1.5-Year Transformation: How Eric Found Keto After Anxiety and Weight Gain 

Did you have any problems with your weight or health before going on keto? 

Hi, my name is Eric! 

I’m 24 years old, and I’ve been on a health and wellness journey for less than 2 years now and have completely changed my life around. 

I used to play video games for 12 hours a day, eating fast food and snacking on chips and sugar throughout. I did this for around 6 years consistently. I was doing things to cope because I had crippling anxiety and depression, so these pleasures I had thought were my only way to keep myself happy and ultimately keepthe will to live. (As I later found out, I was wrong.) 

I wouldn’t have ever considered changing if I didn’t have a life-altering moment of watching my grandfather, whom I lived with for 19 years of my life, and seeing his health decline from cancer. My Dad had sent me a video of my grandfather telling me how proud he was of me, how much he loved me, and how happy he was to have me as his grandson. This broke me. Because he didn’t know the life I was living. He didn’t know he wouldn’t be proud of the life I was living. I had no self-control. I was avoiding responsibilities and not taking care of myself. Just chasing comfort and hiding from life. 

When my dad sent me that video, I rushed to see my grandfather and arrived just in time for his last moments here on earth. While I was with him, holding his hand, he squeezed it tight as that is all he could do at this point to let me know he’s still with us. I had a feeling that he was telling me he was going to be with me through my transformation journey. It was time for me to change. I made a declaration to myself that I was going to make him proud. 

How did you discover keto? 

The days after he passed, I threw out all the junk food in my house. I dumped all my alcohol and sugary drinks down the drain. I deleted all my fast-food apps. I replaced my gaming computer with exercise equipment. I started digesting health content, and I remember finding Dr. Eric Berg DC and would listen to all of his videos in my car, on my TV while working out, and while eating my meals. 

If you could offer advice to someone starting keto, what would you say? 

Some tips I learned along the way: 

I thought I could dabble and eat sugar or play video games “sometimes,” but every time I did, I relapsed. With it, my anxiety came back, and all my other bad habits. You have to commit. You have to tell yourself you ARE someone who doesn’t eat unhealthy food anymore. You ARE someone who wants to change their life. 

You need to find ways to get excited about going to exercise. Whether that’s cutting out caffeine and only drinking coffee before a workout or it could be simply only allowing yourself to listen to your favorite music before and during a workout. 

You must get inspired! Get hyped to change your life! Make the process fun. You have to find a way. 

The bottom line here: the people in your life deserve the healthiest version of you. You deserve the healthiest version of you. The people in your life, and you yourself, will suffer by not taking care of yourself. 

It’s never too late to become the best version of you. Keep reaching new heights, because that’s what happiness is: progress. 

Any other details you want to share?   

Cutting out sugar and processed food isn’t a diet. It’s a lifestyle for me now, and I’m never going back. 

The goal started with wanting to make my grandfather proud. I never thought it would lead me to where I am today, which is anxiety-free, depression-free, and being able to live a life where I am content and proud of myself. 

My whole life, I had thought the comfort of fast food, sugar, isolation, and video games was what was making me happy and helping me cope with my anxiety and depression. 

I now realize the source of my anxiety and depression had come from seeking comfort and pleasure, and the things I thought were making me happy were making me miserable. 

True contentment, I now realize, comes from doing the things that you know you should be doing and the things that are good for you. The more comfort you seek in empty pleasures, like food, alcohol (the list goes on), the more misery you’ll invite into your life.