One of my fitness goals for 2019 is to out do my greatest weight loss that took place in 2016. I even placed a fitness selfie on my vision board from that year as a daily visual reminder of what my current best fit self looks like. See below…

2016 Body

Recently, I gained a lot of weight. Moving back to my native Ohio, starting a new job and other life changes caused your girl to get a little lazy. When you get lazy, you eat poorly….when you eat poorly and you’re over 30….hello pounds! Prior to my move, I was the most active and physically strong I’d ever been. While I was bigger than I was in the picture you see above, I was lifting heavy weights. So while, I was seeing muscle growth, I wasn’t seeing the pounds come off. I needed a plan.

Jan 2019 body

Give the Keto Diet A Go

Last month, I thought long and hard about the best way for me to lose weight keeping in mind all of the things I’ve tried in the past. I tried Herbalife, having two shakes a day and one big meal. Worked but….weight came back. In 2017, I stopped eating meat altogether. I almost went vegan, and kept that lifestyle up for almost a year. I felt good, and enjoyed eating vegetarian but being a picky eater made my choices too limited and soooo I went back to eating all the things. Well…except beef and pork. I will not be adding either back to my diet for a number of reasons. Once I went back to eating all the things….what happened y’all….weight. Once I reached a weight that I deemed unfathomable, noticed I couldn’t fit half the clothes in my closet and formed a double chin I truly had had enough of my own foolishness. So I started researching keto.

Now before y’all hit me with the here we go…hear me out. I am NOT someone that follows what’s trendy. I do my best to do my own thing or set my own trends. I stayed away from keto simply because it was “trendy.” But then I thought about what I’d heard about keto, some of the meals I saw floating around the internets and Instagram and it looked like the most realistic diet choice that produced rapid weight loss but healthily. While the other diets and lifestyles I tried worked, I didn’t keep up with them because they were not realistic. I like to eat! Who the hell is realistically drinking two shakes a day for the rest of their life? Not I said the cat. It worked, and I love a smoothie as much as other fitness enthusiasts, but it’s just not a realistic way to eat. The vegan/vegetarian lifestyle was easier than the two shakes a day which is why I stuck to it for so long….however I am picky. There’s a lot of vegetables I just don’t eat. Mushrooms one of the most common substitutes for meat…..I detest! Enter….keto. To some it may seem very limiting but in all honestly it isn’t and so let me tell you exactly how I lost seven pounds in just over a week.

Now if you’re looking for a full breakdown of keto, you’re gonna have to wait for that post because honestly I am still learning. I plan to blog more as I get better and chart my progress. I began keto on January 9th, 2019. I made this decision before I went out and bought all the “keto things” because most of what you need for keto I already had in the house. On day one, I made an epic fail attempt at bulletproof coffee (more on this at a later date). I put way too much coconut oil in it and nothing to sweeten it so yeah….nasty. Then for lunch I had spinach, hard boiled eggs and tuna salad made no differently than usual.

My favorite meal I’ve eaten three times since I started is my keto acai bowl. I’ve tried a few different versions and I love them all.

Keto acai bowl

My basic recipe

I’m still new to keto but again I chose this lifestyle because it is not a diet. If you truly research, keto has the potential to be a long term adaptation and had more longevity than any other diet out there. Do I plan to never eat sugar or carbs again…probably not. Will I allow them to dominate my diet again…..issa no for me dog. So far I am enjoying keto because it is the least restrictive and closest to how I already eat with modifications that provide both weight and health benefits. I started off at 213 pounds and at my last weigh in was 206! I had scale pictures but the second was blurry…stay tuned. See my mini transformation further down in the post. In the meantime…check out a few more of my meals I’ve had this week.

Walk/Run A Mile Everyday

In addition to adopting the keto lifestyle to cover nutrition, I continued rebuilding stamina using a workout routine I’ve been following for years. Not only during the first few months of my return to Ohio was I eating poorly but also not working out. I made some sporadic gym visits but nothing like I was doing in the early parts of 2018 before I moved. On November 11, I posted on my IG story on my personal account that I would workout 3 days that week and one of my good friends challenged me to four days and I’ve been consistent since. I adopted that old routine but with a twist. I created a simple ten day challenge.

For those that already follow me on instagram you may have seen me mention the challenge. I created this challenge with the beginner or someone trying to transition back into fitness, like myself. The challenge is simple. For ten days straight, run one mile each day! If you are currently unable to run…then jog…still working up to jogging then walk. Notice I didn’t say can’t….you just can’t yet. No excuses! So every day you complete a mile. For a beginner this may seem like a lot but there’s so many options. To get my mile in sometimes I did the treadmill, sometimes the elliptical, the bike and even a youtube walking video. I used the walking videos on the days I needed breaks from the gym, but still needed to complete a mile. Striving for this goal every day was more motivating to me than I even realized it would be. As someone who was already fit even though I took a break, I thought my own challenge would be a piece of cake. I can do a mile I said…I used to do three miles I said. But then I remembered…weight gain means loss of stamina and that this challenge was my best way to get back to three miles. As each day went by I noticed I was getting faster. I noticed, I was striving to run longer than one mile, especially if I had the time. By day ten, I brought back walking at an incline, running at 6.0 on the treadmill and lasting longer on the stair master. I was so focused on that mile every day and beating my time, I kept it going past the ten days. This my goal for myself…and my goal for all of you!

My challenge tracker

And so Jewels, that’s how I did it! You can too! Keto might not be for you but find healthy eating habits that work for you. Start with just running…jogging…walking….whatever best fits your fitness level. Small changes…make big differences. The 10 day challenge is fit for multiple levels of fitness. Coupled with keto or a similar diet change you too can lose up 7 pounds or more in a week! Putting these two things together worked so well, I plan to do another cycle of my own challenge. Check out my mini transformation.

Left: Day 3 one mile challenge/ Day 1 Keto Right: Day 10 one mile challenge/ Day 7 Keto

Are you ready to take it on? I am extending the challenge beyond the pre-launch and continuing to offer this freebie to anyone ready to kickstart their fitness journey in 2019. Click the challenge picture below to subscribe and get your copy!

With all of that being said…..before I go let me drop this jewel….

Follow my IG for regular updates on my fitness and keto journeys. Until next time loves!

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Denay Drops Jewels Launching- January 2019

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