Category Archives: Low carb flaming cheese

Day 193: Weight loss success!

Today’s weight loss: 3 1/2 pounds

Today weight loss: 35 pounds

Wow! Today’s weigh in made me very very happy. It isn’t a record in terms of amount lost – I haven’t weighed in 3 weeks, so a pound a week average isn’t really exciting. However, this weight loss is significant in many other respects.

First, nine days ago was the 6th month “anniversary” of starting the keto plan. I haven’t weighed since then, so I didn’t know what my 6-month loss was. Now I know: 35 pounds. That averages to nearly 6 pounds a month, which means that in one year I could be down 70 pounds, a very significant life change – and change in my body, how I feel about myself, how my clothes fit, and how much more healthy I am.

I also had certain weight loss benchmarks in my head, and today I surpassed one. Being down 35 pounds means the plan works, and it works for me. This is the most weight I have lost in years. Low-fat diets, high-fiber diets, just cutting calories, exercising more…all great ideas, but NONE OF THESE worked for me! KETO WORKS!

Yesterday’s eating journal:

I worked at my desk at home all day on the new software going out.

  • Breakfast was yogurt
  • Lunch was leftover sloppy joe from the freezer, no bun, topped with onions, a little cheese, and mustard
  • Dinner was at the local diner – 1/2 flaming cheese appetizer, and  a gyro without the pita
  • Snack – half a hamburger patty from Rick’s leftover patty melt
  • Late night snack – 2 squares of choc/peanut butter

I’m beginning to wonder if the flaming cheese is keto-friendly. Maybe it depends on the restaurant, but yesterday’s cheese looked like it had a bit of breading on it. I’ll have to keep this little treat to a minimum.

Day 169: A giant bug bite and overcoming old eating habits

Total weight loss: 31 pounds

Tuesday morning’s usual schedule – I went to work and ate a low carb yogurt.

I was debating what to do about this 6-inch diameter bug bite that developed on my forearm over the weekend. It just wasn’t getting any smaller.

Rick was at a client meeting. Palmerworks has another monthly newsletter job. Rick enjoys creating those as much or more than he does making websites, so I was happy for him. I texted and asked him to pop by and get me around lunchtime and take me to a local urgent care place in Garden City.

I ate some almonds to tide me over. He arrived around 1:30, and I decided to get lunch first. I know that skipping meals always makes me more tempted to eat something risky.

We went to GJ’s Diner, and I had an urge for something different, so I ordered a flaming cheese saganaki appetizer. OPA! Rick ate half. Depending on what website you read, a whole order is from 3.9 to 20 or 30 grams. Livestrong.com says 3.9 with 1.7 grams of fiber. I like that one! This didn’t appear breaded in any way, so I think my portion was under 5 grams.

I also had one coney dog sans bun.

Off to the medical place. Turns out I probably don’t have Lyme Disease. I got some antibiotics and steroids to take for a week. It was a nice, quick, well-run place. I have a sort of “doctor phobia,” and NEVER go. I could be on my death bed and still try to make tea tree oil cure me in some way (it didn’t work on the swelling bite; then again, maybe I didn’t give it enough time!). Anyway, the nurse and I were talking about low carb diets, which many of the staff had just started. I told her about pasta, rice, and potato substitutes and they were reading my blog when I left. Odd feeling knowing that someone actually reads this rambling journey.

Dinner: I had to work until 6:30 to make up the hours at lunch/doctor. We don’t have sick time at my place of employment, and I really didn’t want to dip into my vacation time. I arrived home at 7 to find 4 young children in my pool (2 grandkid plus friends). Before swimming, I sat on the deck with Rick and Cindy and had a nice relaxing low carb drink. Rick found these at Kroger and they have ZERO carbs! It’s called Sparkling Ice. I love the lemon/lime flavor. It’s good with a splash of vodka, too!

After swimming, the kids went home and I warmed up the chicken kabobs left over from Sunday. I followed it with 2 square of 70% chocolate.

Oh, as to the title of this blog? Whenever I had a bad day, in terms of things like having to go to the doctor, or any other activity I really dislike, I would always reward myself. The reward was usually something like a chocolate milkshake after a dental visit, or buying a bag of peanut butter M&M’s after a doctor appointment. As I was waiting for my prescriptions in CVS, I remembered that. I started to head towards the candy aisle. Suddenly, I took stock of how good it felt to be wearing a smaller size, and the hopefulness I feel when I think that 31 pounds off since mid-January could mean 60+ pounds off by Christmas. The 70% chocolate squares I eat are enough to satisfy me, so why play around with more carbs? I’m really proud that I can think through most of these old temptations. I think I can do this!