When Friends Doubt The Safety of LCHF/KETO Lifestyle

Do your friend or family ever question your way of eating? Are they concerned about the safety of LCHF or KETO?

In my humble opinion, you do NOT owe anyone an explanation. That being said, I do understand when friend and families express concern. They are not hateful. They care about you.

I shared the following on my Facebook page today.

Although I fully understand that we all have to choose our own path, at times I get weary of the private messages people send to me warning me about the dangers of living a KETO lifestyle. I truly appreciate that friends care enough about me to share their concerns, but when it comes to my health, I trust just one thing. I trust my results.

Let me share a personal story with you…

In July of 2012, I believed I was finally living a healthy lifestyle. I was eating "real" food, taking a high quality daily vitamin and walking 5-10 miles daily. Although there were subtle signs that a violent storm was brewing, those signs were minor. I mostly attributed them to getting older. I did not go to doctors unless I was sick.

I could not have been more wrong.

My memories of the day the storm finally moved in are minimal, just bits and pieces.

• I remember the painful lump on the back of my head but have no recollection of falling. I likely owe the cuss jar.
• I remember not liking the paramedics that surrounded me, but didn’t know why they were there. I doubt that I was nice to them.
• I remember my thoughts being jumbled, but didn’t realize I couldn’t get words out of my mouth correctly. I later heard I sounded intoxicated. I don’t remember the ambulance.
• I remember the moment it all went dark…

Later, when the doctor walked into the hospital room, talking about dangerously high blood pressure, diabetes, and a heart "episode", I was pretty sure he had the wrong room. I wasn’t shy about telling him that he had clearly made a mistake and I didn’t belong there.

He didn’t have the wrong room.

My blood pressure wasn’t just high. It was dangerously high. My A1c was 13+. If the number of times they injected insulin into my tummy was any indication of the dangers of that number, I was in serious trouble.

Those of you who know me well, know that I don’t make a very good patient. Over the next week I likely made life for the nurse and doctors "unpleasant". It turns out I REALLY don’t like MRIs (I had to be sedated to complete the test.) and I am pretty hateful during biopsies. A special nutritionist came to see me many times during that stay. She taught me everything about the American Diabetes Association’s way of living and eating. They sent me home with a lot of prescriptions, all of which made me feel beyond sick.

Like a good little girl, I did everything they told me to do, until I didn’t.

A few episodes of passing out while walking, sugar crashes that made me feel like I was dying, and continual weight gain, had me rethinking what I was being told. My doctor learned to hate me during that time. I have no doubt he added "not compliant" to my medical files. At some point, I discovered LCHF (Low Carb, High Fat) and saw everything start to change. Although my numbers were 100 times better, they still weren’t quite where I wanted them to be, so it was time to do some more research.

I adjusted my eating plan to Strict KETO, which is Low Carb, (20 grams of carbs a day) Moderate protein, (I stay between 50-60 grams a day) and high fat. (I mostly stick with healthy fats.) If you’re interested in my macros, it comes together as Carbs 5%, Protein 15%, and Fat 80%. I do not count calories. I eat when I am hungry and don’t eat when I am not. I also pay a lot of attention to ingredients. The only sweetener I still use is Stevia. My A1c is now 5.4. What does that mean? Technically it means my diabetes is in remission. My numbers are no longer considered diabetic. I am not “cured”. If were to go back to another way of eating, my crazy high numbers would return.

I no longer have high blood pressure. I am within 10-15 pounds of my goal weight now. Although I still have a couple of growths on my thyroid and pituitary gland, I no longer experience any symptoms from them.

All the meds (except one) that I was on originally are gone. I am in the process of slowly working on getting rid of the last one. Metformin.

My next goal is to start focusing on fitness again, especially strength training.

Am I recommending that you live a KETO lifestyle? Absolutely not.

My only recommendation for you is that you CHOOSE to take control of your own health and CHOOSE a lifestyle that works for you.

Just my 2 cents… __________________
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop