To all the carbs I’ve loved before

As I mentioned, I lost 100+ pounds back in 2013. After losing that much weight and not falling into my own personal romantic comedy (because I’m pretty sure that’s what was supposed to happen), maintaining the weight loss became harder and harder for me. Eating habits have so little to do with the actual food involved, and I eventually turned back to my dear old friends to comfort me when things didn’t necessarily go as I hoped. Cake, cookies and ice cream never let me down, right?

I spiraled for a while feeling like it was all just too overwhelming and since it didn’t seem to matter when I lost weight before (as counter-intuitive as it sounds, I was my absolute saddest at my lowest weight), why should I give up the food that’s always been there for me when I needed it? Then a year ago this week, I decided enough was enough (mainly because I was refusing to buy bigger jeans yet again) and started following the keto diet. If you’re one of the three people on the planet who hasn’t heard of keto, you basically wipe out carbs and sugars and focus on fats and proteins.

Once you get past the initial withdrawal and transition period, it’s not truly as hard to live without my faithful old food friends as I feared. And I swear there’s something to the idea that sugar and carbs are addictive and evil because the one time in the past year I veered off for what was meant to be a one-day celebration, it was so hard for me to get back on the keto bandwagon that it turned into a week-long carbapalooza.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because how I was going to maintain my keto diet – which requires a lot of meal planning and prep – was a serious concern when I moved to my tiny apartment in NYC. My keto grocery shopping and cooking habits had to change drastically, as I’m now doing this with essentially no counter space and no car to cart grocery hauls. Point being, if I’ve been able to keep it up – anyone can.

The biggest game changer followed me from Seattle – Amazon Fresh. Any grocery delivery service would work (and there are plenty to choose from). I’ve been able to go online, do my shopping, and have it all delivered to my door whenever I want it. Not only do I not have to deal with getting to and from the grocery store, I avoid all the temptations of meandering through the store on my own.

When it comes to cooking, my Instant Pot has really stepped into the spotlight since I’ve been here. So many of my meals have been a combination of frozen chicken tenders, frozen cauliflower rice and a keto-appropriate sauce or seasoning. Every one of these meals has been delicious – and ready in literally 15 minutes from start to finish. Pinterest has been perfect for finding recipes to follow or modify for my own needs.

At my first keto-versary, I’ve lost almost 70 of the 100+ pounds for the second time around. Given that I changed jobs twice and moved across the country during that same year, I count the fact that I didn’t turn back to old unhealthy habits as an even bigger win than the weight loss.