Simona Zucca's Keto Healing Journey Story

Content creator and blogger, Simona Zucca has been one of our top contributors since the early start of Funky Fat Foods. Simona started a Keto diet about 3 years ago. When she came across this diet on the internet and started reading and investigating it, her journey has been wonderful and she has been sharing it every step of the way via her Instagram @trustnocarb packed with Keto recipes from drinks to meals to the most amazing desserts. of everything.  

In this podcast, Simona tells us about her Keto journey and the benefits she has experienced these years, and how she stays true to her diet. How she trains, what a day in her life looks like, and the changes she has seen physically and mentally thanks to Keto. 

Simona Zucca, I started Keto in January 2020. A few months later I saw your website. I can’t really remember how I got there. I tried them and I wrote a review on my website. Later around spring, summer, Louisa contacted me for a collaboration. We started with a blog post and that is how it started. I was really excited when you reached out to me because I loved the chocolate, A big fan!

Why I started Keto

I started Keto because I was out of shape and wanted to lose weight, and didn't feel good anymore. My clothes didn’t look good on me anymore. I read about Keto before I started because I wanted to be fully prepared. I used to read about the benefits of Keto and I was really curious about every benefit of it. For example the energy boost and that you have less hunger.

Before I did Keto I suffered a lot. When I didn’t eat for 3 hours straight I got really bad stomach pain. My belly blew up. I was more curious about this than the weight loss. I was shocked about how Keto helped my hunger.

The first thing I discovered about Keto was what I taught on Instagram. Like a reel I think. It came to me. I wasn’t really looking for a new diet or lifestyle. After that I discovered everything.

Since 2013 I have lived in the Netherlands so it is 10 years now. I am from Italy. There it is really normal to eat a lot of carbs. We mixed the food from Italy and the Netherlands. We ate really bad because of the carbs and everything. It was a mix of it. 

My blog

I started a blog because I love traveling. With Italian music just sitting in the background and just doing my thing. But I also had a blog but I didn’t know what the blog was about. When I started Keto I came to the conclusion that I wanted to talk Keto all the time but I didn’t want to bother anyone with it. Then the blog was born. For me it was really hard to find a healthy lifestyle blog in the Netherlands to start with. It was not really a topic people were talking about. Keto is now getting popular and that is also why I decided to write about it in my blog. Finding a low carb place in the Netherlands is also really hard. I am very happy that there are some differences in the supermarket. For example the courgette spaghetti it is nice to have the opportunity to choose the low carb. They are starting to understand.

Keto on partners 

Louisa Bakker - Owner of Funky Fat Foods. For me, my partner isn’t eating keto right now. I am convinced that you can’t force your partner to do things like that and they only can have a thin lifestyle if they also want it. My partner loves the sugary things like the granola and the yogurt in the morning but for example my father he is living Keto for a year straight now. So it isn’t that you can’t advice people to do it, it is just not for everybody. When my boyfriend wants to eat a pizza that is fine for me. I will just eat some chicken. You do you. How is that for you Simona? 

Well I am lucky because my boyfriend also does Keto with me. It is a little bit different because sometimes my husband wants some more carbs. He gets tired of the food sometimes. So he does eat the same things like I eat but sometimes with a little bit more carbs. But it goes great.

Keto in the office

This is exactly a funny story because at the beginning I just brought my food to the office. But then I discovered there was a restaurant nearby that allows me to do Keto and just to remove the bread so that I could change it into something that I like to eat. So that was fine. I do my best. When you don’t cook, of course you don't know what is inside but I do my best. I always have a Funky Fat Foods bar in my bag. Of Course I drink black coffee or tea. So it is going well. My collega’s know it. Sometimes they ask me things like “Simona what is that bread” but some of them tried in the past. They find it very difficult. But the more you do it the more it is natural. 

I know that this is something that works for me. So when I went on my honeymoon I knew that I wasn’t going to eat Keto then. I went to Hawaii and wanted to try all the food there. That was not Keto. But for me it is also important to try the things there. When I get back I am motivated and disciplined again but then I want to know how the food is and everything. That is the balance for me.  

Louisa: I also think it is good that people, especially women, get out of Ketose for a little while. So that they don’t get scared of the food and to be flexible in a way. For example when you are on your period and you feel like eating a little bit more carbs that is fine, enjoy but just don’t go crazy on it. 

Intermittent fasting 

I tried intermittent fasting for the first time three years ago. It was a nice experience. I did this very often for like 16 or 18 hours straight. That time I was working in a store, so I was really busy, so it was easy not to think about the food. Currently, I do it every day. I fast for 16 hours, so from dinner to lunch. That is easy. I want to incorporate it again. Next week I am going to prepare meals. I want to try Omad, which is 1 meal a day. I want to change from 16 hours to 1 meal daily. I am not counting anything like calories because I don’t think I can eat a lot of the one meal I will eat. I will start with a big salad with some extra virgin oil, some salt, some protein like fish or meat, maybe one egg and for some vets something like avocado. I will always leave some space for dessert. That is necessary! It is everything you need for one day but not that much of everything.  

Going to the gym 

I was working out in my house, not hard, just in the morning or after work. I wanted to work out in a gym, but I wanted to go to the gym when the gym was quite empty. Because I want to focus just on myself and not have to wait for a machine. So that is why I go in the morning, around 6 am. I am very productive in the morning. So I do as much as possible in the morning. I work out in the morning, shower, and am ready to work. 

I lift weights because it is the best way to burn calories. When you focus more on cardio, yeah, you lift more calories, but when you build your muscles, you can burn calories all day long. When your lifting, you are really going to define your body. besides that, I like to challenge myself. I like the weights and see the growth. When we get old, we also have to challenge our bodies. So I think that weightlifting is healthy. You don’t need carbs to build muscles. 

Where you can find Simona:

Instagram: trustnocarb

Website: trustnocarb.com