Alrighty folks, here we go!
You will probably see a lot of this meme this year. It will serve as a reminder. I love this picture, over looking the Missouri River one September evening in 2015...hahaha.
Anyways. I have decided to give a go with a ketogenic diet. I can't even reminder when I first heard of this - it may have been a year or so (maybe more, maybe less) ago. It struck me as fascinating and made a lot of sense. It seems to have health benefits for those with hormone issues (hello, have you heard my story? lol). The ketogenic (keto for short) diet is a diet that is low-carb and high-fat. The reduction in carbs puts your body in a metabolic state called ketosis.
Ketosis is a metabolic process that occurs when the body does not have enough glucose for energy. Stored fats are broken down for energy, resulting in a build-up of acids called ketones within the body. (<--- word for word taken from Google) Basically, your body uses stored fat for energy.
There are many benefits to a keto diet!
- Cholesterol
- Weight loss
- Blood sugar
- Energy
- Hunger
More indepth info on all the above here.
I intend on getting much (if not all) recipes from Healthful Pursuit. Her story really inspired me. She was having hormone issues, had low estrogen, doctors wanted to put her on birth control, but through this diet her estrogen levels have gone to normal. You all know I have Premature Ovarian Failure (POF) and my hope is still to achieve remission one day, so her story was way encouraging.
Speaking of POF, I have been back on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for about a month now. Hot flashes have stopped, I am sleeping better and am feeling more like a normal person. Currently, the plan is to stick with HRT for the time being. The goal is still remission, but that will require really working on healing my body (hence, part of my drive for this year).
Real quick - back to Healthful Pursuit, another reason why I like her recipes is because they're more paleo style - meaning, no or little dairy. Though dairy is high in good fat, personally I feel like my body does better when I have little to no dairy in my diet. Which I am not thrived about because I love dairy. I am not saying I'm swearing it off forever, but for right now, I need to definitely cut back...a lot!
The goal is to stick with the keto diet through the end of March. Come that time, reevaluate and go from there.
Something else I'm going to implement with the keto diet is intermittent fasting. I really want to encourage you to look up the health benefits of this.
- Intermittent fasting changes the function of cells, genes and hormones.
- Intermittent fasting can help you lose weight and belly fat.
- Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance, lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Intermittent fasting can reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the body.
- Intermittent fasting may be beneficial for heart health.
- Intermittent fasting induces various cellular repair process.
- Intermittent fasting may help prevent cancer.
- Intermittent fasting is good for your brain.
- Intermittent fasting may help prevent Alzheimer's disease.
I have read about all the different kinds of intermittent fasting you can do...I have in mind what I would like to do, but am not for certain. This may be a thing of trial and error. I would love to commit the month of January to intermittent fasting, but right now let's just focus on Tuesday January 3 through Sunday January 8. ;)
As you can see, both keto diet and intermittent fasting have extreme health benefits. In addition, weight loss is a side effect. I am excited and do need weight loss, but I don't want to get so caught up with numbers on a scale. The goal is health. Real, true inside-out health and healing.
Exercise. I have not been to body pump since November. I first missed because I was sick, then the kids, then babysitting, then scouts, then I just didn't feel like it. With the holidays, we have been extra busy. But I do have weights at home. Ugh. But I paid for my gym membership through April! I would love to get back in the gym. Life is hectic with work, college, kids and all their activities, but the goal I am aiming for is...working out 5 days a week. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I CAN DO THIS!
On the spiritual front, the goal is to have God time every day. Perhaps waking up a bit earlier. I desperately need more alone time with Him. Mornings are hard for me, but it seems the more the day goes on, the more excuses I come up with.
On the mental/emotional: Learning to stop saying "I'm sorry" for every little thing. (Of course I am not talking about if I did something wrong and need to apologize, then of course I will!) Going to work on putting a positive spin on things...on situations and incidences...and not be so hard on myself for falling short.
I think that is it for now. I plan to update regularly throughout the month. I took measurements tonight, so will be tracking that. Hold me accountable, folks.
Thanks for reading this novel! :-p
😉
