A week into Month #3 /Inventory

In early 2013 post-Holiday-Tyme I got way into low-carbing. I was working out and dropping serious ounces and I was way into planning Adam's surprise 40th in Vegas. The trip and the surprise were a huge success and a few weeks before the trip (or maybe right after) I hit 30 lbs lost. This was me in Vegas feeling good at the end of March 2013:

Bellagio bathroom confidence

Then just when all of my jeans were literally falling off of my ass...I stopped. Why? Did I give up? Did I feel like I could eat what I wanted in moderation? Maybe I decided that the cookies and candy I ignored for three months were now 'cool'?  The thing is I have no fucking idea how it happened; it just did. Now by saying 'it' I'm disassociating but of course it was ME, it was my fault- and suddenly it was summer and instead of losing more weight, taking selfies, and blogging, I was eating all the time, hiding from cameras, and by the end of July 2013 looked like this again:

The one pic from July 2013 w/ my mother-in-law

When we planned the trip up to see his parents in the summer I was seriously imagining myself at 50-70 lbs down; I even bought a couple pairs of clearance rack shorts that I never got to wear. Instead, I gained weight and felt very uncomfortable in my skin. Food-wise, I stayed in a bingey funk basically through the end of the year with a few bright spots of self-control. When I weighed in on January 2 of this year I learned that I gained back 22 of the 30 I lost. Now that I'm in the third month of this plan -and getting close where I was in March 2013-.I'm writing this all down so that history doesn't repeat itself.

This year is different in a few key ways- the first is that I'm more knowledgeable about low carb high fat- the WOE has gotten even more popular since 2013 and I've read a lot of great books and sites on how to eat ketogenically. This year I'm cooking more, trying new recipes, and lately I've been tracking EVERYTHING. Experience counts.

The second difference is I feel like 'part of something' this year. The reddit keto and xxketo pages are amazing and new to me. The website ruled.me has wonderful recipes and a great facebook group, and I'm even geeking out on MyFitnessPal this year by friending people and looking at other peoples' food diaries. And, seriously, to anyone who has taken the time to comment here or even 'heart' or repin my posts via Pinterest- I can't thank you enough; you have no idea how much it means to me.

Finally, I have a deep down gut feeling that I'm doing something longterm and sustainable. Last year I was focused on Adam's 40th in Vegas and truth be told, things started to unravel when we hit the Caesar's Bacchanal buffet. When my 'goal' of losing some weight and feeling better about myself for his b'day was met I just never got fully back on it. This year I see all of 2014 in pink-to-purple ketosis. For our 4th anniversary this week we had an amazing day and dinner out with no bread, no dessert, and I felt just fine. My biggest challenge will be continue to be getting a handle on my drinking and my calories, but I feel very sure that I will be successful if I just keep going. Like my last post, it's all about 'Same Same' to get to where I want to be.

Have a great weekend.