Learning the Ketogenic Diet – A 2+ Year Update On My Keto Journey

A 2+ year update on my keto diet journey. So many health improvements! 

I haven’t done a keto update post in a while, so I thought it would be fun to share for the new year! This past September I hit a couple huge milestones: 2 years since I started keto and 50lbs lost!! When I started this way of eating in 2016 I didn’t expect to be able to stick with it like I have. But I really love how I feel while on keto, and I’ve made some major health improvements that I hope to continue.

In Sept. 2016, after 4.5 years of infertility, I was finally diagnosed with PCOS and insulin resistance and put on a ketogenic diet by my doctor to treat my out of control PCOS symptoms and infertility. I was pregnant just 6 weeks later and my amazing daughter is now 17 months old. Such an amazing answer to prayer!

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Timeline:

• September 2016 – November 2016: Strict Keto at 20% deficit (261lbs down to 236lbs)
• December 2016 – I’m pregnant! I stayed keto with doctor approval and monitoring until morning sickness got too bad and then switched to general “low-carb” (under 150g/day) for the remainder of my pregnancy. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes about halfway through and managed to keep it diet-controlled until delivery. (241 lbs)
• August 2017 – My daughter is born! Keto dropped my breastfeeding supply, so I stayed general low-carb (under 100g/day) until we were done nursing. (233 lbs)
• February 2018 – I finished breastfeeding, so I was free to go back to strict keto with 20% deficit. (248lbs – I gained weight while breastfeeding and it was worth it!)
• February 2018 – Present – Strict keto with only a handful of higher carb days. (248lbs down to 204lbs)

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Benefits I’ve seen since starting a ketogenic diet in Sept. 2016:

• My A1C is down from borderline diabetes levels back down to very healthy levels (It was 5.9% in 2016 and is now down to 4.8% in October of 2018).
• My fasting insulin has dropped from 12.2 mcU/ml (insulin resistant) down to 6.6 mcU/ml (normal).
• I have been taken completely off my Metformin and likely won’t need it again.
• My awful cystic acne is all but gone.
• I haven’t had a new ovarian cyst (that I know of) since I started keto.
• My cycles are happening perfectly normally again. Before they were anywhere from 20 days to 65 days long, so a consistent schedule is so nice to have back again!
• I have so much more energy than I ever did before. (Which is great, because my toddler is super high energy.)
• I can fast for hours and not be starving. Which is convenient when life gets super busy. Sometimes I practice intermittent fasting or One Meal a Day (OMAD).
• I sleep so much better at night and don’t hit the afternoon exhaustion slump like I used to when I was regularly carb-fueled.
• I’ve dropped 3 clothing sizes (Women’s 20 down to a 14 and XXL down to M.) and my body shape has changed a lot. (I’m sure pregnancy had something to do with at least part of my re-composition.)
• I no longer get “hangry” mood swings – my blood sugar is stable, so my mood usually is too.
• I have lost and kept off 57lbs. (261 lbs down to 204 lbs)
• I have learned so much about fueling my body rather than just eating food for the sake of eating.

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Measurement Changes:

I started taking monthly measurements when I re-started strict keto in February 2018. I’ve lost a total of 32.75″ this year!

• Waist:   38″ –> 33″
• Bust:      49″ –> 40.5″
• Hips:   51.5″ –> 44″
• Thigh:    27″ –> 22″ (Measurement taken at fingertips, not widest point.)
• Calf:        16″ –> 14.5″
• Bicep: 16.5″ –> 12.5″
• Neck:      14″ –> 12.75″
• BMI: 35 (obese) –> 29.7 (Overweight)

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Reflection:

I lose weight very slowly despite strict tracking (and I did put weight loss and very strict low-carb on hold while pregnant and breastfeeding), but I’m okay with slow and steady because my journey back to health is a marathon and not a sprint. I hope to make it down to one-derland soon (which I haven’t seen since 2007), but the relief from PCOS symptoms alone is worth it to keep going. #KCKO friends! 😄 (p.s. sorry about all the watermarks, but I don’t want any products stealing my photos to advertise their junk.)

P.S. Check out my post on 10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting Keto if you want my best tips for getting started!