I was thin all the years of my youth. I once was able to fit into a size 1 (yeeeeaaaaars ago). I had such a high metabolism that I didn’t even know how to appreciate it. I just ate, and ate...and kept eating knowing I wouldn’t gain a pound. On top of my high metabolism I was athletic all throughout school and even through some of my college years. I weighed 115 pounds most of my late teens and 20’s.

I had friends around me that would make comments like

You just don’t realize how good you have it. I wish you could feel what it’s like to be me and have to work to stay a healthy weight.

I heard them, I really did but I didn’t understand. I never had to deal with weight problems or having to workout to stay healthy. I worked out naturally from doing sports by choice.

Fast Forward

After baby #1 and #2 my body bounced back. I didn’t workout much before or after pregnancy. I figured my metabolism would be with me as it always has and I wouldn’t have anything to worry about. I received comments like

That is so unfair, it doesn’t even look like you just had children.

After baby #3 I noticed a little pudge stayed behind. I thought to myself it will eventually go away, it always does. Well it didn’t. For the first time my stomach didn’t deflate back to normal. It alarmed me a little but I wasn’t devastated. I did some exercises, watched my eating and drank plenty of water. Eventually my little pudge got a little smaller and I was okay with the results.

Diastasis Recti

Here comes baby #4! Me, still “thinking” I had great metabolism and that my body would bounce somewhat back, didn’t do much exercising during this pregnancy either. After he was born I had a major pudge...like months after I still looked pregnant. I knew something was wrong because it had never spread that much or looked so inflated post pregnancy. My midwives informed me that I had a diastasis recti (an abdominal split) and in order for my stomach to deflat my abdominal muscles had to come back together and heal. Okay, now devastation has hit. 😧

I did a post about this a couple of years back when I decided to start working on my problem and trying to get my body back in shape. I didn’t stick with it as I should have thus there were no updates. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Then baby #5 comes while I was still lazy and not working on my condition before I had the chance to correct my split.

Most women develop this abdominal split when they have had multiple children back to back without allowing time for their bodies to rest and muscles to heal. According to some experts, it can take up to two years for your abdominals to fully recover. I have had five babies within eight years...my body has not had the time to fully recover in between them. My abdominal split is 3 fingers wide which is not good. I have been having back pains and problems because my core is so weak it can’t support my back. My protruding stomach steadily grew bigger and people began asking if I was expecting again. 😒

Making Time For Healing

I am proud to announce that I have been working out doing the “Every Mother” previously known as the Dia Method for the last two weeks non-stop. On Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s I do the full body workouts for post pregnancy. Every day I do the main abdominal exercise for five minutes in the morning and five minutes before bed. In just two weeks I have noticed a change. My back feels stronger already and I am more conscious of how I move (certain movements can make the diastasis worse). I also engage my abdominal muscles throughout the day when lifting my babies or heavy objects. All these things are helping me to get back to health and feel like myself again.

Keto Lifestyle

I heard the saying quite often that you must equally eat healthier while working out to really see results and to make them stick. I am a true witness to this. I didn’t want to just strengthen my core but I wanted a healthier and stronger me all around . I knew I had to change my eating habits in order for this to happen.

A ketogenic (Keto) diet is a diet low in carbs, adequate protein and high in fats. I’m still learning as I go so please don’t expect all the technical stuff and fancy words from me. I will explain it to you just as it was simply explained to me when first hearing about it. By the time our bodies burn through all of the carbs we eat, it’s too tired to burn through the fat. This is what causes fat to stay on our bodies. When you take away the carbs (sugars and starches) your body has no choice but to burn the fat that is present.

On a ketogenic diet your entire body switches its fuel supply to run mostly on fat, burning fat 24-7. When insulin levels become very low, fat burning can increase dramatically. It becomes easier to access your fat stores to burn them off.

Diet Doctor

My goal is to consume more healthy fats like avocados, olive oil, eggs, nuts etc. with a healthy balance of proteins. In the picture above I have gathered some of the things I have been cooking with. My entire family is doing this with me, we all were hooked on sugars and needed a change. That is why I do not call this a diet but a lifestyle instead. We are changing the way we live daily by eating less carbs and more fats.

This new way of life partnered with my workouts has given me fast results. My main struggle is bread. I grew up on bread, rolls, cornbread, buns we ate it all. We hardly ever had a meal without some type of bread to go with it. It was the same way with my own family. While pregnant I was hooked on bread and crackers which caused my kids to be too. It’s been tough but for the last four days I have not had any bread. First I stopped eating hotdog and hamburger buns and just started eating the meat.

I switched my regular loaf of bread to this thin sliced multi-grain bread for my sandwiches...

I am now slowly getting away from these to making my own Keto breads! I love having almond and coconut flower on hand because a lot of Keto recipes use them. I’m learning to slowly build our Keto staples and overtime we will have all the basics we need to keep up with this new and healthier lifestyle. The best part about it is we still eat good. The last few meals I made one of them being this meat pie topped with melted shredded cheddar cheese and cottage cheese, my family has really enjoyed. We don’t feel sluggish afterwards but instead it has given us more energy than ever before.

Keto Flu

I must warn you of the Keto flu. It’s not contagious, or deadly it’s just the name it was given. It’s caused by your body switching to this new fuel, burning fat instead of sugar for energy. When eating a low-carb diet your insulin levels become really low. The liver begins converting fat into ketones which is used by our cells in place of glucose. This state of ketosis can cause some unwanted symptoms. It’s a huge shock to your brain and other organs when this switch takes place and it may take awhile getting used to the change.

My Experience:

•End of Day 1 - sugar cravings, fatigue, nausea, light headed
•Day 2 - irritability, low drive/motivation
•Day 3 - all day headache, muscle cramps, heat flashes (due to the fat my body was burning), sudden boosts of energy
•Day 4 - a little dizziness early on and then the rest of the day I had boosts of energy and felt light on my feet...starting seeing and feeling the benefits

There are a few things you can do to help rid this flu. Drinking plenty of water and even adding salt to it, eating more fats, making a slower transition into the Keto lifestyle and going easy on physical activity. Today marks the end of Day 4 and I must say I am feeling really great! My focus is better, I don’t feel sluggish as I normally do, and I am motivated to continue improving myself.

Conclusion

If you have made it to this paragraph thank you for sticking with me. I think this is the longest post I have ever done on Steemit. I am just very enthused and couldn’t wait to share this news with you! I have learned some tough lessons about my body and the after effects of having multiple births back to back. I would have never in life thought I would have weight problems and have to intentionally work to get back in shape. I seriously thought I would be thin forever lol. Boy does life have a way of waking you up! I know that aging has a lot to do with it too...our metabolism can’t stay high forever.

If you are dealing with a diastasis recti or know someone who is, I recommend visiting the Every Mother website to learn more about their healing techniques. You will have to pay for a monthly subscription but it is totally worth it! Doing regular sit-ups and crunches will only make the split worse, you must engage your abdominals in a safe and relevant way.

I am learning to love who I am all over again and to accept my ever changing body. I am learning that it’s up to me to make change and to choose good health over bad health. It’s up to me to get my core strengthened again so I can be the best me for my family ~

Thank You for Reading!

Have you heard of the Keto diet? Have you ever tried it? If so and you have any tips or testimonials I’d love to hear :D

All photos are my own and were taken with our Cannon EOS Rebel T6.

Logo/Banner created by @rigaronib!