Where have you been, Salek!?

Busy. That's where I've been .Very busy. I had first created this blog to document my journey to becoming a mother using the ketogenic diet and exercise.

Guess what? I'm a mommy now.

Eleanor is going on 11 months old - she'll be a year old next month. Keto works. It works SO well. After years of infertility,  I finally have my beautiful rainbow baby. I didn't need medication to create her. My medication was food and the result was her:

I am truly blessed. She is such a sweet, little girl. :)

Eventually, my husband and I would like to give her a sibling, but right now - I think it's time to focus on taking care of myself again and raising Eleanor. I have a few big goals in mind for myself. I'd like to make this blog a full time job down the road so I do need to keep myself accountable when it comes to writing. I like to write - I don't do it often enough with a job that consumes my social and personal time, and with small child. It can be a challenge!

Another personal goal is getting down to 145 pounds. I've gained an indecent amount of weight since Ellie's birth. I've find cracked down on myself with my improper eating and I've already lost 16.6 pounds since February 9, 2016. I have another 70 pounds to lose. Challenge accepted. I want to set an example for my child and show her that food isn't for comfort - it is to nourish and give us energy. We eat to live, not live to eat. I don't want her to have the same issues I have when it comes to food and health.

Get back to 5x5 Stronglifts. I think I will begin my strength training again once we move to our new house in April. I'm in the process of decluttering, packing and moving so I'm putting my training on the backburner for now. I still want to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight anyway before I hit the weights. My joints will thank me I think.

A long term goal is to join the Air Force. It's been a dream for years and years for me to join the military - being from a military family makes me feel like it's my duty to serve my country. I already went through the police academy so I have some basic training for defense tactics, weapons training, use of force, etc. I want to be Security Forces (aka Military Police).

I don't know where this journey is taking me and my little family, but I hope you come along for the ride. :) Follow me on Instagram! 

An introduction. Do we like introductions here?

Hellooooo,

I'm Salek! (Say-lick).

I guess you'll eventually figure out a bit more about me as we chug along with the blog, so I'll keep introductions to a minimum. (Okay I lied, I talked a lot. I'm sorry) I'm 25, married, have a cat and two obnxious birds. I swear like a sailor, enjoy video games, books, music, and a variety of activities my husband deems as "old lady hobbies." Whatever, John.

Let me start off by saying that I have pretty much done every single diet fad that has or is being marketed in today's health food industry. From low fat to low calorie, vegetarianism to lean meats, "healthy" junk food to diet pills - I have done it all; not a single attempt has brought me anything but misery and hunger, and surprise, surprise, more weight gain.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome, and insulin resisticance are the main culprits in the (now shrinking) tire around my waist, my previous lack of a menstrual cycle, and my awesome hockey playoff goatee. (Let's Go Pens!) Fourteen years of this crap, I eventually reached the "I don't give a fuck" stage, and gave up even caring about the why and how to fix it. PCOS and my weight be damned, I chose chocolate ice cream and potato chips that wouldn't satisfy me over a little weakling of a salad with icky low fat, low calorie dressing that wouldn't satisfy me either. I picked my poison, and it was sugar and carbs. I guess that was the depression talking... He's a jagoff.

Last September, being the lazy jerk that I am, I was spending my morning browsing Reddit, and was checking out the PCOS subreddit. Some of the ladies were discussing the different types of diets they were doing to combat their PCOS, and the one that caught my eye was the ketogenic diet, which is a low carb diet. The only diet I knew of that was low carb was Atkins, and I thought it was suppose to be unhealthy for you.

There was even a keto subreddit! There was SO MUCH information to read, and it was truly overwhelming. Redditors were posting their progress, non-scale and scale victories, and stating how much better they felt, and how quickly the weight was coming off. I was definitely intrigued. Eating a high fat, moderate protein diet? Was everything I was told about my diet and health a complete lie? To be honest, I LOVE fat. I never felt shame about grabbing the steak fat off a family member's plate because it tastes good. Maybe the diet would work for me? Might as well try it out once.

I started reading the google document linked in the sidebar called "Keto in a Nutshell", moved on to the FAQ, and than eventually the documentary called Fatheads. I watched Fatheads with my husband. When we finished the movie, we both decided to try the diet out and see where it would take us. Took less to convince my husband than I thought. He's a very stubborn meat and potatoes guy so I was shocked when he said he'd try it out. I didn't say a word about his decision because I didn't want him to back out in anger or frustration at me, and the diet. At least I had a diet buddy. Buddies are important!

In the first week, John lost about eight to ten pounds, and I lost five. It was all water weight, but I can't complain, my clothes fit better, and I was sleeping better. John's health issues included sleep apnea, heartburn and general gastral intestinal issues. My health issues were/are depression, anxiety, PCOS, insulin resistance. Can't forget our weight either! :3

Within a month, John's sleep apnea, heartburn, and plumbing issues disappeared. He had lost twenty five pounds. Myself, I finally got my menstrual cycle after going over a year without it, my depression went away, my anxiety lessened, and I lost fifteen pounds. I actually lost weight. Holy shit.

So, we stuck with the diet because it was working, and still is working. In February, and March of this year, I lost no weight and couldn't figure out why. I was stuck at 28 pounds lost.  My husband assumed it was the jar of natural peanut butter, and whip cream I was going through every day that was stopping my weight loss. Couldn't help it. I needed it.

Turns out I was just pregnant. I was mother fucking pregnant. Me!? I never thought I'd be able to have children. We had gone seven years without contraception, and never got pregnant. The fact that I was knocked up was a cross between disbelief and excitement. I cried, I jumped for joy, and said outloud, "I'm going to be a mommy!"

Well, two days later, I miscarried. I felt like shit. Some days I still do, but I know it was not my fault. At least I know I can get pregnant now, and the baby fever has finally set in... to the "joy" of my darling husband. All the more incentive to keep on this path John and I are both taking.

Tomorrow's post is going to be geared more toward how to do the ketogenic diet, and who should try it out. If you want to do your own research, /r/keto on Reddit is very informative, along with Gary Taube's books Why We Get Fat, and Good Calories, Bad Calories.

Hope to see you! I'll probably post a recipe tomorrow as well. Aww yeah, recipes!