Treat Time

My college daughter flew home for summer break yesterday and that meant CELEBRATE!

Dinner was one of her favorites, ravioli with broccoli and alfredo sauce. She's vegetarian so she stopped there. I'm keto so I didn't go there at all. I also cooked up Italian sausages in a tomato sauce for the meat eaters. I enjoyed a sausage link and 1/4 C of y low sugar tomato sauce. Yum!

Celebration time meant a treat too. TJ chocolate peanut butter cupcakes for them. Keto "mug cake" for me.

I made mine, and then put it in the fridge to completely cool before frosting it. In consistency it was like a dense "pudding" you'd get in England, or a bread pudding here in the US. It was super tasty. I promised I'd be really honest in my blog entries so the frosting I creatively thought up? Hated it! Scraped it all off. My husband tasted a little and didn't think it was bad so maybe it's just me, but I didn't care for it.

Recipe:

2 eggs, 2 TBL almond flour, 2 TBL melted butter, 1 packet stevia, 1 TSP cocoa powder, 1/2 TSP vanilla extract, 1/4 TSP baking powder, 1 small square of dark chocolate grated, all mixed well and poured into buttered ramekin. Microwave for 1 minute, let cool.

Note- this is meant for a mug, and it really rose and bubbled and was huge on top which scared me a little lol. As you can see, when I flipped it out, it wasn't a pretty ramiken shape because of the muffin top thingee.

Frosting was some heavy whipping cream , 1 TSP peanut butter, 1 packet stevia, 1 square dark chocolate whipped in the bullet blender. But again, I didn't love this or even like it really- I would skip it next time. 

Oh hey, it's Saturday, official weigh in day. 

This week was a modest success again. I am that 1-3 lb a week loser. I watch with envy these 10 lbs a week losers but I realize I'm not starting at as high a weight as them, and I'm probably not as strict given my evening cocktail/wine habit. And on the up side I have read slower weight loss = less loose skin so we will see.

Lbs lost this weight- 2.4

Lbs lost since starting keto- 21.3

Lbs lost since holidays Fat Peak- 28.3

Keep on ketoing, I know I will!

Everything In Moderation is a lie.

I have heard this phrase my whole life, from parents, from teachers, from friends, from the media, from health gurus, from doctors!  I am declaring this lie a dangerous one.

We wouldn't take heroin in moderation right? Not EVERYTHING is okay in moderation. And here's the thing- for some of us, things that really are perfectly fine for others to have in moderation - would set off a domino effect of bad choices. My friend can eat sugary sweet things and never gain an ounce. It's sort of fascinating to watch as she stuffs sweet things in her skinny little face. If I look at a spaghetti noodle, there go my thighs another size up.

So I'm finding elimination means actually eliminating things, permanently. No, I can't "just this once" have a piece of that bread. No I can't "just a special splurge" that pie. No it doesn't matter if it's my birthday, I still shouldn't have that giant piece of cake. No seriously- I can't enjoy just 3 bites of that rice dish. No REALLY, you using splenda doesn't make those cookies any healthier or more appropriate for my way of eating.

I'm strongly suspecting my biggest issue happens to be grains, moreso even than sugar. I have accidently eaten sugar without any huge effects (most recently some cole slaw at an event that I realized too late was way too sweet.) On the other hand, when I've accidentally eaten grains- like in that delicious fried chicken I should have known better about, I end up feeling awful. My allergies return. My gut feels gross again. I stall out in loss for a few days. I feel bloated. I get moody. I feel achy. CLEARLY grains are not okay for me, not even in moderation.

Whenever I find a grain substitute that doesn't taste like cardboard I am super excited. When I get one that's actually BETTER THAN THE REAL THING? I throw a party in my head! No need to eat THIS in moderation.

This recipe? BETTER THAN THE REAL THING. I followed the exact recipe except I also added some full seed good dijon mustard to the sauce.

https://www.ketoconnect.net/recipe/cauliflower-mac-cheese/

The thing about this dish, an call it cheesy bacony heavenly cauliflower, or call it keto mac n cheese, or call it crack and cheese... whatever you like, is it is supremely cheesy. And savory. And buttery. And well, perfect. And it's spot on KETO friendly! Toss the macaroni noodles forever, you never need them, not even in moderation- with this around.

I opted to strip the cauliflower by hand and it was somehow very therapeutic. I think the pieces were better shaped for this task than with a knife. 

The whole family loved this! I'll be making a vegetarian version of this soon for my eldest daughter when she comes to visit because I know she will love it too (am thinking I will fry up some bacon to sprinkle on top of the meat eater portions once plated)

Forget moderation. Stuff your face with healthy fats and veggies. Feel good and keto on.

To-go, Go-to

Yesterday was a busy day, and the pantry is somehow empty. The family decided they wanted subs from Wawa. I decided to give the Italian sub in a bowl a shot. All I can say is it is YUGE. I ended up eating half of it, and was totally stuffed.

If you're on the road or having a busy day, sometimes you just will not have the time or means to mix up a bowl of fathead pizza dough, or braise a rack of ribs. Sometimes you need options! A few ideas to keep up your (and my sleeve):

• Sub in a bowl. Most of the sandwich chains will make these for you.
• Mcdonald's breakfast platter, eggs, sausage, bacon.
• Mcdonald's egg mcmuffin, minus the muffin. Sausage for higher fat. You can now get these all day!
• Fast food burger without the bun. Check for "all beef" and "no fillers" first to make sure they're not sneaking carbs in.
• Some fast food places now offer lettuce wrapped burgers!
• Eating dinner at a sit down place? Just eat like you would at home- meat and above ground veggies. Can anyone ever go wrong with a ribeye and broccoli?
• Protein salads, be sure it's not a breaded protein source like friend chicken/shrimp.
• At a nice Italian restaurant? Look for a charcuterie board/cheese and meat plate on the appetizer list. Meats, cheeses, maybe some olives and marinated peppers, all good for you!
• Mexican? Fajitas without the wraps or the sides.
• Chinese? Just kidding, don't even try. Go somewhere else.
• Sushi? Go for riceless sushi, sashimi. Hibachi options may be okay but watch it, sauces can be tricky too- use caution.
• Pizza place? You may be stuck with wings, if they use a sweet sauce get 'em naked, like you like your cowboys.
• Food truck palooza? Turkey legs, jerk chicken, bunless burgers, sauce sauce sauce watch the damned sauce!
• Emergency gas station stop while on road trip- this is tricky, you know if you don't get a bite to eat you may die. You have no time to get real food and there are no fast food options nearby. BTDT!! RUN for the cooler if they have one- you may find string cheese and/or hard boiled eggs. Check the snack aisle, they may have bags of nuts... peanuts or almonds or pistachios. Look by the protein bars, do they have Quest bars? This part is scary, and the trick of course is preparing ahead of time on road trips by packing snack foods but no one is perfect. Look hard enough and I bet you can find a keto friendly snack at the gnarliest of road side gas stations.

Now you have some to-go, go-tos! Keto on!

I ate fat, and lost fat

I've been following this way of eating for several months now. The novelty of "eat fat, lose fat" should have worn off by now. Sometimes though it just smacks me in the face again with it's astonishing ridiculousness. It's so contrary to EVERYTHING we were ever told in health class, on government pamphlets, by doctors, on the tv news.

Yesterday, I had a cinco de mayo taco meal. The tacos... were made of CHEESE. Full fat cheddar cheese. Stuffed with ground beef and full fat sour cream, and fatty avocados. This morning I hit my 20 lb loss milestone. DOES NOT COMPUTE! I have read the science behind it, but it's hard reversing 45 years of bad information based on a really crappy food pyramid. I eat fat, and I lose fat. I may have a hard time wrapping my brain around the possibilities of it all, but at the end of the day it clearly works.

I have decided with this milestone I am going to try to make a significant (for me) change. I'm going stop daily weigh ins. I think it's time to stop obsessing and relying so much on the scale, and instead enjoy and appreciate all the NSV (non scale victories) in my life. Things like jeans that no longer fit, stairs that no longer feel like a chore to climb, that strange euphoria I experience every afternoon now, the thinner face that's more fun to "make up" in the mirror now, etc. I think I will appreciate these things more, if I stop obsessing so much on scale victories. I'm not tossing it out, but I'm going to take it out of the bathroom and restrain myself to only once weekly weigh ins.

Onto the food now man! Okay in the ketosphere these cheese tacos are all the rage. My opinion was, they were tasty but RIDICULOUSLY filling, and to me the cheese was a little much by the time I finished the first one. I served myself 2, and ended up only eating the "shell" of one, the other I picked out most of the ingredients and ate without the "shell". My non-keto family liked them too but I think they sort of had the same vibe. I think these would be good maybe as tiny mini tacos at a party, or mini muffin taco cups with fillings. I wouldn't say I won't make them ever again, but they won't be a regular part of my dinner line up- tbh I'd rather just eat a taco salad.

For those of you who love lots of cheese though, here you go!

I used this recipe. The process was simple enough. Keep on keto'ing!!

Test taco, was too big.

Drape and let cool, pro-tip, greasy side down so you don't have to hold it.

And ta-da, tacos. With cauliflower rice (taco seasoning and canned tomatoes added)

I'm no longer obese.

At least according to the World Health Org and American Heart Assoc. My BMI index has fallen from 32 on my start date (2/20) or 33 from my highest over the holidays, to a mere "overweight" 28. Now there are lot's of flaws (in my opinion) to the whole BMI chart system. But it's a victory I'll take anyway.

My scale didn't move today. I wasn't surprised, more on that in a moment. I decided it had been awhile, since before vacation, that I measured. Now the ONLY measurement I track is around my middle at the belly button. It just seems like a pain to track elsewhere and I remember from years past I could never measure the exact right spot the second time. Results around the middle today, - almost 6 inches. I knew I'd trimmed down, but that was surprising to me. And exciting!

Okay now let's talk about yesterday. Yesterday was a pretty intense yard work day. In the hot sun. I mowed, raked, weeded, etc. I definitely burned a lot of calories. I posted last night's dinner already. Consequently I wasn't overly surprised when I felt hungry last night after dinner. I decided to just go with it- when you're feeling hungry you have 3 choices. Be miserable and hungry and go to bed hangry. Push it off as long as possible and then go crazy and eat everything in sight. Or make a smart keto snack choice, and postpone the intermittent fast. I chose the last.

Quick n easy keto microwave cheesecake

1 oz cream cheese softened

1 packet truvia

1 egg white

Dash of cocoa powder

Mix well. Nuke it for about 1 min. Allow to cool. (I used the freezer to speed it up, because... hungry.)

It wasn't bad, like a spongy cheesecake. A nice little treat. I also had some macadamia nuts. All good stuff.

And then.... I opened the wine.

My big calorie burn earlier made me a little reckless. I felt like I had so much to compensate for. So I had a glass. Not a restaurant 5 oz pour, but like... a whole wine glass full of a red blend. Then I had a second glass. 

The problem with wine is it has natural sugars. It's fine in moderation if the rest of your macros are balanced. I simply drank too much. I tracked it as 2 glasses, but went back and edited it to 3 because my pours were just too generous.

This led to these macros.... keep in mind I keep my carbs under 20 a day.

Calories- 1400

Carbs- 25 net

Protein- 59g

Fat- 79g

This morning I woke up, and I felt a mild hunger. I never wake up with a mild hunger.... except on those occasions in the past I have overdone my carbs the day before. The carbs spike your insulin, and it starts the whole "feed me more" process. Unlike last night, I am ignoring this hunger because I'm getting good at isolating "No seriously, I'm hungry!" from "I think I want food, but if I wait a bit it will pass." feelings.

Every day brings a new lesson in this WOE (way of eating) or lifestyle. Next time I indulge in wine it'll be in smaller quantities.

Keep calm and keto on!

23:1 Intermittent fasting AKA OMAD

I've mentioned before how fleeting my hunger has been lately. As I adjusted to this way of eating, I found I didn't want breakfast at all, so I compromised with bullet proof coffee. Lately, I haven't even wanted that.  Then lunch became a chore- and I noticed I was just getting a keto-compliant snacky plate in just to get it in, not because I was hungry. My body was prompting me toward a natural fasting period. Once this clicked I realized all those internet posts I'd rolled right by about intermittent fasting and OMAD (One Meal A Day) needed to be revisited. This way of eating is also called 23:1- fast for 23, eat for 1 hour a day. You eat one big meal, and then your body gets to burn your fat reserves the rest of the day for energy.

I'm not going to go into the science and hows and whys of it all, there are so many articles out there. Some of them are specific to keto diet, while others are actually part of other diets but they all sort of work the same way. Just pick one.
http://ninacheriefranklin.com/live-well/intermittent-fasting-control-weight-eating-one-meal-day/
http://www.omad.info/p/how-to-eat-omad.html
http://www.fitmole.org/eating-one-meal-a-day-diet/
http://www.theiflife.com/one-meal-a-day/
http://www.fitclarity.com/eating-one-meal-a-day-fat-loss-diet/

In reading experiences of people who eat one meal a day on a ketogenic diet I found a few things- don't try it until you are "fat adapted" and are in the "not hungry anymore" stage. If you force it too early you'll be ravenously hungry and susceptible to going binge crazy late at night.  There is also much discussion on the frequency of this and what works best. Some people say they do it every day. Some choose to do it every other day- stating the body gets lazy in homeostasis and stops working as hard. When you mix your eating up, OMAD one day, 2-3 the next and back and forth, your body is going to react and work harder to burn that fat. Other people have one day a week they switch it up and have multiple meals.

I've decided on a week long test period. My goal is to eat the same # of calories and the same macros I would have eaten with my standard 2 meals a day on keto. I'll just eat them in one meal. Last night's meal felt huge and filling, but I enjoyed it- a LOT.

Here's where I confess I am not exactly doing a true fast during my 23 "off". I drink coffee every morning and no that won't stop. I also often have a glass or 2 of wine before bed. Last night, I felt a little wine-hungry and I ate a cube of swiss cheese before bed. My goal is never to eel ravenous and miserable, if I feel like I really need a bite, then a cheese cube is going to happen. I woke up today feeling like normal, still not hungry. Will I make it to dinner time? We will see. Will this work for a week? Will I want to do it longer? This is an experiment, not a test- I can't fail, I can only adjust when needed and note my experiences and results.

As for last night's results, the scale was down a whopping 1.6 lbs this morning. My daily calories and macros were no lower than usual. My calories were actually a little higher than they've been lately. Within range, but still a wee but higher. Today I'll do my macros first and then my plate.

Calories- 1451

Carbs- 14 net

Protein- 60g

Fat- 102g

Food glorious food:

As for my dinner of choice. Oh my god, this was so filling!! 2 quarter pound burgers with cheese and bacon bits, a whole zucchini grilled (photo shows 1 half, after I finished my plate and realizing I had macros and calories to spare I promptly ate the other half), a fat slice of a huge tomato, avocado, extra olive oil to up my fats. Oh and a cube of swiss cheese sometime in the evening :-D

Stand fast, ketoers!

Thursday food is always so Thursdayish....

Oddly I will start with dinner, but for good reason. It started at about 7:30 am. Good ole Mississippi pot roast. My FAVORITE way to eat beef outside of a good steak. It's extremely savory and juicy, and can be cut with a fork it gets so tender. If you google there are multiple suggested recipes. The way I do it is simple- I pick a fatty cut, like a chuck roast, put it in the crockpot. Throw a stick of butter on top. An envelope of ranch seasoning and an envelope of Au Jus seasoning. I went a little lighter on those this time because it was a small roast, maybe 1/2 an envelope for each. Finally, 6 pepperoncini. Turned the crockpot on high and let it cook all day.

Lunch was lazy man plate... salami, cheese, macadamia nuts and a pickle. 

Finally, after suffering through the most delicious aroma all day long, it was dinner time. My husband and kid enjoyed their roast over egg noodles. We all had asparagus. It was every bit as delicious as I expected it to be. I had trouble containing myself to a reasonable portion, it was so good. 

Woke up today to a scale up .4 which is right in line with my typical non-linear graph, a bit up a bit down, a bit down, stay the same, stay the same, a bit down, a bit up, a big drop down, stay the same....

I need to go eat all the leftovers now. Keto on....

Quick one from the road

Today was about airports and girlfriend fun. Sitting on Hollywood beach tonight so this will be short and sweet.

Lunch- 

Yeah that.

Dinner-

Broccoli rabe, Italian sausage, part of a meatball with ricotta and sauce, lettuce salad with egg, chicken wings. I had another chicken wing after this. 

Snacks- wine and 1 oz cheddar I bought out of desperation for fat.

Macros:

 

I chose okay but I need to find a way to get more fat on the road....

Keto on in paradise!

Surprise! It's a two-fer.

Checking in to check out. I fly out tomorrow morning so my posts will be much less wordy for the next 8 days. I will try to track religiously though, because I think my challenge could benefit others who face it- eating keto when you're traveling and in a holiday environment. There will be restaurants and bars and group eating. I won't lie, it's intimidating to think about. I'm going in with some pretty firm ideas of what to do though. The same old basic stuff as I would eat at home- meat, seafood, dairy, veggies that grow above the ground. I've also got a decent idea of what a proper serving size looks like, that first time I ate an 8 oz ribeye with zeal thinking I was on point- was such a downer when I realized I should have stuck with just 4-5 oz of it. I know better now on these kind of details.

Today's meals are done already. I'm horribly stuffed feeling, I can't figure out if I went wrong somehow or if it's just one of those dinners that makes you feel full but disappears later. Tomorrow's scale will tell the tale.

Lunch:

So good!!! One of my keto bagels cut in half, crisped it in a fry pan on the stove top with butter, also warmed up a slice of ham. Added cheddar. Dill pickle on the side.

Dinner

Steak taco salad. I measured everything very carefully but like I said- I feel super stuffed right now. 2 oz steak browned on stove top with fresh garlic, 1/2 oz green peppers, salt, pepper, onion powder, chili powder in olive oil. On 1 C lettuce, and topped with 1 1/2 oz avocado, 3/4 oz tomato, 1 oz cheddar, 2 tbl sour cream.

Macros as it stands are:

• Carbs- 14 net
• Protein- 55g
• Fat- 94g
• Cals- 951

I imagine there will be more wine later from the bottle I uncorked last night, so expect my cals and carbs to go up a bit to acceptable levels.

Next time I check in, it will be from sunny Florida! Keto on with sunscreen.

Drop a giraffe

She did it! April the giraffe brought her new calf into the world after a long 13-15 month pregnancy. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/live-april-the-giraffe-finally-giving-birth-watch-with-us Welcome to the world little one!

Now watch this segway.....

If April can be patient and stay with the plan for 13-15 months and then give birth to her 150 lb newborn, I can be patient and stay with the plan for 13-15 months as well and give up a mere 60 lbs! That was really nifty the way I did that, wasn't it. ;-)

Onto yesterday's food diary.

Breakfast - BPC.

Lunch-

Spinach salad with soppressata (a spicy salami), swiss cheese, sundried tomatoes in oil, hard boiled egg, Trader Joe's Everything But The Bagel, olive oil. A note about salad dressing- you can eat any full fat, sugar free dressing you like on this plan, as long as the macros fit and it doesn't contain any forbidden ingredients. Lot's of people eat ranch for example. I just happen to hate creamy dressing on my salads, so I always defer to olive oil.

Dinner-

I sauteed a small sliced zucchini in olive oil with salt and pepper, then topped with ground turkey (2 1/2 ounces which was a lot more than it sounds like), 1/4C Trader Giotto's Tuscan marinara, and a parmesan/romano cheese mix. I do have a tool to make zucchini noodles but tbh, I was once again lazy and it seemed easier to slice and cook than put together my spiralizer, make noodles, and then have to wash all the parts. See? Told you I was lazy. This was super simple but also super yummy. The family had spaghetti and I didn't miss the noodles one bit. That's saying a lot as a former pasta princess. 

Snacks-

It was a snacky day. I had my usual morning Sugar free no carb Powerade. I had an afternoon coffee with coconut oil to up my fats. I indulged in 1/2 oz dark chocolate after dinner. And I had one (three) of these yummy drinks late at night (hey it was a Friday night! And I was on giraffe baby watch... )

When I went to bed I felt a little heavy and I realized I hadn't drank as much water as usual. I fully expected to wake up a little heavier today. Surprisingly, I actually lost another .9 lb so I guess my macros were good enough.

Yesterday by the numbers:

• Carbs- 19 net (23 total)
• Protein- 45g
• Fat- 120g
• Calories- 1714

Again, that protein is a little low, I really need to work on increasing it because it's not great for your muscles to stay too low on protein long term. The fat and carbs though are on point, calories a teeeeeeeny bit higher than  like but not excessively so and the fact I still lost means I can afford to occasionally bump over a few calories.

Tracking is proving to be so interesting to me, not only to see where I go overboard- but where I go UNDERboard. I think no matter what WOE (way of eating, the new slang for "it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle" that every diet pushes) you're doing- a good tracking app can only help!

Off for my Easter meal (a day early) at my mother's house today. Let's see how on point I can keep this for tomorrow's update!

Keto on April.... (or just eat grass and leaves and whatever it is giraffes eat!)

Where it all began....

I actually created and quickly abandoned this blog many years ago for a drop an anchor weight loss challenge. It seemed appropriate for my purposes to bring it back to life.

A little about me, I'm a 45 year old mother of three, currently attempting transformation through the keto diet. I've been in that super enthusiastic, annoy the crap out of your friends and family with reports of every carb avoided and every ounce lost stage. I'm going to assume the enthusiasm may eventually wane and I may begin to bore even myself but until then it felt like it might be a good idea to not make every post on social media be about my diet.

So brief history, like many women I gained weight with each pregnancy, became less active, had my share of hormonal issues, started eating like crap and puffed up. I've followed the Oprah model of yo-yo weight and dieting over the years, some successes, some failures, nothing really stuck for very long. At some point I will reveal my start weight but in my own good time, when I no longer cringe saying it! I had heard about the keto diet from others for quite some time but didn't feel inspired to try myself until something curious happened.

So this January I turned 45 and instead of feeling depressed about that, I felt strangely excited. It probably helps I rang it in in Italy. ;-) But it wasn't only Italian wine that had my feeling sort of rejuvenated. For whatever reason, that's when I decided I was at peace with me. A few weeks later, I'm on holiday with my husband celebrating my 25th anniversary and it's amazing. I was feeling bold and sexy and fun and younger than I had in years. The result was when we returned home I wanted to harness all that energy and confidence and so I decided since my spirit felt so good I wanted to take the leap and work on my physique next.

I started my keto plan February 20th. Keto is basically low carb, high fat moderate protein. Meats, dairy, above ground veggies, healthy fats are all good. There are off limits foods as well (namely grains, sugars, and starchy below ground veggies). You eat to your ideal macros and avoid the bad foods.  After scoping lots of pages and calculators I found this group on Facebook that laid out the simplest formula imaginable. Your desired weight = grams of fat, divide that in half = grams of protein, stay under 30 = grams of carbs. There are some tweaks, for example women are not recommended to get more than 65G of protein if you can help it. Protein apparently can convert in some cases to glucose if you have too much. I found several apps to track my macros and have narrowed them down to what works best for me.

Since starting I've lost about 15 lbs which is great but really- the 4 inches off my waist are what motivate me most! For the record, I am doing this because I care about my health and because of the brain clarity that comes with this way of eating- but I am also doing it to lose this weight (Or as the blog title suggests- drop an anchor.) I'm still a relatively young woman and I want to be able to wear a hot little dress now and then without worries of rolls hanging out. ;-) I have quite a way to go to my goal weight, but along the way I am greatly enjoying WAY fewer gastro problems, less achy joints, more energy and greater clarity of the mind. I used to eat and feel so tired afterward, barely able to keep my eyes open. I felt like I was on the verge of diabetes- and right now I NEVER feel that.

Along the way here I'll be sharing my food journal, recipes and food pics, my own progress and stalls, challenges that rise up and moments of victory.

Keto on friends!