Anniversaries are for celebrating.

Happy April Fools Day, y'all! And Happy Easter for those who celebrate it!
Today is also my wedding anniversary. What a wonderful journey this has been. 1,460 days married. All totaled, 5 years together. As we were getting closer to the weekend and talking about what we wanted to do to celebrate we decided to go out to dinner at a nice restaurant. Some place new. I started wondering what the menu would be like and if there would be dishes that were keto friendly. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I don't want to be that person who has to modify everything on the menu to accommodate our meal plan. I don't want to get upset or angry or sad that I can't enjoy a special event with friends and family, just because we are following the keto plan. I have a lot of weight to loose. It could take a year or more to get to where I need to be for my health. How many birthdays, holidays and anniversaries will I have to miss out on, or sit through in misery. So I made a decision. I am not going to miss out. I mean really, how often do we go out with friends to celebrate a birthday or holiday? Its not that often. And there are weeks, even months in between where we can keep up with meal plans and shopping. So we went out to dinner last night, and we didn't stress about what we would or could eat. We just enjoyed the experience of a new restaurant, and celebrating each other and our journey. We were pleasantly surprised that the menu had several items that were very Keto friendly, so by happy coincidence our meal was pretty compliant in that respect. We had muscles cooked with bacon and butter and other yumminess.

http://feedcompanyeatery.com/

Then there was the 1/2 rack of ribs. They had a lot of pepper, very smokey flavor but were pretty good.

And then there was the pork chop with Brussels sprouts, carrots, arugula and a drizzle of some sort of raspberry glaze.

 

http://www.hgsplyco.com/

It was a lovely dinner. We shared a few whiskey drinks as well, since that was the restaurants specialty. It was a perfect spring evening, dining on the patio. Later we walked across the street to another restaurant for desert. One of the only places in town to find a gluten free and dairy free desert! I had been craving this for a while, and since it was a special occasion we decided to indulge. Chocolate chip banana bread with almond milk ice cream and caramelized bananas. Again, we sat on the patio, people watched and chatted. It was an awesome dinner and desert and I don't regret one single carbohydrate!

So that is our anniversary adventure for this year. Next year is 5 years, who knows what we will do then. But I can assure you whatever it is, we will enjoy it even if we are still following keto! I know this may not work for some, but it has worked for us this weekend. I am back on track this morning with my protein smoothie. I even measured my ketones last night, this morning and this afternoon and while they dipped a little low, they are back up this afternoon. So I am confident that I didn't loose any progress with this one meal. Tonight is dinner at friends. Thankfully, they have been doing keto and gluten free, so we know we will be able to enjoy dinner with no issues there.

So here is my weekly recap

Weigh in: 265.8 lbs
Clothing: jeans are a little looser today
Other changes: I have had a rash from Candida overgrowth that has been angry and irritated. Under my arm pits and in other cracks and creases. I have noticed this week, the rashes are settling down and not so raw and red and itchy. The other thing I noticed is that I was able to wear my wedding rings today for the first time in almost a year, maybe longer. That was a pretty sweet treat for me!

Weekend Recap:

So this week went pretty well. We meal planned last Sunday and shopped for our weekly meals. I has planned for making more snacks for this week and we kinda failed on that note, but somehow both of us managed fine this week. My nutritionist wants me drinking 2 cups of green tea per day. I will admit, I have not been doing that much. It seems as the weather gets warmer, I am not that interested in drinking hot tea. I will keep trying. Maybe I can find a good green tea ice tea recipe to keep in the fridge for hot days. Water intake probably needs to increase as well, although I will say most days I am getting in more then 8 glasses of water a day. Nutritionist says 16 glasses aka 1 gallon of water per day. I thought that was pretty crazy at first, then I start learning about Keto flu and watched my hubby get hit hard with a migraine and realized that this was Keto flu related to lack of electrolytes and lack of adequate water intake. So important to note, water intake and electrolytes are crucial when eating Keto. 

Hope you all had a very blessed holiday weekend, no matter what holiday you celebrated. 

Eat well, sleep well.

Cece

Sunday is for meal planning and grocery shopping

OK, Its 10:30 a.m. and I am starving because I slept in, and haven't eaten breakfast yet. We are sitting here meal planning and getting shopping list together. I guess this is one of those days we will be fasting for breakfast and then eating brunch??? According to keto guidelines you should fast intermittently, so I guess this morning is our fasting time. So for those of you who don't know me well, meal planning for the week is nothing new for my lovely bearded hubby and I. We have been doing this since we started Paleo over 4 years ago. I found this great meal plan/shopping list at Target once and so that is what we used to decide on meals for the week and then make a grocery list for the week. It is super handy. Now days its easy to find printable versions of this notepad on some Paleo websites. I think Nom Nom Paleo has one. You can find lots of meal planning printable here and here.

In the beginning of our Paleo journey we were on a strict budget, so we purchased 2 good Paleo cookbooks and would search the Google for more ideas. Then on Friday or Saturday we would go out to eat and would bring our books and notes with us and sit and look up recipes and decide which ones to try and then we would make our shopping list so we were ready to go on Sunday for shopping. People looked at us so strange when we pulled out cookbooks at the table in a restaurant. But I think they were pleasantly surprised when they realized what we were doing with those books and notepad. It also helps a lot that my husband is completely on board with eating Paleo and now eating Keto. I don't have to explain to him my issues with gluten causing joint pains and stomach issues. I don't have to try to explain to him that milk products of any kind give me migraines, and then sinus infections and horrible heart burn. He believes me. He gets it and he doesn't question it. It is also nice that he shares in my successes and failures.
Like this morning, brunch/lunch was a total failure! We decided to go to this taco place that has great tacos and see if we could create a keto meal here. FAIL! ha ha ha! We ordered the Migas Royale Plate. Then the poor guy behind the counter had to completely modify my plate. First, no tortillas, then there were 3 kinds of cheese we had to eliminate on the plate, then potatoes gotta go too. Then added some bacon for extra protein and fat. When our plates came out, the eggs had tortilla strips cooked into them. Duh... Migas! Oh well. We did the best we could to pick the tortillas out of the migas. At least we tried. Guess we should strike this place off the list for places we can eat Keto for now.
Eating out is so difficult sometimes. We have had to sacrifice so much when it comes to eating out and enjoying our time doing things outside the house. I am tired of being "that person" at restaurants who has to pick apart the menu to find foods I can eat. But it is our life and we are getting better. I have to say, living where we live we have a lot of great options and its nice that the Paleo craze is really starting to influence the types of new restaurants opening up in big cities. I have to say the hardest thing about living gluten free and dairy free is when we travel on road trips. But we are learning more and more each time we travel. Going home to see family we know that my Mom will have a pantry full of GF pancake mix for breakfast and maybe some GF cookie mix and GF cornbread mix. She doesn't understand all the Paleo stuff, but at least she understands the gluten free issues and how important that is for us. There is a new Whole Foods and Trader Joes just on the edge of her neighborhood, so I can easily run to the store to grab DF milk or other items we might need while we are there. Bonus, my Mom is an excellent cook and a healthy cook, so there are always lots of options for us to eat without feeling left out at any meal in her home.
When we went to Colorado for a road trip a year and a half ago, we planned ahead. We took a huge cooler packed with DF milk, GF cereal for breakfasts, GF bread and about 6 large Gourmaleo Paleo pre-made meals, fruit, snacks and a bunch of other stuff I cant remember. We were going to be getting up early and spending entire days at The Tiny House Jamboree with friends, so even though we didn't keep to a strict Paleo diet the entire time we were on vacation, we were fine with eating a little of the rails. It was also very budget friendly for us to bring more then half of our meals with us. We always get back on track when we get home from any trip.

So anyways, we have our shopping done for today. And we have taken our walk before cooking dinner. 1.15 miles this evening around the hood. Dinner was a pretty good success, and the awesome bearded hubby is now washing dishes while I finish up this blog early so I can get to bed on time tonight. Although, it really doesn't matter much if I go to bed now or in 3 hours, because inevitably I will still hit the snooze button 10 times and roll out of bet about 5 minutes before I should leave for work. Maybe I should go ahead and take my shower tonight, so that's one less thing to think about in the morning...

OK, before I go I will share with you our Dinner menu for the week.
Sunday - Skillet Chicken Sausage and Vegetables
Monday - Cobb Salad
Tuesday - Garlic Shrimp and Zoodles
Wednesday - Sheet Pan Pork Chops
Thursday - Burger Bowls
Friday - Chicken Enchilada Bowl (same as last week, yummy!)
Saturday - Date Night for our Anniversary at Feed Company

Good night y'all. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your support. God bless you all.
Cece

This was meal prep for tonights dinner. I am still learning how to add photos. So hopefully I will be able to add some more in my next blog posts. 

Being accountable to myself

So this is where I start to get serious about being accountable to myself. I am going to log some of my meals, some of my stats for fats/proteins/carbs, and report on the challenges and successes of eating out while eating Keto. Not sure yet what my organization is going to be for this, or weather I will stick with the same thing from week to week. We will just have to see how this evolves. 

So my start to Keto was this week, Monday 3/19/2018. My nutritionist asked me to start keeping a food diary. Are you serious??? I couldn't even keep up with my little Anne Frank Diary with the little lock on it when I was 8 years old, and now I have to keep a food diary??? Well, I wont bore you with every single day and every single meal... but I will do my best to give a good idea of what I am doing and if its working or not. Please, if you are more experienced with Keto, feel free to leave me suggestions and comments. But please remember, I am under a nutritionists guidance for this, and she has her own way of doing things. Also, be nice. If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all. I am by no means an expert at this or many other things in life. There is enough hate and bullying in the world. I would like this to be a positive place for me and others. So here we go...

Monday

• Breakfast: 1 cup almond milk, 1 scoop Slim & Sassy V Shake from Doterra, 1 Scoop Intest Restore Vanilla from Energy Health, scrambled egg. 

This went pretty well, although I need to use more almond milk in my shake and I am not sure about the scrambled egg. I only ate half because I was just not hungry for it. But I need to get some more fat into this breakfast. I included the link for the Doterra V Shake. I am a Doterra consultant, so I would love if you purchased from me, however you can order from whomever you like. This just happens to be the protein powder I had in my pantry this week and next week might be something totally different. According to my nutritionist, the macros for this particular shake were ok for what she is wanting me to consume, so I thought it was a good opportunity to use it up. If your curious about essential oils in general or Doterra, feel free to ask me questions or shoot me an email.

• Lunch: Chicken Swedish Meatballs from Ikea (don't laugh, its what was left over from dinner this weekend and not a normal item for us), roasted sliced zucchini,  sweet potato tots (again, leftovers gotta eat them), 1cup blueberries raw, 1 cup green tea.

This went pretty well. I know sweet potatoes are not on the menu for Keto, but they were left over in the fridge and we were trying to finish them off. 

• Dinner: Home made cobb salad, with paleo dressing. mixed greens, bacon, hard boiled eggs, chicken fingers seasoned and cooked in skillet, chopped red pepper and avocado. Here is the link for the Whole30 Paleo Cobb Salad recipe with dressing too.

This went well. I will try to find the link for this salad and post it here for you. We use Primal Kitchen Mayo which is paleo friendly. For all you taking Metformin out there, my mom says mayo gives her tummy troubles, but this mayo doesn't seem to do the same to me. It seems to be pretty safe. 

• Snacks: I had a handful of dry roasted and salted sunflower seeds when I got home from work, as well as 1cup almond milk with 1 scoop of Collagen Fuel Chocolate Coconut flavored.  (this was mostly because I was starving and didn't snack well today. The collagen fuel makes a nice sweet snack. This may become a staple in the cabinet from now on.)

So my first day went well, but of course there were things I need to work on. This was also the first day using the My Fitness Pal app to track all my foods. It was surprisingly easy to enter foods. After playing around with the app I decided to do the 30 day trial for the full version to see if it would help with measuring protein, fat and carb content in my meals. OMG, its totally worth the upgrade! I will post some screen shots here to show you how awesome it is. I love the graphs, and the macros that it shoes me. I am still learning how to use the app, but its really helpful. 
So as the week went on, my breakfast is pretty much the same. I think I ate an egg on Tuesday as well before drinking my smoothie. However, on Thursday and Friday, I opted to add a spoonful of almond butter to my smoothie instead of eating an egg. I am super sleepy in the mornings. No matter how well I sleep, I have a lot of trouble getting out of bed. So I need my breakfast during the week to be super easy and fast, otherwise my husband will have to take over making breakfast for me and he already does most of the house work and chores, so I feel bad making him get up early to make me breakfast too. 
I am a super lucky girl. I really don't deserve my husband. He is amazing and I am beyond grateful that he has joined me on this journey. What I eat, he eats. Although he does not need to loose as much weight as me, so his snacks and breakfasts may look a tad different then mine. 

I wont bore you with every detail of every day of my meals. Breakfast is mostly the same for me as stated previously, my lazy ass is still half asleep while making breakfast in the mornings. Lunches most days will be left overs from the night before. Although this week was a little different. I did eat out a couple of times for lunch and made a few mistakes in ordering, but I didn't beat myself up about it, because what is life without mistakes. Life is messy and I won't allow myself to feel guilty or unsuccessful for making one mistake or 10 mistakes on this meal plan. If you allow yourself to feel guilty every time you make a mistake while trying to make dramatic changes to your eating habits, you are setting yourself up for failure in my opinion. This is where the door opens to say to yourself, "well I messed up again, I can't do this. May as well eat that piece of cake I wanted." 
Well, that's not how I roll. I don't dwell on the mistakes. I pick myself up each time and get back on the horse immediately so to speak. That is how I learn from my mistakes and move forward. 
So here goes the rest of the week in a nutshell:

Tuesday

• Dinner: burger bowls. Simple paleo meal. Make hamburger patties, toss on your favorite salad and dress it anyway you see fit within the guidelines of paleo/keto. 

Wednesday

• Dinner: I was at a friends house working on a super secret crafty quilting and crochet project for super special new mom. So we were working late and went to dinner at one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants. I ordered what is essentially a Korean beef Bolgogi bowl (no clue if I am even spelling that correctly). I had them hold the rice and give extra veggies. This was not the worst but also not the best meal for me for 2 reasons. 1. there were carrots in the veggies which is not really a compliant food for keto and 2. the meat is prepared in an Asian sauce that I believe has some soy sauce which resulted in my feet swelling to the point I had cankles by the time I got home. Opps. Live and learn. But darn it if I don't love that menu item!

Thursday

• Lunch: crazy work day, so I ate at the same restaurant as dinner last night. I ordered the orange chicken bowl this time no carrots, no rice, add extra chicken and a fried egg. This was a way better meal for me, although the sauce is still pretty sweet tasting so probably not the most compliant thing for Keto. Again, live and learn. 
• Dinner: Keto Tuscan Chicken substitute the cream and Parmesan cheese for dairy free equivalents. This recipe is awesome!

Friday

• Dinner: Keto Chicken Enchilada Bowl This recipe was super easy and fast to make and ridiculously yummy! OMG, this recipe reminds me of my days in West Texas eating real Mexican border food! We even fried up a couple of eggs real quick to throw on top just like my friend Michelle taught me one night in her kitchen making real traditional enchiladas. This recipe won't disappoint if your looking for a good compliant Mexican dish!

Saturday

• Lunch: There is a nice new little eatery that opened up about 1 block from my house. So I ran down there to catch up with a friend who checked in there at lunch. I didn't anticipate eating there, but as I watched their food come out I decided I could make a keto meal there. This place is called Grassroots Kitchen and Oh my gerd! Its good stuff. I love that one of the chef's is also GF and DF do she understands my dietary issues. I ordered brisket, hold the corn bread, hold the sauce. Sides included collards and sauteed spinach with garlic. I could have also gotten cole slaw, but I figured most cole slaw has a spoon full of sugar in the dressing, so I opted for the safer spinach. I had a lovely lunch catching up with my former co-worker and her family and also with the chef's of this tiny neighborhood restaurant. 
• Dinner: My lovely bearded husband was busy working hard on finishing our fence all day. So by the time I got home from a fundraising party for the lovely Winker couple and their Mission trip, It was after 6pm and no one felt like cooking. So we went to eat at one of our favorite dinner spots, Mudhen. Its a locally owned farm to table restaurant. We both had the Loco Moco which is basically a burger bowl, but somehow always tastes better when someone else prepares it. 

So that's about it for today. I started out this journey at 280# about a month ago. And as of Friday morning the scale read 268.5# I know that number will fluctuate a little more before we see it stay below 270, but I am pretty happy about this baby step. If you have read this far, then I hope you will read again soon. Thank you for following me on this journey. Thank you for your support and positive encouragement. I hope you have a wonderful evening. 

God bless you and goodnight. 

Cece