Wow! I’m so pleased I started this journey 12 months ago with a friend! I was in my mid 50’s and starting to feel the effects of menopause. I had inflammation in my joints, was putting on weight, eating the wrong foods and feeling tired all the time. Well 12 months later and over 25 kilograms lighter, my whole being has changed for all the right reasons. My cholesterol is now normal, no inflammation and I’m never tired! My whole family are on board now that they’ve seen how well I am now.
I want everyone to feel as good as I do now. It’s so worth it. I’m worth it!
I have been overweight for at least 25 years where my doctor put me into the obese category. Yes I was overweight most of that time but tried many diets and spent many thousands of dollars on lotions and potions and gym fees only to regain the bit of weight I may lose plus more. This yo-yo dieting was a way of life for me. One thing that really got to me was my disproportionate body shape. I had a relatively small waist however from the waist down was so much larger than the top half. I mean a lot bigger. Big hips and thighs and even my usually slim ankles were getting bigger.
I used to despair when buying clothes. In the end I was in a AU size 18/20 pants and a 16 up to a 20 top so it was big enough to try and hide my hips and thighs. I would lose up to 10 kilos on some of these diets but my shape didn’t change.
I spoke to my doctor about my weight many, many times and sometimes he would prescribe slimming tablets that worked for a while but nothing really changed. The bottom half was just blown out of proportion. My doctor said many times that my shape was due to my genetics and I would always be this way so I had no incentive to try. It was depressing and embarrassing because the difference was so noticeable that my self-confidence was shot to pieces. This went on for years and years. Yo-yo dieting losing weight things changed but everything stayed the same. As I aged the dieting and the mental damage was done.
One Sunday I was reading Body and Soul supplement in the Sunday Telegraph. I was interested when I saw the headlines at the top of the page. Are You Bottom Heavy and Out of Proportion, or words to that effect. It immediately caught my attention and I read the article with great interest. Right there and then I self-diagnosed Lipoedema. I knew I was right. I went to my GP the next day and told him what I had discovered and asked him how he could treat this condition. He looked at me like I had my undies on my head and said he’d never heard of it. He knew about Lymphoedema but nothing about the other. I think he thought I was grasping at straws. He sent me into a room with a student doctor and my GP sat on a chair with his arms folded and told me to repeat my story to the student. He shrugged his shoulders and had no idea. Now imagine that this was a doctor for our future generations and he had not been taught about this debilitating disease that had been discovered and treated in Germany generation’s before.
I didn’t give up. I researched the beejesis out of Google and found a clinic in my local Hospital in Wollongong that had a physio trained to diagnose Lipoedema and give me treatment options. I was right and formally diagnosed with the disease.
The different treatment options that were explained to me but the options were disappointing. First the only cure was liposuction and that was like \$14000 so that was out. Didn’t want to put my 70 year old body through that anyway. Then I was measured for compression garments for my entire bottom half which are uncomfortable at best and very hot and then told I needed to have a lymphatic drainage massage several times a month. That was at my own cost. The compression garments were subsidised by the government and my contribution was \$100 per year for which I was very grateful. And all this was just to keep the disease from progressing to a more difficult stage. There are 4 stages and I was stage 2. No cure so this was my life from here on in.
Walking became painful. My legs were just so heavy and ached and sore to touch. My thighs were and are lumpy with pads of swollen fatty tissue on my thighs , hips , butt, and ankles. It was so depressing but I accepted what couldn’t be changed but hated it and my body.
Fast forward to August 1 2020. I was searching for something to give me a purpose to get me out of bed of a morning and have some kind of purpose. I lost my husband and the love of my life and soulmate in March 2020. Very suddenly. I performed CPR and mouth to mouth but to no avail. My world crashed down around me and my life and my world as I’m knew it was over. I was in despair and when I saw the August 30DC came up on Facebook I was intrigued and thought that maybe if I had something to focus on it may help with the grieving process and it did.
I didn’t expect too much. I knew my shape wouldn’t change but I owed it to my family to pull myself out of this dark hole so I joined and then went on to TKS and the rest is history.
I’ve lost a tad over 13 kg and 115 cms. But the best part my shape has changed dramatically and my bottom half has responded to my diet too. I’ve gone down to a 14 pants and even wearing shorts. And even a size 12 at times depending where I buy the clothes but I would say a 14 and still going down.
I am rejoicing in my new shape and I read an article on Safari last night while researching any new treatment that may benefit my condition. I will attach part of a document that I discovered that recommended a ketogenic diet. I was so pleased with the knowledge that there was at last some research was going on to find helpful treatments for me and the other thousands of ladies around the world.
I accept I probably will never be properly proportioned body wise but I am ecstatic that I can feel normal and be proud of my shape and my efforts and this whole new way of life.
Out of despair, I made a choice to purchase your TKS lifestyle a year ago. I was broken and had never really dieted in my life. I had been suffering menopause symptoms for many years as well as many other ailments.
I had always been large and many people would say i was big boned therefore why try. I did not even realize that my husband had gained weight over the last few years.
I am sending you a note to thank you for changing my life.
We both started the keto lifestyle 12 months ago. My husband has lost 10kgs. I have lost 35kgs. We are now maintaining and loving the difference in our life including falling deeper in love with each other. We have more energy and clarity of mind. I have gone from size 22 to a size 10.
I have never been this size in my life. I feel really proud of both of us. At first walking past bread shops and smelling freshly baked bread was so hard. Now when we eat higher carb days our stomach’s just moan all night.
We eat sugar free chocolate and have a wine or two most nights. We do not feel like we are restricted with this lifestyle, but have a better choice of foods than what we used to eat.
Progress is still happening even though it’s not as dramatic ! I’ve now lost 40% of my body weight – I have still a way to go but every day is closer and a reminder of how much you girls have given me my life back ! Thanks TKS!! I can’t believe I’m in the 80s – and while that’s still not the destination – I couldn’t be happier !
Well it’s been 150 days on the ketogenic switch and because I don’t have access to your Facebook site – which I still find isolating , I thought I send you my pics !
Thank heavens both my sisters are now on the plan so we can share tips and recipes and progress !
I had blood test results and my GP was blown away by my improved health through the blood works ! He said that every GP would love to see this turnaround in such a short time and was very excited !
I’ve gone from being pre diabetic to now having normal sugar and fasting results – no longer on the road to diabetes – tick! My cholesterol is now down and my LDL and HDL are really good – tick! My liver function has gone from fatty liver and not happy to normal – tick ! My thyroid function is as good as it can be with hashimotos but hasn’t deteriorated which is positive ! I no longer have GERD, I can walk all day And I can now wear heels for the first time in so long !
On top of this I’ve gone from a size 26 to now size 14 jeans and tops ‘ I’ve got more energy than I’ve ever had , I feel confident , healthy and people tell Me I have the most lovely energy – I think because I’m feeling so well , healthy and more Confident in myself now !
So now for my next progress shot – 35kg releases and over 450cm released – thanks again Deb and girl’s for turning my life around !!! Still More progress to be made but it’s about the journey not the destination!!! These jeans I wore in March ! I am also still only part way through my journey so I hope to keep you informed as I keep (more slowly now) working towards a place where my body seems happy and comfortable to stop (hoping that’s means I’m half way about now )!
I’m happy for you to share – a work colleague told me I should help to inspire other women to feel this well – I hadn’t really thought about it until she said that ! Incredibly Ketosis actually impacts your shape more dramatically and Quickly than any other plan that I’ve been on !
I see this as my new life now not a finite “diet” – I don’t ever want to stop feeling this way !
Fun fact – though sad – my waist now (and I’m in size 14 tops) is the size of one of my thighs when I started this journey – so effectively I was carrying around twice my waist in my legs !
Having said that , I always send my former self- love , empathy and gratitude rather than ridicule ! She taught me a lot , she was in terrible pain after a lot of life traumas including recently losing my mum and sister within months so I internalised emotions through food !
The mind switch was instrumental in this process – incredibly it helped me to understand that I was using my weight as a protection , to be invisible , and to avoid failure by hiding behind and using my weight as an excuse for everything ! I used to really stress about going to the movies, going to live theatre including walking into shops , restaurants or sit on chairs for fear I wouldn’t be able to get down aisles in shops, fit in between tables and/or or I might break chairs! I used to have to research the size of chairs before I would book to see live theatre and didn’t want to travel in planes as I didn’t want to make others comfortable next to me or ask for an extension strap – sadly and tragically my weight held me back from Everything !
Realistically, I was punishing myself and literally killing myself which I knew my mum and sister would have never wanted! Incredibly and sadly , only a few short months ago and just over 150 days ago , I used to go to sleep wondering if I would wake up the next morning as I felt so unwell !
I’ve always said behind every person carrying weight is emotional trauma they are selflessly internalising – that’s why the ketogenic switch has allowed me to love and honour my previous self and not judge her – this judgement only really reinforces the negative self confidence which was destructive across all elements of my life ! Every other time I’ve lost weight I have hated my previous self and judged her rather than really understanding myself better and using this in a positive way to make permanent changes as I feel I am doing now !
Thanks again for your lovely and loving encouragement girls – I’m just one of many incredible women that are turning their health around thanks to a complete ketogenic switch change of mind and body set!
It’s truly been a privilege to have found you and thanks to my big sister, Louise for taking us on this journey – she and my other sis Mary and my husband are all on this journey together – between the four of us we had released over 100kgs and Mary started about 2 months behind us after she had seen our progress !
We are all so proud of each other – and encourage and build each other up through support and continual research to improve our health !
