Need Help On Keto?

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Today marks 5 months of following a ketogenic diet and I’m happy to report that I’m feeling fantastic! I’m 100% committed to following a ketogenic diet indefinitely. The improvements to my health have been too great to go back to my old way of living. In case you missed any, here are my updates from Month 1, Month 2, Month 3, Month 4, Month 6, Month 7, Month 8, Month 9, Month 10, Month 11, Month 12

While month 4 I reported that I only lost 2.5 pounds on the scale, soon after my body quickly sped through the 170’s and my total lost in month 5 was 9.5 pounds. This is what we call a “whoosh” and has to do with the theory of how fat cells release fat. It seems that when fat is released from cells, initially it is refilled with water as a space holder in anticipation of more fat returning soon. This makes it appear by the scale that no weight has been lost. After some time, the body gives up this water space holder and you see a large drop on the scale relatively quickly.

I’ve had the privilege of helping others transition to this way of eating over the last couple of months. I’ve done keto-specific telephone coaching with great success. Here is a quote after one telephone coaching session:

“Hi Carole! Thank you again so much for giving me such valuable insights last night! I thoroughly enjoyed the entire hour and may have to save my pennies and do this again! You are an amazing coach. Your insights and advice were both helpful and in quite a few cases, very eye opening! Your knowledge and care in which you delivered advice was spot on. I love your personality and the fact that we could laugh through some of our conversation too. I came away from that one hour with great tools and insights I had not thought of. Thank you Carole. I appreciate your time with me so very much. I hope to be able to use your services again!” ~SB

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Upcoming Speaking Engagements

This is really exciting for me, because I love speaking to groups, teaching, and motivating others. Here are two speaking engagements that I have booked. If your group needs a speaker, please email me at: Carole@HypnoticNutrition.com.

November 7, 2015: Epilepsy Foundation Northwest, November Epilepsy Awareness Month Conference

Free conference for those affected by epilepsy, including family, friends, healthcare providers and more. The conference will be live as well as webcast.

I will be speaking from 3 – 4 pm on “Nutrition, Ketogenic Diet & Healthy Living”

For more information and to register, click here

November 7, 2015: Toastmasters District 2 Fall Conference

The Fall Conference will show you how to pull together your own “Digital You,” by way of introducing technology, humor and collaboration in a way where you are seen as a digital leader in your area of expertise.

I will be speaking between 10:20 – 11:30 am on “Why face the fear of being seen, found, and heard?”

Are you afraid of The Man finding out all your private information online, so you avoid posting anything personal on social media? Do you want to help more people in the world, but feel stuck in a rut with all your usual promotional channels? Or perhaps you’re an introvert that feels like you don’t have anything special to offer an online audience? After a devastating car accident in 2014 and numerous doctors that offered little help, Carole used her nutrition and psychological training to find her own healing solution. She began documenting her healing journey on social media and soon found a following and revamped her career as a result. Come hear how she overcame her fear or being seen, found, and heard online by tapping into her driving passion: helping others feel their best, emotionally and physically.

Click here to register or for more information about the Toastmasters Conference

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BUT What Do You Eat?

This is still the most common question I get. As a reminder, a ketogenic diet is very low carb (less than 20 grams per day), moderate protein, and high fat. Think bacon, butter, and burgers (without buns)! Actually, there are a lot more foods that I eat than that, all of it extremely delicious! I stick to 20 grams or less of total carbs per day, about 0.8 – 1.0 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight, and the remainder as fat (eat to satisfaction). I do not feel deprived or hungry like I’m on a diet. I feel happy, full, satisfied and well-nourished.

You can see what I eat on Instagram. I post all my food and beverages.

Here is a collage of some of the things I’ve eaten and posted on Instagram over the last month:

More Recipes, Please!

Many people contact me asking for more recipes. Here are my favorite websites for good keto recipes:

• Rule Me
• I Breathe I’m Hungry
• All Day I Dream About Food
• Wicked Stuffed
• No Bun Please
• Caveman Keto
• Primal Edge Health – Lots of nutrient-dense foods, including organ meats

Sneak a Peak Into My Life

Have you heard of Periscope yet? It’s a new app that allows you to “explore the world through someone else’s eyes.” Essentially, it allows you to view live, in real time, video of what someone is doing at that very moment. You’ll also get access to any videos for 24 hours after they are posted, for anyone you are following. I’m really excited about this new app and have plans to do little snap shots of what I’m going, daily motivations to stay on track on keto, tips and tricks, cooking demonstrations, hypnosis and guided imagery sessions, and more!

Download Periscope and start following me. Available for Android or iPhone

Continued Benefits

Along with all the benefits I’ve mentioned in my past monthly updates, here are some more that are top of mind for me at the moment:

• Continued Compliments on my Skin. One of my students from the nutrition program I teach for, who does not know that I am doing a keto diet, said, “Your skin looks amazing! What do you do?” I told her that I eat lots of fat. She asked, “Oh, like how much? Like 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or butter per day?” I told her, “No. No, lots more. Like 2 – 3 tablespoons per meal.” I could tell by the look on her face that eating that much fat didn’t compute for her.
• Pain. My pain level continues to be nearly non-existent.
• Appetite. One of the things I love most about keto is that I’m no longer constantly consumed with thoughts about food and what to eat next and when to eat and where to eat. Now I can eat when hungry if it’s convenient, or I can wait until later if I need to. The other night I worked a “Ladies’ Night” event where there was wine flowing, finger foods, snacks, and of course Halloween candy. I was easily able to resist all these foods. It was not a struggle or fight. I was not feeling hungry even though I had only had one meal prior to this. My body had plenty of fuel from ketones that it was making from my fat. Before keto, I was running on carbohydrates, which need to be replenished every 2 – 3 hours, which made me hungry all the time. This constant hunger made it much harder to make healthy choices about the food I ate. When you are carb-hungry, you will grab what ever is easy and convenient, being driven by your biological need for fuel. Since our world is filled high carb, high sugar foods, carb-hungry people tend to grab those type of foods and justifiably so. My fat-burning, keto-adapted body has a constant supply of fuel and energy now. This allows me to make choices about what I eat, choices that are healthy for me and make my body feel good.
• Mental Clarity. Friends and even people I have just met comment on how grounded, calm, and peaceful I am. They say that my “energy is good.” I attribute this to three things: 1) I’m no longer consumed with thoughts about when I’m going to get my next carb fix (see Appetite bullet point above), 2) I’m living my life in alignment with my values, and 3) having spent two different 3-month stints in bed over the last 20 months, I have learned how to be patient and be in the moment, rather than worrying about what will happen next (which before was mostly thinking about carby food).
• Blood Pressure. Consistently measuring in the 110’s/60’s at doctors offices now. Right before I started keto it was reading as high as 150/110.

Progress

• Weight Loss:  50.5 pounds total, 9.5 pounds over the last month
• Inches Off Waist: 9.1 inches lost, another 1.25 inches over the last month
• Body Fat Loss: down to 30.8% from 40%
• Clothing Size: from size 14/XL to size 8/Small/Medium

Challenges

While my leg pain is nearly gone, I do still notice some swelling and stiffness in the muscles that were damaged in the car accident. I have been able to begin wearing high heels again, which is fun to be able to expand my show wardrobe again.

Unrelated to keto, but likely related to the car accident 20 months ago, I’ve been having some issues with sleep lately that have been affecting my energy. In the early morning hours, when I’m supposed to be getting my most restorative and restful sleep, I wake up frequently from not breathing properly (apnea). I wake up with headaches and feel tired most of the day. I went in for an overnight sleep study and they found that I am having central apnea (brain doesn’t tell the lungs to breathe) and hypoapneas (shallow breathing) but not to the degree that they can diagnose me with sleep apnea and prescribe a CPAP machine (why is our medical model so broken??). This news from the sleep doctor was doubly disheartening, both in hearing that my brain isn’t telling my body to breath and that they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do anything to treat it due to black and white diagnostic criteria. However I met a chiropractor that is trained in misalignment to the upper spinal cord following trauma (PTHP) that could be causing my symptoms. This gave me tremendous hope that I will be able to sleep through the night again!

Along the lines of follow up care for my Post Traumatic Hypopituitarism, my primary care ND will be doing lab work this month to assess my reproductive hormones, cortisol levels, inflammation level, iron status, plus genetic testing for methylation mutations. I’ll post results in my Month 6 update.

Want More?

Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Hypnotic Nutrition Facebook, Periscope

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