#23 Jessica Dukes – Lost 70 lbs and Counting – Healing PCOS

Meet Jessica Dukes

Jessica Dukes is a photographer and an Instagram Superstar.

A native Tennessean, she has lost 70 lbs, and counting.

Jessica is happily married and the mama of 2 small poodles. She as PCOS and really wants a baby. She and Brad have tried so many times to get pregnant and suffered 4 miscarriages and 7 IUI’s.

Searching for hope…Jessica wanted to lose weight and healing her PCOS symptoms and found out about keto.

She has been on every diet and never had long term success until keto. She always thought low carb was a joke, until experiencing it for herself.

Made Instagram @dailyketosis her accountability place.

Jessica frequently posts lovely photos of her meal on Instagram. Not quite sure how she makes her food look so beautiful. As mine always looks like pig slop in comparison.

The ketogenic diet has helped Jessica’s PCOS symptoms decrease, so much so her cramps are hardly noticeable.

Currently doing a version of Keto Whole 30, Jessica made the below recipe for her hubby, so kindly shared it with us <3

FAVORITE RECIPE

Show Notes

• Native Tennessean
• Been over-weight her entire life but lost large amount of weight
• 42-year old
• Keto changed her life

HOW DID YOU FIND KETO?

• I started my Instagram page February 26.
• And I started it 2 years ago, after my husband and I have had a really hard time having a baby.
• We did not get married until I was 35, so we we’re already a little behind.
• Had 4 miscarriages and 7 IUS, so we’ve had a really hard time conceiving a child.
• I was desperate around 2 years and 1 month ago.
• And I was just searching infertility and PCOS.
• What can I do to lose weight and try to get pregnant and help my PCOS symptoms?
• And I never heard of the word Keto and I have been over-weight my entire life and I have tried everything except low carb because I would never do low card.
• So I found keto that night, and I did not tell my husband.
• And I thought January 1^st, I will start doing this keto diet and not tell him, and then I did it for a few months.
• For very meal I eat, I post.
• Because honestly still 2 years later, I have lost 70 pounds but I still feel like I need Instagram and I have made Instagram my accountability place.
• Yes I do post nearly everything I eat.

DO YOU TRACK YOUR MACROS?

• I don’t.
• Honestly, I’ve tracked them at first probably the first 2 months.
• Anyone that have asked me for advice, whether right or wrong. I always say, if you can do that long term. Good for you – do it. But that just not how it works.
• I cannot track macros for the rest of my life because that’s going to put myself in failure.
• Now, I just kind of keep it in my head and pay really close attention to my carbs.
• I don’t want to write down everything I eat. I am not analytical at all.
• I tried to stay under 25 total carbs.
• I know that keto is net carbs, but I like to do total. But if I am starving and feel like I need a bar or something, they’re net carbs usually, then I’ll have one.
• Very occasionally I do net carbs. Because I can.
• I’ve done Keto for so long now, I don’t even think about it anymore. It’s just kind of what I did.
• I realized that dairy was really causing me some pain.

DOES YOUR HUSBAND DO IT WITH YOU NOW?

• He does.
• That’s what I love about Keto. He has never had a weight problem, he has always been thin, but I would say since we got married, he’s really gotten into lifting and taking care of his body.
• He loves Keto too.
• He feels good and he thinks his muscle development has better results.
• Brad will have more Keto treats than me.
• I’m just trying to do as clean Keto as I can, so I’m not too much fun in the Keto department right now.
• I do really good chocolate cookies like a skillet cookie with lily’s chocolate chips and its coconut.
• I mean the main ingredients are the lily’s chocolate chip, coconut almond flour and unsweetened coconut sprinkle, eggs and vanilla.
• I don’t do a lot of treats either because I feel like I don’t have self-control.
• Just because is Keto doesn’t mean you should eat it.

AVERAGE MEAL PLAN FOR A DAY

• On average, I do intermittent fasting as well.
• I’ll have coffee in the morning with collagen and nutpods – I love the combination.
• I’ll have coffee but I won’t eat and I still consider that fasting because that’s my rules.
• I don’t eat until lunchtime and I finish eating by 8.
• I intermittent fast for the majority, but on the weekend, we don’t.
• I’ll have a salad with some good proteins and good dressing.
• A lot of times it’s a burger or a chicken or beef and vegetable.
• I have a lot more to lose. I need to lose about 40 more to get a healthy BMI.
• I know the scale is not everything but I would like to see a certain number.
• Because I have PCOS I lose weight so slow.
• I never cheat, I’m consistent but it is just really hard with PCOS.
• I haven’t had dairy since September and I feel a lot like different.
• The reason why I started Keto 2 years ago because I thought it made sense with PCOS and infertility.
• The biggest reason, which I totally forgot, was because my dad died with Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
• All the research with Parkinson’s in the Keto diet, I was like, “ I wanna feel my body as well as I can until I’ll not get that.”
• Cancer is hard. Diseases are hard, but Keto is not hard.
• You’re going to see different results, you just got to stay at it.
• You’re going to get the results you want – slow or fast.

BENEFITS YOU’VE NOTICED

• I feel like my skin looks really good.
• I feel like my gut just feels good.
• My period, my cycles are 100% different.
• I used to have horrible cycles.
• There’s not much pain associated with it.
• If you need to talk to someone who has tried every diet in the world history then I’m your girl.
• I have tried everything.
• I feel like the fact that I was someone that wanted to be thin, that I am stuck with Keto for 2 years and I feel just as good about it today as I did 2 years ago.
• With Keto it’s not restrictive. You can still go out to dinner and have a dinner. It’s just the way I’m going to eat forever.
• Paleo, you need to know what’s in the food more than just what is the food.

HAVE YOU HAD ANY HARD THINGS ALONG THE WAY?

• But I am at that point of my life that I really like to have a baby naturally.
• I think all along knowing the reason that, that is the reason why I am doing it, like, why would I cheat?
• I do feel like I do get frustrated sometimes when I don’t lose weight as fast as I feel like I should.
• Honestly, I haven’t had that many hiccups.

ADVICE

• I say, don’t cheat. Start it and don’t cheat.
• Stick within your Keto guidelines
• I told the to count their macros for a month or so, or 2 weeks. If that’s your personality, do it forever. If it’s not, don’t do it at all. But just do it a little so that you’ll know you’re on the right track.
• Just trust yourself.
• Once you start cheating a little, and then one day turns the rest of your life.
• I think that’s why I just try to stay super consistent, because I’ve wasted a whole lot of time on my health and I just can’t do it anymore.

WHAT’S NEXT?

• Staying in the course into Keto.
• Believe in yourself more.
• Realize you’re important enough to take care of yourself, love yourself and feel your body well.
• It has been 7 long years of infertility but I have never ever lost hope for that and I feel like that this is our year.
• Just feel your body correctly and believer that you can do it and you can make the goals that you did not think you could.

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