Category Archives: Indian butter chicken

Day 3: Successfully dodging the temptations at work

Yesterday was hump day. I started the day with breakfast at home: scrambled eggs with cheese and a side of bacon.

I decided to start acknowledging the successes in each day:

  1. There was a workshop going on at work. I circumnavigated the donut and juice table and went to my cubicle.
  2. On the way to the printer, I passed the Doritos, grabbed my paper and returned to my cubicle.
  3. After a skype meeting with the boss, I ignored the candybar bowl and grabbed a handful of almonds from the can in my drawer.

WHEW. I made it! I may “fail” quite a bit at staying on plan, but I also succeed several times a day/week/month.

I heated up my Indian butter chicken over cauliflower for lunch.

Screen Shot 2013-03-21 at 11.49.27 AMOnce home, around 7pm, I relaxed with my man and a Michelob Ultra 2.5 carb beer. For a snack, I had barbecued pork rinds. I can’t believe it myself. The thought of pork rinds used to make me gag. They weren’t so bad, especially since they are zero carb. I can see this is one of those items I need to buy in bulk from Amazon. In fact, I’m a little disappointed that Amazon no longer offers 3 packs of chili lime almonds. I can only order one pack as an add-on to any $25 order. Bring back the cheap 3-packs, Amazon! I need my daily almonds.

For dinner, I heated a Costco pot roast and made 2 or 3 days’ worth of cauliflower mashed potatoes. It’s good to be prepared!

2013-03-20 20.34.52Rick and I have started watching old episodes of the Twilight Zone on Hulu. We each had an Adkins coconut bar.

Day 178: Work work work

Total weight loss: 31 1/2 pounds

Thursday started well. We didn’t eat breakfast until late, and we ate at a local place called, “Toast.”

I ordered a cheese and mushroom omelet with a side of bacon. I packed hashbrowns and toast to go for Rick to have at his leisure. The food was good, and the mushrooms added a delicious tanginess to my eggs.

We worked on the house all day, painting, tiling, cleaning, and generally making it appealing so it will sell.

Lunch was a burrito with no tortilla from Del Taco. I strayed a bit and ate a churro. Oops.

Dinner was Indian butter chicken.

Day 172: Small weight loss is better than a gain

Today’s weight loss: 1/2 pound

Total weight loss: 31 1/2 pounds

Not thrilled, but still happy to be maintaining and losing size.  I decided to have a cheat meal today and, hopefully, kick the weight loss up a notch.

Yesterday was Friday. I had a yogurt for breakfast and almonds for snack.

Rick came by and took me to the My Place Diner. I once again ordered a flaming cheese and a single coney dog without bun. It was a nice afternoon break. I usually worked through lunch at my desk, but I’ve decided to get out more often, because I come back refreshed and ready to get back to work, especially now that I eat low-carb lunches. Back in the day, I would eat something heavy and carb-laden and want an afternoon nap afterwards. Keto has changed all that.

We decided to skip working on the house. It was a beautiful, hot hot day, and I wanted to get to the pool. I quickly threw together some Indian butter chicken and popped it into the microwave. There is nothing easier! Water, butter, a packet and some quickly thawed chicken tenders chopped into bite-size pieces. Nuke for 22 minutes on half power, and voila!

While the chicken was cooking, I shredded half a head of cauliflower in the food processor. When the chicken was done, I put the cauliflower in for 5 minutes. Then I popped out to the pool.

A few hours later, I was soggy and happy. I joined Rick on the deck and drank two bottles of Michelob Ultra – 2.6 carbs each, then warmed up my Indian meal.

It was a perfect keto meal and great end to the day. Dessert was 2 squares of 70% chocolate with natural peanut butter.

Day 111: Wait a minute? I can have French onion chip dip?

Total weight loss: 20 pounds. Next weigh-in: Saturday, May 5th

Yesterday was Sunday, and I did my usual work at the computer when I woke up. I caught up on the week’s web business invoices and records. I’ve never been a breakfast person. I have to force myself to eat before 3-4 hours have passed, just because I know I must to wake up my metabolism. However, Sunday’s I go easy on myself.

Brunch was at Pizza Hut. We had tried it for it’s keto-friendliness a couple of weeks ago, and it worked out well. I ordered the personal pan pizza, salad, Diet Coke deal for $6.99. I love building a big salad at the bar, and I topped it with creamy Italian and bacon bits. The waitress helpfully suggested that she’d ask for thick toppings when I told I’d be skipping the crust.

For dinner, I reheated the Indian Butter chicken.

I was trying to think of uses for the new cheese snacks, when it hit me! I can eat chip dip. It’s basically sour cream. So, we picked some up and I ate tiny little cheesy crisps with dip while we watched some tube.

Dessert was 2 squares of 70% chocolate topped with a tbsp of peanut butter.

 

Day 110: Surviving the disappointment

Total weight loss: 20 pounds. Today’s results: +4 pounds
Next weigh-in: Saturday, May 5th

Egad, that was a huge let down…a FOUR POUND gain?

I know it’s all water weight (I can feel it!), but PULEEZ, one bad dinner and a finger-full of donut creme shouldn’t cause that much weight gain!

I’ll keep on keeping on, but knowing I lost 27 pounds was so much more gratifying than a measly 20. Nothing to do but keep going (and drink LOTS more water).

I have to say, I was tempted to just go crazy and have something off plan for breakfast. However, how much off plan can one really go at breakfast? lol

I ate a cheese and onion omelet with a side of bacon and garnished with sour cream. It was really really good. It reminded me of a cheese pierogi. I’ll have to get that again soon.

So, the bad part is, I ate breakfast so late and we became so entrenched on working on the house repairs, that I skipped lunch. I know, this is probably really messing up my metabolism. If anything, the weight gain was from not eating enough regular meals, not from one big blow out.

For dinner, I made Indian Butter chicken. It is a meal that makes me feel like I’m cheating, even when I’m not. It’s just soooo good. Served it over a bed of cauliflower “rice” of course.

I’m just going to keep sticking to this plan. The pants are still loose. What have I got to lose?

Day 96: Inches coming off

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

I measured myself this morning. I’ve lost 2 inches in the bust and hips, 2 and 1/2 in the waist. I’ll take it!
Yesterday morning after weigh-in, I threw on my one size smaller jeans, and we hit the local diner. I ate a cheddar cheese and onion omelet with a side of crispy bacon and gave Rick all my extras.
We headed off to work on the rental. We are very close to completion, so we go to do at least a little every day. We finished putting up the new house numbers, then did more kitchen molding. Will it ever end?
Back home at 6 pm, we did some more chores around the house. I ate a handful of almonds for snack until dinner.
Dinner was late again. I heated up some Indian butter chicken and chopped up frozen cauliflower for the rice base. Rick made chocolate mousse all by himself! I think it tastes better when he makes it.
I drank a few glasses of water and got to bed by 1:30 a.m. Trying to get ready on my early rising work schedule which starts Tuesday morning. I’d also like to get some food ready for the week. I have some leftover chili for lunches, but I’d also like to make a batch of bacon trying the oven cooking method Brandon and Lindsey use.

Day 94: Back on track

Total weight loss: 27.5 pounds   Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 14th

Yesterday continued my vacation week. We had more construction work to do, and we decided to try another new restaurant.

I woke up late (the perks of vacation!) and had brunch for my first meal. I chose two lovely chili dogs with no buns and topped them with mustard. Skip the fries, etc.

After another day of accomplishment at the rental, Rick and I headed home. I worked on Palmerworks websites for awhile, then decided to make a quick Indian butter chicken meal and use up the rest of the cauliflower for rice. I topped the dish with sour cream and it was heavenly. It was so delicious, I wanted to eat the entire recipe, instead of half. I decided to sit it out for a few minutes, and after letting the food actually hit my stomach, I was okay with one serving. It’s all about timing, eh?

I made chocolate mousse for dessert. Back on track, still under on calories, but it’s good to get back in the keto groove.

 

Day 80: Anyone else like cream cheese?

Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds   Next weigh-in: tomorrow!

I started work at 8 a.m. Another crazy day at work, another missed breakfast.

At noon, Rick took me to get coney dogs at the local diner. I asked for them without buns, and all was well.

Around 4, I ate the usual handful of almonds.

At 7:30 p.m., I left work tired and hungry. Thankfully, I had a serving of Indian butter chicken and cauliflower rice left over.

Around 9 p.m, I wanted a little snack. I still had about 8 carbs left. I ate 3 oz of cream cheese. Odd, I know, but delicious.

As a side note, I found this about the benefits of eating cream cheese. Okay, it was a site for pregnant women, but the bennies still hold true for the rest of us.

Benefits of cream cheeses:

  • Cream cheeses, unlike other unsafe cheeses are made from pasteurized milk which makes it safe to eat.
  • They are a good source of protein.
  • Calcium and phosphorous content of cream cheeses can be trusted highly in preventing bone decalcification.
  • The carbohydrate content of cream cheeses is in a minimum extent so would not add on weight to your body.
  • They have considerable amount of vitamin A.

I was still well under carb count (and calorie count) for the day. I just hope I don’t UNDER do it and trigger starvation mode (if it even exists!).

Day 79: Surviving the celebration lunch at work

Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds   Next weigh-in: Sat., March 31st

Yesterday was our celebration day at work. Our first shipment of the new engineering textbook we’ve been working on for more than a year was due. As it happens, the shipment didn’t come in on time; however, lunch went on as planned.

I ate a yogurt for breakfast, since lunch was at noon and I wanted to be hungry enough to enjoy it.

We went to Hayden’s, which is one of my favorite area restaurants. I hadn’t been there since my birthday last November, which was before keto.

The menu offered a few keto-friendly sandwich and entree choices. The appetizers were not anything that I could eat. The boss ordered some fried mozarella balls. I tried one and it didn’t have a lot of breading, so I ate 2 more. I’ll have fun trying to figure out the carb count on those.

I opted for the blue cheese, bacon, balsamic burger. It came open-faced and I moved the bun to my bread plate, but ate the burger using the bottom bun as a sort of bed. The bacon was nice and crisp and the burger was well cooked. It was a great low-carb choice.

Dessert. Hmm. Since it was a celebration, the boss told us to select whatever we wanted. There DEFINITELY wasn’t a good choice on the menu. Cheesecake, ice cream, waffles, carbs, carbs, carbs. I was a little tempted to call it a cheat day and order the deep fried Oreos, but nah. If I’m going to have a cheat day, it’s going to be on my own terms with at least 2 of my favorite forbidden meals.

My coworker Jim and I are also on the Monday night trivia team. We often share what we order. He piles his jalapenos on my plate, and I give him extras of things I don’t like. He very graciously gave me a small bite of his cheesecake. It was okay. No big temptation and crisis averted. Here’s a lovely picture of what I DIDN’T eat.

I wonder if I would eat a deep-fried Oreo on a cheat day? Maybe, maybe not.

I worked until 6:30, and I became a little hungry by 5. I ate a handful of almonds.

Back home after work, I did a few chores, then thawed and cooked some chicken tenders in Indian butter chicken sauce. I put it over the usual cauliflower “rice” and topped the dish with sour cream. YUMMMMMY. I followed it with a bowl of keto-friendly chocolate mousse.