The keto diet and weight lifting helped me stop binge eating

My name is Kelsey Baker (@keto_kels). I am 26 years old from London, Ontario and I am a mental health nurse. I decided to try keto in 2017 when I was at a low point in my life and lost over 60 pounds in the process.

I used to have binge eating and binge eating. I denied my health and how unhealthy I was both physically and mentally for a very long time. When I was growing up, I was always very involved in sports. I was always active, but that changed drastically when I got into university.

I was really unhappy in school and turned to eating for comfort. During this time I developed some unhealthy habits, namely binge eating. I found myself in a vicious cycle of being dissatisfied with the direction of my life and turning to food to hide behind a veil of short-term comfort. As I gained weight, it only worsened my already weak self-esteem. I was becoming more and more confident, so I kept turning to food to be instantly satisfied. And the cycle continued.

Even at my highest weight of 220 pounds, I was still in a state of denial. I knew I was an unhealthy weight, but it was never motivating enough to make a lifestyle change. I would participate in unhealthy crash diets (military diet, lemon cayenne water diet, laxatives, extreme calorie deficit, whatever). Of course, they weren't sustainable. And I would use Binging to answer these errors.

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At this point, I followed a keto Instagram influencer for almost a year and was intrigued. On a random day, I made the decision to just * try * it.

I started a ketogenic lifestyle on May 3, 2017. TBH, however, there was nothing memorable or even an "aha" moment that day that changed my mindset. I remember saying specifically to myself, "Just try it for three days and then go eat sushi on Saturday." Guess what? I ended up canceling my sushi plans.

I really enjoyed the ketogenic way of eating. It really didn't feel like dieting because I was consuming many of the same foods that I was already used to and loved. It really only took a few small adjustments and food swaps to make my diet more ketogenic.

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Here's what I usually eat in one day now.

• Breakfast: Two whole eggs, two pieces of bacon and coffee with cream
• Having lunch: Cobb salad with hard-boiled egg, avocado, bacon and ranch dressing
• Snacks: Turkey peppers and cheese or vegetables and dip
• Dinner: Chicken breast fried in butter with broccoli
• Dessert: Frozen raspberries

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I've seen so many positive changes when I switched to a keto lifestyle.

I usually call it a ketogenic lifestyle because it really doesn't feel like dieting anymore. It's not something that I consider short-term. My body responds best when it uses fat for energy. My energy level has increased dramatically. I took a nap every day because I was so tired all the time. I was constantly battling my poor health as well as the mental war that was going on inside my head.

I also started exercising. The keto diet opened my eyes to new passions like Olympic lifting. When I first started keto, I lost 60 pounds in seven months from diet alone. In January 2018, I shifted my focus from weight loss to fat loss / muscle building and reduced my body fat percentage by 15 percent in two years.

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When it comes to weight loss, this is my biggest advice: don't make things too complicated.

There is a lot of conflicting information out there. To make the process of getting started on keto easier, I first followed the keto food pyramid to guide myself. It took a lot of guesswork as to what to eat. (Need advice on buying keto foods? Check out this WH keto food guide.)

I've also been careful to keep my goals small and achievable and I think that helped me stay on track. As already mentioned, my first goal was to do just three days of keto. Then I would set myself a short term goal to track all of my groceries for a period of time. It will keep you motivated and it will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.

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I also recommend that everyone experiment with exercise until they find something they really enjoy. If you don't like weightlifting, most likely you won't be consistent with it. There are so many ways to get active.

Weight loss isn't a race either. Get rid of the expectation that if you don't see results as quickly as the next person, you will fail. Everyone is different and the goal is to strive for progress, not perfection. My mindset has always been "get thin and be thin". It was only when I switched my mindset from "getting lean" to "being healthy" that I saw (permanent) results.

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Weight loss aside, I'm a much more active participant in my life in general.

I've been in an incredibly low place for so long. I've struggled with anxiety and depression for years. I still do, but it no longer debilitates, and I consistently use healthy coping mechanisms to combat these internal struggles.

I never realized how much I held back in the past. It's really shocking how powerful a bad self-image is. On the other hand, it's amazing how much positive energy you absorb when you radiate it. Real trust and self-acceptance have the ability to affect every aspect of your life. I really have never felt this empowered.

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