So you may have noticed that I have no “before” photo. That’s because I didn’t come to keto to lose weight – I was only 7st when I started – I came to keto to try to fix my out of control, lifelong eating disorders. I’ve had a lifetime of yo-yo dieting, with bouts of anorexia, many years of bulimia, and losing and gaining over and over again. At my heaviest I was 15st and my lightest around 6st. I’ve had every single type of therapy going – many prescription medications, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, Chinese herbal medicine, CBT, group therapy, psychiatric treatment etc etc – nothing worked. However a chance conversation with a friend on FB introduced me to low carb/high fat eating, and it was with paleo that I took the initial step towards health, following it for 3 years with some good results. However I still felt like I wasn’t quite in control of my eating and my bulimia was still a problem. Moving over to keto was the final piece of the puzzle and finally liberated me from 35 years of extreme and dangerous disordered eating. I can now eat the food I love, without feeling deprived or like I am “on a diet”, I am happier and healthier at 56 years old than I have been in decades. I’m a firm believer in “clean” keto – I don’t bake, I don’t advocate sweeteners, I stay away from anything that might be inflammatory or injurious to health and I can’t tolerate dairy (sadly). I love food and have cooked professionally in the past – I now keep it simple, using the best quality foods I can afford and cooking from scratch. I’m still working towards fixing some health issues and although I’m now about 95% free from bulimia it is something that I think will always be with me, and I have to be mindful to avoid potentially difficult situations to “keep myself safe”. As someone who loves science and research I threw myself into finding out as much as I could about keto – last year I studied and took a diploma in the ketogenic diet and I have been successfully mentoring people ever since. If you would like me to mentor you please get in touch for more details at

bellemartin@btinternet.com