Featured Fitale – Latrice

My name is Latrice and I blog full-time over at GeekyTricee.com about my weight loss transformation, living a ketogenic lifestyle, and how I make intermittent fasting work. I also share lifestyle tips for healthy living. 

When I’m not blogging, I’m pinning like there’s no tomorrow, reading, enjoying music, and enjoying the sun among other things.

What sparked your weight-loss transformation journey?

What sparked my weight loss journey was being a 245-lbs 14-year-old tired of feeling like the odd ball. I wanted attention from boys and friends. I wanted to be danced with at the dances and be flirted with like my homegirls.

I felt insecure and left out a lot. And when I did get in with the “populars” (as my mom used to call them), it was as one of the guys. I dressed as a tomboy when what I really wanted was to be all girly and flirty.

But back then, they didn’t make cute plus size junior clothes so I had to wear funky Tweety Bird shirts and mom jeans. I was a sad case. 

Once I got older, my weight loss transformation motivation shifted from wanting to be liked to wanting to be healthy and beat the several health complications in my family.

We suffer from the “usual” black family cases of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and kidney failure.

I grew up in a family that thought these things were a normal, genetic part of aging until I started researching ancestral health and paleo lifestyles. That’s when I learned I didn’t have to get these diseases when I got older.

So I started working on my weight and working to live a healthier lifestyle.

How long did it take for your weight loss transformation from beginning to end?

Years of falling off and getting back on. Learning about food addiction and healing that. Changing my relationship with food to a healthier one. It took years. 

18 years technically. But more recently it took about 4 months to lose 45 pounds with keto intermittent fasting.

How did your eating habits change?

I stopped eating highly processed foods and started focusing on eating paleo at first. Then I transitioned to keto intermittent fasting. 

I used to believe I was just naturally a hungrier-than-most person that would have to live with eating every few hours. Then I found paleo and was able to cut back to 3 meals a day. 

When I implemented keto intermittent fasting, I actually started experiencing forgetting to eat which is WEIRD for me considering I used to watch the clock for my next meal because I always felt hungry. 

I went from eating 6 times a day to eating once a day easily. I don’t even have to force myself to do that. I’m simply satiated enough to just eat that one meal. It’s liberating.

What do you typically eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner?

For breakfast I typically have eggs, sausage, and a lamb or beef steak. I sometimes scramble my eggs with avocado oil mayonnaise and nutritional yeast in a tbsp of butter. Then I cook my lamb in butter, medium rare. 

Usually there isn’t any room for lunch. Breakfast around 8 am is typically all I need for the day. I’m super satisfied after breakfast and if I do feel any type of hungry, it’s so close to bedtime that I sleep right through it. And when I wake up in the morning, I don’t feel hungry and can knock out a fasted workout easily with lots of energy. 

Eating this way has been magical and such a huge transformation for me.

What’s your fave fitness activity?

My favorite has to be booty and leg days which are 3 times a week. I’ve noticed that working on these large muscles have helped with my weight loss big time. Lifting weight on booty days are definitely a fave. And look great on the butt and legs. I do upper body 2 times a week.

What do you do now to maintain your physique?

I do intermittent fasting, eat a simple keto diet of mostly meat and eggs, and workout 5 days a week. I love to workout so 5 days a week isn’t a chore at all. And eating this way works wonders for my focus and overall health.

Using it to maintain is an easy choice.

How did you develop and sustain the willpower to avoid the “bad” stuff such as junk food?

Got sick and tired of being sick and tired of my weight. I had to be honest with myself about who (me) was eating the foods I knew weren’t going to help me reach my goals. 

I had to learn what true self-love looked like. I had to learn that it wasn’t indulging in what I wanted when I wanted it, but it was making the best decisions for myself.

I had to learn how to be the momma in my relationship with my body by ignoring the crying baby that doesn’t get it (my craving appetite) and feeding my body the best foods for it.

I had to learn how to have my best interest at heart. And that that was true self-love. 

I also learned how to eat in a way that truly satiated me and was deeply nourishing. That’s when my appetite and cravings changed big time. Real foods, healthy animal fats, and limiting carbs did that for me.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to get started with their fitness journey but don’t know where to start?

Begin with all real foods. Explore, get creative, and have fun. Nourish yourself without worrying about calories and macros. It’s hard to overeat on real foods like vegetables, meats, and healthy fats. Stick to these real foods long enough and your appetite will change. 

And by real foods I mean no heavily processed foods. Everything in moderation doesn’t work for everybody because those foods induce hunger and cravings. Stop drinking calories too. Have water, sparkling water, black coffee, and tea. 

Limit meals to 3 meals a day and focus on getting enough food in each meal. Pick a veggie, a root (sweet potato), a meat (or eggs), and a fat. 

Lastly, sounds cliche, but love yourself and be patient with yourself. I wish I knew this when I first started. That love will take you a far way in this journey.

Having enough love to be patient with yourself, forgiving, and understanding that it’ll take time to develop new habits and see lasting results.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about this journey?

That red meat is bad and you need to go vegan, vegetarian, and or low fat to lose fat and be healthy. When I was a vegan and when I was a vegetarian,

I was a MISERABLE hungry, moody woman with a period that barely showed up.

And still wasn’t losing weight or healing my missing period. 

But when I started doing all the things people, black people in particular, swear causes heart disease and weight gain, I started losing weight and improving my health.

My periods are now so regular that I can tell the date if I was knocked out and tossed on a deserted island. I cleared up eczema. I don’t have dandruff anymore. My moods are good. I’m focused and experience great clarity. I have great energy and recently started experiencing cramp-free periods. 

And it’s way easier to stick to. I tried EVERYTHING to lose weight (it seemed), but eating a keto diet of healthy animal fats really has been much easier to stick to which has helped me get good results.

Do you have any fitness inspirations?  Who are they?

Kathryn Freeman is one. I like her transformation. Frantzcesca Casimir is another fave.

How can readers learn more about your transformation and journey online (i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.)?