My Story and How to Create a Success Plan
Updated: Mar 21, 2021
A couple of years ago I was looking at a picture someone took of me. I was stunned! I couldn't believe I had gained so much weight! I don't know if it was because I saw myself differently when I looked in the mirror or if I just didn't look at myself in the mirror. Either way, the self-talk in my brain was horrible. I didn't like it one bit. There have been times as an adult where I was in shape and healthy but more often than not I carried around an extra 20 to 40 pounds. I guess I told myself that I was fine and that my weight didn't matter but now I knew I was lying to myself. To me it mattered.
That day when I saw that picture I realized I had been seeing myself through a different lens. I actually needed to lose 50 to 60 pounds. I knew that I could be healthier and had been putting my health last on the list because I was "busy". I had been busy being a mom and a wife, building a business, managing the home, all the things. But the difference was, I was Life Coach! It was my job to help people manage their mind to get results in their life and I couldn't even do this for myself around my weight and health! In my mind I I was wondering how people could have faith in what I was helping them do when on the outside it was clear I was not able to do this for myself. It became very important to me to make this change. I wanted to show up for myself and others as my best self. I wanted to be an example of what is possible. It all just mattered. I made the decision right then that I was going to do something about it.
... and then I found Keto.
The first thing I did was to look for the best way to lose the weight. I am a big believer in finding the core of the problem and understanding the facts. When it came to health, I have always wanted to understand what was really going on in my body not just follow a to-do list.
The first thing I discovered was that the fact is, obesity is directly related to insulin. If insulin is high for a long period of of time then we will store fat.
Step one: Lower the insulin.
How: Stop eating flour and sugar.
One day my oldest daughter came to me as said "you know you're eating Keto right?"
What? What is Keto? I looked it up and sure enough I was basically eating a keto diet. Hmmm....
I quickly dove deep into the rabbit hole and entered the world of keto.
The excitement wears off eventually:
Sure, everything is fun and exciting in the beginning. I gladly stopped eating flour and sugar first and was looking up tons of recipes and watching all the videos. It was easy until one day I realized, uh oh... the holidays were coming!
I started full blown keto in October 2018 which meant I would have to get through Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I started thinking about how much I was going to be tempted and how hard this was going to be. I was starting to get anxious.
Luckily, I had resources and mindset tools at my fingertips. As a Life Coach, I had helped many people navigate through major changes and create new behaviors in their lives and now I had to apply the tools to myself. I had to do the thought work and rely on my coach to manage my mind through this.
So here's how I did it.
There are 4 stages of change:
(Everyone goes through these stages when trying to change their habits and behaviors).
Stage 1: The "Aha" This is when you believe you have discovered the answer to their problems. This stage comes with excitement and determination.
Stage 2: The "River Of Misery" This is the stage where most people give up when they don't have a plan. It's where things get hard and old habits and behaviors surface again because they are easy and comforting in the moment.
Stage 3: The big "MO": This is when people know they are almost there. They see progress and have momentum (hence the "MO"). They still have struggles and doubt now and then but they feel pretty confident.
4) Autopilot: The lifestyle is easy now. It's who they are.
So I created a "Success Plan"
First, I really defined what "Success" looked like. For me it was staying in Ketosis even during the Thanksgiving meal and WANTING to.
I knew the key was to have a plan for the "River of Misery". I brainstormed all the things I could think of that could get in way of my success and made a plan for them.
I made a plan for restaurants, parties, the holiday dinners.
I made a plan for the times I would feel stress.
I made a plan for the busy times.
I had a plan for when the cravings would surface and I would want to give in.
I also kept my weekly coaching calls with my coach and got involved with a community. Knowing I had places to turn to get answers and support was such a benefit.
Fast forward to now. I am over 2 years into my new lifestyle and it is who I am. In fact, I am so invested in this lifestyle I became a Certified Ketogenic Life Coach, created a program called "Happily Keto", have facilitated several groups, and hold weekly zoom meetings to anyone who wants to come and talk keto. I am passionate about helping people not only learn how to correctly get into and maintain a state of ketosis but live with a success mindset!
If you are ready to create your "Success Plan" and would like a copy of workbook, simply subscribe on my website and I will send it to you.
Also, visit my website to find out more about my FREE Keto meetings, our amazing Keto community and to find out more about private coaching.
You can do this. I can help!
Kim the Keto Coach
Certified Ketogenic Life Coach