Category Archives: Almonds on keto
Starting all over again, Day 1
The keto plan was the answer to my weight-loss prayers: I lost approximately 40 pounds in around 6 months. And then I started fooling around…
Well, maybe I’ll have a couple of pieces of toast. How bad could it be?
Boy, that pizza crust looks great. Maybe this one time, I’ll eat the entire piece of pizza, not just the toppings.
Hmm, maybe I’ll eat what I want at this party, then I’ll get back on track starting Monday.
I regained the weight – at least 35 of those pounds straggled back on. So, I started over, and stopped, and regained. And started over, and stopped, and regained.
And…in order to beat myself up a little more, let me remind myself that – not only did I regain all that weight – I also could have been LOSING another 40 (or more) during this same time span! An 80-pound weight loss puts me into “normal” sizes and a happy happy place.
What to do? Go back to the beginning.
Strict keto, journalizing, immerse myself in the topic. I started a keto recipe site last year; keep that up to date. Live, eat, and breath the keto lifestyle. No other choice. It worked before, and it will work again.
Day 1:
Breakfast – 2 scrambled eggs, one sausage patty, topped with 2 ounces grated cheddar.
Lunch – mixed greens, 2 ounces grated cheddar, topped with Wishbone Buffalo ranch dressing (2g carbs) and 14 almonds
Dinner – one small squash (cut to resemble fettucini) topped with Rick’s marinara sauce and cheddar cheese (we’re out of mozarella).
Snack – salt and vinegar pork rinds with 2 tbsp french onion chip dip.
Day 9: More success: eggs, kabobs, chili, and almonds
Off to a good start Monday and more of the same on Tuesday.
Breakfast was an omelet and bacon at home. I had a nice relaxing breakfast and some leftover time to blog (I have 4 of them, so it’s tough to keep up.)
Lunch: more leftover chicken/veggie kabobs.
Snack at work: Salt and vinegar almonds. I wrote about buying them in another blog. Well, my dozen cans arrived, and I was a bit disappointed. The brand I ate the other day (Gold Emblem from CVS) tasted exactly like salt and vinegar potato chips. The Blue Diamond brand only has a slight vinegar taste, plus some type of tangy chili-like flavor. They’re okay, and I like them enough to eat as a daily snack, but I much preferred the Gold Emblem brand almonds. I’ll have to see if I can find them in bulk.
After work, Rick and I went outside on the deck. It still isn’t very warm in Michigan, and I’ll bet it was in the high 30’s. I lasted about a half hour. I HATE the cold.
I drank a Michelob Ultra 2.5 grams of carb beer and 3 small pieces of andouille sausage dipped in mustard. For dinner, I reheated the Cincinnati chili from Sunday.
For dessert, I made keto-friendly chocolate mousse.
Day 8: Finally, a perfect day
And by perfect day, I mean I stayed on plan all day.
We were going to go to the diner, but we were running late, so I opted to throw together a quick omelet and microwaved bacon.
My lunch was a luxury: Rick made me some chicken kabobs (minus skewers) for me to take during the week. He is the most supportive husband a woman could ask for, especially since he actually likes bbw’s (big beautiful women). He knows I want to lose weight, and he does all he can to support me, even going out of his way to think up the plan to make chicken/veggies for my weekday lunch.
So, I reheated the chicken, didn’t have a tortilla as I had planned (too stale), and that was that for lunch.
Snack was almonds.
Dinner was at Albert’s for trivia night. I had the chicken club salad (grilled chicken), and Jim gave me one of his french fries.
Dessert was at home later: an Adkins bar.
Whew. It felt good to be back on track.
Day 4: Macaroni Grill on keto and movie night success
Thursday is date night. We keep our dates economical, and we discovered that Thursday night is a great night to go to Macaroni Grill.
First of all, they have good happy hour deals between 4 and 7 pm nightly. Wine is $3 a glass, and appetizers are 2 for $9. On Thursdays, they also have a deal where you can buy a bottle of wine half off.
Here’s how to handle this while working the keto plan:
- Order bottle of Chianti ($30, half price = $15)
- Order two appetizers that are (hopefully) keto-friendly – peppadew peppers with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette
- Order husband a $5 sausage pizza
- Ignore bread and oil
- Drink one glass of wine and follow up with multiple glasses of water
Note that BOTH plates of peppers became mine. It was like a $9 gourmet meal.
The total bill is about $30. This is not exactly the cheapest meal one could hope for, but it’s very good for Macaroni Grill, plus half a bottle of wine goes home with us for another night. In our hey dey, we had lots of money to throw around and we would rack up a $100 check at M.Grill, so this seems like a good deal.
As for the movie night success part, see my blog about salt and vinegar almonds here.
Here’s a peppadew pepper recipe. It’s basically the peppers stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. YUM.
Yummy new keto snack to add to my arsenal: salt & vinegar almonds
Rick and I went to the movies last night, and I knew enough to prepare by snacking on something before going in. Those concession stands are nothing but a big, expensive, and carb-filled enemy to the keto plan.
I love chili lime almonds and eat them daily as a snack at work. They have often saved me from pigging out on one of the fatty treats that my workplace always has on the snack table. I am a BIG lover of salt & vinegar potato chips, so when I discovered S&V almonds on Amazon a couple of months ago, I started looking for them on the local shelves. I always order in bulk from Amazon, and I didn’t want to take a chance by ordering a whole lot of something that I didn’t like very much. I needed a small taste test first.
Well, Rick found a 1.5 ounce pack at CVS, and they are as good as a handful of salt & vinegar chips. I loved them! I felt like I was indulging in some forbidden treat. Needless to say, I ordered a dozen cans from Amazon this morning. That amount should last me quite awhile, and I’ll always have a nice back-up treat when temptation calls.
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:
- There was a workshop going on at work. I circumnavigated the donut and juice table and went to my cubicle.
- On the way to the printer, I passed the Doritos, grabbed my paper and returned to my cubicle.
- 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.
Once 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!
Rick and I have started watching old episodes of the Twilight Zone on Hulu. We each had an Adkins coconut bar.
Day 2: Chicken Marsala in a foil pack
So far so good.
I was running late yesterday morning. I would have gotten to work about 1/2 hour early if I skipped breakfast or stopped for a drive thru McDonald’s breakfast. Hmm. Hardly the way to get back on track. I had really been looking forward to hitting the diner with Rick, but we both hate rushing through breakfast in fewer than 25 minutes.
I hit on the remedy – carryout breakfast from the diner. It’s just a little out of the way from work, so I called ahead and ordered an omelet and bacon. We swooped by to pick it up, and I arrived at work 1/2 hour early, where I relaxed, did a crossword and ate breakfast at my desk.
It was more expensive than a breakfast at home, and a couple of dollars more than a Micky D’s breakfast, but I’ve spent money on worse things. It was a good start to a fresh keto diet day, and I’m glad I thought of it.
Lunch was late – around 2 pm, after an afternoon meeting. I ate 2 Beddar Cheddars and some almonds.
Dinner was a recipe I haven’t posted before: Rick’s chicken Marsala. He makes a quick and convenient dinner in individual foil packets that we can both easily eat as leftovers the next day – or for lunch. He usually sacrifices and leaves the leftovers for my eating pleasure, because he can eat anything, after all.
Here’s his recipe.
And the final product, with some cauliflower mashed “potatoes.”
Dessert was an Adkins coconut bar.
Day 322: Unplanned Buffalo chicken salad
Total weight loss: 39 1/2 pounds
I cooked 3 scrambled eggs for breakfast and nukes some pre-made bacon. It was quick and I had time to relax before work, although I missed the waitress pampering me.
I ate 2 beddar cheddars and some almonds for lunch in the late afternoon.
After work, we were planning to have Cincinnati chili, but Rick didn’t start cooking the sauce early enough. He was out working on cleaning out the garage and forgot. Oh well. It was almost six, and we made the executive decision to grab something quick. We pass Big Boy on our route, so we went there. I do love that buffalo chicken salad. I have to admit, the time I goofed and ordered it with the regular chicken tenders, it was tastier. However, the grilled chicken is much lower carb and it is good as well.
I ate an Adkins chocolate coconut bar for dessert. Oh, and I drank a glass of red wine. Still on track.
We eat out a lot. It’s just a necessary part of our lifestyle – and something we enjoy. Combining a full-time job and with owning a small business means we are working almost around the clock. After eating at Big Boy, I spent about 3 hours on the computer working on client projects and bookkeeping for our business. Having dinner out is a nice treat between the day job and the evening work.
That said, it really is fantastic that there are so many delicious low carb options in so many restaurants. And if it’there aren’t readily apparent options, there are always choices that come with bun, potato, or tortilla that can be substituted for something better. If that fails, remove and toss the offending carby product.
A coney dog with no bun, a burrito with no tortilla, a burger with no bun, spaghetti squash instead of pasta, cauliflower instead of potatoes – all these options have become second nature to me by day 322. I can do this. Once the weight is off, I can also maintain. Carbs are not a necessary part of my diet. I just need to remind myself of this every now and then. Here’s to “re-losing” that 2 pounds I gained over the past month.
Day 321: Monday trivia and a cheat cupcake
Total weight loss: 39 1/2 pounds
We started our week at the diner. We’ve pledged to only go 2 times a week, and I think Monday morning is the perfect day to start.
I had the omelet and bacon.
For lunch, I heated 2 beddar cheddars at work. In the late afternoon, I ate some almonds.
Dinner was at Albert’s for trivia. I have to say, their chicken club salad is one of the best salads in town. In fact, my trivia team and I agree that ALL their food is really really good. The salad is chock full of ingredients: arugula, cheese, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, really good “real” bacon bits hot off the grill, and of course, the grilled chicken. I gave away my tomatoes and cukes and it still took me about 45 minutes to eat the salad. I’ll take a picture of it next week.
I drink about 4 glasses of water while I’m at trivia. For one thing, although the food is delicious and well cooked, the pop leaves something to be desires. Flat and tasteless. So, since I’m always trying to drink plenty of water, I opt for that in most restaurants in the evening, especially if I start the day at a diner and have pop for breakfast. I really am trying to cut down, even if I only drink diet cola. I just know it isn’t healthy, even tho low carb.
There were 2 birthdays being celebrated last night. I was offered 2 cupcakes, and I caved on the second offer. I ate it. It’s over. ‘Nuff said.