In May 2017 my ketones journey began. I had been following a keto diet for a few months and felt a slight improvement in my brain fog and energy, but when I added exogenous ketones to the mix change really started to happen. Within 7-10 days my brain turned back on after so many years of running with the “low power” light on and a constant short circuit when it came to getting my thoughts to actually make it to my mouth in one piece. That was huge for me and quite emotional. Previously I felt like an idiot. I’d try to get involved in conversations for a while yet my smartness was stuck in my mind. By the time it made it to my mouth, i mixed up my words constantly, spoke slower to try to focus on each word at a time and slurred a bit. It was embarrassing and so frustrating that over time I just avoided the conversations and eventually all social situations. When things started to come back online, the relief was incredible! That alone had me totally on board, and there were many other improvements I experienced as well. I finally had energy to get through the day, I finally started to sleep well and wake up feeling rested, I became less of a sad or grumpy b**ch, and I finally began to regain feeling in my legs! Picture for a second doing box jumps with no feeling in your legs. The Crossfit Open workout 17.1 was traumatic for me in a whole different way! Yes, most people suffered through that one, but the mental freak out of not being able to feel whether my feet had actually landed on the box or not was terrifying. I’ve always had the FU MS mentality and did it anyway, but now two years later, it’s difficult to even imagine going back to that added challenge on top of an already challenging sport!
The changes I experienced were so profound that anyone who knew me took notice. This girl who was previously so quiet, spacey and sad looking was transforming before their eyes. When you experience something like this, it’s hard not to want to shout it from rooftops. I knew there were so many others who were suffering through their own battles and wanted to share this piece of hope and possibility with the world. Over the last 2 1/2 years I have shared in so many awesome journeys and I am so grateful to be a part of it all! My message to you – if there’s anything in your life that you aren’t happy with, chose something different. Everything we do serves us somehow, and for some, the role of the victim serves them enough to not be open to taking responsibility and moving forward. I made a choice a long time ago that the victim was not how I wanted to live my life, and when I opened my mind to exploring, learning, experimenting, the world of possibilities open up for me.
I will drink ketones for the rest of my life. I will eat a diet that best supports my brain and body, and I will avoid the foods that don’t! Right now, the carnivore diet has been serving me very well, and for the time being that’s where I plan to stay. That being said, I will never close my mind to other options. People ask all the time how I’m able to stick with such a “strict diet”. The best response I’ve got is:
MS is much more restrictive. Eating food is just a small portion of my time, and I don’t depend on it to bring joy to my life. Living with MS would take 100% of my time, and I guarantee there’s no joy in any of that.
Thriving Keto 