Easter Tidings

Hope all my readers who celebrate it, have a blessed Easter. Hey I hope all my readers who don't celebrate have a great day too!

We had our holiday meal yesterday at my parent's house. I woke up not hungry at al, not even enough for a BPC. I decided to heed my body and save my calories for lunch. A regular coffee with a splash of heavy cream was it. It was about then I began to wonder if maybe I had become fat adapted. The whole concept of "fat adaption" is confusing to me, and elusive. It's sort of the holy grail in keto diet circles, because it means your body is burning stored fat as energy and oxidizing dietary fat for energy. Once you fat adapt, you can easily fast or skip meals without feeling ravenous or tired. Once you're in ketosis it can apparently take anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months to fat adapt. This is what I can say, I was not hungry before lunch yesterday. I was not hungry after lunch yesterday. I am not hungry this morning. I am not experiencing any crazy levels of energy or euphoria though and many people describe those as part of fat adaption. I'm not sluggish and tired though, on the flip side. I'm just normal me. So am I fat adapted? Maybe. I really just can not be sure.

Lunch:

Holiday meals can be a huge pain to navigate when you're in a hardcore change of diet mode. Fortunately my parents have been eating much healthier themselves in recent months. My mother was also aware of my dietary restrictions and made sure there was plenty for me to pick from. I had ham, I used the "deck of cards" eyeball portion method I have read about on other pages. About 1/2 C of a cheesy, creamy, bacony cauliflower side dish, some asparagus, and some salad.

One of our shared table limitations is that my parents rely on low fat substitutes where possible. My father is a cardiac patient and they have their own medically approved diet. The dishes were delicious and I felt like I avoided most non-Keto ingredients, but mom does rely on low fat cream cheese, low fat sour cream, low fat cheese in her recipes. Interestingly, I could actually feel the difference. This is a pretty cool thing- because it means my body is recognizing what fuel it likes/needs. So while portion was pretty on point to my typical plate, I wasn't exactly sated. Not a hungry feeling, but this certain knowledge in my gut it needed more fat. I'll share how I fixed that momentarily but first look up at those desserts. My weakness is coconut chocolate stuff, and mom's home made coconut easter eggs are a standard favorite. This was a HUGE NSV ("non scale victory") because I looked, I smelled, I said no thanks. She suggested I could have just one, everything in moderation- and I replied, no I really can't. It's true. A sugar bomb in the middle of the day would have been the worst mistake ever. And choosing something I love that much- would have surely led to me saying "screw it!" and eating more because oh well, the day was wasted. Big victory!

I don't mean to suggest I'll never "cheat". Many purists believe cheating is never an okay part of your diet plan. Personally, I have an allowance for slips (1 meal per month). But I'm saving it and using it wisely, and I already have this months planned. Anyway, onward.... to that little fat deficiency problem...

Snack:

 

So what to do when you know you're way low on fat, but you're not exactly wanting a meal considering you just ate one? I made a massive fat bomb BPC. 1 C coffee, 1 tbl butter, 1 tsp coconut oil, a bunch of canned coconut milk (sugar free) with the thick stuff too, and topped it all with whipped cream. Good golly, drank that and it was like I had eaten a philly cheesesteak and bowl of fries, I felt so full!

Dinner:

The PLAN for dinner had been these delicious keto bagels, made into sandwiches with leftover Easter ham and fried eggs. The reality was, I was stuffed from my one modest plate and 1 bulletproof coffee. Again, am I fat adapted?? The family had ham sandwiches on them, I finally was able to get one of these yummy delights down with some butter in the evening without any ham or eggs.

These WILL be made again. My husband doesn't eat low carb, he likes his gluten and his grains and his sugar and these had none of that- but he LOVED them. They're not really bagel consistency, softer, chewier and honestly more flavorful.

The recipe is from Reddit and has been reposted many times so I don't have an original author to credit. It goes as follows, and makes 6 bagels. I did not use a donut pan and it was fine, I used Trader Joes Everything But The Bagel seasoning on half and cheddar on the other half:

3 cups shredded mozzarella

1.5 cups almond flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

2 tsp xantham gum (Bob's Red Mill again)

4 Tbsp. cream cheese

2 eggs

Toppings (to taste)

Sesame seeds

Poppy seeds

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Preparation • Preheat oven to 400° • In a bowl mix the almond flour, xantham gum, and eggs until combined • Place mozzarella and cream cheese in a medium pot and cook on low heated until melted • Once the cheese is melted, combine with the other mixture. Knead until thoroughly combined (you will need a mixer, the flour, eggs and xantham powder get really hard to mix after a little bit) • Roll the dough into log shapes and rest them into your donut pan, then sprinkle your toppings • Bake for 18 minutes

Finally the numbers, and these include a few glasses of red wine last night and my usual powerade zero in the morning.

• Carbs: 21 net
• Protein: 43g
• Fat: 109g
• Cals: 1165

And my favorite part of this morning? 

Scale -1.3 lbs!

With that, Keto on bunnies!