#83 Leanne Vogel – Healthful Pursuit

Meet Leanne:

I’m an ultra passionate Nutrition Educator, host of The Keto Diet Podcast (ranked #3 in fitness & nutrition and #10 in all health podcasts on iTunes in the US and Canada), creator of one of the largest keto resources on YouTube, and the founder of Happy Keto Body. My first paperback, The Keto Diet, was an international bestseller and the first ketogenic book to debut at Costco… ever. I am also releasing new paperbacks in 2019 including, The Keto Diet Cookbook (April, 2019), and Keto for Women (June, 2019)

My goal is to help you do away with feeling overpowered and controlled by food by giving you the tools you need to inject your life with happiness, healthfulness, and a whole lot of dietary fat.

I’ve spent over a decade revolutionizing my perception of food and wellness by creating a life of kindness and acceptance toward myself. I bounced from diet to diet trying to find an approach that worked best for me. And, it all came together when I found the ketogenic diet in 2014. When I realized the power of a customized keto approach to nutrition was possible, the game changed.

I found keto during my personal struggles with health and weight loss. It transformed my life ending my 8-year struggle with amenorrhea (missing period), hypothyroidism, adrenal dysfunction and ultra-low hormones. I immediately set out on a path to help others find the same success. My first online nutrition program The Keto Beginning launched in October 2014, Fat Fueled in November 2015 and Happy Keto Body in April 2018, in addition to my 3 paperback books.

I gained worldwide recognition for my unique “no-limits”, paleo-friendly approach to the keto lifestyle in 2015 with the launch of my YouTube channel, which provides daily motivation tips, recipes, advice for getting started with keto, maintenance plans, and help to overcome hurdles.

Now, Healthful Pursuit is the go-to resource for those looking to achieve health, happiness, and body confidence through a high-fat, low-carb keto diet.

With love at the forefront of all of my actions, I was slowly able to free myself of my ten-year struggle with an eating disorder, do away with my drug addictions and gain the power that I needed to deal with emotional turmoil. I gave up fighting and grew into the person I knew I was meant to be.

I help people create the life they deserve and assist them on their journey by providing daily actions that create measurable results. I wholeheartedly believe that you can replace your struggles, restrictions, and deprivations with kindness, radiance, and pleasure.

I also believe that you don’t have to see your body as the enemy – either because its sensitivities won’t let you eat what you want, or you don’t feel comfortable with the way that you look. There are endless ways that you can eat and take care of your body at the same time, and I want to help you find the unique balance that’s right for you.

I’m known to deliver the most innovative and highest quality high-fat recipes, comprehensive keto meal plans, dairy-free resources, and personal development strategies in the industry.

I create this work because I care deeply about you, your journey to wellness, and am committed to getting you results so that you can transform your restrictions into opportunities and celebrate your body.

Through my keto recipes, low-carb videos, keto podcasts, and keto programs, you’ll get practical wisdom from me and receive support from everyone in our loving community.

You’ll learn to let kindness into your kitchen and love into your life with simple ingredients, many laughs, and delicious keto food.

Show Notes:

ABOUT LEANNE

• I started being interested in nutrition about 12 years ago
• I had experienced an eating disorder and I had that eating disorder since I was about 9 years old
• When I was in my 20’s a colleague told me that I need to learn about nutrition because maybe in that way, I would not treat my body so unfairly
• I went to school for dietetics for a couple of weeks and discovered that it wasn’t for me. And so, I studied holistic nutrition instead. I kind of look at the body as a holistic thing, and I was surprised by that, because I hadn’t really thought of that before
• What really got me interested in eating well for my body and in taking care of my body was when I had a headache and I ate a bowl of broccoli, and my headache just went away quite quickly
• That was the first time where I really thought that everything I put in my mouth or don’t put in my mouth can potentially affect my health positively or negatively
• I got into a space that I hadn’t gotten my period for over 6 years, this is called amenorrhea. That’s how I found the ketogenic diet and that’s when things really changed for me
• I got my period back after a year and half of eating keto and adjusting it for my body, and really determining what my body needed
• Over the course of 5 years on keto, I’ve really changed my message and changed what I found was important to me and that leads up to today where I had my first book, The Keto Diet launched last 2017, The Keto Diet Cookbook came out April 2019 and I also have Keto for Women coming out in June 2019
• I started eating keto in the June of 2014 
• I had multiple of doctors that told me different things about my amenorrhea, but the one doctor that I wished I had paid more attention to is this endocrinologist, but I was still kind of distorted at that point
• He told me that he would not help me and all I have to do was to gain some weight and eat a lot of food
• I wish I could go back, shake his hands and thank him for his great recommendation because that’s all I needed to do
• I had been under eating for such a huge part of my life because I always had a very conscious idea of what my body should be and my mom was always dieting, and so, I was very conscious of the fact that my body had to look a certain way
• So, looking back, I think a lot of it was due to the fact that I was not eating a lot and I worked out a lot – that was definitely a big factor as well and I was lacking in the fat department. My cholesterol was too low and totally imbalanced
  
  
• Other things that I did on my journey is I stopped working out, which was the worst thing ever. I was a competitive runner and I was just preparing for my first triathlon and I trained at least 2 hours a day, I took my training very seriously, I had a coach and I was crazy about it
• When I made that decision to stop working out, I mean nothing. Just sitting on the couch doing nothing
• That was so hard for me to find something else to do and that was very challenging
• I did that for a total of 9 months until I got my period back and then, I started doing yoga slowly
• I tried to go back to the gym and I lost my period again and so, it had been a couple of years of me trying to figure out what physical activities I could do without affecting my cycle because my body is still very sensitive to it
• I also was eating a lot of fat. Specifically, a lot of beef and liver
• I was eating relatively keto for the first 3 to 6 months where I gave myself permission to eat anything
• So, I had been keto for about 10 months when I was like, “this isn’t working. I had healed my ADHD, I am feeling really great, my mind is on point, I have lost a lot of hormone weight gain, but I am unhappy and this is not working.”
• So, I bought a junk food and I felt so sick
• And after experiencing that and eating candy for 5 days, I started gravitating towards fatty foods – keto foods and that’s where I remained for the last 3 and a half years
• As I went closer to keto and intuitively eating keto, I look back and I am like, “I am totally eating a ketogenic diet and I am not forcing my body to do this, it is just where I feel best.”
• And then, I started playing around with carbohydrate timing where I started doing a thing called, carb ups where I started eating carbs in the evening, when I felt like it throughout my cycle and that really seem to help
• When peri-menopausal, you still need carb ups. So, it is still important to practice carb ups
• Once you are menopausal or post-menopausal, you don’t need them
• The reason I say this is because, carb ups can be really beneficial to your overall cycle
• So, I find that the best time to have carbohydrates throughout your cycle is day 17 to 28 or the end of ovulation to the day before you’ll have your period
• When your ovaries aren’t producing your sex hormones or adrenals, it’s less important to support your sex hormones with carb ups
• But if you have issues with your adrenals or thyroid, you may benefit from having carb ups 
• It really depends on the other health imbalances that you have on whether a carb up is beneficial for you or not
• We as women, because we require different things at different times, need to adjust our diet for this and we need to understand that keto is so healing
  
• When I was experiencing amenorrhea, I would say that fasting was not good for me
• I think it actually harmed my body and it really hit me when I was talking to Dr. Fung because he told me that if I had a history of an eating disorder or underweight, I probably should not fast
• But, in my head I thought that I am not underweight, but what I learned is that, my “underweight” is very different than what I thought it actually was
• I need to have quite a high fat percentage in my body at all times or I will either not have a period or I will have a horrible period
• So, I think fasting largely plays a role in our lives, but it really depends on our hormones
• I worked with an amazing body coach named, Summer Innanen. She’s just amazing and she really changed the game for me
• I think there is a lot of body dysmorphia that we all have in some way and working through that and just understanding that no matter what state my body is, it doesn’t make me any different of a person
• For me, I like to track by writing down what I have eaten, and a couple of weeks later, I’ll input my food into a tracking app just to see where I am, but I try to keep it spaced out enough that I don’t worry about it
• But when I was overcoming amenorrhea and just starting keto, I was eating about 200g of fat a day and that’s where I felt best. Now, I would say that I am closer to 120g
• I do not do well mentally without enough fat
• I hate avocados, but I used to love them
• I do eat guacamole because I don’t see it as being an avocado. So, I do eat a lot of guacamole just not any plain avocado
• And I eat a lot of chicken skin
• We do eat fish a lot because we live in a boat full time so, we have a lot of fish
• I use a lot of avocado oil, olive oil and I started eating eggs again, mostly the yolks because I was sensitive to eggs for a while
• I don’t do much fatty coffee anymore. It has been 5 years and I don’t like them as much as I used to
• In fasting, it depends on what your goal is 
• The way I see it, there are 2 different paths
• One is, “I want to fast because I want to regulate my insulin” and the second one is, “I want to fast because, I want autophagy”
• With the insulin regulation, it really doesn’t matter when or what you eat. It is really about regulating your insulin
• We know that fat should not spike your insulin. Therefore, you should be able to eat fat and you will be fine, but you would not want to eat a lot of protein or carbs because it’ll break your fast because your insulin will be affected
• With autophagy, as far as I could tell is that, you kind of just want to drink water
• The most beneficial thing you can do, so that you won’t go crazy, or spend a lot of money and time, is to just try it
• Go a day without having anything and just drink water, and see how you feel and do that for a couple of days
• And then you can add fat, and see how you feel and also test your blood glucose and see how that goes
• It all depends on your body
• I have never really done dairy, but I have tried
• I have really tried to commit to the whole dairy thing and I loved cheese when I was a kid, but dairy hates me
• Every time I tried to eat dairy, my inflammation just goes so high and I am dealing with so many health issues and I start reacting to these crazy foods that I have never reacted to before. So, I don’t do dairy
  
  
• A test can kind of tell you and it will give you some avenues to explore
• It saddens me that of all the priorities we have out there in the world, our body really takes less priority
• Without this body, we don’t have this life
• And seeing our parents with the choices they have made and what they are experiencing now, I don’t want that life
• Your body is what is keeping you on this planet. Without it, no life.
• When they have given up on their goals, it is like an all or nothing mentality
• And you are only cheating yourself in that moment and it’s not your fault
• The problem with the diet culture in general is that, we did not ask for these beliefs to be pounded into our brain at a very young age
• And it comes into our brain and we don’t even think before we act
• If we are not following a diet perfectly, well there is no point. That’s what the diet industry told us
• And that’s how they will get you. They will get you on an ongoing guilt on whether you are in it or not.
• That’s just create so much shame around our eating or movement
• And so, I was definitely in that camp when I was restricting and I was experiencing anorexia and bulimia and I thought when I was binging, I might as well do it 12 times
• The only way to get over that is to realize that there are no good or bad foods
• You want what is restricted and that is why there is that mentality

WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU

• The keto cookbook will be launched on April of 2019
• You can find out more by going to ketodietbook.com
• It should be in most bookstores and Amazon
• My newest book called, Keto for Women comes out on June 18^th 2019 and you can find out more on ketoforwomen.com

WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU

• Website: healthfulpursuit.com
• Podcast: ketodietpodcast.com
• Instagram: @healthfulpursuit

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