As many of my patient have seen, there has been a shiny, ridiculous looking samurai sword sitting in the waiting room of my office for the past 4 weeks. Although it may look silly lying on the front counter, I proudly display it because it is my award for recently winning a bikini bodybuilding contest. Those who know me, know I have always been an active member of the fitness community and participated in numerous competitions and contests around the country. I have always been an athlete. I love to workout, lift weights, run, play sports, and everything in between. However, do you realize that to be lean and fit exercise only plays maybe a 30% role in getting your body where it needs to be? Any one can workout for an hour a day. But if you can’t control what is being shoveled in your mouth the other 23 hours a day then you are never going to get the body you desire.

So let’s go over my story. Being a former fitness and bikini competitor I thought I knew it all about how to get lean and stay lean year around. Well my normal fitness protocol from my college days of spending 3-4 hours in a gym everyday didn’t seem to work so well now that I owned and basically lived at my new business. My weight exploded over such a short time from taking over the business in August to after the holidays in February, and I didn’t even realize it. Where I once walked about between 125-130 pounds, I now weighed in at 151 pounds. I knew I had to do something. I did the only thing I knew how to do in order to get my “bikini body” back; which was compete. So I did what I knew and entered a contest that was 7 weeks away.

Most of you know that 7 weeks to lose over 20 pounds is not practical; however, I utilized the knowledge of ketosis which is the same protocol I push my nutrition and diet clients on with the Ideal Protein Program I run through my office. I have researched and studied ketosis for many years. I was always extremely interested in how effective the protocol was in athletes that did minimal cardiovascular training. Athletes are able to successfully achieve the leanness they desire by simply changing their diets. No sweating to death on the treadmill, or slaving away on the elliptical. These athletes could change their body composition just by manipulating their proteins, carbohydrates, and fats to desirable conditions to support fat burning in the body. With my chaotic schedule, this is obviously what I needed!

So what did I do? I did what I teach all my Ideal Protein clients to do!! Keep your carbohydrates in a range lower than 50 grams/ day; elevate your protein content to make up for the difference (but not too high! That will completely defeat the purpose and you will store it as fat in the long run. There is a happy medium J ),and lastly eat good fats that support fat burning! You have to eat fat to burn fat (as weird as that may sound)! Seven hard weeks of ketogenic nutrition and a few Ideal Protein treats here and there (because lets be honestly, those rice crispy squares are addicting!), I was able to accomplish my goal of quick and rapid weight loss that would have me lean enough to jump on stage in my bikini. The best part of ketosis is that is burns from the fat stores while sparing the lean muscle tissue in the body. This is really important for anyone, especially someone that is competing in a bikini bodybuilding competition.

I was absolutely thrilled I was able to get back to my normal weight where I feel confident and just really healthy; however, it was an extra surprise to be awarded 1st place in my contest! I can honestly say I feel in control of my diet, craving, and health again.

Beating the sugar and processed food cravings is one of the most difficult things for American’s to do since it’s so easy to become addicted to sugar. Whatever your weight loss goal, whether you are trying to lose just a few pounds or have a complete transformation; Optimal Chiropractic in Crown Point, Indiana is dedicated to helping you get there! Myself and my amazing staff pride ourselves in not only helping you get to your confident body weight, but also teaching you about diets, nutrition, macronutrients, supplementation, and why and why not particular diets work or do not. Due to media, advertising, and fad claims; Diets and weight loss are confusing and discouraging after failed attempt after attempt. Don’t let this happen to you! Schedule your nutritional consultation today so we can help you become the healthiest version of yourself! Call 219-661-8680 or stop by our Crown Point location on Broadway.

For more information about nutritional counseling and Ideal Protein Diet at Optimal Chiropractic check out our website

www.crownpointchiro.com, our facebook page, or www.idealprotein.com