Exercise and Keto

So in all of the posts since starting this blog, I have focused on the different facets of the Ketogenic diet. I have covered foods to focus on eating, how to get back to it when you've slipped up, shopping lists, what to feed your kids and much more. Today I want to talk about exercising while following a Ketogenic diet. I want to go through the things that I have done, why I do them and how successful they have been for me personally.

After my daughter was born, I got hooked on Beachbody's 21 Day Fix program and had very real and amazing success with it. I loved it so much that I invested in the Beachbody on Demand in order to get more variety in my workouts, there are literally 100s of them included with the membership. I have never cancelled because it is $99 a year and I can't go to a gym for even close to that and it can be done in the comfort of my own home! I have had it for 3 years and have used it mostly regularly for the entire time. (*I want to say, I am not a Beachbody coach, but if this sounds like something that would be worth it to you, find a coach who is local to you and support them!)

All this to say, the programs that I have used regularly, throughout the recent years, are from Beachbody and I love them.

When I first started Keto at my heaviest non-pregnant weight, I was not in a place where I felt I could work out right away. Some people do and that is great, but that wasn't me. Once I lost a significant amount of weight and had been Keto for about 4 1/2 months, I started to work out again...and I turned to Beachbody to do so.

Beachbody's 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme:

The 21 Day Fix was the first Beachbody program I ever did and as I mentioned earlier, I loved it! Autumn is just so motivational and I saw real results quickly. I did this program between My daughter and son's births and after. I even moved onto the Extreme and really enjoyed that one too.

I did however injure my back from pushing myself a little too far with the weights in the fall, before I started Keto. My osteopath really discouraged me from using weights of any kind until I was significantly stronger. He recommended sticking with Pilates, yoga and lots of walking. I will venture out and do an arm or leg workout with the weights about once a week, but if I feel any discomfort in my back, I slow down immediately. This is the major reason I have stopped using these two programs exclusively. It is sad, but not worth hurting my back over. So in a given week on Keto I try to do the 21 Day Fix leg workout, arm workout and Pilates workout.

Beachbody's Yoga Retreat:

When I realized I was ready to start exercising again, I knew that my strength was not as impressive as it once was, which was quite discouraging. BUT I had lost 30 pounds already and was noticing that my energy was back and I was ready to start something! I decided on Beachbody's yoga retreat in February.

It is a 3 week program that has a beginner week, intermediate week and an advanced week. Each week builds on moves from the last week and helps you build your strength, flexibility and general yoga abilities. Each workout was about 30 minutes long and focused on a different area such as flexibility, strength, flow, relaxation etc.

My goal with using this program was to first, be active everyday again. Second, to get stronger and work towards what I thought to be "real" workouts again eventually. Much to my surprise, each week I noticed that my muscles were becoming more and more defined! Had I thought before starting that YOGA would make such a huge difference in my body composition, I would have taken before pictures. Seriously! I was so totally impressed and happy with the results from doing yoga daily that I completed the program twice within 6 or 7 weeks. So if you're trying to start working out in the middle of the winter and need to build strength, I would 100% recommend this Yoga retreat!

Walking:

As Spring came into the picture, I started to walk more and more. I had a double jogging stroller for my 1 and 3 year olds to ride in and we would bundle up and walk up and down our road. It is so beneficial to get out in the sunshine and breathe some fresh air. Everybody's attitude seems to improve and we have a huge hill just out of our driveway so after just a week or two I noticed my thighs were a bit more built and defined.

Through out this summer I pushed myself to get up with the sun and walk before my husband went to work. This was about 5:30. There is truly nothing like walking and watching the sunrise right in front of you! It was also very freeing to be able to set my pace instead of letting the stroller set it for me. I can tell you from experience that pushing 70+lbs of kid up the road is a challenge in itself!

On another note, of course I wasn't perfect every day all summer. There were days that I slept through my alarm, turned it off instead of hitting snooze and just flat out chose to stay in bed. So what did I do if I didn't want to push the kids, but still needed to get my 30 minutes in? I would put them on our big swing out front and I'd walk around the yard. Every time I'd finish a lap, I'd give them 3-5 pushes to get them swinging again. It got me moving toward my step goal, but also gave me a little arm workout. When I was really feeling energetic, I tried to add in some jump roping for a minute or so every 5 or 10 minutes, to really get my heart pumping.

In any case, the more consistent I got at walking daily, the easier it became which leads me to my next point.

C25K:

In August, I decided it was time for my second attempt at a couch to 5k program. I decided, I have lost almost 50lbs, I'm only 30, there is no reason I can't be a runner. Now, don't get crazy....I don't mean a "runner" like "every single day for 8 miles" runner. I mean like I can get 3 miles jogged with a relatively low effort, on a pretty flat route...maybe, a couple of times a week.

Anyway, I got through my first three weeks and went to Ohio for a family funeral, so I put it on the back burner for a couple of weeks. I will be starting it back up this coming week and be repeating week 3 to make sure I'm back to it properly.

So far, the first 3 weeks were really enjoyable. I had no real issues with needing to stop in the middle of a run or anything. Overall I feel so "light" this time around. I had tried the C25k program before I got pregnant with my first and failed miserably, but I was easily 30lbs heavier then, so it would be understandable that it was harder that time I guess.

I will have to keep you all posted when I finish the program. My hope is to find someone to run a 5k with after I do.

In conclusion, I must say that I don't think it really matters what kind of exercise you are doing to keep your body fit and active, as long as you are putting forth some effort every day to move your body. I like to make sure I get my heart rate up enough to log 30 or more "active minutes" on my fitbit. Some days, I do way better than that. Other days I struggle quite a bit to get to 30.

But all in all, exercise is a great addition to the Ketogenic Lifestyle (or any nutrition plan for that matter) and if you get bored with what you are doing, change it up and try something new!