Started at the bottom…

I have been researching healthy eating for about 4 years now. When I met my then-boyfriend, now-husband, we started seeing a Chiropractor who believes in homeopathic medicine. It was then that I was enlightened to the world of eastern medicinal practices and alternatives to the western antibiotic approach to health.

I began to understand how my body reacts to certain foods, supplements, and exercise (or lack of). We discovered that I have insulin resistance and a difficult time burning fat (on the flip-side, I can put weight on pretty quickly). He told me to stop eating carbs and start getting most of my fuel from healthy fats. Stop eating carbs, say what?! I am French, I love lots and lots of bread. I had been vegetarian for 10 years prior to this, and really grew to love my usual In-N-Out order consisting of a grilled cheese with whole grilled onions and animal style fries. I wasn’t much of a meat eater; I couldn’t stand fish or chicken, and just about anything relatively wholesome on a bone. Guess what? I changed my diet and I’ve benefited immensely from it.

I’ve done a slew of “diets” since then to help with my PCOS. Whole30, AIP, gluten-free, anti-candida, GAPS, IIFYM, and my personal favorite “eat whatever I want and just try to burn it all off at the gym.” I grew and took things away from each of these, even my time of eating whatever I want has taught me how to have balance. The thing that has worked best for me so far has been a Ketogenic diet. This consists of low-carbs, moderate protein, and high-fat. To spur your body into ketosis, most need to have their daily carb intake at 20g or lower, which means no more sugar, no more sugar, and no more sugar. I’m looking at you, diet-soda fiend. I love sugar, but it’s not necessary or even an optimum fuel source (sugar-crash anyone?). Your fats should be at 70-75% and protein 20-25%. Your grams will depend on your weight, age, activity level and goals. There are a lot of calculators out there online to get this magic number.

• If you’re interested in this, I use MyFitnessPal on iOS to track my daily macros and grams. It also helps me keep track of my total calories on workout days and rest days so that I can maintain a caloric deficit. I literally record every. single. thing. that enters my mouth.

Now I’ve been eating relatively low-carb with a moderate amount of healthy fats for a while. It wasn’t until I fully dove into the Keto way of eating with less than 20g of carbs that I have been able to experience real change. It’s the first time I don’t feel like a prisoner in my body. I can eat butter, beef, bacon, fried eggs, oils, nuts, cheeses and so much more! It’s even started to help with my performance in Crossfit (yes, I started working out and it isn’t so bad).

I plan on posting recipes, my experience eating this way, helpful tips, and how to do it all without pumping pure total crap through your body. I hope you follow along!