I had never heard of the keto diet until I came home during a break and was greeted by my mother who was (and looked!) 30lbs lighter than she was when I had last seen her. I was surprised, because my mom has traditionally scoffed at dieting trends, as they preach ideas she doesn’t agree with, like starving yourself or trying to get skinny at all cost. In her early 50’s, making changes to her body was difficult. She had tried on and off for several years to get in better shape, but to no avail; besides, my mother found herself incredibly busy…being a mom.

Her last, and most successful, foray into the world of weight loss was prompted by her upcoming wedding. She was motivated by the dress she wanted to buy and all the loved ones who she would see on her big day. It was really simple: on her big day, my mother wanted to look, and feel, her very best.

When I asked her about what made her go keto, she told me that it came down to the diet sounding reasonable and fact-based.

“I understood it,” she said. “It made sense to me.”

Keto is a diet that works because of how the human body processes food. Basically, your body burns easy energy before it burns anything else. Carbs and sugar are really easy for our bodies to break down, so that’s what goes first. Any excess energy is converted into fat storage.

The keto diet simply directs the body to use the current fat storages as energy. This is accomplished by eating a diet high in fats that lacks carbs and sugar. The idea is that once your body burns the fat you feed it, your body will naturally go into burning the fat that has been stored on your body.

There’s disagreement about whether the keto diet is something that is sustainable long-term, or if it’s something that should be done for a short period of time, like a few months. My mom has weaned herself off of it because she hit her goal weight, but I have a friend from college who is committed to sticking to it as long as possible.

If this diet sounds interesting, you can learn more about it here.

As always, consult with a doctor to see if this diet is right for you.