At 7 am, I hear the little patters of feet walk into my bedroom. Who needs an alarm when you have children, right? The routine begins of getting them dressed, their lunches packed, then off to school before work begins at 8:00 am. On the good days – parents, you get me – I usually have around 15 minutes before I start my day. When you are as busy as I am between being a full-time employee, mom of two littles, along with doing part-time community theater on the side, 15 minutes is a gift.

Could I:

Load/empty the dishwasher?

Scroll mindlessly through social media?

Go through the Dunkin Donut drive-through?

Guess which one would win? I’d say to myself, “You did a great job this morning! Award yourself with a donut or an everything bagel with cream cheese!” Growing up food was always there to be a replacement for an emotion. Sad? Eat. Celebrate? Eat. Frustrated? Eat everything in sight. Even now, I notice I am doing the same thing with my kids. “If you eat dinner, you can get some candy!” Why do I need to justify a feeling or an accomplishment with food? 

So, I put it out there that I wanted to change my relationship with food. How hard could it be? When I would approach friends and family that I was thinking of jumping on the keto train I would get questions like, 

“Is this for an allergy or a preference?” 

“I could never give up bread.” 

“It doesn’t taste the same, who are you kidding?” 

So in my head, I would respond with,

“Well, I prefer not to be so fluffy.”

“I like what’s inside the sandwich rather than the vessel”

“There has to be another substitution somehow.”

One thing that I say often now to those remarks is, “You do you, boo-boo.” I am not here to convince you to do Keto. I am not here to prove anything. I am here to show you what has worked for me and my family. Let’s be real for a second. If you have it in your head that you are going to fail or you can’t, then you won’t. You are setting yourself up for failure and not giving yourself a chance to succeed.

Let me be very clear, I am not the perfect keto(er), I make mistakes like every normal human. Kid snacks are delicious, and I could easily eat my weight in the White Cheddar Cheez-Itz. Yet, doing this WOE (way of eating), for so long, I wouldn’t change the way I feel right now for a second. 

Let’s add this to it: 

Remember that cheese-itz I referenced before? Well here is something that has helped curb those cravings. The Shrewd Food Protein Puffs in Sriracha Cheddar have been my jam. Not only does it help my cravings, but it’s also something I give to my kids! And when I say give, I mean they steal it out of my hand. Having a company like this that is honest is true makes for one happy momma!  

Have I lost a lot of weight? Yes. Am I able to cross my legs comfortably now? Yes. Do I not have to go to the back or the bottom of the clothing racks to find my size? Also, yes. Yet, what has changed the most in life? My mindset and lifestyle. I don’t look at food as a reward, I look at it as fuel. I’ve learned what my body responds well to vs. what makes it bloat. I wake up energized rather than sluggish. Mentally, I’m not in a fog anymore. I am focused, driven, and look forward to each day and the new challenges it brings. 

My kids have a happier mom and my husband has a happier wife. Come at me for all the avocado I eat and the pork rinds I use for buffalo chicken dip. This works for me and it shouldn’t matter to anyone else but me. You do you, boo-boo.