After years of yo-yo dieting and changing my eating habits only to become pregnant again, I’ve decided that now that we’re done having children I’m ready to focus on me again. Over the past few months I’ve watched my friend Summer of Dirty Floor Diaries transform and change her lifestyle with the LCHF diet. She’s not only lost weight but has become healthier in the process (her main goal).
Now that I’m ready to make some big changes, I did the research Summer suggested and read Why We Get Fat & What To Do About It by Gary Taubes and The Big FAT Surprise by Nina Teicholz. Since heart disease runs in my family and is the #1 killer among women in the US, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year, I knew I needed to make sure I was preventing whatever I could so that I’d be alive to care for my three children. And this diet is known to reduce the risk of heart disease, believe it or not! Lets not talk about lowering glucose levels in diabetics and all of the other benefits you’ll find from this way of eating.
After reading both books and finding the research cited in the books to be valid, I knew that I had to give this lifestyle a shot to see if I could make some big changes to my diet. And my mentality.
Throughout my last pregnancy I had an aversion to sweets. This never happened in my other pregnancies and I wasn’t quite sure why I didn’t want a bite of a brownie or a slice of cake at a party. I just did not feel any need to consume sweets. Then after I had my youngest, every time I’d eat sweets or too many carbs I’d feel downright sick. Gross. And uncomfortable.
On my own I was able to get down past my (overweight) pre-pregnancy weight but I stalled at 215lbs. Nothing I did would budge me from that number. So I made the decision that I would start a LCHF lifestyle. And then I was knocked down by gallstones. And had to put my plans on hold until after I had my gallbladder removed. You don’t want high fat anything when you have gallstones. Talk about pain! Two months later I had my surgery and after I got the all clear from my doctor a week out, I began changing my diet.
Now that I’m on a LCHF meal plan, I not only count carbs but make sure I’m getting in all of my macros for the day and staying within my macros percentages. 80% of my diet is fat, 15% is protein, and 5% is fat. All calculated on My Fitness Pal. If that sounds greek to you, I’ll chat about it soon!
