After many years as an overweight person, Carol had had enough. Just when she needed it, a friend told her about the keto diet, and she gave it a try. She told her family about it and it didn’t take long for them all to join in. This is their story:

Meet my family. We currently live in Virginia, USA. This is Dean, 55; Carol, 57; Nick, 24; Cassandra, 23, Wesley, 17; Alec, 27; Blake, 30, Zac, 21 and Victoria, 26.

I allowed my obesity to stop me from fully enjoying my life.

I asked my husband to help me describe my life as an obese person. He used the word, “paralyzed.” I allowed my obesity to stop me from fully enjoying my life. I saw myself as “gross” and wondered how people could like me. As a family, we were active and fun, but I often did not fully participate. I missed out on many parties, outings, activities and even friendships.

I grew up, just slightly overweight. I considered myself “fat,” but I could easily lose the 5-10 pounds (2-4 kilos) by just starving myself for a few days. I figured out how to get by on very little food, and stayed relatively thin. Unfortunately, after I had my children, I started to gain weight. It wasn’t because of my pregnancies, but because I started to eat when I prepared food for my family. If I ate, I gained weight. I ate as little as possible, skipped many meals and rarely had any desserts, but I continued to gain weight. My heaviest weight was 234 pounds (106 kilos), and all the while I felt deprived.

I went on a spiritual journey to learn to love myself as an obese person. It took a few years, but it happened. I started to buy clothes and to participate in life. I hated being unhealthy, but I was grateful for the body I had. One day I prayed to know what to do and felt that I needed to call a friend who would tell me what to do. She told me about the keto diet. I was incredulous, but I felt it had been an answer to prayer, so I jumped into it. I announced to my husband and 16-year-old son that we were about to start the keto journey. The next day, on February 7, 2018, we started the keto diet, knowing very little about how to do it. It took exactly two (delicious) keto meals for them to be 100% behind me!

We were shocked and amazed at all the positive results we hadn’t expected.

By April first, at our Easter family gathering, the three of us were totally enamored with keto. We were feeling wonderful. My husband’s snoring was gone!! He was off his high blood pressure and cholesterol medicines. My son’s allergies were gone! My horrible acid reflux and stomach problems (20 years of stomach pain) were gone! We were shocked and amazed at all the positive results we hadn’t expected. We spent a lot of our time talking about keto and even shared some keto dishes.

My eldest son, who was approximately 75 pounds (34 kilos) overweight, gave it a try without even telling me. He did it for a week and then stopped because it was hard in his living situation. By the end of one weekend off keto, he had made the decision to get back on. He realized how terrible he had felt on a daily basis (he also had stomach problems) and how much better he felt on keto. He has lost 50 pounds (23 kilos) so far and loves it.

My other children joined in one by one. We’ve all really enjoyed working on this together. My daughter, who is unable to do it fully at this time, because she is nursing her baby, has been instrumental in helping others get started.

We moved after a month and a half on keto, so I lost my weight around people who really weren’t aware of me as an obese person. I am a whole new person. I have a very active job, and I seriously feel as good as I did in my 20s. I work with mostly younger people, and I easily keep up with them.

Several people have asked how I was able to get my youngest son to eat this way. Ironically, he’s been the most enthusiastic about keto. He discovered that when he eats carbs, his allergies come back, so he eats very carefully. He has gained a lot of confidence, and personal discipline and that has spilled out into the rest of his life. Just in time for him to move on to college.

With the correct information, being healthy is easy.

The weight loss has been just a small portion of the benefits of the keto lifestyle for us. We are all feeling great and healthy. However, the biggest benefit, in my opinion, is our new understanding of how to control our lives and bodies. With the correct information, being healthy is easy. Some of us still have some weight to lose, but even when we get to our final goals, we will eat keto for the health benefits.