I’m also tracking my progress on Instagram (@ketoesq), with more daily stuff. Since this is my sports law website, I try not to clutter it up too much with my daily ramblings and pictures on weight loss. Of course, I’ll document my milestones like below!

Previous #KetoLife updates:

Primer for the Keto-curious.

January 30, 2019.

March 15, 2019.

April 29, 2019.

I got a good reception to my #Keto primer, so thanks for the kind words and encouragement. I wrote that kind of spur of the moment; I had planned to write a personal update at the beginning of June, assuming I was close to or hit any benchmarks.

Fortunately, I hit two of them on the same day.

I’d been hovering around 182-183 pounds for previous last 10 days, though I hadn’t been doing anything different in particular. I’ve been exercising consistently since April, and over the last week or so, I could feel some changes in my stomach and waist. My pants (size 34 M) were a little looser and my stomach felt…tighter (I’ve added sit ups to my regimen). Still, I attributed the slowing weight loss to my increased activity and assumed I’d eventually break through.

And boy did I! Got on the scale Thursday, and FINALLY broke through the 180 barrier, at 179.8. Not only that, as I started at 230, that meant I also crossed the 50 pounds lost threshold! You should have seen the look on my face as the scale settled on a number: Shock, confusion and then joy!

I didn’t start Keto until November 15, but the picture above from last August is pretty representative of my status as I started (and I don’t have any other pictures really). I didn’t start tracking my weight until late December, so in scale terms I’m down exactly 40 pounds if you want to get technical. The comparisons are pretty staggering in a reasonably short period of time.

The most eye-opening thing (aside from the weight loss and clearing out the red zones) is seeing your “metabolic age” decrease by half-a-decade. Of course these scales aren’t purely scientific, but it’s still a good way to measure your improvements.

I went back and tracked my weight loss by month. I didn’t weigh myself on the first of each month, so the following numbers are mostly the closest to the beginning of the month that I had. Still it’s pretty crazy to see how much change there has been each month.

I mentioned previously that March in particular was a slow month where I stalled a bit (though not complaining about continued progress), but I really started to get strict about my Keto regimen, and in April I started exercising. Again, exercising can actually stall weight loss (though you’ll see other benefits including lost inches and tightening skin), but as you can see that doesn’t always happen.

So, what’s next?

My goal was to hit 175 by the beginning of summer (about three weeks from today). I think that is now a very reasonable goal, but if I don’t quite hit it by then, I’m still proud of the progress I’ve made. One of the real benefits of the diet has been my increased fitness. I’m in the gym five times per week, and able to jog on the treadmill (and not just speed walk) for sustained periods, which isn’t something I thought I’d ever be able to do.

Once I do hit my goal, I promised myself I’d get a tattoo. I already have a design in mind too. From there, I’ll have to have a rethink about what I want to do. Going back to carb-country is just a recipe to gain a bunch of weight back. My shoulder injury doesn’t allow me to really lift as much as I’d like. I’ll probably adjust to a “maintenance” regimen and work on body definition. I’ve still got a few weeks before that though. We’ll see, fingers crossed for a positive summer update!