In the beginning of 2016, I had successfully lost 59 pounds on the keto diet. Despite needing to lose at least another 50+ pounds, I was maintaining the loss doing lazy keto. I was a little more lax about my carbs, but I wasn’t gaining the weight back. That, in itself, was a huge change from my typical yoyo diet pattern!

In October 2016, my husband of 20 years was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. My life was turned upside down, and in the 10 months of chemo and radiation treatments, remission, and complications, until his ultimate death in August 2017, I tried to maintain the weight loss despite lots of emotional upheaval. Food had been my comfort of choice since my the first chocolate chip cookie I was handed for comfort as a small child. My entire family either ate or drank alcohol to cope with uncomfortable feelings. Coping with my husband’s cancer ordeal and death had me looking for that comfort in food, again. I maintained for awhile, and then I didn’t.

I knew I had gained back some of the weight, but was afraid to face the scale. After a year of grief counseling and coping with my new life as a widow, I was finally ready. In November of 2017, I finally decided enough was enough, and faced my fears. I discovered I had regained 30 of the pounds I’d lost in 2015.

Needless to say, I’m not happy about the regained weight, but if I look at it in terms of my typical yoyo diet pattern, I’m thrilled that in the nearly two years since I lost 59 pounds, I didn’t gain it all back. That was my typical “MO.”

So, here I am. I’m back in the saddle. I’m reclaiming my Keto Kate lifestyle. Let’s see how this goes.