Living a Keto Lifestyle

Seven months ago I came to a point in my life that I had to make drastic changes for my health.  I have lived with Epilepsy for 30 years and have struggled off and on to control my seizures.  I have had to change medications, stop specific activities and take leave from work to name a few.

I was in the middle of a medication change back in November of 2016 and the medication was not helping and I was having a hard time adjusting.  So I made the choice to do a massive overhaul of my diet, my life and my goals.

I began a strict ketogenic diet and over the last seven months have had to try different things to find what worked for my body and my wellbeing.  Today I am seizure free, at a healthy weight, I heavy lift 3 days a week, I run an Instagram account that talks about my life with Epilepsy and living a keto lifestyle, started my own Massage Business and adopted a puppy.

The journey over these past months have not been easy but they have been well worth it.  I am truly in an amazing place.  I have not been good at keeping up on my blog and I want to change that.  I have my macros dialed in, I am in constant ketosis, I no longer need to test ketones and glucose every single day and find I don’t have to focus on food prep all the time.  I completed 90 days of blood testing and know my patterns and what I need to continue a life of being fat adapted.  With that being said…..I can change my focus a bit.

My goal is to try out experiments using different products, review products I have used and give tips on living a keto/lowcarb/high fat lifestyle.

Stay tuned for updates!!  Check out my Instagram Account @thetraininsideme

What does Ketogenic/Modified Atkins mean?

What does it mean when I say Ketogenic/Modified Atkins?  Well if you visit my Instagram account you will see that I say "Ketogenic Recipes with a Modified Atkins Approach".  WHAT?  Lets just break this down one thing at a time.

Ketogenic Diet: aka long-chain triglyceride diet

Keto means-ketones and genic means to produce.  This diet is geared to produce ketones which the body then uses as fuel instead of the normal carbohydrates.  It is a high fat diet low carbohydrate diet which is typical prescribed by a doctor for children with Epilepsy. Basically 3 to 4 grams of fat for every gram of protein and carbohydrate.  It is very strict and everything must be measured (liquids, meat, snacks and basically everything you ingest).  The goal is to get the body into ketosis which in simple terms means the body is using ketones for energy.

Here is a site with tons of info..I use it regularly

http://www.charliefoundation.org/explore-ketogenic-diet/explore-1/introducing-the-diet

Modified Atkins aka MAD

It is a less restrictive version of the keto diet.  There is no weighting of food and no limits set on fluids and calorie restriction like the ketogenic diet.  It is very often used for adults, it makes eating out at restaurants possible.  There is no restrictions on protein and 35% of the diet consists of protein.  One still must eat high amounts of fat and the biggest key is sticking to the low carbohydrates typically 15-20 grams a day.

Here is a site with more detailed info

http://www.charliefoundation.org/explore-ketogenic-diet/explore-3/modified-atkins

Now that you have a bit of information and maybe you even checked out the sites and the hyperlinks.  I hope with that brief bit of overview explaining how I am doing it won't go over your head.  I will admit when I started out I was so confused and I am still learning each day.

So I use the fitness pal app to help me track my food and it gives me a rough idea of my percents of fat, protien and carb intakes for the day.

100% of my food intake is broken down like this

Carbs-10% no more than 50g a day

Protein-25% My goal is 150 g a day (it can be hard but I have a trick)

Fats-65% My goal is 200g a day (this is difficult and I usually make it 120g)

My protein is high because I am trying to gain back 10 pounds of muscle since I was so sick from my medications and I need to feed my muscles while I weight train.  Once I hit my goal of 130 lbs I can drop off a bit so I can maintain the weight.

I measure my foods to insure I am meeting my grams and I put it into my fitness pal.  But I allow wiggle room when I go out.  I focus on total grams of each thing and not about ratios to each thing like the ketogenic does.  I am more about the total intake for the day,making sure my carbs are kept low and no more than 12 grams of sugar a day.  You maybe thinking this is crazy to keep track of but it isn't.

I use many ketogenic recipes because they help with insuring I get my fats.  I eat no grains, that means no bread period. My carbohydrates come mostly from vegetables and fruit and I span them out of the day.  I eat a small serving of berries with breakfast ALWAYS!! And some veggie with my meals.  Lots of leaf greens because they are low in carbs and I can eat more of them.

If you would like to follow along and see what I eat from day to day Follow me on my Instagram account.  Just pick up your Iphone and type in  the train inside me all one word.  Or click here https://www.instagram.com/thetraininsideme/