Carole Freeman:
Yeah. Yeah. Excellent.

Karmen Cabral:
[crosstalk 00:01:30] I told my doctor about it yesterday, so I had a doctor’s appointment, hadn’t had one in two years. And I told her about it and I said, “One of the things that I noticed is my joints. I feel like my joints have been lubricated. Like somebody put oil on them.”

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. Isn’t that great.

Karmen Cabral:
And she just looked at me, “Okay, that’s not possible.” I said, “Yeah, it is.”

Carole Freeman:
No it’s so true. Because I remember, I’m 49 now, but when I turned 40, early 40s, I remember talking to my mom about how in the morning getting up, it was like my ankles felt stiff and I had to move around a little bit to get going in the morning. And she’s like, “Oh honey. Yeah, that’s just part of getting older. Ha, ha, ha.” And then probably three months into keto where I had that realization of like, “Wait a minute, I don’t have that anymore. I don’t have stiff anything in the morning.” It’s like I just get up and feel as good as I feel the rest of the day. So then I was like, “Mom, it’s not normal.”

Karmen Cabral:
Absolutely. That’s how I feel. I couldn’t even put my feet on the ground in the morning.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah, it’s great. And we know now why that is, but your doc says that’s impossible. That’s okay. We can just keep enjoying the benefits of it and all that. So, part of what I want to do here is highlight your journey and success that you’ve had in working with me because it’s so inspirational to other people to hear people’s success. So take us back to before you started working with me, what was your life like? What was it like living in your body? What kind of things were you unhappy with?

Karmen Cabral:
Well, that’s exactly what I was discussing with my doctor yesterday. So it’s been two years since I went to see her. And one of the issues two years ago was that on a mammogram it turned out that I had enlarged lymph nodes and that kind of scared me a bit. I was like, “Okay, what’s going on?” So I went through ultrasounds, I was supposed to do a biopsy. They didn’t end up doing the biopsy because they said they still look more normal, but they were just was enlarged. And that kind of got me thinking that I’ve got to do something. I was told that my lymphatic system was probably sluggish and I needed to move. I needed to do something to get it moving. And I’m not an exercise person, although I’ve started to exercise recently, but I just knew it wasn’t going to happen that way.

Karmen Cabral:
And I’ve always gone to dieting, so it’s like, okay, “I know I’m overweight, I need to lose weight, I just can’t keep the weight off.” That was two years ago, but prior to that I had also a numb leg. So my right leg was always numb. I sat one time for hours and hours at my computer and then from that day forward I always had numbness in my leg. I had done a few DVT tests, everything came back normal, but I always had this numbness and I had pain in my legs. So my legs, it wasn’t the muscles, it was the surface of the leg. So if you touched the skin on the leg, it actually felt like everything was bruised. So all of these things started adding up. And then I had this big birthday coming up and I thought it’s only going to get worse.

Karmen Cabral:
So I needed to take charge of my health and I don’t have any diagnosed diseases, and I put in capital letters, yet, because they’re on the horizon and I knew that they’re coming on the horizon. My mom had a ton of diseases, so I just wanted to make sure that I can take back my health and try to minimize anything that would come up. And keto is.

Carole Freeman:
All right. Excellent. So had you tried keto on your own before starting to work with me or?

Karmen Cabral:
So it goes back a little bit. So I had investigated keto, I was doing some research on it for about a year and a half before I started with you, Carole. I’d heard about it when a parent on my son’s volleyball team and I bought every single book at Costco. I looked at all of them, they looked all wonderful, all these recipes, and it was just overwhelming. I couldn’t figure out what macros were, what I needed to do. It was just too much information and I just started to follow some people on YouTube, what did they eat for the day? And it’s like, “Okay, what did they eat?” It was just still, I just needed guidance. There was just too much information. So your guidance was actually the perfect thing.

Carole Freeman:
Excellent. Okay, that’s a very common story is that people, I was talking to a guy yesterday actually, he says, “I keep looking for just an easy how to get started with keto thing and there isn’t, it isn’t out there. Why?” And part of it is because-

Karmen Cabral:
Too much information.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah, there’s too much information. And also what works for each person is very different. And so that’s why there’s no one here’s how everyone should do it, that works for everyone. So that’s why there’s so much info. The good and the bad of the world we live in now is that there’s a plethora of info, but most people out there try to consume it all and they just get more confused and overwhelmed. And so-

Karmen Cabral:
That’s exactly what was happening.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. So you got a plan, a program, a step-by-step implementation to get started quick and easy. I’m just-

Karmen Cabral:
And that’s what I needed. I don’t like to be told eat this and this and this. It was pretty easy because it was all very basic. And I think I mentioned right from the beginning, I’m a grab and go kind of person. I can’t preplan too many meals or meals and I talk with my hands. I’ve got to stop that.

Carole Freeman:
No, it’s great. Me too.

Karmen Cabral:
But I just needed it to be simple enough. And when I reviewed the information, the beginning, it was just simple enough that it wasn’t anything that I had to spend a half hour to an hour pre-planning or preparing. I went out and got the groceries that I liked according to the list of foods that we could use and I just went with that. So everything I made for my kids I had made in a way that I could eat it and I didn’t have to make something for them and something for me.

Carole Freeman:
Excellent. Fantastic. So let’s talk about your results. So the first chunk of time we worked together was over a couple of months and I’ve got the list of results that you got. Do you remember what happened over the first couple of months?

Karmen Cabral:
I think I do. I don’t know. I did lose weight. That was number one at the time was losing weight. But how I felt actually was even better than just the weight loss. Because like I said earlier, I don’t have the pain that I was experience. I felt like an old lady and I don’t want to feel like an old lady. I want to have energy. And it was like I didn’t have the energy, I didn’t have the brain functioning. It felt like my brain was always in a fog. I left my purse at Walmart in the shopping cart one time and I got home and I didn’t have my purse. I’m like, “Oh my God.” And it was like, “What’s going on with my brain?” So all of this stuff improved along with the weight. So the weight during the first time that we worked together was around 28 pounds I think it was. And then from there I continued. I’ve lost a little bit more, but I’ve noticed that there’s been more bodily changes as opposed to scale changes.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. Yeah. So I’ve got the list of all the things that we talked about after a couple of months. So yeah, the weight loss, lots of inches off your waist. You were reporting no cravings, no desire for non-keto foods, improved brain fog, like what you were just sharing about the leaving your purse behind, the joint lubrication and then the numbness is improved. So this was, at this point, probably about six months ago was when we looked at this. So how the numbness now? Has it continued to improve?

Karmen Cabral:
No numbness since then. Nothing has really changed. Still no cravings? No, none of that. I wouldn’t say I’m 100% following the original instructions, but I’m pretty much about 90 to 95%.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. And then your heartburn went completely away too.

Karmen Cabral:
What’s that?

Carole Freeman:
Your heartburn went away too.

Karmen Cabral:
Oh yeah. None. None.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. Wonderful. Yeah. Excellent. Congratulations on all that. Must feel amazing. And I know you are, because you just said you went to the doctor and were like-

Karmen Cabral:
Oh yeah, no, it’s almost like, “Okay maybe you need to tell people to do something like this.” She has referred me to a clinic. So there’s only, I don’t know if I mentioned I’m in Canada, and we have one medical doctor that is covered by our health insurance that doctors can refer patients to when they do have a weight issue. And she had referred me to the doctor two years ago and there was just too much going on at the time. But there are some similarities with keto. It’s just that keto find is easier because a lot of the foods that were restricted on that diet along with most diets are why the fatty foods that keto has, like the bacon that I couldn’t have. I stopped eating bacon for years.

Carole Freeman:
Oh, okay.

Karmen Cabral:
I’m so happy to eat bacon.

Carole Freeman:
You guys have one weight loss doctor. That’s amazing. He must be really busy.

Karmen Cabral:
There’s several, but only one that is covered by the health insurance so that [inaudible 00:11:32] and you don’t have to pay.

Carole Freeman:
Okay. Okay. Wow, wow. Well, so what tips would you have for people that are watching this? What tips would you share as far as keys to your success?

Karmen Cabral:
Stick to the plan because it really works. And the tracking of the macros. That is so important, because one of my fears when I did start, or concerns not fears, when I did start was I was already what I considered low carb. Through years and years of dieting, I learned that I had to be low carb. I just didn’t realize that I still wasn’t as low carb as I needed to be and that there’s carbs in vegetables. Who knew?

Carole Freeman:
Yeah.

Karmen Cabral:
So tracking really, really is an eye opener to see what is in your foods and then knowing how to manipulate what you’re eating to still feel full, but get the benefit of the foods you want.

Carole Freeman:
Okay, so track tracking is key discovery for carbs. Yeah. Follow the plan.

Karmen Cabral:
Like one onion has nine grams or carbs. That’s crazy. I use onion, or I used to use onion in absolutely everything.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. That was one of the eye opening things for me too, as I started trying to do recipes later on in my keto journey, it was like, “Oh my gosh, I got to re-learn how to cook now.”

Karmen Cabral:
Yeah.

Carole Freeman:
Other tips? Okay, so stick with the program. Stick with the plan, track everything. Any other tips, things that you think were really instrumental in your success?

Karmen Cabral:
Not so much. I really didn’t have much time to officially prepare. When I decided to commit with you, I said, “I’m starting like tomorrow. I’m not going to bother trying to figure anything out.” But again, because I had done some other experimenting with dieting and low carb and all of that. But one of the things that I brought over from, I stopped smoking two years ago 2017, was the fact that I had to be mentally prepared. Doesn’t matter how much you want to lose weight. You can say it all you want, but if your brain isn’t in it, it’s not going to happen.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. Yeah. So be ready.

Karmen Cabral:
My main one. You need to make a commitment, but it has to be psychologically prepared for it as well.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. Okay. Good. All right, so what’s your outlook on keto going forward? What’s your plan, goals? What do you want to do with your keto inspiration?

Karmen Cabral:
I still want to do a little bit more weight loss. I’m happy where I am. I feel great. I wouldn’t mind getting down another 10 or 20 pounds. Twenty pounds would be fantastic, but I’d be happy with another 10. And I’d like to support anyone who wants to do keto is just, I think really it’s the way to go.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. And I love that because I know again, when we first started, one of your things was like, “I want to be keto Karmen. I want to influence everyone. I want to tell everyone how great this is and help heal everyone.” And so I’m so excited to welcome you as one of our newest peer mentors and helping be able to coach and support other people on keto. And I get to guide you as you support and share with everyone else on the rest of your journey. What are some non-skill victories, other things, things that are different now in your life that you’re doing that you weren’t doing before?

Karmen Cabral:
Well, you’re going to laugh, but we went away at the beginning of January, last summer actually, so I had already lost most of the weight last summer and I bought a whole bunch of those Brazilian bikini’s and like one in every color and I wore them all on my vacation.

Carole Freeman:
Yay. Body confidence. That’s excellent. How fun. Nice

Karmen Cabral:
It was. It was like, “Okay, I’m 50 and I’m wearing this. I don’t care.”

Carole Freeman:
Nice. Good job lady. All right, well thank you so much for sharing your success, your story. You’re very inspirational for a lot of people. And anything else that you want to share in closing? Anything else you were hoping I would ask about or any other thing you want to share?

Karmen Cabral:
No, I think just in terms of, one of the things I’d like to talk to people about when I am talking about keto is all the benefits for different diseases. And that was another motivator for me because my mother had just about every disease. She had arthritis, osteoporosis, low thyroid, diabetes, type 2 diabetes, cholesterol. She developed multiple myeloma, which is a bone marrow, a hematology cancer. So she had a whole list of them and I knew that, and I know that potentially I may develop one of these. So to me it’s important to minimize whatever is going to come up. And I just think for people in general, there’s so many diseases out there. Every time you talk to somebody you haven’t seen in awhile and it’s like, “Did you hear so and so has cancer, so and so has this,” let’s just be healthy.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. Wonderful. Well I’m so excited that you’re on that path to the healthiest you.

Karmen Cabral:
Yes.

Carole Freeman:
Yeah. Already getting the benefits. So Karmen, thank you so much for doing this. Thank you for being here.

Karmen Cabral:
No problem.

Carole Freeman:
Thanks everyone for watching. Subscribe, subscribe. Hit the bell to get notifications. Give us a thumbs up if you enjoyed this interview. We’ll see you all soon. Thanks for watching. Bye.

Karmen Cabral:
Bye.