The Problem With Telling People

I’m well into my 4th month of doing Keto. I have people asking me how I’m losing the weight. They ask me how I can live without bread and sweets. I get a lot of questions and I love them all. I love them because they tell me that what I’m doing it working!

The problem with telling people what I’m doing is that it holds me accountable. It’s really easy to start a new way of eating and lose a couple pounds but then get bored and go back to your old ways. Its easy to hit the gym for a few weeks and then get burnt out and just stop going. What isn’t easy is telling people you’re doing something different and then not following through.

So, the problem with telling people is it forces the follow through. I don’t want to tell people I’m doing this amazing new thing and then all of a sudden I’m back to my old ways. I don’t want to not just let myself down but let others down as well.

It’s really easy to justify giving up to yourself when you’re bored or tired. But its a whole different thing trying to justify it to people who are looking at you and expecting the change.

Yes, it can be a problem telling people, but a good problem. Telling people is a way to say, don’t let me quit, don’t let me fail. It’s asking for encouragement during times you aren’t sure you can keep going. It’s saying to your friends not to tempt you with things you’re trying to stay away from. And they should want to help you succeed and push you to be the best that you can.

Every single day I wake up excited to see what the day has for me. I’m happy in this journey. But others around you are on journeys too! If you have a friend who confides in you that they’re trying to do something to improve themselves or their life don’t take that confidence lightly. It’s not easy opening up to someone when there is a possibility of failure, so be part of their success!

Month 2 Keto Update

So I was planning on waiting until the actual end of the month but I’ve had so many people asking me for updates I figured a few days wouldn’t really make any difference.

This past month wasn’t as phenomenal as January when it comes to the scale but my progress definitely hasn’t stopped. Around week six I noticed a gain on the scale. This was no due to any changes in my eating, I was still tracking macros and carbs and I was doing excellent. It was simply hormonal, which is something that is just part of life.

I am so lucky that my brother has gone on this journey before me and warned me of common pitfalls such as the weight gain and the the stall on the scale so I wasn’t discouraged. I went down another pants size and many clothes that had been buried and forgotten since they didn’t fit have made a reappearance. Since we live in Florida I’ve even ventured out in shorts on most days, and not just any shorts but shorts I haven’t worn since before my last daughter was born!

I was going to give an actual update on how many pounds I’ve lost exactly but my scale’s batteries were dead this morning so I don’t have todays weight. That said I am down 30 lbs since the start of keto. I am about ten pounds away from my first big goal but I know I will be there soon.

For the first month I tracked absolutely everything I ate and I tested multiple times a day to make sure I was in ketosis. Since I started I have never once gone out of ketosis and I realized pretty early on that its not a complicated way of eating.

In the middle of this past month I realized that tracking was something that I was struggling with. It was taking up so much time to log everything and add recipes to my tracker. I was obsessing over my macros and it was frustrating some days to find that I wasn’t where I wanted to be with my macros.

It was during this time that I eased up a little and started doing what many term “lazy keto”. I still pay attention to how many carbs I’m eating during the day, I do high fat and low carb. I have tested every single day since I started doing my lazy keto and I still have not once been out of ketosis.

From the time I measured last month I have lost 4 inches overall. That means that since I started keto I have lost 16 inches overall! That is CRAZY to me!

By choosing to do lazy keto over the strict keto it means that I will lose slower than I was. That was something I had to really think about but at the end of the day the only way this is going to really work for me is if I stick to it. I feel like by easing up a little I can easily keep doing this indefinitely. I am loving keto and now that I’m not obsessing over every number I can relax and enjoy it!

Keto French Toast with Blueberry Compote and Whipped Cream!

Today in one of my favorite facebook groups a member posted the recipe for Keto friendly bread that had about 1 net carb per slice. They had tried the recipe and it looked amazing so I had to try it out. Today was the perfect day because K only had a half day at school and with her sisters being a bit under the weather they have been very good just resting and watching their new favorite show Umizoomi…. yeah so fun!

When I took the newly baked bread out of the oven I realized that with this addition to my Keto recipes a whole new world was opening up to me for meals and menus. As I sliced the beautiful loaf I immediately knew that what I really wanted to do with it was make French Toast.

Even before eating Keto this wasn’t a meal we made frequently but every time I would make it I would wonder why we didn’t make it more. As I looked at the fresh bread on the counter I wasn’t sure if it would live up to my usual French Toast hype but I knew I was going to give it a try.

The first thing I did was grab some blueberries to make a quick compote to go on top and then I whipped up some healthy whipped cream. After everything was made I assembled it and waited for my most critical judges tried my new dish. All three girls loved it and so did I!

Here is how I made it all:

For the bread:
**this is not my recipe! It was shared in a facebook group I’m a part of!**

7 eggs
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup butter (I melted mine)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Preheat oven to 355 F. Put eggs in brown and beat for 1-2 minutes one high.
Add remaining ingredients and beat until completely mixed.
Scrape into a 9×6 loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 45 minutes or until skewer comes out of middle clean.

I got 14 slices with mine because I sliced a bit thicker for my French Toast and because of that a serving (2 slices) was 2 net carbs.

For the Blueberry Compote I took 1 cup of frozen blueberries and 1/4 of a cup of my confectioners Swerve. I added a tsp of vanilla extract and heated it on the stove until it was bubbly and thicker, then I set it off to the side.

For my whipped cream I took 1 cup of heavy cream, 2 tbsp of my swerve and a dash of vanilla and beat it until stiff peaks formed.

I made a simple French Toast (eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and heavy cream) and made the French toast. For the entire dish I had 6 net carbs! I am so excited about this dish and I know that it might not be one I make all the time but it will definitely be made again!

Hope you guys enjoy and if you try it out leave me a comment below and let me know how you like it!

Brown Butter Cube Steak With Jalapeño Cheese Sauce

I have a lot of fun finding amazing recipes on Pinterest and other social media sites where people love to share what they’re eating. To me though there is nothing more fun than going in the kitchen and just whipping something up with what I’ve already got in the house. And let me tell you, its a good thing I like doing that because it helps keep me on budget when I don’t waste anything in my kitchen!

I didn’t do what they recommend you do when starting Keto. I didn’t throw out all my pasta and rice and snacks. Why not? Because I’m on a budget and I’ve got three kids and a husband who aren’t all crazy about giving up all their carbs. That means that I have to make sure I’m determined to do this. Every single day when I look in my fridge, freezer or cabinets I am bombarded with choices that aren’t the best for me.

I am slowly transitioning my kids to healthier snacks but I have enough self-control to not need to empty my house of essentially everything to stick to a healthier eating plan. I know it sounds like it would be harder for eating right, and for some it might seem impossible. However, for those who actually know me you know just how stubborn I can be. I started on New Year’s Eve and I haven’t cheated once, nor do I miss my old way of eating.

So anyway… last night I was looking in my fridge and not sure what I was going to eat for dinner. The girls wanted waffles (hey, they love them!) and I knew that I was going to use up some other things so I gladly made them their waffles and started browning some butter on the stove.

As the girls devoured their waffles (with monk fruit sweetened syrup) I made a delicious brown butter cubed steak. I knew I wanted something else with it but I wasn’t sure I had the motivation to make anything substantial so I threw a bunch of different cheeses in a sauce pan with a diced jalapeño.

This was so delicious I ate two cube steaks! Luckily no one in my family loves jalapeño so I didn’t have to share!

To make this I just browned some butter in a skillet, when it was a beautiful caramel color I added my cube steaks and browned them. While they were cooking I took all different cheeses (mozzarella, cheddar, swiss, cream cheese and heavy cream) and melted them in a sauce pan. As they melted together I diced a fresh jalapeño and added that. I just topped my cube steak with the cheese sauce and enjoyed it!

I’m Melting!

So this past months has had a lot of ups and downs but none of the ups have been on my scale! I can’t believe the progress I am making. Not only am I making progress but I’m loving every minute of it. I never feel deprived or hungry. I don’t crave junk all the time and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on all the foods I used to love.

I was pushing my luck when I tried to button my size 18 pants before because I’m fairly confident I should have gone up a size in order to have them fit me. Now I have to wear a belt with my size 16 jeans because they are falling off of me!

I have no doubt that keto is working for me and I’m excited to give my body a chance to heal itself from all the damage I’ve done to it over the years.

Now I have not veered from the keto lifestyle once, nor have I wanted to, but my results have been phenomenal, even compared to others who are eating exactly the same as I have. I truly credit this to the Trim Tea that I drink every day. 

There are so many added health benefits besides weight loss which is why I love this so much! I love that I am only one month in and reaping so many amazing benefits!

I was so sure before that I could keep doing what I had always done and outwork my bad eating. Obviously that isn’t the case and I’m glad I took the steps I needed to take to change my life!

One Month In…

So I’m a few days shy of being on Keto for a full month. Rather than wait the three more days to do my little first month summary I decided to take advantage of my kids playing happily in the yard to measure and share my progress.

I was so sure this was going to be a difficult way of eating since I have been so into my baking and cookies and bread. There are so many things that were simply part of my life that were really bad for me. When I was having a hard day I’d whip up a batch of cinnamon rolls where each roll had about 1,000 calories in it and 122 grams of carbs per roll! That is literally 6 days worth of carbs with how I eat now!

Still, I knew that I needed to do something to turn my life around and I was determined to give this a shot. It’s scary changing the way you’ve done things your whole life, but sometimes when you’re only digging yourself an early grave maybe change isn’t the scariest thing.

I didn’t even wait for the New Year, I started the day before knowing an arbitrary day wouldn’t change the outcome and putting things off even one day for me can be the difference between starting and giving up. So I made a feast for my mom and family for New Year’s Eve and I ate none of the potatoes and none of the bread. I didn’t know exactly what I was doing but I just knew carbs were a no-no.

Well, New Year’s Day I decided to weigh and measure myself. I couldn’t believe it when my scale settled on my all time high of 230! And then I took my measurements… I was mortified (especially because I had to have my husband measure me)!

The first week was a huge learning curve for me. I bought books and scoured the web for information. I reached out to mom’s in my mom’s group who were doing keto themselves and I took full advantage of all the resources I could find.

I didn’t go down to under 20 carbs the first week, or the second for that matter. I spent the first week cutting out the obvious carb laden foods and kept my carbs under 100 grams a day (technically eating low carb the first week). The second week I adjusted more and kept them under 50 grams the first few days and finally got into a good groove where I was keeping my carbs below 20 net grams a day.

I don’t know if this is why I didn’t get the “keto flu” or if it was the vitamins I take along with the water I was chugging all day long. Either way I never got sick from cutting out my carbs. I did get pretty tired the first week though as my body adjusted.

The second week came with not only a huge drop in my weight but a huge influx of energy. I was loving everything I ate and having the energy to take care of my kids without just sitting and watching them play. I was running around with them and enjoying them more than I had in a lone while.

The third week my weight loss stopped. I jumped around the same number on the scale and wondered if I could get below this number. Even when I was working out like crazy and limiting my food to the point where I felt like I was starving every day I never got below this number.

Luckily my brother had warned me this would happen and I just sucked it up and kept going. I didn’t cheat I just made more delicious food and played with my kids and did what I needed to do. Then all of a sudden my scaled dropped 2 pounds! I had beaten that horrible number that had taunted me for so long.

So now as I look back at the month and realize I don’t miss any of the things I gave up I now that this is something I can keep up long term. I am down 17 pounds (in one month!!) and I’ve lost 13 inches overall!

That is epic for me!

I have not worked out, I haven’t gone to bed hungry! I am so happy and so inspired by all the great changes I’m experiencing!