Coronavirus Symptoms (COVID-19)

Coronavirus Symptoms (COVID-19)

Coronavirus Symptoms (COVID-19), People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. These symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Chills
• Repeated shaking with chills
• Muscle pain
• Headache
• Sore throat
• New loss of taste or smell

Typical Symptoms

COVID-19 typically causes flu-like symptoms including a fever and cough.

In some patients – particularly the elderly and others with other chronic health conditions – these symptoms can develop into pneumonia, with chest tightness, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

It seems to start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.

After a week, it can lead to shortness of breath, with about 20% of patients requiring hospital treatment.

Notably, the COVID-19 infection rarely seems to cause a runny nose, sneezing, or sore throat (these symptoms have been observed in only about 5% of patients). Sore throat, sneezing, and stuffy nose are most often signs of a cold.

Examples of possible development of symptoms (from actual cases)

A man in his 40s in Japan:

• Day #1: malaise and muscle pain
• later diagnosed with pneumonia

A man in his 60s in Japan:

• Day #1: initial symptoms of low-grade fever and sore throat.

A man in his 40s in Japan:

• Day #1: chills, sweating and malaise
• Day #4: fever, muscle pain and cough

A woman in her 70s, in Japan:

• Day #1: 38° fever for a few minutes
• Day #2-3: went on a bus tour
• Day #5: visited a medical institution
• Day #6: showed symptoms of pneumonia.

A woman in her 40s, in Japan:

• Day #1: low-grade fever
• Day #2: 38° fever
• Day #6: being treated at home.

A man in his 60s, in Japan:

• Day #1: Cold
• Day #6: Fever of 39° C. (102.2 F)
• Day #8: Pneumonia

How long do symptoms last?

Using available preliminary data, the Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission published on Feb. 28 by WHO, [5] which is based on 55,924 laboratory confirmed cases, observed the following median time from symptoms onset to clinical recovery:

• mild cases: approximately 2 weeks
• severe or critical disease: 3 – 6 weeks
• time from onset to the development of severe disease (including hypoxia): 1 week

Among patients who have died, the time from symptom onset to outcome ranges from 2 – 8 weeks

Information on Coronavirus Symptoms from Government Health Officials

Canada Public Health Agency

The Canadian PHAC section dedicated to the 2019 novel coronavirus states that:

• You may have little to no symptoms.
• You may not know you have symptoms of COVID-19 because they are similar to a cold or flu.
• Symptoms may take up to 14 days to appear after exposure to the virus. This is the longest known infectious period for this virus.

Symptoms have included:

• fever
• cough
• difficulty breathing
• pneumonia in both lungs

In severe cases, infection can lead to death.

UK Government and NHS

The UK National Health Service (NHS) section dedicated to Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) lists the following as the main symptoms of coronavirus:

• a cough
• a high temperature
• shortness of breath

The GOV.UK novel coronavirus guidance for the public page says:

• Typical symptoms of coronavirus include fever and a cough that may progress to a severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

The GOV.UK clinical guidance on Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV): epidemiology, virology and clinical features notes that:

• Fever, cough or chest tightness, and dyspnoea are the main symptoms reported. While most cases report a mild illness, severe are also being reported, some of whom require intensive care.

Australian Government

The Australian Government Department of Health informs that symptoms can range from mild illness to pneumonia, adding that some people will recover easily, while others may get very sick very quickly. According to their list of novel coronavirus symptoms, people may experience:

• fever
• flu-like symptoms such as coughing, sore throat and fatigue
• shortness of breath

Symptoms observed in hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Below we list the symptoms, with percentages representing the proportion of patients displaying that symptom, as observed in hospitalized patients tested and identified as having laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection. These findings refer to hospitalized patients, therefore generally representing serious or critical cases. The majority of cases of COVID-19 (about 80%) is mild.

Findings from the Wang et al study published on JAMA and based on 138 hospitalized patients 

Common symptoms included: (Wang et al study)
Fever	98.6%
Fatigue	69.6%
Dry cough	59.4%

The median time observed:

• from first symptom to → Dyspnea (Shortness of breath) = 5.0 days
• from first symptom to →Hospital admission = 7.0 days
• from first symptom to → ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) = 8.0 days (when occurring)

Full list of symptoms from the Wang study:

Findings from the Huang et al study published on The Lancet and based on 41 hospitalized patients 

COMMON SYMPTOMS AT ONSET OF ILLNESS (Huang et al study)
Fever	98%
Cough	76%
Myalgia (muscle pain) or Fatigue	44%
LESS COMMON SYMPTOMS:
Sputum production (coughing up material)	28%
Headache	8%
Haemoptysis (coughing up blood)	5%
Diarrhea	3%

Findings from the Chen et al study published on The Lancet and based on 99 hospitalized patients [4]

Signs and symptoms at admission
Fever	83%
Cough	82%
Shortness of breath	31%
Muscle ache	11%
Confusion	9%
Headache	8%
Sore throat	5%
Rhinorrhoea (runny nose)	4%
Chest pain	2%
Diarrhea	2%
Nausea and vomiting	1%
More than one sign or symptom	90%
	Fever, cough, and shortness of breath	15%

This Is the Best Anti-Aging in-20 According to Science

You’re already using anti-aging moisturizers and anti-aging eye creams–is it time to adopt an anti-aging workout, too? 

A new study published today in the journal European Heart Journal says when it comes down to the anti-aging effects of exercise, cardio is queen.

Endurance exercise–like running, swimming, or bicycling–and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) both slowed signs of aging compared to lifting weights–at least on the cellular level.

Here’s how the study went down: A team of German researchers divided 124 healthy but inactive adults between the ages of 30 and 60 into four groups.

 One group carried on with their non-existent exercise routines. The other three sweated it out for 45-minute sessions three times a week for 26 weeks.

The endurance training group walked or ran continuously. The HIIT group completed a warmup, four rounds alternating between faster and slower running, and a cool down.

 The resistance training group used eight different strength-training machines to complete a circuit of exercises including seated chest presses, lat pulldowns, and leg presses.

At the end of the study, people in both the endurance training and the HIIT groups had experienced anti-aging effects of their workouts, while the inactive and resistance training groups did not.

 Those turn-back-the-clock effects were measured at the cellular level, by examining white blood cells from blood taken before the start of the study and days after the final exercise session.

In those cells from runners and HIIT-ers, researchers noted two important changes: Their telomeres–the caps at the ends of  chromosomes–lengthened, and telomerase–an enzyme involved in maintaining those caps–increased. 

These effects “are both important for cellular aging, regenerative capacity, and thus, healthy aging,” study author Ulrich Laufs, MD, of Leipzig University in Germany, said in a statement.

Telomeres naturally shrink over time, and as they do, cells die instead of continuing to divide. Cell death is bad news not just for wrinkles and gray hair, but for risk of age-related health concerns like heart disease, cognitive decline, and even early death.

So what was it about endurance and HIIT workouts that could stave off that shrinkage? The researchers hypothesize that those types of exercise affected levels of nitric oxide in the blood.

 Since nitric oxide increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure, it could in turn have affected the cell changes found in these two groups of participants.

This isn’t the first study to link exercise to telomere length. A team from Brigham Young University found that adults who jogged for 30 to 40 minutes five times a week had telomeres as long as those of people who were 9 years younger than them, for example.

 And HIIT workouts have been previously linked with additional anti-aging cellular changes. The new study, however, is thought to be the largest ever to directly compare the anti-aging effects on telomeres of different types of exercise.

However, according to an accompanying editorial published alongside the study, this research doesn’t necessarily mean one workout or the other is better for your physical fitness.

 “The authors reported that changes in telomere length were not associated with changes in cardiorespiratory fitness,” write the editorial authors, of Newcastle University in the UK.

 Further studies are needed, they say, to clearly understand the link between telomere length, telomerase activity, and disease prevention.

In the meantime, don’t go giving up your strength sessions. These results fall nicely in line with common exercise recommendations. 

“Our data support the European Society of Cardiology’s current guideline recommendations that resistance exercise should be complementary to endurance training rather than a substitute,” study co-author Christian Werner, MD, of Saarland University in Germany, said in a statement.

Same goes for recently updated exercise guidelines for Americans, which suggest getting 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity per week, as well as at least two sessions of muscle-strengthening activity.

www.playgamesnews.com

10 Sex Positions 

10 Sex Positions 

Probably the last thing you feel like doing when you’re nursing a cold or the flu is getting hot and bothered. But here’s a reason to reconsider: People who have sex one to two times a week actually produce more of the antibody that prevents illnesses, which boosts your immune system. Sex, one could argue, might actually help you get over your illness.

If you are up for bumping and grinding, you don’t want to get your partner sick—otherwise you’ll end up passing your germs back and forth endlessly.

 Colds and the flu are viral infections, so “they’re transmitted via saliva and breath,” Felice Gersh, MD, an ob-gyn and the founder and director of the Integrative Medical Practice of Irvine in California, tells Health. “Anything you can do in bed to lower contact between your mouths would prevent transmitting illness,” she says.

While certain face-to-face positions are off the table (sorry, missionary) and kissing is out of the question, there are plenty of pleasure-producing moves you can still enjoy. Next time you’re sniffly but horny, try one of these sex positions.

Side-by-side solo 

Sure it sounds tame, but lying near your partner on a bed and playing with just yourselves has some sweet benefits. “You aren’t actually touching or exchanging fluids, so there’s little risk of spreading a cold,” August McLaughlin, author of Girl Boner: The Good Girl’s Guide to Sexual Empowerment, tells Health.

 “It can also be extremely hot to watch a partner play with their sexy parts while taking you in with their eyes. Plus, many people experience orgasm faster during solo play, which can be helpful when you’re turned on but lack energy.”

Spooning

Getting it on back to front is one of the easiest ways to avoid the face-to-face connection. “The ‘little spoon’ has their face turned away from their partner completely,” Kayla Lords, a sex expert at online sex toy shop Jack and Jill, tells Health. 

“This position also allows for vaginal penetration, anal penetration, or stimulation with hands or sex toys, so there’s no shortage of pleasure.”

Seated missionary

The problem with missionary is that it positions your face too close to your partner’s. This variation switches things up a bit. “One of you needs to sit up while your partner is lying flat on their back,” Laurel House, a sex expert with sex toy company My First Blush, tells Health.

 “If you’re the one seated, press your pelvises together, bend your knees, and sit on your calves and feet so your torsos are perpendicular.” You’ll get the same clitoral g-spot stimulation as with regular missionary without the risky mouth-breathing.

Doggy style

Because you can’t see (or breathe into) each other’s faces, doggy style is a no-brainer when you’re under the weather. “You can do it in a variety of positions: on all fours with your head up so you don’t have to deal with a runny nose, on your knees with your head on the bed or pillow if you’re just totally wiped, or somewhere in between,” suggests Lords.

Clitoris maximus

This is similar to missionary, but the partner on top should evenly distribute their weight on the bottom partner while resting their head over that person’s shoulder, advises McLaughlin.

 “The top person slides up and down while keeping as much body contact as possible, which is great for clitoral stimulation,” she adds. It’s a win-win: lots of direct stimulation without being directly in each other’s faces, which would make spreading nasty germs more likely.

The scissors

This one’s a bit more complicated logistically, so if your cold is making you fuzzy-headed, you might want to save it for later. “Both of you will have your legs scissored open, intertwining them so that you push together at the pelvis,” says House. 

“With your heads on opposite sides of the bed, reach out to hold hands in the middle, helping with pumping and grinding.” The major plus here: Your faces will be completely away from each other, putting the brakes on any germ swapping.

Reverse chair

In this position, one partner sits in a chair while the other sits on top of them, facing away. “While this may be most common for vaginal penetration, it can be used for anal sex and digital penetration, as well,” says Lords. It’s also the perfect position for letting the person on top control the speed and intensity. “If you’re feeling up for it, you can move vigorously, or you can go slower if your cold still has you down,” she says.

Planking on pillows

If doggy style is just too much for your beleaguered body, add some support. “One partner lies on their stomach on top of one or two pillows, with their weight resting gently on their forearms and their head poised up,” explains McLaughlin. “The other partner enters vaginally or anally from behind.” Since both your heads are up, it’s less likely runny noses will kill your sex drive, and since you’re facing away from each other, there’s less chance of microbes spreading.

Lotus love

If you’re craving more of a face-to-face connection, sit in a cross-legged hug, with one person on the other’s lap. “You basically wrap your arms and legs around each other in a seated hug,” says McLaughlin. “But you aren’t poised mouth-to-mouth, which helps prevent cold germs from spreading.” It’s also a comfortable position that’s easy to maintain when you’re drained and fatigued.

Oral action

While swapping saliva can pass your infection to your partner, saliva on your private parts poses no risk. If you’re the one who is sick, you’re probably not going to want to go down on your partner. “That doesn’t mean you can’t receive some good oral love,” says House. “Plus, if you’re on the receiving end, you can comfortably lie back, avoiding any runny nose or cough-inducing issues.”

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The 7 Alcohol You Can Actually Drink

The 7 Alcohol You Can Actually DrinkYes, most alcoholic beverages are essentially carbohydrate in liquid form. And yes, since your carbs are so limited on the keto diet, you’re better off choosing carbs that are bundled with good-for-you nutrients. 

(Think whole grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables—all of which are chock-full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and disease-fighting compounds.) 

But hello, we’re realists: Sometimes you want, deserve, or just need a drink. So what are your best options?

It can be tricky to figure out how many carbs alcoholic beverages contain because they aren’t required to come labeled with nutrition facts. Below we’ve founded up a few of the most keto-friendly drinks, plus a few you should definitely skip (sorry, sake fans). 

First though, we want to clear up some confusion about booze and keto that’s been spreading on the Inter webs. You may have read somewhere that your body produces ketones as it breaks down alcohol (which in theory at least, sounds like a good thing). Not so, though. 

“There’s nothing magical about alcohol enhancing ketogenesis long-term,” says sports nutritionist Chris Mohr, PhD, RD. “The general metabolism of alcohol as a whole falls outside of the ketogenic metabolic pathways.”

Don’t be fooled by the rumor. If you’re going to enjoy a cocktail, do it because it adds a little balance to your day, and diet—everything in moderation, right?

The best (and worst) alcohol for the keto diet

No matter what proof (80 through 100), gin, rum, vodka, and whiskey all have 0 grams of carbohydrate in a jigger (or 1.5 ounces). Have your drink neat, on the rocks, or with a splash of plain soda water. And it’s best to pour your own rather than cracking open one of those pre-made spiked seltzers; one can deliver anywhere from 1 to 5 grams carbohydrate.

If you’re craving a glass of wine, budget for it, and keep the pour size in mind. A glass of white wine ranges from 3 to 6 grams of carbohydrate per five ounces. (The sweeter whites—think riesling versus chardonnay—typically have more carbohydrates.) At home, you’re likely to pour more than five ounces, especially if you have larger wine glasses.

 And a standard restaurant pour is six ounces. Red wine has a tighter range of carbohydrates, at 3 to 4 grams per 5-ounce pour, with little variation between varieties.

Skip beer: It’s essentially bread in a bottle. A can of beer has around 12 grams of carbs. Though if you must have a beer, seek out a light beer, which comes in at around half that carb load per can.

Two other no-nos: mixers (they’re all pretty much sugar-laden) and sake. A 6-ounce pour is fairly common for sake, and it delivers nearly 9 grams of carbohydrate.

An unexpected perk of going keto

In any trendy diet, there are always nuggets of wisdom buried somewhere—and keto is no exception. Because it involves such a tight carb budget, the diet doesn’t leave much room for regular alcohol consumption. And when you do imbibe, quantity is limited, so you’re likely to stay within the recommended limit. 

(That’s one drink per day for women, and two for men.) Considering that more and more research suggests moderate drinking may be more detrimental to our health than experts previously thought, the keto diet’s booze restrictions could be a really good thing in the long run.

The keto diet has made its way to the Jersey Shore. More specifically, to the Jersey Shore Family Vacation in Miami. After five years, our favorite guidos and guidettes have changed—a lot. JWoww and Snooki are moms, “The Situation” is in the throes of a legal battle, and Vinny refuses to eat pizza crust.

Yes, his mom still does his laundry, but the new-and-improved Vinny Guadagnino is extremely disciplined about his diet and exercise regimen. In fact, you can find shirtless selfies and keto-approved meals on his spinoff Instagram account, @ketoguido.

 But when the tequila started flowing, his roommates noticed that he got drunk at warp speed. This led to several comments about how Vinny’s keto diet was to blame.

Curious, we decided to look into the Shore housemates’ belief that eating high-fat, low-carb meals bumps up a person’s drunk rate. 

Thanks to Health’s contributing nutrition editor Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, we can tell Vinny that imbibing without laying a carb base should really slow down inebriation.

“Actually, proteins and fats provide a better buffer for alcohol than carbs, because they get digested slower,” she says. “So it’s more likely that he drank on an empty stomach or was dehydrated.” 

Online Income-2020 Simple Affiliate Marketing

Online Income-2020

Affiliate marketing is a multi billion-dollar industry that’s been proven to increase the income of vendors and affiliate alike.

It can go both ways. You can recruit affiliates to market your products or you can become an affiliate partner to promote the products of businesses that complement your own.

Both work to increase your revenue.

The key in both cases is to find the right partners. Once you do, you’ll need to track what’s working and what’s not with the right tools.

There are multiple platforms dedicated to finding affiliate offers such as Click bank, Flexoffers, and even Amazon.

Before choosing an actual offer, make a choice about what type of affiliate offer you’d like to promote. This will help you narrow your choices to a manageable few within your niche.

1. Digital Downloads

This class of affiliate products pays a higher percentage of the sale amount because the cost of delivery and hosting is negligible. They also tend to be cheaper.

They’re online resources that customers can access instantly after paying for them.

They range from audio files, video files, or PDF files. An example is the entire Amazon Ebook marketplace or software such as WordPress plugins.

Since they’re relatively inexpensive, it’s easier to get the sale but you’ll have to sell a high volume to receive a sizable income.

2.Hosted or professional services

Professional services are a great way to achieve another stream of income through affiliate marketing. Before you settle on a provider, it’s important that you can vouch for their services.

Professional services tend to be more expensive than digital downloads. Hosted services, on the other hand, are cheaper but tend to follow a recurring subscription model.

Choose services that can cater to a worldwide audience as opposed to only local clientele. These are professional services like digital marketing or SEO (search engine optimization). An example of a hosted service would be a product like Lead pages or Convert kit.

As an affiliate for a professional service, you’re usually paid for the initial referral and that payment is much larger than what you can expect from a digital download. Hosted services tend to pay over the life of the subscriber you refer so the payments are small but add up over time.

3. Online Courses

This is a great way to earn a large affiliate income. Online courses are becoming more and more acceptable for adult skills development.

Everything from photography and gardening to digital marketing and productivity is being taught using online courses. In fact, the online education space is a multi billion-dollar industry.

Many of them have a premium price point and pay close to half of the revenue in affiliate income. They’re very similar to digital products but with one distinction – they’re not downloadable.

Choose online courses from reputable providers in your space and market them to your current audience. Within a short time, you’ll have enough extra income to offset more costs in your business.

4. Physical products

Affiliate marketing started with physical products. They’ve adapted very well to the internet. The first thing you’ll notice about physical products is they pay a much smaller percentage than other types of affiliate products.

This is natural because there are more costs associated with manufacturing, storage, and delivery.

Choose products that are unique, premium, and noteworthy. Commodity products aren’t worth your time because the commissions will be too small.

Market your Affiliate Products .

Affiliate marketing can be a full-time business and it is for many people. That’s not what we’re after. We’re going to look at a few ways to promote your affiliate products to increase your revenue without taking away time and energy from your core business.

I’d recommend not placing them as a direct offer on your website. This may dilute the effectiveness of your core offer. Instead, we’ll mainly market to existing audience members.

Real Work-From-Home Jobs for 2020

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If you want to coast into the future with real skills that pay, check out these real work-at-home jobs for 2020 and beyond:

Virtual Assistant

With so many businesses operating mostly, or even completely, online, it’s no wonder that many hire virtual assistants to help keep them organized and complete administrative tasks. According to the International Virtual Assistants Association, these workers are “independent contractors who (from a remote location, usually their home or office) support multiple clients in a variety of industries by providing administrative, creative, and technical services.”

Although virtual assistant jobs vary drastically, tasks can include composing and responding to emails, creating and distributing business-related documents, responding to media and business inquiries, writing and creating content, and more. Check out virtual assistant jobs at sites such as Upwork.com and Zirtual.com.

While pay varies, virtual assistants can typically charge between $15 and $75 an hour. However, what you’ll earn depends on who you work for and the level of skill required for your daily tasks.

Medical Transcriptionist

Although many medical transcriptionists work for hospitals or physician’s offices, most are able to work at home, and at a time or place of their choosing. Since their tasks involve transcribing recorded medical dictation, a computer, desk, and earpiece are generally the only requirements after completing a postsecondary medical transcriptionist program.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), medical transcriptionists earned a national median wage of $35,720 in May of 2019, or $17.17 an hour. Although many medical transcriptionists are self-employed, many find jobs through their local hospital, physician, or community college or vocational school.

Translator

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most translators do their work at home, and often under tight deadlines. Although some need a bachelor’s degree, the most important requirement for translators is, of course, fluency in at least two languages.

As the BLS notes, around 22% of translators were self-employed in 2019. The majority were spread among these industries: professional, scientific, and technical services (30%); state, local, and private educational services (23%); hospitals (8%); and government (6%).

The national median wage for this career was $46,120 in 2019, although the top 10% of workers earned an average of $83,010. Look for job postings for translators on sites like Upwork.com.

Web Developer

It’s fairly easy to build your own website if you take advantage of the many free learning opportunities online. However, much of the population isn’t equipped to build their own site, or doesn’t have the time, which is why so many people make a living building websites and blogs for others. According to the BLS, around 16% of web developers were self-employed in 2019, with the vast majority able to work at home, or anywhere with a laptop and speedy Internet connection.

Even better, the national median wage for web developers was $66,130 in 2019, with the top 10% earning an average of $119,550. And you typically don’t need an advanced degree to begin working in this field. All you need is some postsecondary education, applicable experience, and a portfolio of successful sites you’ve built and managed. There are even intensive coding boot camps designed to teach programming skills in just a few short months.

Travel Agent

Although the demand is expected to decrease over the next decade, the opportunities are still there for travel agents who can harness the Internet to earn clients and help them plan their adventures. According to the BLS, job prospects may be best for travel agents who offer expertise in certain regions of the world, have experience planning tours or adventures, or who focus on group travel.

Around 15% of travel agents were self-employed in 2016, but the vast majority of the rest of them worked in the travel arrangement and reservation services industry. Travel agents earned a national median wage of $36,460 in 2019.

This Couple Lost 235 Pounds

This Couple Lost 235 Pounds on the Keto Diet in Under a Year

April McIntosh always had a complicated relationship with food. She struggled with her weight growing up and regularly indulged in fatty, sugary meals to deal with her emotions. April always wanted to lose weight, and she made an effort to be active, but she just couldn’t get her diet on track.

That all changed about a year ago, when April and her husband, Chris, discovered the high-fat, low-carb keto diet—and lost a collective 235 pounds.

Last November, the number staring back at April on the scale was 330 pounds, and for Chris it was 316. April tells Health the Virginia couple’s diet consisted of processed, less-than-healthy foods like mac and cheese, frozen chicken nuggets, and instant mashed potatoes. “Stuff that really had no nutritional value,” she says.

Chris is a mechanic, a job that calls for long, stressful hours, he says. His food choices reflected this. If he was making lunch to take to work, he would throw together “whatever was quick,” he tells Health. At the end of the workday, he indulged to take the edge off. “Eating was my coping mechanism,” he says.

Slowly but surely, April began to realize that her weight was holding her back. One moment that stands out to her was when she was at an amusement park with her 8-year-old brother. He was dying to ride a roller coaster with his big sister, but April was panicked about it, she recalls.

“While we were in line, I was thinking ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be able to fit or if it’s going to be dangerous because I’m so much larger than him and the bar isn’t going to close properly to keep him safe,’” April says. 

When it was their turn to get on the ride, April’s fears came true. Her hips couldn’t fit in the seat, and she had to tell her little brother she couldn’t ride with him.

April wishes that would have been the final straw to force her to commit to losing weight. But that breaking-point moment finally happened a few months later, when she and Chris were at an awards dinner. She dressed up for it, and she felt like she looked incredible.

 But when she saw the photos from the night, the woman she saw on the screen didn’t look anything like the way she felt. “It was mind-blowing to me that I got to a point where I didn’t even recognize myself,” she says.

At that moment, April was done sitting back and watching her health spiral out of control. She had been following keto success stories on social media, and though she was skeptical about giving up foods like pasta, she knew something had to change.

So on the last day of November 2017, April made the switch to keto. She admits the first few days were hard, especially because of the hunger. But after about a week, she noticed healthy changes. “I had more energy, I didn’t feel bloated all the time, and I was really excited,” she says.

Chris, on the other hand, wasn’t convinced keto was for him. He stuck to his usual meal choices while he watched April give the high-fat, low-carb keto lifestyle a go. Chris didn’t think he could give up foods like bread and potatoes, which had been staples of his diet for his entire life.

It took him about a month of watching April’s progress to join her on her weight-loss journey. As soon as he got on board, he knew he made the right choice.

 “You won’t believe the places you lose weight,” he says—explaining that he wears rubber gloves to work, and in a short period of time, he dropped a glove size.

April and Chris agree that those early signs of success motivated them to stick to it. They replaced their usual frozen chicken nuggets with steak, cheese, broccoli, and bacon, and they made sure they were getting exercise in ways that worked for them. 

April says she likes to walk a mile or two on her lunch break to get her body moving, and Chris works on his feet all day and does active house chores like splitting wood.

Now, a year later, April has lost 135 pounds and weighs in at 195. Chris has lost 100 pounds and clocks in at 216.

Both are more confident about the way they look, and they love that they no longer worry that their weight is holding them back from pursuing activities and hobbies. But April believes that the most rewarding part for her is her newfound freedom from food.

“I don’t feel like food controls me anymore,” she says. “When I put something in my mouth, it’s because I know what I’m doing, it’s intentional. I’m not just eating to eat.”

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