Ketosis.

You see, I'm not a patient person.  I've fallen victim to yo yo dieting and half-assed fitness plans.  Always looking for quick fixes, I never looked for any life style changes or ways to incorporate fitness and activity into my every day life.  It was Me vs. Food, and Me vs. Sports.  Clearly, as my mother would describe it, I needed an "attitude adjustment".

Enter my rock bottom, boy leaving, the daily sniveling snot cry, and the wallowing in my own self pity.  I needed to prove to myself that I could eat better and I could be physically active.  I needed to find something  difficult, something that would push my limits that would work.  Enter ketosis.

Many of you have probably heard of the Atkins diet, which is one of the many diets that cut carbs out of your diet and throws your body into a state called ketosis.  This is when your body uses fat stores as fuel to produce glycogen and makes a shit ton of ketones or something like that.  Let me begin by cautioning that if you have liver problems, cholesterol problems, blood pressure problems, or are not a perfectly healthy human being eject any ideas of going on this diet out of your head.  Same goes if you only have 10lbs to lose since you're going to see the same results from regular diet an exercise; its meant to shed extra fat if you're very overweight.  This diet is only for meant as a short term option for weight loss; it is hard on your organs, and isn't for everyone.

That being said, medical reasons are the only acceptable reasons for not being able to do this diet.  If you think about all the things you eat every day that have carbs and sugar in them, and knowing that even artificial sweetners can trick your body and stall the process completely, most people will immediately say: I can't.  However, if you find yourself in this situation, the proper words are: I won't.  If you really want something, you just have to buck up and do it.  Not eating potatoes or bread or bananas won't kill you, it's all a matter of will power.

CAAAAAAARBS.

So this diet is hard.  I heard about it from a few friends who had seen some amazing results, so I figured it was worth a shot. There are a lot of different versions of low carb diets but I decided to keep it simple and do what they did: 25 grams of carbs or less a day.  I didn't realize how many good for you things had carbs in them.  I basically subsisted on meat, cheese, and a handful of greens.

Even these carbs are a no no.

A couple of weeks in, I realized how much I needed this.  I needed something really difficult and really strict to prove to myself that I could do something to really change how I eat; if you slip up it takes you 3-5 days to get back into ketosis.  Even though I stumbled into it with my same quick fix impatient mind set, I was finally in control of food and it wasn't in control of me.  No more binge eating, I started paying attention to labels and what I was ingesting, and most importantly I gained the ability to say no to things I thought I couldn't live without.

It's not you, it's me.  Actually no, it's totally you.

I also start exercising more.  The determination and resolve I found in this diet spilled over into the rest of my life: I started walking with hand and leg weights and doing fitness exercises.  Since the boy was also training and learning super cool stuff on the other side of the country,  he was able to give me fitness activities and tips to help me on my way.  I did burpees, supermans, squats, planks, etc., etc.  You name it, I tried it.

Planks never stop sucking, by the way.

This kind of support system was invaluable.  Really.  I can't tell you how amazing it was to talk to him every week, discuss our progress, and be excited about it!  It was never a competition, it was simply us reveling in our awesomeness.  I was feeling stronger, my cardio was getting better, and I was just all around stoked.  While I certainly didn't feel super fit, I finally felt like I was at a stage where I could start trying to do the things average people could do.  I no longer felt held back by my weight and my fitness level.

I ended up doing this for 3 months.  Aside from the 2 planned weekend long breaks when I went to visit the boy, I stuck to it every day.  My weight at the end was 163lbs (from somewhere close to 200lbs) and I went from a size 15/16 to a size 9/10.  One of the best after effects is that after not being able to eat them for so long, things like bananas, oranges, yogurt, and other healthy things became a huge treat!  No more turning to chocolate and potato chips, a little vanilla yogurt was decadent enough.  Needless to say, I finally proved to myself I could finally do something about my weight and my lifestyle.

So dearest food, you no longer control me, and I have only one thing left to say to you: