“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote”} }”>
Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth fitness and nutrition courses and more than 2,000 instructional videos when you
>”,”name”:”in-content-cta”,”type”:”link”}}”>sign up for Outside+.
Michelle Carvalho had never been satisfied with her physique, and as her 40th birthday approached, she did the only thing she knew of to lose weight: She went on a diet. “I have been on and off diets my whole life,” Carvalho says. “In fact, I think [I started] my first diet when I was 12 years old.”
This time around, she decided to try keto, a system of low-carb, high-fat eating with lots of restrictions. Initially, she saw results, but soon the diet became impossible to maintain and inevitably she plateaued. “I started binging and feeling shameful,” she says.
Instead of throwing in the towel, however, Carvalho looked for new ways to eat healthfully. She read in-depth about nutritional periodization and macronutrients, and once she implemented some of these techniques into her own…
