How I lost 25 pounds without Exercise

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Yes, you read that title right. And it’s absolutely true! Without adding more exercise to my routine, I’ve lost 25 pounds in just TWO months by making one simple diet change.

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That simple diet change was the Ketogenic Diet! Let me preface this by saying I am by no means a medical professional. If you are considering changing your diet and lifestyle to the Keto diet, please do your research and talk with your doctor. Any extreme diet change should always be consulted about with a doctor or nutritionist first.

There are many reasons my husband and I decided to try the Ketogenic diet. The first and foremost was for our health. Both of us started out very overweight, with our own set of health concerns. We had tried diet after diet with no results, and those diets always left us feeling deprived and hungry. A recipe for failure.

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For me, having PCOS has been a major factor in my health and weight. With PCOS it seems like I can look at a cookie and instantly gain 5 lbs without even consuming it. But to get that weight back off is nearly impossible! I knew that getting rid of sugar in my diet had worked great in the past, and also made me feel so much better. The Keto Diet seemed like a more extreme sugar free diet, so why not give it a shot?

How I Lost 25 Pounds Without Exercise

The Ketogenic Diet

What’s the Ketogenic Diet, you ask? In a nutshell, it’s a very low carbohydrate high fat diet, but it really is more in depth than that. Want to learn a little more about the science behind it? Here’s an interesting paper about what your body does when you starve it of it’s energy source–carbs.

Essentially when your body is starved of carbohydrates, it burns fat instead and sends your body into ketosis–hence the name Ketogenic Diet. Now, Ketosis sounds scary to a lot of people and it did to me at first too. Working in the veterinary industry and having a bit of medical knowledge, I knew that a condition called Ketoacidosis is life threatening for people (and pets) especially diabetics. Well, Ketosis is a mild form of Ketoacidosis, but is not harmful to your body. It’s actually a natural metabolic process.

Benefits

There is still on going research on the Ketogenic Diet being done, but there is some emerging evidence that a Keto lifestyle has several health benefits. It is known to help control seizures, as well as reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but new evidence has shown that a Keto diet can also help those with PCOS. By lowering the blood insulin level and reducing insulin resistance, other symptoms of PCOS can also decrease, such as acne, uncontrollable weight gain, and excess hormones to name a few.

With all of the fat that you are consuming in the Keto diet, you don’t feel hungry. Which for me is great! The minute I feel deprived or starving in a diet is when it becomes impossible for me.

Plus, I don’t have to count calories! I still track them in the MyFitnessPal app, but I don’t pay as much attention to them. I focus on my macros instead–25% protein, 5-10% carbs and 65-70% fat. Believe me when I say that I am usually nowhere close to my 1450 calories/day allotment.

Food to eat

So with all of this “avoid carbs” talk, you might be wondering what exactly I can eat. Here’s a list of the things that appear regularly in my diet.

  • Meats–especially those high in fat, and the ever important BACON
  • Eggs
  • Cheese and Cream
  • Some dairy products (cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese–avoid cows milk and yogurt as they are high in natural sugars)
  • Unsweetened nut milk or coconut milk
  • Most vegetables (no potatoes, corn, or other very starchy and high carb count veggies)
  • Berries in moderation
  • Butter, coconut oil and olive oil
  • Nut butters
  • Nuts and seeds

Foods to avoid

Just like the foods I do eat, here’s a list of the foods that I avoid.

  • Rice and grains
  • Pasta
  • Bread/Chips/Crackers
  • Sugar–added and natural
  • Potatoes, corn and other starchy veggies
  • Most fruits
  • Commercial desserts–you can make your own with a few subs
  • Cows milk
  • Yogurt

I enjoy going to the grocery store and picking up new items to try. One thing that I NEVER ate before this diet were pork rinds. While I’m still not a big fan of just eating them as is, they do make a great breading.

I’m also slowly re-learning how to cook and bake with new keto friendly flours and sweeteners. After teaching myself how to bake from scratch with traditional ingredients without using a recipe, it’s been a bit of a learning curve to learn new tactics. So many keto friendly products react and behave differently than the traditional, so there is a lot of trial and error involved.

Read Also: My Favorite Low Carb Pantry Items

I’m always on the hunt for new keto friendly convenience products to make my life a little bit easier.

To this date, we are just a little over 2 months in (started April 3rd). I have lost 25lbs, and my husband has lost 35lbs. With the weight loss comes more energy, less cravings (there’s still some but not as bad) and just overall feeling better. We still do our daily walks, but now it’s time for us to start getting more exercise in to really get us to our goals.

My goal of 40lb weight loss doesn’t seem so impossible anymore! What are some of your favorite exercises to do at home? I am thinking of getting back into yoga, but I also want to start running. I just need the motivation to wake up early and get to it!

***Update as of January 2019 my husband’s total weight loss is 110lbs, and mine is 40lbs. We are still cutting back on carbs, but have migrated to a more low carb diet than Ketogenic ***


If you want to get started on a new lifestyle journey by taking the plunge into the Keto lifestyle, check out my past few months of meal plans to get an idea of what to make for dinners–April, May, June

And these other Low-Carb and Keto friendly recipes:

I have several new low-carb and keto friendly recipes, as well as some weekly meal prep information coming down the line! Make sure to subscribe to my weekly email list so you don’t miss any goodies. 

8 Comments

  1. Congrats on your weight loss. It always feels so good to have the weight drop off. I want to try this, but I don’t know that I would be able to give up my carbs. Everything you list as ‘no’ is my ‘yes’…lol.

  2. Congratulations! This sounds a lot like the Whole30 I did back in March. Although, I didn’t have nearly that kind of success. I may have to give this a try.

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