What was the heaviest you’ve ever been?
I never felt particularly fat, but growing up in the 2000s, when anorexia was trendy, put some marks on me.
So I’ve been dieting throughout most of my life.
2006 sucked big time in particular. I’ve been doing 12 months with minimal calories and mostly ate chicken breast with celery and plain rice with some steamed veggies. It was one meal or another, 200g per day, every day, for a year. No sugar, no fried, no fat, no salty, no spicy, no coffee. And I had five gym sessions per week as well – 1 hour of cardio and 1 hour of strength training.
And you know what?
That was the time when I’ve gained my maximum weight.
At that point, I thought, maybe diets don’t work for me, you know? And I stopped trying so hard for a while.
Then a few years later.
The regiment I followed wasn’t ideal, but it was better. There was no rice. Rice definitely didn’t work out well for me (think high glycemic index and insulin resistance).
I switched to a more balanced diet with fewer foods that throw my hormones out of whack. I didn’t know what exactly was happening within my body then, though. But it worked.
It was 2009 when I reached the lowest of 110lbs. Then the weight got up a little bit since I didn’t feel particularly well.
However, my weight was pretty stable since then. It could fluctuate but never get higher than 120lbs or so.
In 2017 I thought to myself that I wanted more muscles. And that was the era of gym craze. I was attending three gyms. And my weekly routine was: two cross-fit personal sessions, two EMS sessions (with the best coach ever), and six resistance training.
I was following the approach outlined in book by Michael Matthews. And I loved it a lot because the author took time to actually did the proper research to describe how the body actually works. And for the purpose – gain muscles, lose fat – it was great.
(If you want to check it out you can get a free audio version , signing up for an Audible trial).
So check out my stats from that time, I was 53.9kg (119lbs), my body fat was 22.9%, and 54% were muscles (which is WAY TOO HIGH for a little lady if you ask me).
My point is – that was the whole new body composition I’ve never had in my life. But it did require tons of discipline, time, and money. And (as I’ve learned later on), it wasn’t sustainable if I wanted to remain healthy and live forever. And that’s exactly what my plan is :).
Then as soon as I got into a stressful work and skipped the gym for 3 months and wasn’t eating very well, my body fat got back where it belonged all my life.
Back at 30% levels (agrr!!!!).
And my weight stayed pretty much the same.
The next stop was 2018 when I’ve read another book called “.”
And it was a game-changer. This one is also research-based. And it’s basically a ton of information about how different types of foods increase or decrease our chances of getting various diseases typically associated with aging. What I loved about it is that the author, Michael Greger, doesn’t try to persuade you. But instead, he offers you information so that you can make your own decisions.
After reading it, I’ve switched to a plant-based diet. First vegetarian, then vegan. Even though I am still scared of both. Honestly, some veggie-people are way too aggressive when making their arguments. But I am doing it for myself, and not to win a likeability contest. So it feels great.
While switching to a new diet, I kept researching on what would be the best food to eat and how to maintain the best productivity of all my vital functions, etc., etc.
And also, I had a personal goal in my journal – goal weight of 114 pounds and 24% body fat without killing myself (and my time) at the gym.
And you probably know how it is – even if you lose weight – there’s still that new baseline number. It significantly lower than it was before, but it always makes you wonder if you can push it more and get yourself a new baseline weight for good?
So 2 months ago, I came across this video by one of my beloved health YouTubers – dr.Eric Berg. And it was precisely about changing that body’s “set point.”
Upon watching, I decided to run a little experiment. In essence, I shifted to intermittent fasting (4 hours window) and ketogenic diet while still being vegan, of course.
The goal – to see if I can move down my baseline weight and body fat percentage without doing too much exercising apart of something easy like plank, squats, crunches, and pushups.
I’ve started on the 14th of February at 52.5kg (116 pounds) and around 29% of body fat.
Fast forward 7 weeks or so. And as of today (the 3rd of April 2020), I am 47.2kg (104 pounds) sitting at 25.3% of fat.
It’s been terrific. And my plan is to keep going being in ketosis since it’s just a better way to fuel my body. And I am still vegan, of course, and Intermittent fasting has been a blast.
I don’t have any cravings. And my only initial challenge was to keep my meals more fun and exciting. So I started to look up for recipes and experiment with then a little bit, always trying to lower carb contents while keeping it easy and fun.
While doing so, I understood that there are not that many sources on the internet that would satisfy my weird intentions. Keto is strict, keto vegan is even worse. And that’s why I am launching this blog.
So if you are on a fence about plant-based keto cause you are afraid you might end up munching on olives and tofu all the time, don’t worry. I’ve got your back. And if you ever want to reach out – don’t hesitate to do so via the contact form here. I am open to feedback, questions, suggestions and any thoughts you might have!
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