In just a year, Maria turned her life around with the keto diet. Read her inspiring story.
As we get older, taking care of ourselves requires more and more effort. The state of our health and physical appearance that used to come naturally becomes difficult to manage.
As a result, it’s not surprising that many seniors find it hard to muster the motivation they need to keep investing in themselves.
Weight gain is a perfect example of this. With age, our metabolism slows down, and our body loses its ability to remain in shape. Even if your genetic makeup lets your body metabolize fats quickly, this mechanism slowly deteriorates. Instead, your body stores more and more fat, so it’s not uncommon to gain quite a bit of excess weight.
When this happens, the keto diet can be a perfect way of dealing with many weight-related issues. Aside from looking better, you can improve your health and the quality of your everyday life.
Maria’s example shows that it’s never too late to make positive changes. Let’s take a look at her story.
Maria’s Keto Journey
At 69 years old, Maria felt like most of her peers. Time did a number on her health, and she experienced many negative changes. Her hands, knees, and hips hurt which prevented her from doing normal activities. She couldn’t even walk for 50 feet before running out of breath.
Worse yet, she had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Her weight also pushed her into prediabetes, with an A1C of 5.9. She was on many prescription medications to treat these issues.
Fast forward a year later when Maria feels better than she ever thought possible at the ripe age of 70 years old. Her A1C dropped to 4.8, and she stopped taking her blood pressure medications and statins. She can now walk for three miles without stopping to catch a breath. Many people who are decades younger than Maria cannot do that.
She enjoys her active lifestyle so much that she parks her car far away from the entrance at the grocery store so that she can walk more.
That’s not all. Maria also lost 76 pounds thanks to the keto diet.
So, what happened within this one year that brought about these positive changes?
The diet forces your body into a state of ketosis. Your body stops using carbs for energy and switches to fats instead. As a result, the body starts burning stored fat at a rapid pace.
Best of all, it doesn’t need any complex dietary changes for you to succeed. For the most part, Maria sticks to the basics – eggs, cheese, meat, butter, and some vegetables. There’s no need for her to spend endless hours in the kitchen to prepare healthy meals. Instead, she can whip up a keto-friendly meal in a matter of minutes.
And when she feels inspired, Maria experiments with all kinds of creative recipes. The beauty of the keto diet is in the fact that it doesn’t impose excessive restrictions and leave you starving. This is what makes it much more appealing than most other diets out there.
What makes Maria’s story even more inspiring is that she managed to do all this while still working full time. It’s safe to say that she’s done more than many people believe possible. Maria proves that reaching your goals is achievable at any age.
So, how did Maria make it work? Where does she get all the energy that makes her feel much younger than she is? Well, this is one of the most significant benefits that the keto diet provides.
You see, a high-carb diet relies on glucose absorption for an energy boost. Once your body turns the starches from carbs into glucose, your pancreas releases insulin.
The issue arises when your body has a hard time regulating insulin levels. This is typical for people who eat too many carbs. When this happens, your bloodstream contains excess glucose. This causes a sudden spike in energy which soon goes away and leaves you feeling sluggish.
Fats, on the other hand, are a much more sustainable energy source. When you deprive your body of carbs, it turns to its fat stores for energy. As your body fat depletes, you get a steady flow of energy. And once you’ve lost enough excess fat, your body can draw all the required energy from the fats in your diet.
The effects are visible in Maria’s example. At 70 years of age, she lives a active lifestyle and has all the energy she needs. She states that she’s 10 pounds away from reaching her target weight, but she already feels better than ever.
How To Take Advantage of Keto As A Senior?
There’s a lot to learn from Maria’s story. It shows that you can live the life you want and reach your body goals despite the effects of time.
All it takes is knowing how to get the most out of the keto diet when you reach a certain age. For more guidance, here are a few tips that you can follow:
1 - Get in the Right Frame of Mind
Like most any positive changes, dieting is all about your mindset. If you believe that the diet will give the desired results, it will be much easier to stick to it.
The presence of so many fad diets is a problem. Many of them don’t work for long, and they make people hesitant to try anything new. They’d think that it will be nothing more than a waste of time that only results in the yo-yo effect.
This is not the case with the keto diet. Countless studies have illustrated the benefits as experienced in Maria’s story. With the right approach, it's only a matter of time before you reap the benefits of the keto diet.
2 - Remove C.R.A.P. from Your Diet
The first thing that you want to do is to get rid of all the foods that stand between you and your goals. These are conveniently labeled C.R.A.P. for Carbohydrates, Refined sugars, Artificial foods, Processed foods.
Does this mean that you’ll never be able to have a slice of your favorite pizza? Not at all.
There are many keto-friendly variations of your favorite guilty pleasures. The number of recipes available will catch you by surprise. All it takes is to recognize what to use as substitutes, which will come with experience.
Vegetarians do this to great effect. Imagine that! With the keto diet, you can use many more food items as substitutes in comparison. Chances are you won’t miss your favorite foods before adopting the keto diet.
3 - Keep the Quality of Nutrients High
Because keto revolves around fats doesn’t mean you should eat all the fatty foods you can get your hands on. The very reason why many are skeptical about this diet is the bad reputation of fats in general.
There are all kinds of healthy fats out there like avocados or macadamia nuts. It all boils down to finding the right sources of them. If you’re eating meat, try going with grass-fed, pasture-raised animals. They’re a great source of high-quality fats and protein.
The same goes for wild-caught fish versus farm-raised fish and so on. Healthy fats are more abundant than they seem, so variety shouldn’t be an issue.
4 - Try MCT Oil
Medium chain triglycerides (MCT) are among the highest-quality fats. Unlike most other types of fat, they speed up the creation of ketone bodies. Not only does this speed up weight loss, but you will also experience various health benefits.
This can help to control your blood sugar levels and even fuel your brain to help you achieve a higher level of clarity. By adding MCT oils to your diet, you can make the keto way of eating much more enjoyable.
As an added bonus, they’ll free up some space for you to eat more protein and carbs. So if you desire more variety, MCT oils are a great choice.
Need Help Building A Healthy Lifestyle?
You’re never too old to make positive changes. Maria’s story is all the proof you need, as it shows that age is just a number. With the keto diet, you can feel better than you would imagine.
Of course, this requires some time and effort on your part. But if you arm yourself with patience and all the right foods, the rewards will be worth it.
If you need help with adapting to the Keto lifestyle, we’re here for you. Contact us for a complimentary 15-minute consultation with a certified health coach.
We’ll take a close look at your current lifestyle, help you set some goals, and show you how to feel as good as Maria at her age.