Category Archives: Bacon on keto

Day 124: Yummy keto-friendly BLTs

Total weight loss: 26

Saturday started slow because I still have a bad cough. However, I couldn’t let that stop me from attending the trivia finals!

Jo came by to pick me up for the semi-finals which started at 11a.m. at the Pizza House in Ann Arbor. I didn’t have time for breakfast because I stayed in bed as late as possible. Our team was actually allowed to skip the semis and go straight to the finals, but we like to get in the spirit and watch the teams compete, plus we try to answer the questions ourselves to see if we would have made it through the semis without our “pass.”

I ordered chicken quesadillas for brunch. Not strictly keto, I know, but being ill, having a good weigh in and all, I decided to throw caution to the wind. During the past week, I went over on my carbs a couple of times and the weigh-in was still good. I think its more about drinking lots of water and eating ENOUGH calories to be successful on this plan.

I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I only ate 3 slices of the 8 or so on the plate, then asked for a box. During the afternoon finals, I also had 5 tortilla chips from Brandon’s nachos. That was it for my morning and afternoon consumption. I got home around 7. (Yes, we spend an entire day in a bar on finals day, but it’s fun!) Oh, and we didn’t win.

I sat outside and regaled Rick with the story of my day. We came in to watch a movie around 9, and I decided to try baking bacon, a trick Brandon and Lindsey told me about. I preheated the oven to 425 degrees, lined a rimmed cookie pan with foil and baked for 17 minutes. The outside pieces were crispy and done, but the inside pieces were a tiny bit floppy. I HATE floppy bacon, so I nuked those pieces on a plate for 3 more minutes. Two would probably have been better; they were a bit TOO done, but still tasty.

I decided to try to make some keto-friendly BLTs. I used Mama Lupe’s low carb tortillas, mayo, bacon, a slightly diced up vine tomato, and spinach leaves (I had no lettuce on hand). They turned out very well.

Later, while watching TV, I had one square of chocolate. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the wrapper, and I discovered it was one of Rick’s orange-flavored chocolates, and not my keto-friendly version. Oh well.

Day 123: Another good weigh-in

Today’s weight loss: 2.5 pounds   Total weight loss: 26

Well, one more pound and I’m back where I was a few weeks ago. That part is frustrating, but going in the right direction again is satisfying.

Yesterday was Friday, and I went off my plan to NOT skip breakfast. I just wasn’t hungry, I still felt sick, and had a bad cough, and I was pretty busy at work.

At noon, I ate 2 pieces of leftover shawarma pizza. At around 4, I ate some almonds because we planned to work on the house for awhile right after work, so I knew I’d be eating a late dinner.

We did about an hour of work, but I didn’t accomplish much, because I still felt tired and under the weather. When we got home, I ate another piece of pizza toppings, then went out to sit under the gazebo with my man. I had a glass of vodka and Diet Coke.

For my late dinner, I had the final piece of leftover pizza, followed by some chocolate mousse

 

Day 117: Saturday – the usual

Total weight loss: 24.5 pounds

Saturday morning started at the diner. I had a cheese and onion omelet with sour cream and a side of bacon.

Afterwards, we picked up supplies at Home Depot, then worked on the house for a while.

Lunch was a burrito/no tortilla at Del Taco.

I’m writing this a week later, and I can’t remember what I had for dinner!

Dinner

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 88: A big fat ZERO

Today’s weight loss: ZERO

Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds   Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 14th
AARRRGGGHHHH.

That was disappointing. Was it the wings on Thursday? Am I not consuming enough water? Was it too many alcoholic beverages? I know I’m not eating enough veggies. Is it because I’m not exercising? Is it the almonds?

I’m tired of agonizing over what I could be doing wrong. My clothes are getting looser. That’s a plus. But, man oh man, I would sure love to see more progress when I get on the scale.

So, I’ll just keep keeping on. No alternative.

Yesterday was my numero uno vacation day. We started out eating at a new diner. I ordered the cheese omelet with onions and a side of bacon. It was great! The cheese/onion combination was very “pieorgi-like,” so I asked for a side of sour cream and it was even better. The bacon was also thin and crispy, just the way I like it. I finished my Friday NYT crossword, and declared it a wonderful beginning to my vacation week.

>We were off on lots of errands after that. When we got home, I wasn’t really hungry for lunch, so I had some almonds.

Rick napped, I relaxed and watched some “The Good Wife” episodes. It was nice just hanging out for a couple of hours.

Later in the evening, I joined Rick out on the deck. I wanted to have a vodka/diet drink, but hadn’t eaten much, so I made some ham, cream cheese, and onion pinwheels. You know, the kind mom made in the 60’s. You roll them up, then cut them and they look like little pinwheels…or eyeballs, if you ask me. Anyway, it was something I thought of the other night when trying to find a conveyance to get the cream cheese into my mouth without just eating it out of the package. Apparently, my family members think it’s an odd thing to do.

For dinner (at 9 pm!), I chopped up a bit of the chicken Rick had grilled. I put it in a large low carb flat bread and topped with cheese, onions, salsa, and sour cream. Those are my go-to toppings for just about everything.

Dessert was 2 pieced of 70% chocolate topped with organic peanut butter. I think I went over about 4 carbs.

Day 84: How many carbs in a stuffed mushroom?

Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds   Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 7th

What a way to start the week. I had a 3-hour long dentist appointment: one crown and one new filling. By the time I left, I had a numb mouth and a ravenous appetite.

On the way to work, I stopped at Checkers for a Baconzilla to go. I knew it would be a while before my mouth was functioning, but I wanted to be prepared for lunch. When I arrived at work, I ate a low carb yogurt to hold me over until the numbness was gone.

Around 2, I ate the burger with no bun, and I ate some almonds, as well.

After work, we had some Palmerworks business to attend to. We hadn’t gotten around to opening our company bank account, so we stopped at 5/3 Bank to do that. We stopped off at home afterwards and I ate another handful of almonds to tide me over until I had dinner at Albert’s trivia.

I usually order the grilled chicken salad, but my friend Jim pointed out that the crab-stuffed mushrooms appetizer looked like all low-carb ingredients: mushrooms, crabs, and cheese. I ordered them and they were really delicious. I donated the garlic bread to Jim. Keeping it honest, I also had one of his steak fries. I ate it in 4 very slow bites. LOL

When I returned home last night, I discovered a problem. As I attempted to enter my dinner into myfitnesspal.com, I found a HUGE variety of numbers for the amount of carbs: everything from 3 grams of net carbs for 3 mushrooms to 10 grams for ONE. I started wondering…did they contain bread crumbs or some other high-carb ingredient I hadn’t thought of? What about the carb count of crab vs. KRAB?

How do I truly know if there are any carb-laden ingredients in anything I order at a restaurant?

I suppose those are the chances one takes when eating out. Keeping track of carbs is so much easier when I cook a dish at home, but neither Rick nor I have had time to cook this very busy weekend/week. I start my “vacation” Friday, so I’ll have some time to get a few dishes together for next week. I’d like to try a low-carb crock pot chili recipe I found online.

I ended the day with low carb chocolate mousse.

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.

 

Day 78: Yummy chicken tacos

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

I finally started the day with breakfast. I made time to heat yesterday’s uneaten eggs and sausage.

Rick and I went out for lunch again. I’ve really enjoyed taking an hour and leaving work to hang out with Rick. All of these young friends of mine that have died recently have made an impact on many of my decisions. I used to work 10 hours and eat at my desk while working. Now I say the heck with that and I leave for an enjoyable lunch with my husband.

We went to the local diner and I ordered the jalapeno chicken club. I just told the waitress to keep the bun and I enjoyed a large grilled chicken breast topped with bacon, jalapeno cheese, and tomato.

Eating a full breakfast and healthy lunch left me with no need for a snack during the afternoon. I was pretty hungry by 6 p.m., but before going home, we stopped by to visit my dad. He’s not looking very good, and obviously wanted to sleep, so we didn’t stay long.

My new bicycle seat was delivered today, so Rick helped me mount it to my bike, and I took a quick ride. It felt much better than my old seat, and I look forward to getting some exercise when it warms up a little outside.

By the time we were done, it was nearly 8 p.m. I chopped up some leftover chicken and filled 3 Mama Lupe’s shells with the chicken, onions, cheese, salsa, and sour cream. The tacos were really really good and a quick, nutritious dinner. I skipped dessert and was well under on my carb count.

 

Day 73: The flu puts me way under my daily carb count

Weight loss to date: 17.5

I woke up feeling a little under the weather and wasn’t up to eating eggs. I ate a low carb yogurt instead.

By lunchtime I was quite hungry and went to Checkers for a baconzilla. I’m getting very adept at eating burgers in the bun by sliding the burger forward bite by and leaving the bun behind.

After work I dropped by to see my dad. I was really tired and just wanted to get home and nap. One home, I realized I had a fever and headed right to bed. I woke up for a little while at 9 pm and the only food that appealed to me was cream cheese! I ate about 3 ounces and went back to bed with a raging fever.

Fortunately, I woke up feeling fine. That was the fastest flu on record.