This post is part of a series about my Ketogenic diet: Month 1, Month 2, Month 3, Month 4, Month 5, Month 6, Month 8, Month 9, Month 10, Month 11, Month 12

Summary of Overall Improvements

In early 2014, I was in a serious car accident and spent nearly three months in bed due to crush injuries to my legs. I started to develop a chronic, progressive, and debilitating pain syndrome in my legs called Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome. Additionally, that fall I started showing symptoms of Post Traumatic Hypopituitarism, which included debilitating fatigue and constant dizziness, along with a long list of other debilitating symptoms. When numerous doctors offered no treatment options, I turned to a ketogenic diet, and in a few weeks, my symptoms began to subside. Along the way, I experienced a lot of other unexpected benefits as well. I am hooked on this way of living!

Here is a summary of the health improvements I’ve experienced from “going keto” thus far:

• Pain and swelling gone from my legs, hips, and ankles
• No more heartburn or gastroparesis
• No more migraines
• No more urinary incontinence
• Hypoglycemia symptoms gone
• CRP dropped from 10 to 2.69, 73% improvement!!
• Fasting blood glucose went from 96 to 70
• Triglycerides from 220 to 162 (still room for improvement here)
• Normal appetite
• Lots of energy
• Dizziness/lightheadedness nearly gone
• Soft, radiant skin
• Sense of well being, peace, and happiness
• 56.8 lbs lost (7.2 lbs over the last month)
• Nearly 9 inches off my waist

7 Month Keto Progress

7 Month Keto Progress

90 Day Keto Challenge

Are you ready to experience keto for yourself? Do you have any of the symptoms I had, like chronic pain, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, or an ever expanding waistline? Might you enjoy eating bacon, butter, and burgers (no buns) while feeling better than you have in a very long time?

I’m offering an online 90 Day Keto Challenge program that includes everything you need to start and be successful on a nutritional ketogenic diet. I’ll lead you through exactly how I’ve been successful on a keto diet, sharing all my secrets, tips, and tricks to success.

Included in 90 Day Challenge:

• Weekly live webinars
• A comprehensive workbook
• 90 days of easy-to-make menu plans
• Shopping list
• Private, online Facebook support group

Need Help On Keto?

What Do I Eat?

This is still the most common question I get! I record all my food on Instagram for this very reason. The other day I was meeting a new acquaintance for coffee and even after telling her that I started using Instagram to document what I was eating, she then asked, “But, what DO you eat?” I had to LOL. It is so much easier for me and for you to just have a look there. So if you’re curious, please follow me there.  Take a look @hypnoticnutrition

Keto Thanksgiving 2015 (dairy-free, too!)

Thanksgiving and Birthday Celebration

Over the last month, two occasions happened in my life that might have thrown some people off plan: Thanksgiving and my birthday. And certainly in my past, these would have been occasions for me to overeat and overindulge. The whole time I’ve been keto, I have stuck to plan and stuck to 20 grams or less of carbs per day. This month was no exception! And to enhance the challenge of staying keto for these special occasions, my son and I had decided to do a dairy-free month for November. (He made it the whole month, I made it some of the way).

For Thanksgiving, I was at home with my son and his girlfriend and we planned a full keto feast, since my son is keto, too. I made turkey legs confit (cooked in fat) bacon grease, mashed cauliflower, bacon fat gravy, ultimate keto buns, olive oil roasted broccoli and mushrooms, plus keto pumpkin and chocolate cream pie.  Everything was dairy-free, low carb, sugar free, grain free, gluten free, AND it was all delicious, too. I had not made anything with psyllium up to this point, so I was very curious how the ultimate keto buns would turn out. I was also curious how eating them would make me feel, since I’ve only made a keto bread one other time. And I found that the texture, while very bread-like, was not very appealing to me. I ate a couple of mini buns, but had no desire to eat any more. In fact, I had to put them in the freezer (where they still are) to avoid mold because they were not being eaten fast enough. (My son did enjoy them quite a lot, however, and ate a few too many, as evidenced by his multiple trips to the bathroom the next day!)

Like many people, I had a second Thanksgiving to attend on another day. I didn’t sweat staying keto on this one either, since I took leftover cauliflower and a stick of Kerrygold butter and block of cheese. And it turned out that a distant relative at my second Thanksgiving was keto as well! It was really exciting to “talk shop” with someone at this family event, and it was awe inspiring to hear his story of how it has transformed his life by eliminating the chronic pain he’d had in his back.

The weekend before Thanksgiving I gathered with friends to celebrate my 45th birthday. It was a full day event at our new local McMenamins brewery-hotel-movie theater-etc. compound. In the past, I was a huge microbrew fan, but since going keto, I have had almost no desire to have beer. The mere thought of consuming it makes me feel bloated and foggy, which makes it very easy to not even be tempted. I found food menu items that worked, both for dinner and breakfast the next morning. Really, it was a lot of fun and a piece of cake. OK, actually no cake for this birthday! In fact, it wasn’t until someone asked me about cake on Facebook the next day that I even thought about missing cake for my birthday. I entertained the idea of making a keto-friendly birthday cake for myself the next day, however it just seemed like a lot of work for something that I really wouldn’t enjoy all that much. My tastes have changed tremendously over the last 7 months. I don’t crave sweet things, don’t crave bread, either. Cake did not appeal to me at all.

It feels great to be steadfast in this keto lifestyle that I can navigate any celebratory challenge. There has not been a restaurant or party I’ve attended yet where there wasn’t something I could eat and enjoy. And I can always grab a block of Kerrygold butter and cheese along the way to take along, when in doubt.