One Step Forward – Two Steps Back (and Thoughts on Keto)

Hi everyone. It’s been a while since I posted because I’ve had a couple of setbacks over the last couple of months. But, it’s all good in the long run, because I’m using them as an opportunity to hurl myself over some obstacles. As a result, I’ve been contemplating trying a Ketogenic (Keto) dietary approach for a while – or at least a modified version of Keto to start with.

Here’s the backstory

After over a year or more of feeling plagued by hamstring, tendon and now back issues, and a bunch of other crap that I feel has been slowing me down, I have realized that I need to look more closely at what I consume.

I haven’t even been working out much these last several weeks because, frankly, it just hurts too much. I didn’t injure myself working out (for the most part, although I have been known to overdo things) – but working out hasn’t been helping me feel better.

The bottom line is that I’m thoroughly disgusted with my lack of progress (on the one hand), and my slipping back into bad habits (on the other hand).

Throw in some mechanical failure

In mid-May my computer’s hard drive crashed and burned, and it has taken me weeks to recover my data from the “cloud” backup. Even though I had everything backed up in the cloud, for some reason I completely lost ALL my previously recorded videos that I’ve been filming for the last several months. I probably had about 20 videos in the queue, ready to produce on my Health Transformation YouTube channel.

So, I’ve been depressed about that as well. Back to the drawing board…

UPDATE: I found a couple of vids that I had sent off this computer that were already in MP4 format, so I WILL be able to import and work with them. They’ll be a touch out of sequence since they were filmed a while ago, but I’ll get them produced anyway. So, I only lost about 16 or so.

When I came on board here at Health Transformation, I promised to be transparent, and report not only on my gains, but also my failures. Today is one of those “failure” types of posts.

I have to start over again. But that is just the way it is, and I will not quit. I will simply start over again.

In just over a month, I’m going to turn 59. When I turned 58 last year, I was very encouraged about the direction I was going. Over the winter, I thought I made some great headway.

Transitioning back and forth has its issues

Leaving Florida to return to NH is always difficult for me, and bittersweet. I’m always excited to come north to NH because I’ve got some great friends and family here.

At the same time, I am loathe to leave Florida, because even though I am still new at making friends there, the people at the gym I go to seem to encourage EVERYONE there, even those like me who aren’t anywhere near their level of fitness.

That type of atmosphere just isn’t available to me where I live in NH. I have a  nice local gym that I belong to here; however, there’s rarely anyone there. And there aren’t any group workouts like the ones at CrossFit. Plus, you really ARE on your own at this gym, and there aren’t any coaches there to correct your form.

As a result, I’ve found myself spiraling a little bit downward.

Ugly photo – wake up call

After attending some good friends’ wedding earlier this month I was horrified to catch an image of myself in a random photo someone posted after the wedding. Until I saw that photo, I seriously thought I had made greater strides than the blob of a human that I saw in that photo.

At that moment I realized that my gains over this last year were actually pretty minor, and scarcely visible at all.

Sorry to report that, but it’s true.

So, it’s time for me to take this whole journey to a higher level.

If I’m going to make any real progress, something fairly dramatic has to change.

Dietary changes as a first step

All that said, one of the more important things I can do is to work on making some extreme changes in what I shovel into my mouth on a daily basis.

Looking through the Googleverse about ways to decrease inflammation, increase energy levels, lose fat, etc, one thing keeps popping up: The Ketogenic Diet.

There are a lot of differing opinions on this diet. Some people recommend it, others caution against it.

After I post this article, I’m downloading some general guidelines about the dos and don’ts of the Keto diet, and making a menu and shopping list for the coming week to at least get started on a modified version. We have several foods in the house that we already bought, so we need to consume these. I’ll have to work on incorporating the principles into what I’ve got for starters.

So, that’s my update for right now. Because I promised to be accountable, that’s what I’ve got. Feel free to comment and/or offer suggestions here or on our Facebook Page Here.

Here’s hoping that my next post is far more positive! Back soon!