Meet Sheena. A great person with a great story.
Sheena (find her on Insta! @keto_sheena) is one of those people who tried a lot of different things to lose weight and get healthy (haven’t we all??) before finally discovering the one thing that really works and really lasts. Keto!
Here’s her story:
Hi there, my name is Sheena. I'm 32 years old, and I've always struggled with weight. I'm just 5'1" and weighed 150-160 pounds in middle school and high school. By 2013 I had gotten up to 225 pounds, and I tried both pills and injections in an effort to lose weight.
These methods weren’t sustainable, but I did manage to lose 50 pounds and got pregnant with our second kiddo at 175 pounds. During pregnancy I had gestational diabetes and was told I was pre-diabetic. That was alarming, but after having my daughter I slowly climbed back up the scales, and by May of 2016, I was 213 pounds.
At that point I decided to make a change. I followed the standard American diet version of "clean eating" and calorie counting, and lost about 25 pounds. I actually maintained that 20-25 pound weight loss for all of 2017, but I was stalled.
Finally, I discovered the ketogenic diet while scrolling through weight loss accounts on Instagram. It really piqued my interest, so I signed up to follow a ton of keto accounts and researched all about this way of eating. I spent literally MONTHS learning how and why it worked and what I could and couldn't eat. By December of that year, I decided to go for it.
I started keto at 195 pounds. I took about one month to ease myself into ketosis, and I was super strict about tracking macros and calories for ALL of 2018. I only had a handful of cheats and they weren't even full-on cheat meals or days. My cheat was treating myself to pre-planned desserts. I lost 70 pounds over the course of that one year, and ended 2018 at 125 pounds.
Keto has helped me with a lot more than weight loss. In my 20s I struggled with severe anxiety. I was a roller coaster of emotions—a time bomb waiting to explode. Changing to a low-carb, sugar-free ketogenic lifestyle has completely transformed my mental health. I'm no longer ridden with anxiety, and I'm definitely more level-headed and even-keeled. What’s more, I'm also no longer pre-diabetic, and my cholesterol levels are good. On top of all that, my energy level has significantly increased, which means I can keep up with my kids.
The bottom line is that keto has been a lifesaver! The weight loss success has been amazing, but with the way I FEEL mentally and physically, I will never go back to the standard American way of eating!
We say, hurray for Sheena! We’re grateful she shared her story with us and hope it made your day the way it did ours.
Do you have your own success story to share? Write to us! We love hearing how different people make the journey, and we love having you in ourNush family.