Category Archives: fajitas

Day 154: Something different at trivia

Weight loss: 29 1/2 pounds

Back to the old grind…Monday started with yogurt. For lunch, I was going to eat a leftover KFC breast* [please see this comment], but Brandon was running across the street for some KFC for himself, and he grabbed me a fresh, hot one. It was quite delicious. (Which is odd, since I never particularly cared for fried chicken. Perhaps the keto regimen has made me crave fat and skin now? LOL)

I ate some almonds for a snack.

Dinner was at trivia. Instead of the usual grilled chicken salad, I ordered fajitas. I asked in advance for the rice, tortillas, and beans to be put in a to-go container. My trivia team mate, Dave, ate the tortilla chips and salsa that came with the meal.

All in all, it’s getting easier and easier to adhere to this plan. It’s pretty much a life style now.

Day 150: Successfully navigating the tempting carbs

Total weight loss: 29 1/2 pounds

Wow, yesterday had it’s ups and downs. I ate my yogurt breakfast, and had not prepared for lunch (again! you’d think I’d realize that I like to eat lunch once a day. LOL)

Rick dropped by and took me to Culver’s, where I had a butter burger with bacon, cheese, and no bun. One french fry.

After work, we went to work on the house. Brandon and Linz dropped by and were sorting through old clothes. I gained a new sweatshirt from Brandon and a pair of (size smaller!) jeans from Lindsey. I am really seeing some difference in size now.

Trivia night with the family team didn’t start until 9 at Applebee’s and wow, I was starving. Everyone ordered Margaritas…I was tempted, really tempted, but opted for water.

Then I started reading the menu. I had chicken last week, and it was pretty good. However, being hungry threw me off course and I just kept reading all these savory meals that had rice, potatoes, breading, and all sorts of side dishes that were verboten.

I finally reined in my wandering palate, and ordered the chicken fajitas. The plate arrived with rice. I ignored it, and the tortillas, and made a nice big pile of chicken, veggies, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole. It was great! Who needs carbs? Not me.

Day 101: Buddy’s Pizza and a few drinks

Total weight loss: 26.5 pounds. Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 21st

Normal day at work yesterday. I skipped my traditional breakfast and ate the leftover chicken club salad from Albert’s dinner the night before.
For lunch/dinner, I waited until after work, and after I went to visit my dad at the hospital. By then, I was really hungry and we decided to go to Buddy’s Pizza. I ordered the chicken fajita pizza (4 piece) and ate only the toppings with sour cream. It was really really delicious. I also had TWO vodka and Diet Cokes. Yes, it’s been that kind of week.
At 8, I met my son, his fiance, my niece, and great nephew for some late night trivia at Marvaso’s. I had another drink and the shrimp scampi appetizer for a meal. It was just so so.
I stayed under on my carbs, ate out twice and had a bit of booze. Let’s see if that affects my weigh-in. Hope not.

Day 28: Fighting off the carb attack

Lost: 0   Total weight loss (in one month): 13.5 pounds

Another day, another zero. The scale isn’t moving at all, but I’ll keep up the fight.

And fight it was yesterday!

No time for breakfast, so I ate a handful of almonds and decided to try Arby’s for lunch. Various sites said they have a low-carb option – a beef and cheddar on a piece of lettuce = 2 carbs (or just beef = 0!). I thought it would be a simple thing to order, but when I asked for my beef and cheddar on a lettuce wrap, the cashier suggested that I must mean the one they sell in a tortilla-like wrap. No, I explained that I didn’t want bread at all.

She made it a special order, asked if I wanted chopped lettuce or a leaf. I chose leaf. She was very pleasant about it, but it was apparent this wasn’t a common menu option. I added a side salad and sat down.

A few minutes later, they brought me my order. Sigh. It was a pile of beef on a piece of lettuce. Apparently in all the confusion, she didn’t hear the “cheddar” part of the order. Instead of going and asking for some probably chemical-laded process cheese, I opted to add a couple carbs of Arby sauce. It was an okay lunch, but nothing to write home about.

After settling my dad in at the nursing home, and going back for a couple more hours of work, I was hungry again. It was still a couple of hours until trivia, so I had another handful of almonds and a cup of Greek yogurt with peanut butter.

For my next “carb battle,” I decided to order the fajitas at trivia. I asked the waitress to put the tortillas in a to-go container. A few minutes later, she dropped off a large basket of nacho chips and salsa. Little did I know, it comes with the meal. I ate one, then dumped the rest into the to-go container.

Dinner was served. A huge plate of which 2/3 was rice and refried beans, covered in melted cheese. Sigh. I can’t get away from the carbs! They attack from all fronts! I asked for another to-go container and dumped the entire mess into it for Rick to eat later.

The chicken that remained after the “battle” was pretty tasty, but not as good as the fajitas I had a couple of days ago. It was at least a filling dinner after another day of hit or miss eating. Tonight, Rick and I plan out a couple of weeks’ menus.

Day 25: Peanut butter pancakes

Lost: 0  Total weight loss: 13.5

No weight loss again – but no gain either. I anticipated bad news because I went over on my carbs yesterday. I guess I worried for nothing. I also finally took my measurements. I keep reading accounts of people who don’t see a loss on the scale, but see a big difference in their measurements. Time will tell.

Yesterday was Saturday, so I had some time to experiment with breakfast. I had found this recipe for pancakes at “thelowcarbrecipes.com” while browsing Pinterest. Thought I’d give them a try. By the way, there are lots and lots of great sites out there to find delicious low-carb recipes that make this diet more of a fun experiment than a hardship.

Mixing the cream cheese with the egg didn’t go perfectly…I ended up with some tiny clumps. The first pancake looked more like a crepe. However, the final 3 looked like the real thing, if a little on the thin side.

The pancakes had a nice texture, and just a tiny bit of peanut butter flavor. After tasting, I tried to think of a syrup substitute. I remembered that my friend, Walter, had turned me onto Polaner jelly, and that I had an unopened jar in the larder (I hadn’t opened it because I couldn’t think of anything to put it on, since I’m not eating toast anymore.)

Two tbsps of jelly on the pancakes, and I was in pancake heaven! I really enjoyed them. I’m not a fan of using 8 of my 20 carbs at the first meal of the day, but it will be a nice weekend treat. I washed them down with almond milk. I switched to the Silk brand when Rick pointed out that it was 0 net carbs, compared to my old brand (which had 1 gram per serving). I may as well conserve carbs when I can.

Lunch was on the run. I was putting down a tile floor at our soon-to-be sold (I hope!) rental income house. I ate my 28-almond ration and about 1/4 cup of leftover alfredo from dinner the night before. Brandon also had me taste a quiche-like recipe that Lindsey had made. Pretty good.

By 8:30 pm, I was done with the tiling for the day, and had just left the hospital, where I was visiting my dad. I was famished and on my way to trivia at Max and Erma’s. I ordered the fajitas, ignored the tortillas and salsa, and had a filling and delicious meal. I’m not sure of the carbs. I put 8 grams in My Fitness Pal, and went over my allowance for the first time in 25 days. Oh well, I don’t feel I cheated, and I needed the protein.