Eating Keto
See that picture? That’s me thriving with multiple sclerosis at 46 years old and zero makeup. Just a girl trying to share her real-life story of reversing disease with real whole food. No smoke and mirrors here, what you see is what you get. This is my experience with eating keto.
So you probably have heard about the ketogenic diet by now as it has gained a lot of popularity. “Keto” is short for ketosis, a metabolic state that happens when your body switches to burning fat for fuel instead of carbs/sugar. Studies have proven that ketosis can be beneficial for everything from weight loss to people fighting disease.
When I first started eating clean almost 4 years ago, I started with the keto diet, which cut out carbs and added in tons of healthy fats, veg, and some fruits. Bye bye grains, legumes, dairy, citrus, bananas, and anything else carby! I also began giving my body rest periods where I would fast every day for about 14 hrs. Generally, this happens after my evening meal and I do not eat again until 14 hrs later. Somedays I might even fast for a whole day only drinking bone broth, water, and green tea, I basically listen to my body when this needs to happen.
Keto ia a very strict diet and seemed quite hard at first, but once I understood what I could eat and concentrated on those items, I was good to go!
I lost weight very fast in the first few months, I believe a total of 30 pounds. If you start to lose weight too fast or too much you just need to add in more good fats to your diet like avocado, EVOO, Coconut Oil, raw nuts and seeds etc.
I tested my urine for ketones daily with strips I bought at the drugstore for a few dollars, totally worth it. I learned what foods kept me in ketosis and what foods knocked me out. I learned quickly I could drink a glass of dry red wine and eat a piece of 85% dark chocolate and still be in ketosis the next morning:) You can also test your blood for ketones, I did not do this. Some people can experience headaches and low energy when they start the keto diet due to their bodies detoxing, I did not experience this. Actually, my energy went through the roof within 3 days of starting, I began sleeping through the night, my bowels regulated, my skin cleared up and my MS headaches started to dissipate as the inflammation in my body was going away.
I did this diet for almost a year straight in order to get my MS under control as I was in pretty bad shape. Now I only do it intermittently when I feel I need a hard reset or feel maybe a relapse is lurking. The majority of the time I eat “clean”, meaning I steer clear of processed foods as much as humanly possible, I eat organic and local when I can, almost 80% raw, in season foods, sprout all my raw nuts and seeds and occasionally treat myself to sprouted toast. Zero dairy. Tons of water and plenty of collagen either through bone broth or powder form mixed in my smoothies.
This is a very strict diet and you should check with your health professional before beginning just to make sure you are good to go. I had a very positive experience with the keto diet, however, I do not feel it is healthy to be on for life or super long term, I am an advocate of listening to YOUR own body and eating clean whole food!
Love & Be Well,
