In mid-August 2020 my husband and I went on a keto diet. We did it together, supported each other, and were both successful in reaching our weight goals. I had to be a little more patient than him – we all know guys lose weight faster. But, I reached my goal of losing twelve pounds in just a few months.
Speed forward to January 2022. I am almost back at the weight where I started my previous keto diet – just two pounds shy of gaining all my weight back. Sigh. The culprit? For me, largely, it is not enough movement. As a retired person, my hobbies are sedentary. They include writing (sit), reading (sit), jewelry making, (sit), and sewing (sit). I do love to take photos but after the shooting is done I have to edit (sit). So, I do not burn enough calories to keep the weight off.
After I fell early last month while cross country skiing and had trouble getting up off of the ground with my skis on, I promised my husband that I would exercise more. Explicitly this means walking more with him and our dog. I walk at least once a week with a friend. We go about 3 miles, outside. If I walk a second time in one week, it is usually with another friend and in that case, we go over a trailed terrain that can be up to four miles and really gets my heart pumping. This is the same walk as my husband does with our dog. I walked it yesterday and today.
But, more than moving, I will need to adjust my calorie intake again. I like to snack. I like sweets and I like chips. Sure, I like healthy food too – lean meats, eggs, broccoli, berries, tomatoes, beans, etc. But, since we just came off a vacation and the holidays before that, I need to curb my enthusiasm for Carte Blanche snacking. The best way I know how to do that is to count my calories and my carbs…We decided to return to the keto diet officially starting tomorrow, February first. And this time, when we are done with the 40 G carb restriction that helps us to reach our weight goals, we will stay on the diet at the maintenance amount of 100G/day of carbs.
This time should be somewhat easier. We’ve done it successfully before. We have more knowledge regarding what foods are high in carbohydrates and what foods are not. We know not all low-carb recipes will be tasty. We know to be patient. But, most significantly, we know eating this way works to lose weight. Another incentive for me is that when I was on the diet before I “felt” healthier and less apt to experience mid-day slumps or tiredness.
I don’t want to give the wrong impression. Neither my husband nor I are overweight. We just want to be healthier and curbing sugar intake is a great place to start. Today we put our current data in the Adkins app. It’s changed since we were last using it in 2020 and early 2021. It does not seem as user-friendly. But, we’ll persevere and I’ll let you know two weeks into our journey how it’s going.
The Apples in My Orchard 