Thread by @karenkanakis

1/ (Thread) Some people have asked me to share more about my weight loss and fitness journey. I don’t talk a lot about it, mostly because I’m super embarrassed by the photo on the left. I know 267 was my highest weight- but I’m not sure I was actually 267 in that particular photo

2/ But I didn’t like having my photo taken at that weight (odd for a professional performer, right?) Anyway, I was suffering from Hashimoto’s with not a lot of help from an Endocrinologist, beyond the advice of “lose weight.” Obvi. I was trying.

3/ I was also in a very stressful/negative work environment. I was eating a whole foods diet, and hardly ever ate processed foods or dined out, and was doing cardio 3 times a week. No weight loss. I felt terrible. So I started tracking everything I ate through MyFitnessPal.

4/ Calorie restriction! How low can you go? Hubs and I also got some fitness trackers (BodyBugs). It was a game of trying to burn calories (according to the BodyBug) but eat less than whatever we burned. It sucked. I was ALWAYS hungry. But it worked and the scale went down.

5/ And I got down to about 215 lbs or so. And the it stopped working. And then my body started rebelling against being ravenously hungry all the time. The scale started moving back up again. So frustrating. But then some good things started happening. I was able to exit my job!

6/ And my husband and I relocated to St. Louis (yay!) Lots of stress and negativity rolled right off my shoulders, and I loved the new location. I started running (hubs had already started and I wanted to try.) We added a regular strength training routine to our cardio 3x/week.

7/ But... still the scale didn’t move. Odd... I was working out, still eating healthy whole foods I cooked from scratch. Now I was running and lifting weights, so what was wrong? And then I watched a little Ted Talk by @DrSarahHallberg. She talked about low carb and insulin.

8/ And that video totally blew my mind. Suddenly I realized WHY I was hungry all the time- I was on an insulin roller coaster & needed to get off the ride ASAP! Enter Keto. I really thought I wouldn’t be able to do it. I was baking my own bread each week- how could I give it up?

9/ And luckily my husband was right there w/me and willing to do it too. (Thank God!) So we dove right in. No more home baked bread, and no more rice & beans and pasta, etc. Total shift in food and mindset. We knew after just a few weeks that we would never go back.

10/ The scale started going down. Not fast. Not dramatically like others I’ve heard on Keto. About 1-2 lbs/week (average of 6 lbs/month for me.) But it was steady and amazing. We started to feel amazing. No more acid reflux, allergy symptoms way reduced. No more bloating. Amazing

11/ And now, I’m down a total of 112 lbs since I first started the journey at 267. Currently a size 8. I’m still losing, but it has slowed down now, and I don’t know how much more I’ll lose. I mostly am focused on building muscle and body recomposition.

12/ Hubs and I both eat quasi carnivore (occasional veg or nuts/seeds but not much). We love how we feel and love the results. It has taken us both down a rabbit hole of health and wellness and has become quite a hobby for us (but we’ll still keep our opera singer day jobs!)

13/ So... I’m so grateful for that Ted Talk, and for all of these people that put solid info out there to help me on my journey. If you’re interested in Low Carb/Keto/Carnivore you should follow them and make them your tribe! And follow some great fitness gurus too!

14/ And the last phase of my weight loss has been incorporating IF (intermittent fasting.) Most days I do at least 16:8, but often 18 or even 20. #keto #carnivore #lchf Okay- follow these folks!
@virtahealth
@Mangan150
@KetoAurelius
@KetoDocCLT
@ketogenicgirl
@KenDBerryMD

15/ @TuitNutrition
@KetoCarnivore
@_CynthiaThurlow
@KetoConnect
@jerryteixeira
@ThePrimalMan
@LOWCARB_TOOLBOX
@BelindaFettke
@zoeharcombe
@DietDoctor1
@FatEmperor
@drjasonfung
@meganjramos
@fit2fat2fit

There are tons more! Tag anyone I’ve missed!

16/ And I would be remiss not to mention @JonAcuff, whose great book Do Over was a big reason I quit my job and got myself in a better situation! THANK YOU!!