Another New Low and More New Clothes

This is the second time that I've hit a new weight loss low and received a delivery from Stitch Fix on the same day. Maybe I should increase the frequency of my subscription! You can see my post about the first happy coincidence here.

First, apologies for the wretched sound situation on the video, if you decide to watch it. Equipment malfunctions! Second, some of the clothing pieces appear larger in the video than they do in real life. (The same can be said for me.) A couple of subscribers to my YouTube channel questioned the sizes. But it is an optical illusion. The clothes are pretty small. Amazingly small, considering where I started out. That, or I'm just not a good videographer and don't know how to stage things. 

Ignore the horrendous lighting and my puffy eyes. That's me with some 22W jeans, so smaller than those I wore when I started the ketogenic diet. The photo is from several months, and about 15 pounds ago.

My history with clothes was not so much of a love/hate relationship as a hate/detest relationship. I've never been one to feel bouyed by retail therapy. Just not my thing. And this goes for even grocery shopping. Don't love to go to stores. Pair that with being very heavy and the result was my clothes came from tables at Costco. I simply bought the largest jeans and cotton blouses available. See the before photo at the top of the sidebar of this site for an example. Those are 24Ws straining across my ample backside. The blouse? I believe it was a XXL. So, more than not want to shop in general, buying clothes in any manner was excruciating. The result? My uniform of giant jeans and $13 blouses was pretty much all I owned. Those and Dansko knockoffs because my very wide feet couldn't fit in the real things.

There are downstream impacts of hating the clothes you own and the body those clothes cover. Social invitations are declined. Going out with your Lovely Mate feels like being put on exhibit, a cautionary tale to anyone who fears they'll be next in the fatty parade. Formal occasions? Forget it. I didn't even buy decent clothes for my daughter's wedding. And seeing photos of myself from the happy day sent me in to a true emotional tailspin. One of the deepest and longest lasting bouts of depression I've ever had. And I felt I ruined the day. Of course, no one was paying attention to me, as is proper. But we all struggle to see things from anything other than our own perspective. And the view from mine was miserable.

But as I lost weight after starting the ketogenic diet, that began to change. I not only needed to get new clothes, the ones I had being simply too large, I wanted new clothes. Something about my self-image was transforming from self-loathing to self-love. Sound sappy but it's accurate.

A friend suggested I try the service of having clothes not only delivered to me (no retail stores! Huzzah!) but chosen for me as well. And so started the building of my wardrobe, one box at a time.

There's more to all this, but it will have to come another day. I'm preparing to meet a friend for cocktails at a nice bar, and I'll be wearing snazzy clothes and probably some sassy pumps. No more clunky shoes, dumpy shirts or humongous jeans for me. BTW, I continued to buy jeans from Costco as I lost weight, always the same brand and style, in progressively smaller sizes and each new purchase was a victory. The first one was when the size wasn't followed by a "W". The next when I fit into size 14s, that of the average US female. I don't buy them there anymore. They don't carry a size small enough, size 6 being the smallest. True story.

And, oh yeh, as of this morning I've 93.3 pounds. Maybe I WILL up my Stitch Fix shipment schedule!

Here's the unboxing.....

Another New Low & Stitch Fix Unboxing! For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to items mentioned in this video, see below.

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Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

January. The Cruelest Month? Or Just the Weirdest?

Something weird is going on with me. Or inside me. Or maybe something is going on with the rest of the universe and it's just showing up on my scale. Because that's a thing, right? The universe conspires to consternate us, or at least me, and edge my weight up for no discernible reason. Again.

Don't misunderstand. I'm happy and content with my weight. Let me type that again. .... I'm happy and content with my weight. This is no small thing for a woman who has been unhappily overweight for over 30 years. But having started following the ketogenic diet and successfully losing more weight than I ever allowed myself to believe was possible, I'm in a good place.

My scale? It's in a weird place. Success of any sort is never without turns in the road, challenges and surprises. And even as my weight has come slowly, gradually and steadily down, it has ticked up, then down, then up, then lingered in one place. This is the life cycle of weight loss.

Over the last week or so, though, has been more 'not a straight downward trajectory' than usual. This got me to wondering. I'm in ketosis. My blood sugar is perfect. No foods not on the allowed list (except some ill-advised packets of cashews. Wrong, wrong, wrong.) But in general, I've been doing what I've done all along. So what gives?

Thank goodness I have what must be the longest running daily weight log in the surrounding seven counties. I looked back at the last time I had an unexplained weight gain after having reached a new low. Turns out it was this exact time last year. January. Could be a coinkeedink. Could be seasonal. Or could be the universe messing with me. 'Cause the universe has nothing better to do these days...

Moral of the story? If your weight loss or whatever goals you have are challenged, step back and analyze why. You owe it to yourself to not give up. Keep on keeping on, to cite a worn out phrase. Keep the faith, to repeat a more spiritual ad soulful one. 

Now, roll tape...

A couple of observations about my own situation and suggestions for others. Success is never in a straight line. For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to products used in this video, see below.

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Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

Missed My Goal. Shrug. I Made a New One.

If you read this post about my bold move to set what I thought might be my last weight loss goal over the last couple of months, you will know the quest was optimistic. And the progress was pretty awful. The scale has had more ups and downs than kids at a trampoline park. And since I update my weightless spreadsheet daily, and since the target date of January 8, 2017 has come and gone, there's a new chart. Started this morning.

Now, I know some of you have just read more about math and charts than you care to, so I'll move on. The point is that missing a goal ain't nothing but a thing, as we say in the South. My weight ended up lower, albeit it much less than I had aimed for, than when I started this most recent leg of my decades-long, spreadsheet documented quest to lose weight. In fairness to myself, it was an aggressive goal. I was feeling full of myself because I had just lost 9.1 pounds over the month of October. That in itself was kind of outrageous. I hadn't lost that much in a month since starting the ketogenic (low carb/high fat) diet in January of 2014. But I had been flying solo here in the house for that month whilst Lovely Mate was out of the country. It's amazing how often we eat just because food is around or because it smells good.

"So", says I to myself, "why not go for broke, jump two segments on your massive spreadsheet and make this your last goal?" (More math talk but these goals are all based on several complex formulas that even I don't remember the reasoning behind. I just love formulas!) "And while you're at this", I continued, "make it by January 8, the anniversary of when you started this whole thing!" 

That's how I managed to set myself up with a goal to lose more weight than I had ever lost in the shortest time frame. AND go through the holidays to boot. Brilliant! What could go wrong?

Actually, nothing did go wrong. I lost a bit of weight, 2.7 pounds, not 14.3 pounds. And I went down another size in my last StitchFix shipment (see this post). All good. I simply didn't hit a goal.

My Keto Anniversary. For more information on the ketogenic diet, see below. ☞ SEE MY WEIGHT CHANGE CHART: http://caseydurango.com/my-next-goal ☞ READ MORE AT MY BLOG: http://caseydurango.com ☞ FOLLOW MY FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/ketocasey/ ☞ INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/CaseyDurango/ ☞ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/CaseyDurango

So, what now? 

A new goal, of course! This one more realistic and without me circumventing my spreadsheet's formulas. It clearly knows better than I. The new goal is to lose 5.8 pounds by March 6. We'll see how that goes.. I've missed several over the course of these three years. Missed some by a little, some by a bit more, made some with time to spare. Here's the thing, in the many years of trying to lose weight before starting the ketogenic diet, I never made one goal. Not one. I would try to lose 10 pouds. Whiff. 5 pounds? Nope. One year I just wanted to lose 1 pound a month. I put on 1.2 pounds.

So even when I 'missed' goals over these last three years, I always ended up that segment lower than I started. Always there has been progress. Slow? Perhaps. But progress. As I sit here today, lighter than I was on this day last year, much lighter than the year before that and 92.1 pounds lighter than when I started, I'll take progress for progress' sake. And if I never lose another ounce, I'm the happiest person you're likely to encounter. Keep the faith. And maybe start yourself a spreadsheet! 

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Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

More Before & After Photos. I Was SO Fat!

I can't really write much about this now, I'll let the video speak for itself, as it were.

More befoe and after photos. I had no idea I looked like this. Thank goodness for the ketogenic diet! For more information on the ketogenic diet, see below. ☞ SEE MY WEIGHT CHANGE CHART: http://caseydurango.com/my-next-goal ☞ READ MORE AT MY BLOG: http://caseydurango.com ☞ FOLLOW MY FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/ketocasey/

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Disclaimer: I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all.  I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links. Thanks!

- Casey

My Latest - And Last - Weight Loss Goal.

I've repeated it often: if I don't lose another ounce of weight, I'm thrilled with my results since starting the ketogenic diet. I've lost 90.1 pounds since that first day, which was the day I viewed the so-called 'white coat video' of Dr. Eric Westman explaining his No Starch No Sugar protocol for addressing obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Those twenty or so minutes rocked my world. I was set off down a path of research, reading, viewing and asking questions about how food just might be the answer to my problems rather than the cause of them.

Like many people, I've been setting weight loss goals virtually every day of the last 33 years. Every Monday was my next best chance to regain control of my life. Or try to do so. For most of those Mondays, things tended to go in the opposite direction from what I planned.

That all changed with the ketogenic (low carb/high fat) diet. My weight loss hasn't been in a straight line, but it has been consistent. My blood sugar has gone from borderline diabetic to this morning's reading of 50. I average 76. My energy level is better than in my thirties. My brain came back after seeming to have been on strike for a few years. All this is to say, Mondays are now my friend, not my nemesis.

And I've decided to set one last weight loss goal. It is beyond aspirational. It is the weight version of my brass ring. I want to lose 14.3 pounds from where I started yesterday. I'd like to achieve this by 1/8/2017. That's three years to the day since the White Coat Video. It seems fitting.

I've set the last weight loss goal. Never thought I'd be here. For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to products used in this video, see below.

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I’ve been fortunate to have exposure to leading researchers, physicians and journalists regarding the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths. I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Thanks!  - Casey