Your reason for wanting to change your life has to be a strong one in order for the changes to be long term. Not many people can make a lifelong diet change if they don’t understand the reason why they are making the change. When social pressures to conform to eating a slice of cake or a bowl of pasta are in full force, you won’t be able to say no, unless you have a deep conviction in your soul as to why you don’t want to eat that way.
I hadn’t been happy with how I had been feeling for several years. I had slowly started to gain weight. I was bloated most days. I had low energy. I would wake up in the mornings not feeling rested and not having a clear mind.
At my annual check up I had my doctor test me for celiac disease, because it runs in my family, and I thought it may be the reason why I wasn’t feeling my best. The test came back negative. No one could tell me why I was feeling “off”. I was exercising regularly. I had actually started increasing my exercise time and sessions because I didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t drinking alcohol. At this time in my life, I was eating a primarily plant based diet. It’s what I was raised to believe was the superior diet for health. I would go through phases of cutting out sugar, only to binge a couple weeks later on peanut butter cups. I felt hungry a lot, but I felt guilty for eating because I couldn’t lose weight. No matter how much exercise I did, no matter how many salads I ate or protein smoothies I drank, I could not make the scale budge and I was slowly creeping up on the scale and inches around my waist. I felt defeated.
During this time, my dad also became sick. He was hospitalized with an unknown illness and within a month he died in the hospital. My mother had died twelve years earlier.
Losing both my parents at a relatively young age, I was desperate to find a way to become healthy and prevent illnesses. One of my greatest fears is developing, managing, and living with a chronic illness as I get older. I’m not aiming to live forever, but one thing that is important to me is living well. In our country, lifespan is increasing, but health span is not. We are living longer but sicker. If I am not functioning well, I don’t want to struggle through life. I don’t want to lose my mind to dementia, I don’t want people taking care of me, I don’t want to be dependent on others to function in my every day life. As a nurse, I see people continually making poor health and life choices and they pay for it.
In my desperate quest to find answers, a highlight reel from The Diary of a CEO popped up on my Facebook feed. I was intrigued by the information that was shared during the interview clip. I immediately found the YouTube channel and listened intently. I then searched for related content on the YouTube channel and I was absorbing information like a sponge. I watched multiple medical professionals talk about sugar, ultra processed foods, metabolic health, and insulin resistance. I learned that nearly everything I believe regarding nutrition and health was likely inaccurate. My nutritional ideals mostly came from when I was a child. I was raised as a vegetarian. I whole heartedly believed that fat was not healthy. I believed that plant based nutrition was superior for health. Everything I was learning from the podcasts I was listening to, challenged my nutritional belief system.
I decided to give a low carb high fat diet a try. I figured it couldn’t hurt since I had tried nearly every other diet lifestyle. I was serious about committing fully to the diet, so I purchased a ketone and glucose meter so I could fully track my numbers. I started intermittent fasting and I completed a 40 hour fast to get my body into ketosis. The results are validating. I lost weight and inches, but even better, my mind cleared. I had energy that I hadn’t felt for years. The results spoke for themselves and I am so thankful that I was able to swallow my pride, admit I was wrong, and continue to make the keto diet part of my everyday life.
What I put into my body today is going to impact my health 10, 15, 20 years down the road. I don’t know if what I am doing now is going to fully protect me from chronic illness, but I do know that it’s worth a try.
With all that said, I have a very strong “why”. I know why I am choosing to eat the way I do. I know why it’s important to me. Even though I know my why, there are times that it’s still challenging. Going against social norms is very difficult. But, it is worth it. I am grateful every single day that I found The Diary of a CEO. It changed my life.
If you want to explore the podcasts and books that I have read, visit my Resources Page.
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