Keto on the Cheap: 100 Days In

Today is day 100 of my keto on the cheap challenge with no relapses! I’m feeling fantastic, and I have so much great news to share.

First, I’ll share my stats.

  • High Weight: 290.2lb
  • Start Weight: 259.4lb
  • Current Weight: 236lb

And then, of course, there are some non-scale victories (NSVs).  I had a phone visit with my keto-friendly doctor during the last week of November, and we decided to cut my blood pressure meds in half.  I’m down to the tiniest dose — 2.5mg of lisinopril — and I’ll bet that when a little more weight comes off, I’ll be able to ditch it altogether.  I’m not quite there yet though, because I tried ditching my previous dose of 5mg because I was having blood pressure drops, but after a few days without the meds, my blood pressure wasn’t where I’d like to see it and I had some pretty uncomfortable edema (sweeling) in my feet and legs.  I know I’ll get to the point where I’m only taking thyroid meds, but that time isn’t now, apparently.

Yet another NSV is my ability to steer clear of whatever viruses my family has been growing in this house.  I’ve definitely had periods of time where I’ve felt like I was trying to fight something, but I haven’t gotten full-on sick yet, and this is usually the bad time of year for that.  We’ll see if my luck holds out through my birthday in mid December, and if it does, I’ll consider that a MAJOR NSV!

I also took some measurements today since day 100 seemed like a great time to do that.  It still amazes me to see how my body is changing even though it doesn’t always feel like the scale is cooperating.

Here’s my progress with the measuring tape.

  • Hips: 51” (down 5” from day 14)
  • Waist: 41” (down 3” from day 14)
  • Body Fat %: 54% (down 6% from day 14)
  • % of Starting Weight Lost: 9.02%

Now that we’ve gotten the “keto” part of the update out of the way, let’s get to the “cheap” part.  We’re doing well there too. We’ve fallen into a decent pattern of grocery buying, and as long as I can keep my youngest from becoming a ribeye addict, we should be OK.

It’ll be interesting to see where our final pattern of grocery spending lands because I was talking with my 14-year-old son about switching him to low-carb.  Right now, he eats low-carb at home because I don’t buy poison that the rest of us don’t eat. He eats carbs at school though, and while that’s keeping my food costs lower, I really think he’d feel better if he switched to low-carb.  (I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before that he’s on the autism spectrum and he has ADHD.)

If my son switches too, I’m imagining that we’ll be back at spending around $200 per week on groceries.  I’ll definitely be implementing strategies to keep costs down, but it’ll be worth it. My son gets to choose though.  I’m not forcing it on him because that sort of thing doesn’t go well. My kids are old enough to choose how they eat, and they’re old enough to understand the consequences of said choices.

I’ve also managed a little bit of savings recently by doing an extended fast.  I hadn’t done one since March of 2018, so I was a little apprehensive, but so far, it’s going beautifully.  I’ve been fasting for three-and-a-half days now, and I don’t intend to end the fast until I stop feeling fantastic.  Right now, I have so much brain clarity, and my blood sugars are AMAZING! So far, it’s really working for me, and it has only cost us the occasional cup of coffee or chicken broth.  Oh yes, and we can’t forget salt — lots of salt.

I can’t think of a better way to thrive through the holidays, and I’m loving almost every minute of it!

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