A Lesson in Ketosis

"What are you doing angelote?" Esperanza asked the girl a few days later. By now she knew the truth of Abbie's identity. It was strange that the whole family seemed to have accepted her background and all. No one looked at her differently because of the family that she'd disowned. If anything, they were freer with their hugs and praise. Shyly, she revealed her talents and soaked in the praise from the Anasazis. Tyr was even worse, showering her in adoration and love. She drank in his attention greedily; never having experienced this kind of love before. She'd even taken Victoria up on her offer of advice. The mother was a sympathetic ear for her confusion and her backward teachings about love and romance.

"A kitchen is meant to be used, Abuela," the girl said in Spanish. It was a day after a stretch of six in a row. She was putting the finishing touches on her casserole. "I'm going into ketosis, Abuela. I'm sick of being so overweight. For that, I need to eliminate bread, pasta, and all other carbs from my diet. This casserole should get me started nicely. It's made with turkey slices instead of noodles."

"Ketosis?" the older woman said in confusion, taking a seat at the island in front of the stove. She'd been dusting when the sound of music and her oven beeping its readiness called her to the kitchen. It was her domain after all. All the settings and appliances were set to her specifications in this room. She was the chef in this house usually. But now…

"It's how your brain doesn't starve to death every night while you sleep. For a short amount of time every day, while you're asleep, your body isn't receiving constant sugar. So your body switches to burning its fat stores for fuel. It's a process called 'ketosis' and it happens naturally every day. Now, what if you could make your body burn fat instead of sugar all the time? Turns out you can. By denying the body the vast amounts of sugar it craves, the body is forced to burn your fat for fuel. You drop pounds and inches like it's your day job! It's very effective, especially if you can manage to keep carb intake around 20-25 carbs in a day instead of the usual 150."

"That sounds dangerous," the woman said automatically, even as she eyed the delicious-smelling casserole Abbie was piling shredded cheese on.

"It was a diet originally developed for epileptics. It's been modified, but it's perfectly safe. You increase your fat and protein to compensate for the loss of carbs and just… go to town. There are whole recipe books filled with delicious recipes that are completely keto-friendly. I don't even have to tell anyone I'm on the diet; in fact, it's probably better if I don't since people get so offended and up in arms about it. I plan to get back to my original weight of 127 lbs and this is how I'm going to do it. I've got a long way to go after all."

"How far?"

"Roughly 142 lbs. Today I start," she said definitively, putting her casserole into the oven and setting the timer for 30 minutes. "I just need to be consistent for the next few months to a year and I should meet my goal."

"And then? Once you start eating carbs again the weight will come right back."

"Not if I'm smart about it," she said stubbornly. "This isn't a decision that I've come to lightly. I want this for myself. I'm not going to give up or quit, Abuela. I'll get back to health this way and start exercising with Tyr like I promised I would. It's going to be okay," she said, wiping a tear off Esperanza's cheek.

"You're going to be starving yourself," the woman said fearfully.

"Abuela," she said in exasperation. "A fourth of that casserole is a serving and it's only 7 carbs! Does that look like I'm going to be starving?"

"Testing out your languages again, Bliss?" Tyr asked as he and Jubilee came into the room. He came directly to his housekeeper and kissed her cheek, blinking when he noticed her tears. "What's going on?"

"Your woman is giving up bread," Esperanza cried.

"Oh, Abuela, don't be so dramatic," Abbie rolled her eyes. "I'm starting a ketosis lifestyle today, that's all. I've already started. Bacon and eggs this morning with no orange juice or toast. Just water and plenty of it. I'm just making myself a casserole right now for lunch and dinner."

"You should cook something else so that you have two more meals. You don't want to burn out on one type of food."

"That's a good idea!" the girl nodded, already thinking of a second meal for herself.

"Wait, you're okay with this?" Esperanza asked in shock.

"Of course I am," he said smoothly, sitting beside his Abuela. "And you should be too. Be proud of her; Abhaya is taking control of her health. Ketosis is perfectly safe; for those who are committed to the lifestyle, it's a fast and simple way to lose tons of weight."

"Hmph! If it's so easy, then why haven't I ever heard of it?"

"He didn't say anything about 'easy', Abuela. You have to cook and account for every meal. You have to keep a running total of net carbs in your head each day so that you don't go over. And you have to do it. Plenty of people on the unit start this and then fall off the wagon because it's so hard. Right now I'm cooking for the day. I may have to switch to batch cooking just to keep up with all the cooking. It's not just some diet I'm jumping into for kicks. It's a whole new way of cooking; a whole new way of thinking about food. I'm in this for the long haul. I'm tired of being fat and I want a change."

"Oh, angelote… You're not fat," the older woman said kindly.

"I used to be a size 2 or 0 depending on the cut of the clothes. I'm a 22-24 now. I'm not happy with the change, Abuela. I'm morbidly obese according to my BMI and I intend to do something about it. I may never be a size 2 again, but darnit, I'm gonna try!"

"You'd be wasting away at that size. Angelote, look at this logically-"

"I'm being perfectly logical, Abuela. I don't want to be overweight anymore. This is the way I've chosen to do it. Maybe I'll be like all the others and fall off the wagon in a few months, maybe I won't. But I'm going to do this. I'm going to slim down and you're not going to stop me."

"Fine," the woman said forcefully. "Then show me some of these recipes of yours. If I can't stop you from this foolishness, then at least I can make sure your taste buds aren't suffering!" The next few hours were spent reviewing dozens of recipes that the girl had gathered on her new sleek laptop. They were all mixed together, so it took a bit to sort them all, but they managed it. They went by meat, and meal, putting everything into appropriate categories. Esperanza argued strongly against some recipes and strongly for others. Abhaya took it all in stride, offering no opinion on her recipes at all.

Abbie's taking control of her life now! See ya next week :D