  About the same time, I started hearing | reading | seeing about this thing called “The Keto Diet”. My hubby and I had been very diligent at the beginning of the year to get healthy, lose some weight, and be a better example to our kids. But as many people with food addictions do, we started getting lazy, having too many cheat meals, and quit altogether.  I maintained a 14-15 lbs weight loss (I’m sure from chasing my toddler) but my husband gained all his weight back + a little extra. I was tired of being a slave to food and feeling horrible in this amazing machine called a body.  After a lot of research, I told my husband about the ketogenic diet and suggested we try it. He was all for it when I explained you get to eat lots of meat! Men are easy!  If you haven’t heard of a ketogenic diet, I’ll give you the quick run down. It is a HIGH FAT, moderate protein, low carb diet. Your body naturally goes through a process called ketosis where it burns fat for fuel as opposed to glucose (carbs & sugar). But when you consume mostly carbs and sugar (even protein turns to glucose), your body struggles to get into its natural state of ketosis.  By eliminating refined sugars, artificial sugars, and the majority of carbohydrates (complex and simple), your body is able to stay in ketosis! One major and incredible side effect of this is weightloss! And I mean major weightloss!  All of this is achieved simply by eating the right foods. Think paleo meets gluten free meets Whole 30.  So, we’re 2 days shy of our 1 month ketoversary. My hubby has lost over 20lbs and I’ve lost 9 (a total of 23)! I haven’t measured inches lost but I’m fitting into clothes I haven’t worn in 3+ years!  We have a sense of mental clarity that we’ve never felt before. I’ve noticed my anxiety subsiding. We don’t crave carbs or sugar. I’ll always want sweets but my body doesn’t tell me I need them anymore. We sleep better. Our attitudes are better. And we just FEEL GOOD!  Detoxing from sugar and carbs was not fun. It has been said that sugar is more addictive than cocaine and I can believe it. There were hangry | irritable | physically bad days the first couple weeks but we persevered and we’re seeing results.  It is the most liberating feeling to not feel like a slave to food. As I sit here typing this, I’m holding a container of Cheez-it’s for my son to snack on (hey, I never said I was perfect mom) and have zero desire to eat one! Y’all, that’s a major NSV (non scale victory) for me. ???????? So as summer gets into full swing, I’m lighter physically and mentally! I’m finding my tribe! I’m discovering the new ME! And I have no plans to stop!  Be on the lookout for more keto related posts. I want to help others learn as I do. And above all, I want to help and inspire as many other people as I can!  If you have questions about keto, life, healing, or need prayers, send me an email! Make sure to follow me on Instagram (@keto_in_pearls) for meals, humor, and a little InstaInspo!  KCKO,Anna