Butter Me Bacon

Hello, I’m Holley! I’m Tara’s niece and co-conspirator for the Butter Me Bacon blog!

Let’s be honest… I have stared at the computer screen for days trying to write this bio. I can talk to you about disease processes, the pathophysiology of the heart, and pharmacology for umpteen hours. But when asked to give a brief description of myself, my brain ironically transforms into a scrambled egg. My family would likely also add that I don’t have a “brief” bone in my body.

A little about me!

I am a Christ follower, wife, Registered Nurse, and dog mom to two spunky German Shepherds, Ruby and Roxie. We enjoy being outdoors, hunting wild game, traveling, junking, and Harry Potter marathons. I am a collector of all the vintage things, but specifically quilts, recipe pie plates, Pyrex, and medical books. Like Tara, I would also consider myself an “old soul.”

My relationship with my health and food has been nothing short of a roller coaster. I never fully understood my nutritional needs, despite the issues that presented themselves early on in my life. As a young child, you could always find extra snacks tucked in my backpack for when my blood sugar would plummet suddenly at school. At the time, I just could not grasp the rhyme or reason behind the frequent drops. In high school, I ate whatever my heart desired… as most teenagers do. My struggles with hypoglycemia continued. Shocker, huh? As I transitioned to a college student, I worked as a waitress until I finished my CNA certification. My love for food continued, but my metabolism kept up. That quickly came to a screeching halt during my  practical nursing program, aka the toughest year of my life. I spent countless hours each day doing homework, studying, and snacking on anything and everything. I gained a whopping 27 pounds that year. In addition to the weight gain, I also began struggling from hand swelling/pain, increased intensity and frequency of headaches, bloating and GI distress, depression, anxiety, and an overall feeling of being “unwell.” As if that year wasn’t grueling enough, I was also diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, during that time. I was informed that my testosterone levels were sky high, and my progesterone level was literally zero. Yes, I mean zero. This was a TOTAL wake up call for me. My provider at the time specialized in women’s health and suggested a Paleo/AIP diet to me. Her recommendations were to lose 10% of my body weight, adapt to a paleo lifestyle, and utilize stress management techniques. I’ll spare you the details here and just say that I failed at all of those recommendations that year. I graduated nursing school at the top of my class, but also on the fast track to complete metabolic syndrome.

After a lot of research, trial and error, and pure grit, I adapted to a paleolithic style diet. It was TOUGH. This girl loves some dairy! I found myself continuing to struggle with the constant rise and fall of my blood glucose. Over the next two years, I found myself in a never-ending yo-yo of trying to stay paleo, counting calories, eating intuitively, and just simply giving up. I attempted keto once, but again failed due to my lack of education and understanding of the basic principles behind the diet. I actually prefer the word “lifestyle” when referring to keto. However, I’ll save that soapbox for another day.

Fast forward to 2020, the year that seemed to never end. My husband and I had been trying to conceive for quite some time. In fact, we had surpassed the timeframe of what is considered “infertility.” I decided it was time to be seen by my provider. If you know a nurse, you know that going to the doctor is like pulling teeth for us, comparatively speaking. I was then diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, in addition to the continued low progesterone levels. This was the actual breaking point for me. I now found myself 24 years old with an autoimmune disorder, infertility, and not to mention an EXTREMELY high genetic predisposition for diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. It was time to take control of my life.

Then came Keto, again, but this time with countless hours of education and research.

Three months after living a true ketogenic lifestyle, I found myself 14 pounds lighter, my thyroid medication cut in half, off anxiety medication, and essentially symptom-free. And best of all, to my surprise, I was FINALLY pregnant…On September 30^th of 2020, we lost our precious baby. Nothing prepares a husband and wife for that feeling. There are no guidelines on how to physically/emotionally deal with the struggle that comes with moving forward. I gave up on Keto. I gave up on myself. I quickly gained back every ounce of weight I had lost, neglected my normal exercise routines, and found myself in a never-ending pit of despair and self-neglect.

I am happy to share with you that thanks to a whole lot of Jesus, my husband, family, and friends, I am now several months back into a ketogenic lifestyle. I am now 12 pounds lighter, no more heart palpitations, no more joint swelling/pain, less brain fog, and no more blood sugar spikes/crashes. And my most favorite improvement of all? I am once again on half the thyroid medication as I was previously.

To me, Keto isn’t some fad diet to help me lose a large sum of weight in a short time. There is truly no health benefit to weight loss if it is not sustainable and healthy. My weight loss has been slow, as is expected with low thyroid function anyway. However, I can promise you that the internal changes I have experienced are far superior to what can be seen externally. That is truly what matters. I am taking control of my health in a way that works for me. Have I reached my ultimate health goals? Not yet. Is Keto for everybody? Absolutely not. My husband eats an insane amount of carbs each day, and he is one of the healthiest, most physically fit people I know. His nutritional needs are not the same as mine by any means. Your nutritional needs are not the same as anybody else’s either!  The goal of this blog is to expand the knowledge about what nutritional ketosis and living “Keto” truly means, debunk myths and falsehoods about this way of life, give you the tools you need for success, and share some super delicious recipes along the way!