Today’s post is from Christina Garret, mother, goal setter and health & happiness advocate. Christina has spent a lifetime trying to uncover her personal weight loss code and has lost and maintained over a 100 lb weight loss with more still to go. She is currently following a Ketogenic diet and lifting weights – and feels better than she has in years!

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I am finally at a point in my life where I can say I’m not hungry for food all the time.

What I’m hungry for is a life where I am proud of what I have achieved with my work,  increased physical strength and well being,  and to be able to impact my family & those around me in a positive way. It has taken me 38 years to get to the point where hunger doesn’t define me. I think I’ve finally found my weight loss code and, despite sometimes wishing I could have fast forwarded to this moment many years ago, I would probably still choose to experience and learn all I have about diet and nutrition. Without these lessons, I would not have all the knowledge about myself that I do – and I am still learning. 

Learning! – it’s a bitch

Mind you, I was also learning at 14 when I was starving myself on cucumbers and fainting regularly (an interesting side effect of such few calories per day). I was not doing myself any good, certainly not getting enough nutrients but I was trying to learn how to be slim by trial and error.
Over the years I have tried so hard to lose weight, I’d say I’ve tried everything but consuming worms or sawing off my own limbs but those could still be options if all else fails…

I’ve tried Slim fast, weight watchers, counting macros, high protein low carb, potato hack, Atkins, calorie counting. I’ve taken diet pills, started smoking, weird rotation diets and once…twice or maybe a few dozen times I learned I was capable of eating an entire Tuxedo cake from Costco. Probably didn’t help with the weight loss.. but mmmm.

Naturally I’d love to be able to have a slice of cake with my coffee every afternoon without worrying about putting on 5 lbs a week – but if I really want to achieve my goals, (significant weight loss & increased physical strength & mobility) then cake is not going to cut it for my long term goals.  The difference between knowing what you want and kinda wanting something is being able to say no for the betterment of your long term goals. I haven’t always been that strong.

Death by loaf

But those carbs…. I can eat bacon and eggs and lose weight… but I cannot have just one slice of toast.

Like. actually. cannot.

I lose all self control when I bring bread into my home. I liken it to a heroin addiction, but family friendly. If I were shooting up in the house it would be a problem.. but loading the toaster up slice after slice would still eventually kill me – but in a less obvious way until I’d have to get a hole cut through my wall to be loaded up on a half tonne and to taken to the hospital.

I’d probably still be pleading…  “Can we go via Cobbs”?

Getting healthier eating fat

What I have found that does work for me is eating more fat, more specifically, following a Ketogenic diet.  I am getting most of my calories from eating high fat, moderate protein and low carbs. Rather than give you a brief history of fat and why it is in fact not the devil (I know some of you will be cringing at the thought of eating too much of it) I can tell you from years of trial and error, carbs are no good for my body.. but fat I can handle. My goal is always to lose weight and be a reasonable size. I don’t bother comparing myself to anyone, but when I get to the size I want to be, I will know. In the meantime I plan on getting really strong.

My goal, infact,  is to be Kamloops Strongest woman. It’s a lofty one for sure… but I am training to achieve that. I make my physical fitness a priority and I go after it because it is a must have. For this I have training with Robert Petrie at F3FIT to where I started to learn the fundamentals of lifting and have been working on building my strength and improving my performance. When I am lifting weights I am in my happy place.

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