Now that we’re back home, with no immediate plans for going anywhere overnight, we’re back to being committed to the keto diet. There are naysayers. Vince had asked one of his doctors about doing the diet last year and he said “absolutely not!” but now, another doctor is highly recommending it. As you know, I have no medical training and can barely put on a bandaid without barfing but if you need to lose weight, if you have chronic medical issues, please do some research and make an informed decision. Again, I’m not advising anyone to go on this diet .. use your own judgment and seek the advice of a medical professional.
Dr. Annette Bosworth is an internal medicine doctor who began keto after researching ways to help her mom, who had cancer and was not responding to treatment. You can find her Youtube channel here. We love her! She isn’t pretentious. Her videos are self-produced and it would be like if you or I were making videos in our living room but she is amazing and she’s helping so many people.
I started the keto diet back in September and was on it one month and lost more weight than I expected to lose. Yes, I am aware of the 2 pounds per week is the safe amount. I’m not sure I believe it but at least you don’t have to tell me. When I give up drinking 4 or 5 Dr. Peppers per day, there is always an immediate loss of 5 to 6 pounds and that really gives me a boost mentally.
But, after a month on the diet, I went to Chad’s for three weeks. I stayed strong for about four days and then I gave up. I knew that getting home near the end of September, I was going to Louisiana in December (which didn’t happen because I had to go back to Missouri and that wasn’t planned), that getting on the diet for a month was kinda useless. Therefore, I was looking forward to getting the holidays behind us, getting home from a couple of trips and starting the diet again.
When I did it in September, Vince wasn’t doing it with me but now, he’s more committed than I would have imagined.
We’re tracking blood glucose, blood pressure and weight. We’re using the ketone strips (available at Amazon or your local pharmacy) to check our ketone output. As soon as our blood glucose gets to about 80, we will begin checking our ketone levels via the blood ketone test. There is a ration (blood sugar/ketone level) for determining when you’re in autophagy. This is what will supposedly keep dieters from having all the excess skin and maybe even wrinkles after losing a lot of weight.
I know this post is vague but I really don’t know enough about any of this to be giving advice. I just know that we’re both impressed and excited and optimistic about what we’re reading and hearing.
We are not using any pre-made (as in purchased from the freezer section) meals. We’re not looking for desserts made with artificial sweetener. We want clean foods, fresh foods and basic foods.
Yesterday I pulled out three trash bags of foods to be donated. It was a lot of pasta, sauces, jams, jellies, cake/brownie mixes, etc. There will come a time when we can eat a bowl of pasta but Vince has a lot of weight to lose and I see this as at least an 18 month journey . . probably more like 24 months.
I’m going to end this post by saying this and it is only my opinion: I feel like the medical “industry” is pushing pills . . not health and I feel like the food industry has totally failed us. Yes, we make our own decisions when we’re in the grocery store but there’s no reason so many of us have no idea about the foods we’re buying and consuming. I’m not blaming others for my weight but when you read labels on the food in the grocery store .. I will say we’re spending a whole lot less time in the grocery store because there aren’t many aisles we even bother to go down.
One quick story: There’s a doctor from a very well respected medical teaching college and he is sold on keto. This doctor said they do not even allow pharma sales people in their building because they do not want to be influenced by them. He calls himself “The doctor of last resort for other doctors”. He said that even though doctors do not practice his way of practicing medicine, when they have patients who have no other choice (i.e., those needing organ transplants but are too obese to undergo the surgery), these other physicians refer these patients to this doctor. He uses no weight loss drugs but teaches them a whole new way of eating (keto mostly) and they lose the weight, then are able to have the organ transplant needed.
It’s all very interesting and it makes total sense to us.
Sara Fridley says
Dr Annette Bosworth is from my local area. She is a scam artist who is still fighting in court to keep her medical license from being revoked by the state of SD. I would be VERY cautious about following anything she says. She set up phony land sale deals, along with other scams. And she ran for congress unsuccessfully. However, there are lots of legitimate sources of info on the KETO diet. I just wouldn’t trust Bosworth.
Edit by JudyL: This all sounds more like a political witch hunt though I did see an issue with one land auction . . no deal”S”. I saw no claims of medical malpractice against her.
Judy Laquidara says
Everything we’ve heard so far from her is pretty much the same as what others are saying. Vince has done and is continuing to do a lot of research and as of now, we haven’t heard anything she’s said that made is question her. But I will definitely keep in mind what you’re saying. Thanks.
Judy Laquidara says
There are two sides to every story and while I’m not defending Dr. Bosworth because I know NOTHING about her, this article sounds like a lot of this could be more political than not. I’ve seen charges filed during elections that would never have been filed otherwise. https://www.southdakotawatchdog.org/blog/2018/4/16/dr-boz-vindication
Also, she has a huge following in the keto field and many of these people trust her completely.
Linda in NE says
I agree with you about the medical “industry” pushing drugs rather than health. Treat the symptoms but never get to the root cause & the possibility of a cure. No money in that for them. As for the food “industry” can you really call what they put on the shelves food? Full of HFCS, sugar, dyes, preservatives and stuff we can’t pronounce or spell and we have no idea what it is. Again, big companies making money is the whole object of it. I read another blog from a lady with diabetes who is quite low income and has to rely on food bank food. She struggles because food banks tend to give out pretty much carb laden and processed foods and not much fresh. When she eats only what she knows her grandmother would have eaten she does great with her diabetes, but when she has to eat the processed food from the food banks she has a very hard time keeping her blood glucose and her weight down.
Charlotte says
Judy, be sure to read the labels of your heavy whipping cream, sour cream and cottage cheese; many/most contain carrageenan which causes inflammation and insulin resistance/spikes. In my area Organic Valley contains cream.
Nelle Coursey says
Don’t forget I have the recipes in the magazine for you! They all look yummy!
dezertsuz says
I like what I’ve read about it. It does seem, at first, like a lot to keep track of, but I suppose that gets easier as one figures it all out.
Penny Holliday says
My Dr mostly prescribes for me portion control, exercise & walking ~ it’s really is difficult for me to stick with the exercise. Also, chocolate, cookies & carbs, especially pasta & rice can be so tempting! Also I am diabetic w/ high blood pressure so very limited sugar & no salt. I’ve had good results with what she wants me to do but not when I don’t seem to stick with it!
Rosalie says
My husband has lost 76 pounds in the past year doing a modified keto – he did South Beach for 2 weeks and the loosened it up a little. He started going to the gym after a month- uses the machines and swims 3xweek. His doctors have all been thrilled. He sees 4 different doctors for diabetes, heart etc.
He now eats a little fruit and sometimes a bite of bread or chips. This is a diet for rest of our lives! ( I have lost 20#)
Judy Laquidara says
Congratulations. You both are doing great! That is how we feel . . a diet for life or a way of living if the word “diet” doesn’t feel right. We’re both feeling so much better already.