Weight-loss – THE JONES FAMILY

(pictured above, before – early February 2019 and after – June 24, 2019)

Hi everyone and HAPPY SUMMER!

I hope you’ll forgive me for not posting in a bit, but we have been a little preoccupied with, well, life. About a month before we got out for summer, I was approached by the Principal of the girls’ school and asked to come help out, assisting with Kindergarten as a temporary employee. I jumped at the chance to do that because I love kids, and I love any opportunity to be near my own kids, even if it just means working down the hall from them. However, doing so left me with very little free time to devote to the blog. (Or much time for anything really after work, aside from keeping myself on track with my diet/lifestyle change and helping the girls with their homework in the evenings.)

Next thing we knew, summer was upon us! Every summer, our granddaughter, Kyleigh comes to stay with us (she lives over 6 hours away) and spends anywhere from a few weeks to a month at our house. We LOVE having her here visiting, and I like to keep us as busy as I can doing all the fun things and making memories before she goes back. If you’d like to see some of what we’ve been up to, there’s a new post under Family Life with a short video/slideshow of some of our activities as a family!

But I am here to tell you – I have not given up on this blog or my Keto lifestyle. Through it all, I’ve stayed on track, and everything is going pretty well. I can officially say that I am now down 35 pounds since I started this journey! I can’t be more excited about that! This summer has been one of the best that I have had in years! No more sitting cooped up in the house, feeling sorry for myself, like I have done way too much of in the past. I feel better, health-wise than I have in years and feel better about myself than I probably EVER have in my life. I still have a ways to go before I reach my goal but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that is a fantastic feeling!

That being said, I’ll still have to keep today’s post short and sweet (we just got back from the pool and it’s almost time to start dinner) but I wanted to share this little update and before/after photos for those of you who are not following me on my personal social media pages. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them here or use our Contact page! We love hearing from our readers!

Enjoy your summer, friends!

Hi everyone! Just a quick update on this sunny Friday! I hope you all have had a great week and are looking forward to an even better weekend!

I think I’m officially over the hump! By whatever name you want to call it – the “healing phase” or Post Induction Stall Syndrome (PISS – a better acronym could never have been created), I am here to tell you – IT SUCKS! In my first few weeks of living the Ketogenic lifestyle and strictly following the diet – weight dropped QUICKLY for me. I lost about 12 pounds in the first month. I was elated and expected it to continue falling off at the same rate. I thought, I’ll be in a size 6 by summer! Then, in my 4th and 5th weeks, my weight fluctuated. I’d lose a pound, gain 2; lose 2 pounds, gain 1. And on and on the cycle went, keeping my weight basically at a standstill and it felt ENDLESS. I really started feeling discouraged and even wondering what changes I could and should make to get out of the stall. Egg fast, anyone?

That being said, I am aware that the numbers on a scale should never be my main focus. But, let’s be real here. When you start a new way of life, with weight loss being one of the main goals – it’s near impossible not to get up every morning and look for those little victories. And it can be maddening when you feel like you are doing all of the right things, with little to no results. Even for a short period of time. It’s also hard not to compare ourselves to others who are having faster results.

Fortunately, after doing a little bit of research, I found out that this is the exact time when the biggest changes really start to happen. This time is what a lot of people refer to as the healing stage. Here’s a little graphic I found on social media that for me seems to be pretty accurate.

I do not own the rights to this image and could not find information on its originating source.

It’s so good to know that this time is not even technically a stall. What I’ve found in my research is that early on when beginning the Keto lifestyle, our bodies immediately start dumping retained water. That water apparently can be a little heavier than I realized. I was in ketosis, and I knew that I was, but I was NOT fat adapted yet. This means that my body had not yet figured out how to use fat for fuel. In the 4^th-6th weeks (longer for some), most people become fat adapted and this is when weight loss really picks up

I’m going into my 6^th week now and I feel safe to say, that’s what’s happening to me now. Hooray for fat adaptation! Yesterday morning, I was down a full 2 pounds. (The lowest I’ve been since starting this and also the lowest I’ve been in years) This morning, when I checked again, I’m down another ½ of a pound! A smaller victory but a victory nonetheless!

I’m taking all of this as a sign that I’m on the right track and should keep going as I have, without any real changes. I’m so happy that I’ve been able to do this, without any special products, supplements or paying for any plans. I think it really just comes down to the quality of the food. My grocery shopping bill is cheaper than ever, (junk food costs more than I realized) and we’re all eating great as a family. I’m so pleased with this new way of eating!

Thanks for taking the time to read this update! As soon as I have new information or new results, I’ll check back in and do this again. If any of my opinions change on this diet and lifestyle, I’ll update with that as well. In the meantime, here’s another day of food. (scroll down) We’re still keeping it pretty simple over here at the Jones house but there has not been one complaint, yet!

If you like these “A Day of Food” posts and would like to see more for meal planning ideas, you can find all of those indexed by clicking here.

If you’d like some Recipe ideas, you can see some of our family’s favorites by clicking, HERE.

These are also accessible on the menu above, under Keto Life.

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