I think I first saw keto mentioned on the hypothyroidism subreddit. I got curious first because my doctor had already told me I needed to limit carbs and second because this hypo sufferer on reddit claimed that keto made him lose a ton of weight easily. Allowed.
I was rightly suspicious. The only time I was able to lose significant weight was through Herculean effort in college. I ate a starvation diet, tracked my calories through Weight Watchers. I exercised religiously. I didn’t go out with friends because socializing meant food that my weary discipline wouldn’t refuse. And every quarter pound was a tooth and nail fight.
See, that experience in college should actually have been a red flag for me. An otherwise healthy 19-year-old should be able to lose weight well on a calorie deficit and exercise regularly.
I wouldn’t find out for another 12 years about my autoimmune disease, which was still trying to kill my thyroid (and slowly, me).
After college was grad school. Despite similar efforts to eat well, eat little, and exercise, I poured every ounce of willpower I had into losing weight. I thought that with the stress of school, I didn’t have the “discipline” to look or feel better.
Then I married a wonderful man. After marriage, I gained weight, seemingly out of control. We didn’t eat out (we couldn’t afford to)! I cook healthy things! We did an elimination diet together to figure out some of the food allergy issues. My husband lost 10 pounds in a month. I haven’t lost anything.
I slept all the time and still felt tired. My throat felt tight. This is a big deal for a singer and music teacher. My hair was thinning. I had no motivation to do anything, even fun things, which meant that one by one my poor neglected friends drifted away. I could barely hold down a low-stress, part-time job. I thought, “Is this what it feels like to get old?” I was 30 years old.
I went to a doctor and said, “I guess I’m too young to feel this old.” Lucky for me, he ran a thyroid blood panel. Unlucky for me, I was told over the phone, “All we can say is that it’s auto-induced. We’re sending you to a specialist.”
“But wait!” I screamed, the wind knocked out of me. “Can my children get this disease?”
The nurse couldn’t tell me.
I went to more doctors. Within two years, I was able to find a good treatment plan. My symptoms subsided. I regained some energy. I lost a little weight, just with proper medication.
But by then, I had done my homework on Keto. I read up on how to calculate net carbs, supplement electrolytes, bake with sweets and almond flour so I could still make fun desserts. And I was ready to jump.
I was a private music teacher who worked on a school campus, so I waited until the school year started. I’ll have time to adjust, learn some keto recipes and get into a routine before the next school year starts. On May 25th, I started eating less than 20 carbs per day.
By the end of August, I was 30 pounds down from my heaviest weight. I was running out of energy. My coworkers did a double take. I kept shouting how beautiful I looked. My students were actually very humble about my weight loss! He did not comment at all. I was still only Mrs. Van Orden to him.
When I was on keto for a year, I lost 45 pounds and kept it off for 3 months. I was (and still am!) much thinner than I was in my adult life! Keto was easy all the time. I have never ‘cheated’ (on purpose…) and exceeded my carb limit. I went from a part-time private lesson teacher to a full-time high school choir director, in charge of my school’s entire choir program. I’ve traveled on keto, gone out with friends on keto, and managed to feed my non-keto husband well the entire time. (He makes it look so easy by being willing to try anything, and just take his carbs with him.)
And soon we hope to add a member to our family, now that my health is under control and I am able to hold a job with benefits. I have learned that many people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis can have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. It doesn’t hurt that keto also appears to boost fertility!
My self-destructive thyroid stole most of my 20s and made my life unlivable. Proper treatment kept me alive. Keto helped me get back to a livable life.
1. What tactics did you use to help you reach your goal? What helped you best achieve your goals?
At first, I waited until my hypo symptoms subsided somewhat with proper medication and diet. I tried keto when I was still very hypo and it was unsustainable. I first had to focus on taking the right medicine and the right dosage. Then, I waited until I had a big chunk of time (for me, it was summer vacation, because I’m a teacher) to meal plan and try keto recipes. .
2. What is the most impactful change you have made to your diet and why do you feel it is the most important?
There are two.
1) Eat no more than 20 grams of net carbs per day. It’s that simple.
and 2) being gluten-free. On Keto, the other is mostly a no-brainer. But there are some keto bread recipes that use wheat gluten for the texture. I wish I could try them! But I have seen the blood work. I was totally skeptical that going gluten free would lower my Hashi antibodies. But it did. I went gluten free long before I went keto only to prove my doctor wrong and that there was no correlation between gluten intake and high antibodies. But it came back to me!
3. What is the best advice you can give to someone just starting out?
You are worth the effort. Don’t be afraid to socialize when you can’t eat around. When it comes to food, you owe it to no one. Bring your own snack/drink, and focus on having fun connecting with people, not putting things in your face. Let people think what they are going to think. Your results will speak for themselves.
4. How do you feel your life is now that you are on your goal?
I hate to say it, but it’s easy to command respect from people. 🙁 This is a sad reality of our society. One I don’t agree with, but one I’m still benefiting from is that I’m at a healthy weight. But I do my best to respect everyone I encounter, no matter what they look like. After all, I used to be that tired, desperate person in constant pain. I dare not forget.
5. What do you consider the biggest change in your daily life?
Clothes are fun again! 😀 And my chronic joint pain has subsided. I can’t express how much relief it is to not be in pain every waking second.
6. What did you do to get help throughout your journey?
I had to look no further than my husband. He saw that I wanted to try keto and said, “I’ll eat whatever you put in front of me. As long as there’s bread or rice on the side.” I almost never make two dinners for us, and this removed a huge mental block for me starting keto.
7. What do you currently do to manage your daily diet?
I plan to eat once a week. I pick out next week’s recipes and make a grocery list. It saves me time and money. I still track most everything that goes into my mouth, although I will give myself a ‘no tracking’ day once a week or on a holiday.
It just means that I eat keto foods, but I don’t log them in my chronometer app. I do intermittent fasting so I don’t need to treat myself to lunch. It’s more about saving time than weight loss!
8. What is your favorite keto recipe from www.ruled.me that has become a staple?
I make Ketofied Chick-Fil-A-style chicken tenders all the time! I have 6 jars of pickle juice stored in my fridge right now, just waiting to marinate!! I dip them in a sauce that I mix with mayo, spicy brown mustard, erythritol, liquid smoke, and lime juice. All the satisfaction of fast food, none of the guilt!
9. If you could do one thing differently during your trip, what would it be and why?
I wish I had discovered sooner and started keto. Sometimes I wish I knew who it was that posted about Cato when I first read the name. I want to thank them. Oh, and I would stay away from maltitol from the start!
0 Comments