After 27 weeks of “keto on the cheap”, I’ve reached a new milestone. I am amazed at how easy this journey has become, and I owe so much of my success to Dr. Rob Cywes, the #CarbAddictionDoc. Of course I have ownership in my own choices, but I’m certain I wouldn’t be doing as well as I’m doing today without his thought-provoking videos and social media posts.
For those of you who’re interested, my 27-week weigh-in showed me a new milestone. I weighed 219.6! I haven’t been in the 210s since December of 2013, and I didn’t celebrate that achievement at the time because I was suffering from impaired kidney function that I believe was caused by a diabetes medication. Before that, I hadn’t been in the 210s since 2001 when I got pregnant with my oldest daughter.
My body fat scale measured my body fat at 48.7%, and while this might seem shocking to some, I’ve come a long way from my estimated body fat percentage of 60% last September. Also, I find it interesting that in the time I’ve been measuring body composition with that scale, my muscle mass has gone up with no exercise whatsoever. I’ve always known that it works that way when folks follow a ketogenic eating plan, but it’s been interesting to see the number increase as pounds fall off my body.
Losing 39.8 pounds in just over six months is impressive to me. What really blows my mind though is the fact that I’ve lost over 70 pounds from my all-time high weight back in 2017. The differences are obvious, but I still feel like that fat lady, and I know I need to work on that.
As far as the budget management goes, I’ve used two strategies recently that have helped to improve the bottom line. First, with the start of Lent, I set out to follow a pattern of fasting on the days that are prescribed by the Church. As a result, I accidentally fell into my longest fast yet — just over five days — and I was amazed! I started out only intending to fast on Ash Wednesday. I planned to eat on Thursday, and then I planned to fast again on the first Friday of Lent. After I made it through the first day though, I thought, “Well, it’ll probably be easier on me if I keep fasting since the first day of a fast is usually the hardest,”, and before I knew it, Sunday arrived and I still hadn’t eaten.
After talking with some of my friends, I decided that breaking my fast that evening just after the five-day mark made the most sense because I wanted to have plenty of time to feast before fasting again on the second Friday of Lent. It turned out to be a smart plan.
I had also decided that I would eat as close to a carnivore diet as possible once I broke my fast, and as a result, believe it or not, my food costs went down. Yes, I broke my fast with ribeye, but over the following days, I feasted on butter-poached burgers. This meant that I was eating for less than $3/day, and that works for me.
When I started my blog all those years ago, I promised that I would never give up. In those years, I’ve had some sideways moves and some pretty big relapses. As Jack Spirko likes to say over at The Survival Podcast, what you do matters, and I’ve taken that concept entirely to heart. Without the struggle, I wouldn’t have success, I wouldn’t learn, and I wouldn’t grow. With all that being said though, I really think this is the time that it’ll stick. This is the time that I’ll pass these milestones without looking back (except to encourage others.) We have this in hand, folks! We can do this!