Hey all!
Just wanted to share a bit about me and why I’ve come to this WOE.

I’ve always been the one with a few extra pounds in my family, and when I was younger it was cute, but during my adolescence, especially compared to my “I can eat any and everything and I’m still pencil thin” sister, the insecurities started setting in. I also was the only girl out of three to suffer with acne, and call him insensitive if you will, but my dad actually started “joking” that I was adopted or the mailman’s, which was quite emotionally painful and made me actually question that myself.

I can’t tell you how many diets I tried in my early 20s. Calorie Restriction, grapefruit diet, no calories at all....the list goes on. Nothing ever worked and ultimately my lack of knowledge concerning nutrition always held me back. I bought any and everything that advertised themselves as low fat or sugar free since I came to believe the lies that fat is the enemy and fat makes you fat. I also suffered from bipolar depression and anxiety and I started drinking a lot to self medicate which as a young girl with virtually no self esteem, led me to make some pretty rotten decisions. I was emotionally damaged, so having a relationship longer than a few months was nearly impossible, but I did end up getting pregnant when I was 25 with a guy who I thought was the one *eyeroll* but my daughter was the best thing that ever happened to me.

When I first laid eyes on my baby girl, the whole world stopped for a second. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen and I was instantly head over heels and in awe that I had created something so miraculous. She is what gave me worth and purpose and I would never be the same. She was around 2 when I discovered the Atkins diet and started reading the science behind it and it was a lightbulb moment, however, I had no idea what I was doing, but I started tracking carbs, thinking that was all you had to worry about. I also, wrongly thought that if you fell off the wagon, and binged, you could hop right back on and it wouldn’t cause you to gain “5pounds” overnight. Not to mention my binges were way more than a piece of cake so I know I would gain back he water weight and then some each time. I would often become frustrated and ultimately give up.

Fast forward to 2015, I came to faith and became a new version of myself. I found self worth and a love so indescribable, it can only be compared to the love I felt when I became a mother. I started to pray for wisdom concerning, not so much my weight, but my mental and physical so I could give my daughter the mother she deserved. Bear in mind, I was never more than 140 but I had such a negative self image that I hated every thing about myself. I am fascinated by the science of nutrition and so I read and read and read about low carb and came to discover not only is it good for weight loss but also for mental health and clearing of acne...the list goes on and on. I now have a new “reason” or motivation but I over the years I’ve tried and tried but never could stick with it or didn’t see the results I wanted so I just tried to eat clean and love myself although I spiraled into bulimia because I was always feeling deprived.

However, I must say, I am determined and stubborn, so I’ve still continued to research and try to figure it all out and just recently I started having what can only be described at neurological issues, combined with psoriasis and tingling of my fingers after low carb so all of this combined led me to a string of books, one of which being “Grain Brain” and it changed my way of thinking, FINALLY!

I also found out that too much protein and not enough fat and potentially too many calories were the reasons behind my many failed attempts at this diet. (Not only was I scared of fat, lol but I wasn’t tracking anything...I was trying to do low fat, high protein, low carb) recipe for failure. So now I am motivated by more than weight loss, and I’m tracking macros and I know that community and support will also be vital to my journey. Any tips/tricks/hacks would be appreciated but if anyone else had success with mental health issues following this diet, I would be very encouraged to hear about them. Thanks in advance.

I’ve also discovered a new purpose and passion in life, which I would like to pursue. If I can figure out this keto thing and do it right this time and it works which I know it will, I want to pursue a career in nutritional psychiatry or health coaching because my quality of life for the majority of my life has not been good and if I can help someone else, there’s nothing I’d rather do. Thanks for reading