Starting keto: a story of why (Spoiler: it's because I'm fat)

When I was young, I was in a car crash. Up until then, I was a Little Athletics whiz kid; hyper, always racing around, and a total nightmare for my parents for how much effort it took to tire me out. The accident was fatal for my nan and smashed my leg up real bad. I couldn’t run well for years following, my leg would frequently lock up and hurt. My competition days were well and truly over. Robbed of the ability to run and sprint or even walk for too long without it becoming an issue, I turned into a couch potato.

By my late teens, my leg had just about fully healed. It locked up maybe once every few months, but even then I knew how to snap it back into place and ignore the discomfort. But, I didn’t. I’d been fat and grew fatter throughout my highschool life, and my self-esteem was shot from the years of ridicule and special treatment I got from being a socially radioactive chubby kid diagnosed with the ‘tisms. I’d grown complacent with the comfort of being a quiet, introverted, self-deprecating comedian.

I’d decided I was an ugly kid and that was that. No diet or exercise was going to fix what I was, so I embraced being huge. I loved it, in a way. I happily self-allocated my role as the token fat dude in every group I ended up in. I enjoyed throwing my weight around. For a while I felt fat AND fit, but eventually the self-neglect smothered that, too.

Around twenty, I paired up with my beautiful and amazing partner who I’ve now been with for nearly eight years, and all throughout that time I’ve been utterly mystified as to why she says the same compliments about me.

In recent years though, I’ve started to see the silver lining she saw. There are raw parts of me I do like. My hair, my eyes, and my general figure beneath all the padding. Vanity’s never been my style. I mock it frequently. But, a largely ignored part of myself has always wanted to be beautiful. I envy others whom look good. I want to be like that, but it’s always felt so far beyond my reach. I had no time, no money, and no motivation.

I don’t know what exactly the tipping point was. Probably when I realised I’m nearly 28 and my supposed ‘prime years’ are slipping away without ever having been utilised or explored. I’ve been reflecting on all the wasted years I’ve had so far, and admiring the stories of other people who turned their lives around.

I don’t want to grow old, bitter and ugly regretting more years I never put to good use. I wanna look good. I wanna feel fit! Damn the consequences!

Starting last Sunday, I began the strict Ketogenic diet; a minimal-carb eating plan that doesn’t allow cheat days. I’m a guy who loves his sandwiches, pastries and pasta, so this wounds me to my soul. I’ve been going a week and I’ve already had to turn down tarts and mope a bit at all the desserts I can’t have anymore.

A few days in I started feeling some of the symptoms of keto flu. Nausea, diarrhea, headaches. They’ve eased off a little but I’m still getting the stomach turns pretty bad, and I’m having these tired spells that last a few hours at a time.

I live with my family and girlfriend, and we’re all on the heavy side. I told them all about my intentions and they’ve been supportive and eager to get into it as well, so I’ve also become the household chef. We flick keto recipes around and chat a lot about what we’d like to try. I still want flavour and diversity on my plate.

Mostly I’ve just been whipping up spinach-rich salads and various meats and egg combinations, but I’m thinking of ways to get into meal-prepping to make things easier and more convenient throughout the week. There’s this lovely keto bread recipe using almond meal, eggs and baking powder that I’ve been using to settle my bread cravings, and we even made some muffins with it! I’ve also been forcing myself to drink more water. I’m usually an energy drink guzzler.

I’m also starting to get back into exercise. Light cardio, weights and situps. I’m hesitant to do too much too fast because I don’t want to injure myself, but I think I’m going to get more into physical activity as I slim down.

Last Sunday I weighed myself at 179.6Kgs. That shocked me because the last time I checked at the start of the year, I was 205! No idea where that all went!

This Sunday though, I’m down to 175.4Kgs. A good start!

I’m determined to keep this going for as long as possible. I want to mold myself into something amazing, and I want to have one of those motivating success stories for others. I’ve got others doing it with me, and ketosis is something that starts and if you break out of it, you have to go through the mess of starting it up again. Knowing all that is more motivation to keep going now that I’ve started!