Category Archives: Greek yogurt

Day 28: Fighting off the carb attack

Lost: 0   Total weight loss (in one month): 13.5 pounds

Another day, another zero. The scale isn’t moving at all, but I’ll keep up the fight.

And fight it was yesterday!

No time for breakfast, so I ate a handful of almonds and decided to try Arby’s for lunch. Various sites said they have a low-carb option – a beef and cheddar on a piece of lettuce = 2 carbs (or just beef = 0!). I thought it would be a simple thing to order, but when I asked for my beef and cheddar on a lettuce wrap, the cashier suggested that I must mean the one they sell in a tortilla-like wrap. No, I explained that I didn’t want bread at all.

She made it a special order, asked if I wanted chopped lettuce or a leaf. I chose leaf. She was very pleasant about it, but it was apparent this wasn’t a common menu option. I added a side salad and sat down.

A few minutes later, they brought me my order. Sigh. It was a pile of beef on a piece of lettuce. Apparently in all the confusion, she didn’t hear the “cheddar” part of the order. Instead of going and asking for some probably chemical-laded process cheese, I opted to add a couple carbs of Arby sauce. It was an okay lunch, but nothing to write home about.

After settling my dad in at the nursing home, and going back for a couple more hours of work, I was hungry again. It was still a couple of hours until trivia, so I had another handful of almonds and a cup of Greek yogurt with peanut butter.

For my next “carb battle,” I decided to order the fajitas at trivia. I asked the waitress to put the tortillas in a to-go container. A few minutes later, she dropped off a large basket of nacho chips and salsa. Little did I know, it comes with the meal. I ate one, then dumped the rest into the to-go container.

Dinner was served. A huge plate of which 2/3 was rice and refried beans, covered in melted cheese. Sigh. I can’t get away from the carbs! They attack from all fronts! I asked for another to-go container and dumped the entire mess into it for Rick to eat later.

The chicken that remained after the “battle” was pretty tasty, but not as good as the fajitas I had a couple of days ago. It was at least a filling dinner after another day of hit or miss eating. Tonight, Rick and I plan out a couple of weeks’ menus.

Day 23: Hey, chicken shawarma is keto-friendly!

Lost: 1.5 pounds   Total weight loss: 13.5 pounds

Today’s weight loss was satisfying, and a nice start to the day. I hoped that it was a sign that today may be a little better than yesterday, when I was busy busy busy, from dawn until dusk.

I had a funeral to attend, so I dropped in work at 8 for the morning meeting, but left by 9:30. I didn’t have time to heat my breakfast at work, so I heated it and ate it in the car on the way to the funeral. It is a nice portable breakfast in a small plastic bowl with a twist top. Who needs McDonald’s breakfast?

There was a nice lunch after the service. It was also my first attempt to eat at a public gathering with a wide selection of forbidden foods. I grabbed a croissant sandwich and removed the croissant, which left me with 2 slices of ham and a slice of cheese. I topped it with a tbsp of mayo. I bypassed the hot pastas, the macaroni salad, the cold pasta salad, the bread…well, you get the idea. There was a bowl of salad greens, so I partook of that with vinegar and oil for a dressing.

I watched Rick enjoy 2 desserts while I sipped my water, but I must admit, it wasn’t difficult. I think the secret to staving off the cravings for carbs is to avoid them entirely.

The afternoon was spent trying to line up a nursing home for my dad, which was a bit stressful. Our truck was still in the transmission shop and we were waiting to hear how many more millions of dollars we’d have to fork over. I guess the $1200 we’d already wasn’t enough to get it fixed right! So, we borrowed Brandon’s car and ran all of our errands. By the time we were done, in the late afternoon, we received a call saying the truck will be ready the next day and cost ZERO dollars more. Yay!

Having not eaten a whole lot for lunch, and after stressing all afternoon, I was pretty hungry by dinner time. Somehow we began talking about a local restaurant that makes really good chicken shawarma. I instantly thought, oh, I can’t have that. Then it hit me: I can! If I avoid the rice and/or pita wrap, all that remains is chicken in a garlicky marinade/sauce made from yogurt, vinegar, garlic, tahini, and spices – with a small pickle that peeks out, as well.

Sooo…I gave Baba’s Kabob and Chicken a call and ordered carryout. It had been a pretty long day and I was exhausted. After dropping by to pick up 4 shawarma wraps and a kibbee (for Rick), I was looking forward to an enjoyable meal in the recliner watching Downton Abbey on the big screen TV.

I picked up my meal from the drive thru (and gave my sales pitch about the importance of them having a Palmerworks-designed website) and hied on home. I was a little disappointed to see how little of the carb-friendly portion remained after removing the extra large pita. It wrapped quite a few times around the shawarma. I denuded 2 and the result was a full plate, if not a very high pile of chicken. I spooned on a little garlic sauce, took my time eating and relished the flavors.

Mmmmmmm…I was quite full by the time I was finished, and I was not disappointed. Baba’s shawarma is the best in town. I admit, it was difficult not eating the pita portion; not because I’m a huge fan of pita bread, but because it was dripping with the delicious sauce from inside. I ripped off a 4×4 piece and added that to my plate. I was still under carb count by the end of the evening.

I forgot to take a picture, but this photo I found online looks about the same before I stripped it down.

Since dinner was around 5, I was hungry for a snack around 8. I took out my Greek God’s yogurt, swirled in 2 tbsps of Smucker’s natural peanut butter, and let myself believe I was eating some type of peanut butter mousse. It was good enough that I convinced myself pretty easily!

Day 16: More uses for pork rinds

Lost: 1 pound   Total weight loss: 10.5 pounds

Finally, the numbers continue to drop. LOL. Of course, it’s only been two weeks, so I can’t complain about a 10-pound weight loss. Especially since this has been so easy to accomplish.

Yesterday, I ate the usual breakfast, but deviated from my lunch pattern and had leftover cauliflower and one slice of eggplant.

I had a pre-dinner snack of a cup of Greek yogurt with two tbsps of natural peanut butter stirred in (YUM) because I knew the chicken would take awhile to cook.

For dinner, I decided to try frying chicken strips with pork rind coating. My son, Brandon, had some good luck with it, although he used bacon grease as a frying medium. Since I don’t have any, I used olive oil.

I pulverized one whole bag of rinds in the food processor and used almost all of them. At around $1.80 per bag, that made the entire chicken dinner come to about $5 for both of us, which isn’t bad at all. I think I’ll do as Brandon suggested and process a couple of bags in advance and just keep them on hand in a container to use as breadcrumbs.

The chicken turned out very well. Rick loved it. I thought it was a little bland, so I added Frank’s redhot buffalo sauce and dipped the “wings” in blue cheese dressing. We had the inevitable cauliflower mashed potatoes left over from the night before as an accompaniment.

No dessert tonight. Somehow I went over a little on the carbs. Rick was out of Taco Bell hot sauce and used the verde packet instead. 2 carbs! Who knew? The hot packets are zero carbs each. I also am not sure whether I was actually on track or went over by 4. It depends on which nutritional info I use for the yogurt. I’ll have to investigate the actual package when I have time.

Day 9: Surviving a 7-hour hospital ordeal and keeping keto

Weight loss:  1 pound     Total weight loss: 10 pounds

Yesterday was quite a trial. I slept late because I’m still feeling mighty poorly. I had to get my dad to the doctor by 11:30, and that was a very long trek due to hazardous roads. By the time I showered and got out the door, I didn’t have time for breakfast, so I grabbed a tall water and kept on moving.

Wait, wait, wait, by 1 pm, I knew I was going to be trying to get my dad admitted thru the hospital ER (we were sent by his regular physician with suspected bronchitis). My stomach was begging for some nourishment, but no time.

After I got him settled in an ER bed, my savior, Rick, ran out and got me a bacon cheeseburger with no bun. It did the trick…for a while.

6 pm and I was finally back at my keto-friendly kitchen. I wanted something FAST. I threw some butter in a pan, added a chopped up yellow summer squash and a slice of onion, then, when it was almost cooked, I threw in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. I added some rewarmed cauliflower to the plate and it looked pretty impressive for a 5-minute meal.

I grabbed some Greek yogurt with peanut butter and called it a night.

Here’s hoping today is a little more “ordinary” and I can have some structured meal time.

Day 8: Beginning week two

Weight loss: 2 pounds  Total: 9 pounds

Yesterday was pretty unremarkable, except that I finally tried BBQ pork rinds and greek yogurt. Both were pretty good.

I woke up feeling under the weather. We’ve been passing some kind of bug around the family. I wasn’t very hungry for lunch and I also didn’t feel like cooking anything. I made a few cheese chips, topped them with artichoke dip and called it a meal.

After sleeping most of the afternoon, I decided to make some deviled eggs. I used the typical family recipe I’ve always used – added a little mayo, mustard, and onions to the yolks – and they were yummy….and legal keto!

I made a nice boring arugula salad topped with Caesar dressing. Then mixed a tbsp of peanut butter into some Greek yogurt for a refreshing end to the somewhat sparse meal. I guess the biggest problem with eating keto while sick is trying to get enough calories and fat for the day.

I didn’t get a chance to try to use coconut oil in a dish. We’ll leave that for later today. Unfortunately, my dad has gotten whatever we all have, but at 88, I need to get him to the doctor pronto. Not sure how regimented this day will be. Let’s see if I can stick to the keto plan on the run.