“It has given me my health, happiness, love, and livelihood!”

Australian chef Megan Ellam contacted Diet Doctor back in 2018 to tell us her inspiring story of transforming her health, her weight — and her entire career — with a keto diet. Finding Diet Doctor’s website in 2017, and using all of its resources, especially its videos, was a key part of her transformation.

Since that time Megan has become a keto recipe powerhouse. She has 10 bestselling keto cookbooks and created Mad Creations and 365 Keto Club. Her passion lies in creating delicious, easy keto and low-carb recipes. She is also a talented food photographer.

Now she is collaborating with Diet Doctor and sharing her fabulous, mouth-watering creations with Diet Doctor members, including upcoming seasonal recipes such as party-perfect Seasoned Keto Avocado Crackers. Megan’s recipes are available to Diet Doctor Plus members.

Here is her original success story, first published in August 2018. The story has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Tried everything — but nothing worked

For many years I struggled with my weight — which I’m sure many women can relate to! I hovered around 100 kg (220 lbs) most of my adult life. I tried everything from Weight Watchers to fad diets, to eating “clean”; healthy vegetable and grain-based diets — you name it. But nothing worked.

By my late 20s, I started putting on even more weight and continued doing so every year up until the age of 45, when I reached an all-time high of 243 pounds (110 kilos). Growing up as a skinny kid, I felt like a stranger in my own skin and very depressed.

It also didn’t help that I had stopped menstruating around 30 years of age. I put this down to my endometriosis. I suspected I was in menopause so I requested a fertility test and found out my hormones suggested I had already gone through the transition. While I was not always planning to have children, it was still a bit of a surprise to my partner of 29 years, Dave, and me.

No matter what changes I made to my diet, the weight just wouldn’t shift. Desperate to lose weight, I started exercising as much as I could. I power-walked twice a day, swam daily, and attended weekly boot camp sessions.

After months of exercise routines, my body couldn’t take it anymore. Not only had I not lost any weight, but I also ended up with Achilles tendonitis, bursitis, and a massive heel spur. When my specialist asked me how I injured my foot so badly, I told him how I was desperately trying to lose weight and exercising like crazy but couldn’t even lose a gram of weight.

He suggested that I could be insulin resistant and to not only try a ketogenic diet but to get tested for insulin resistance to see.

Insulin resistance and fatty liver

After a series of blood tests, his concerns were confirmed — I was insulin resistant and I had a fatty liver. I was recommended the drug metformin.

While the results were not a surprise, I was actually really happy to finally have an answer. Now I had a plan to see if I could lose the weight and regain my health.

I changed my diet immediately and began blogging about it. With a strong background in cooking and recipe development, I dove straight in. In the first week, I lost 7.7 pounds (3.5 kilos)! After so long of not even being able to drop any weight, the change was immediate!

The weight kept coming off each week, and considering I am effectively a middle-aged, post-menopausal woman, that is just amazing! As my foot injuries healed, I also started walking and swimming again.

Within six months, I’d lost a huge 60 pounds (27 kilos). I felt better than ever, my energy levels soared, and for once I felt in control of my body and life.

Diet Doctor key to my success

I described my success and joy in the ketogenic diet on my blog and it took off really fast. My partner Dave also lost over 22 pounds (10 kilos) and gained great muscle. He looks amazing as well — far younger than his 48 years of age.

One of my biggest influences, when I started a keto lifestyle, was the Diet Doctor website. On the road, while I traveled in a sales job, I literally listened to 100s of hours of your videos.

I have now lost over 66 pounds (30 kilos). I have left my old job after the successful launch of my first two keto recipe books. I now run my own keto-related business.

All thanks to a keto diet and the inspiring Diet Doctor videos, packed with so much information. Diet Doctor broke it all down into information with facts that essentially make you see the sense in it all.

I feel more than amazing now. I fit into normal-sized clothes, I can move around freely, exercise without any pain, and my mind has never been clearer. The ketogenic diet has made me so happy, inspired and given me more energy and focus than ever before. Keto is my life in more ways than one. It has given me my health, happiness, love, livelihood, and many more years of life I am sure.

I would like to say thank you to my doctor for suggesting the problem, and then, regardless of risk and persecution (in Australia), for suggesting a keto diet. I would also like to thank you, Andreas, for such a fabulous site full of inspiration, and other amazing doctors, bloggers, and health professionals, for everyone the world over.

I hope that one day a low-carb diet is something everyone follows and understands that this way of life makes you feel truly invincible.

Thanks, Megan

Comment

Thank you, Megan, for sharing your story! We’re very happy that you could regain your health, congratulations on your success!

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