Category Archives: Netrition products
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 71: Taking stock of the past 10 weeks
Weight loss: 17.5 pounds; next weigh day: Sat., Mar 24th
I realized last night that I’m really getting the hang of this low-carb diet. It was around 10 pm, and I was done eating for the day. It occurred to me that I hadn’t entered any of my meals into the myfitnesspal.com website. I usually do it as the day progresses, so I can evaluate how many grams of carbs I have left.
I entered all the meals for the day at once, and, lo and behold, I was just about spot on for a carb count. I guess I can estimate what I’m eating pretty well at this point. More than two months into the plan, I think I’ve got it!
It also occurred to me that it’s been a very long time since I…
- Ate between meals
- Had cake, cookies, pies, or donuts
- Ate bread, bagels, buns
- Ate ice cream
- Ate pasta
- Had pizza with crust or french fries
It’s been 71 days, in fact.
I’ve found a nice pancake substitute, low carb tortillas, and pasta, rice, and potato substitutes (usually consisting of cauliflower). I’ve eaten a couple of squares of 70% chocolate. I’ve also had maybe 4 slices of low-carb bread.
This is definitely an big life change for me. And it has not been difficult at all, in terms of cravings. It has been more difficult to saunter into any restaurant or deli and easily order a meal. It takes some calculations and substitutions, but it isn’t too onerous.
And, as usual, I have to give a big shout out to Rick, who is keeping the house stocked with low-carb food items, cooking lots of burgers and chicken, and meeting me for lunches that help take the monotony out of having a salad at work every day.
Back to the food diary:
Yesterday began with eggs/sausage.
I skipped lunch AGAIN. The work deadlines keep me so busy (and I’m so OCD) that I forget to eat. I grabbed a handful of almonds at noon.
When I got home from work at 6:30, I ate the tops off of two leftover pieces of Albert’s pizza. I threw some eggs on the stove to boil, and headed to my office to work on web company issues. Then I needed to work on Dad’s affairs, again. I didn’t finish until 9 pm. I grabbed a vodka and Diet Coke and met Rick out on the deck.
While I was in my office, Rick barbecued some chicken. I cut up a couple of ounces and put it in 2 Mama Lupe’s tortillas with some cheese, salsa, and onion. They were great!
Oh, and I quickly peeled the hardboiled eggs and made up a dozen deviled eggs so I’d have snacks on hand. I ate about 4 of those as a pseudo dessert.
Day 60: Bad weigh-in; time for a cheat day!
Today’s weight loss: PLUS TWO – ACK; total weight loss: 15 pounds
Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting that! I’ve been carefully counting my carbs and I’ve been under all week. My clothes are getting looser and I feel great. Why oh why did I GAIN?
I was actually UNDER carbs by about 6 yesterday, and probably didn’t drink enough water. I’ve been reading up on reasons for weight gain in keto, and I’ve found a lot about the importance of eating enough fat, avoiding being UNDER carb count, and drinking more water. I think it’s time for a re-set and a better effort.
I’ve been avoiding it, but it’s time: I’m going on a cheat day today to see if I can get my metabolism moving. I’m also going to be sure to eat enough and drink more water in the coming week. If I’m going to work the keto plan, I need to do it right. On other diets, not eating as much as the allotted amount may work, but that hinders progress on keto (or so I’ve been reading, anyway).
Yesterday started with my usual breakfast. For lunch, we met George and Beccy at the Twisted Rooster. I ordered the Diablo burger, which was topped with pepper jack cheese, jalapeno bacon, hay stack onions, and a chipotle aioli. I removed the onions because they were breaded, and most of my sauce was stuck to them, so I asked for a small dish with more. I HOPE this aioli didn’t have any weird ingredients of sweeteners, but there was no way to find out. And, of course, I removed the bun, as well, and gave Rick my fries.
The burger was good. the jalapeno bacon added quite a bit of flavor. After the bun and onions were removed, it didn’t look like much of a meal for $8, but it was quite filling – almost like eating a steak.
The bad part about a meal like this is the unknown quantity of ingredients that will mess up my carb counth. Was the spicy burger filled with any kind of high-carb ingredient? What about the jalapeno bacon? Sounds safe, because bacon is a-okay, but who knows if there is some kind of hidden carb in it? I think I’m going to lay off the unknown menu items for a bit and stick to eating at home for the next week, where I know exactly what I’m eating.
Later in the afternoon, I was working on websites and had a handful of almonds and a dish of sugar free jello. Rick felt a cold coming on and took a nap. Around 8 pm, we were both hungry, so I made a late dinner of quesadillas using Mama Lupe’s tortillas.
They turned out very well, and I was well under 20 grams of carbs for the daily count.
Day 59: More of the same
Weight loss: 17 lbs; next weigh-in: tomorrow
Yesterday began with eggs at work. For lunch, I heated leftover taco meat and assembled 2 tacos in Mama Lupe tortillas. They made for a delicious and filling meal.
I left work at a reasonable hour and had an early dinner. I used the spaghetti squash I had prepared earlier in the week as a base for Cincinnati chili. It was just okay. I think something happens to the texture/flavor of squash after a few days in the fridge.
We were out of cocoa, so I made sugar-free lime jello with cream cheese mixed in for dessert.
Day 55: Hanging out around the house and trying some Carbquik recipes
Total weight loss: 17 pounds; next weigh-in: Sat., Mar 10th
Sunday morning was a little stressful. Friday night, I found an IM on Facebook from Rick’s cousin Bob in Valparaiso, IN. He said Rick’s cousin in Chicago had died. Rick wasn’t close with his cousin, but he did want to attend the funeral, which was today.
Unfortunately, I forgot to tell Rick about the IM. Saturday night when I went to bed, I found the obituary posted on his cousin Bob’s FB page. UHOH. I emailed Rick (he goes to bed much earlier than I do, so I email him at 1 a.m. if there is anything he needs to know when he wakes up in the morning–it works for us). When I awoke at 8:30, Rick was looking up the last minute flights. Turned out we couldn’t get a flight back until Monday, so I couldn’t go due to work and other commitments. We hightailed it to the airport, and Rick made it in time for the 3 pm service.
I was on my own, so I made the best of it. I watched old romance movies (Jane Eyre), I recleaned the kitchen and cleaned out the fridge. Then I did 2 loads of laundry, played around with old audio tapes from my 13th birthday (trying to record them and make mp3’s), and generally relaxed.
Back to the topic, keto:
Breakfast was 3 eggs with cheese and onions. Snack at noon was almonds.
I was super hungry by 4 pm, and I reheated Indian butter chicken leftovers and made up some fresh “c-rice.”
In the evening, I decided to experiment with the new Carbquik, and I made some cheesy garlic biscuits. They probably could have been cheesier, but they tasted similar to the authentic Red Lobster rolls. The texture and look were the same. The Red Lobster version is 17 grams of carbs, and this is only 2 grams, so it’s a nice substitute. I ate two topped with butter. 
I also made a batch of deviled eggs. I ate 3 of them with the biscuits in lieu of dinner.
Day 54: Delicious low carb tortillas and surviving a birthday party
Weight loss to date: 17 pounds; next weigh-in: Saturday, March 10th
Yesterday was Saturday. We decided to eat breakfast at home. I started playing around on the computer, and by the time I made myself breakfast, it was actually brunch. I decided I get enough eggs during the week, so I cooked some “Beddar Cheddar” sausages. They were meaty and moist, and I ate a handful of almonds as a side dish.
We spent the day cleaning for our granddaughter’s birthday party. I enjoy having parties, just because it means I’ll clean the house from top to bottom — then get to enjoy how great it looks for a couple of days.
I didn’t get a chance to have lunch, and I didn’t want to waste the pizza the kids were eating by tearing off the top, so I heated up some taco meat and tried the new Mama Lupe’s tortillas I received from Netrition.com. They were really good and only 3 net carbs each.
Next was cake and ice cream time. My step-daughter Cindy made some beautiful fondant cakes and it was hard to resist. When everyone was busy filling their pieholes with rich cake and creamy ice cream, I whipped up some low-carb chocolate mousse. Of course, the adults wanted some of that, as well, so I made a huge batch. I only ate one portion, and it took away the craving for all that carb-laden dessert around me. I had a portion left over, so I froze it to see if it turns out like ice creams. Fingers crossed.
After everyone left, I sat down to watch some TV and was a bit hungry. The only problem was that my carb count was at the max for the day. I poured a big glass of zero carb almond milk, and that hit the spot.
Day 53: Weigh-in day did not disappoint
Today’s weight loss: 3 pounds
Total weight loss in 7 weeks: 17 pounds (woot!)
I had been assuming that today’s weigh-in would not go well. Not because I went off, or went over carb count, but because the past few weigh-ins have been so disappointing. I know my clothes are looser, and I have lots of energy, but the more I thought about only losing 14 pounds in 6+ weeks, the more this keto plan didn’t seem like the quick weight loss dream I thought it would be.
I know 2 pounds a week is a safe and practical amount to lose. But when one accomplishes a 14-pound weight loss on day 39, and that hasn’t changed by day 46, it becomes frustrating.
Wait. What did I just read? It was only one week later that I weighed in and had a zero weight loss? And, now, a week later, I’ve lost 3? That isn’t bad at all!
I’m guessing most of the frustration developed in that week between day 39 and day 46, when I was weighing myself daily. Now that I’ve settled on a weekly weigh-in, it should show a little more progress than tiny increments of weight loss per day (or no weight loss per day). I’m still doing well; I think I’m just used to seeing those big numbers the contestants accomplish on The Biggest Loser. Even in terms of a 2 pounds a week goal, I should only have lost 14 by today, so I’m 3 pounds ahead. I think I’d better focus on continuing with the plan and not focus so much on the scale.
C’mon 20! [Okay, not focusing on the numbers is going to be difficult.]
Yesterday, I had some errands to run and things to accomplish before starting work at 10. We didn’t have time for Rick to cook, so I bought 2 McDonald’s sausage, egg, and cheese, breakfast sandwiches (on sale for $3 for two). Of course, I removed the delicious smelling biscuits. I’m glad I ordered two, because after the biscuit removal, and with no hash brown patties, one would not have satisfied me.
At 2pm, I discovered that I did not have a yogurt in the fridge. Oops. I ate 2 ounces of almonds and a beef stick. Yum.
After work, I was pretty hungry, but we needed to get groceries. Usually Rick goes without me, but I was interested in looking over the health food aisle to see if there was something I was missing out on. I bought some soy hummus (1 carb per serving) and some almond “peanut” butter – $9.99!!! This had better be good.
Rick has some kind of whole grain bread that he buys, and he said it was only 5 carbs per slice if I ever wanted a tuna fish sandwich or something. I’m not willing to sacrifice 10 of my 20 grams of carbs for a sandwich, but I did decide to toast one piece and top it with the almond butter to stop the hunger pangs while I started making dinner. The almond butter had about 1 1/2 inches of oil on top and I could not get it to mix in with the thick and dry substance below it. Maybe at 10 bucks a bottle, no one is buying it and it sits on the shelf awhile. Rick manage to dump the whole thing in a bowl and use his formidable muscles to stir it into a nice gloppy, spreadable butter. It was pretty good.
I thawed some chicken breasts for Indian butter chicken, and mistakenly started getting the spaghetti squash ready. Then I realized that I use chopped cauliflower as a rice substance. I finished cooking and forking out the squash anyway, so now I’m ready for another dish that uses that.
I had leftover cauliflower rice (“crice”) from the Mexican rice recipe, so I heated that, topped with microwaved butter chicken and enjoyed a delish meal. Dessert was the usual chocolate mousse. It never gets old. LOL
Oh yes, I almost forgot. My low carb food order from netrition.com came in. That was very quick. Almost tops Amazon. I now have some experimenting to do: low carb “Carbquik” for pancakes and other pastries, those odd shiritaki pasta, Mama Lupe low carb 7-inch tortillas, barbecue sauce, and Margarita mix (I couldn’t resist that last one). Let the experimentation begin!