Category Archives: Successful dieting

Face gains

Before and after keto – about a 50 pound difference since this photo from before I started last time to this one from last month. Lots of weight to lose, but I’m so happy I caught myself before gaining back all I lost on my first round of keto. Can’t wait to see where I am a year from now!

Time for a B and A

I’m finally seeing some small results. It’s been 12 weeks since I first weighed in and I’ve lost 21 pounds (still not to my lowest weight after my first round of keto, but getting closer!

Left: Top weight before keto, Right: a month ago.

I’m back on the keto journey. I’ve been IF for a few weeks now:  16/8 and two meals a day. I have not gone over on carbs once in the 14 weeks since I started!

It’s all about planning. I meal prep on weekends, and I plan ahead and prepare when visiting friends. Plus, I’m steadily adding an exercise routine.

I have specific weight goal, just to stay keto for minimum one year – and I’m loving the energy, the clear mind, and the even moods. I also cut my bp meds in half cuz my bp went so low! Keto works!

18 week update = 35 pounds gone!

Well, it was good news and bad news at this follow up doctor visit.

The good news, the challenge was to lose 2 pounds per week and return in 3 months. It’ more like 4 months later due to scheduling issues, but I met the challenge thanks to the ketogenic diet plan!

Yup, in the past 18 weeks I’ve lost 35 pounds. Okay, I’m one pound short of the goal, but neither the doctor nor I care about that. The fact is I’m doing it!
thirtyfive

Bad news: the doctor who had earlier told me that weight loss could alleviate the symptoms of atypical adenomal hyperplasia (the reason I was to have a hysterectomy), now says he never told me that. He says I still need the surgery. I plan to seek a second opinion on the matter, but, I’m still very thankful that this whole situation gave me the boost I need to get back on the keto plan.

I’m happier, healthier, and weigh 35 pounds less than I did 18 weeks ago. I rarely crave carbs, never even eat “fake” desserts, and am enjoying fitting in all of my “too-tight” clothing all thanks to keto.

 

One month update – 16 1/2 pounds gone!

Well, it’s a month since I posted, and first, let me say a big thank you to all of you for the kind thoughts! I’m still going strong and I’m down 16 1/2 pounds. It’s the not quickest I’ve ever lost, but it’s steady and I’ve kept between 20-23 grams of carbs per day – with very few cravings. My clothes are looser, and I keep finding more in my closet that I can wear comfortably now. Bloat gone, more energy – what’s not to love!? (No exercise yet.)

My husband has type 2 diabetes and he decided to join me after a couple of weeks, which has made me really happy (who wants to get healthy only to lose a partner because of CARBS?!). He isn’t strictly keto, but is staying under 80g per day and his sugar went from 224 to an avg of 80-100! I foresee us living/eating this way for the rest of our lives. It’s so much easier doing this as a team than having junk in the house.

Reading reddit keto subgroups daily has been a huge inspiration. I’ve also been reading (listening to) The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person, and I highly recommend the book. She uses cognitive therapy to help people learn to stop the cycle of yoyo dieting and self-sabotaging behavior. She doesn’t endorse any special diet, and I figured at this ripe old age, I should learn to change my thinking as well as my food intake, so I’ve been staying strong and focused even when I would usually seek carby food for comfort!

With the support of my husband, and the delicious recipes (and advice) of fellow keto redditers and this book in my arsenal, I know I can do this!

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.

product_BuffaloRanch1Day 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 6: Better, not great

Saturday progress:

Brunch – coneys (ate the buns and about 10 fries)

Dinner – Steak with onion cream sauce and a side of cauliflower mashed potatoes. Delicious!

Photo Mar 23, 8 25 50 PM

Photo Mar 23, 8 32 00 PM

That’s it. It was a short day, and I hit the hay early. Since I’ve never done “low carb” and only strict keto, I’m not even sure how many carbs were in the buns and fries, so let’s take a look:

buns = 18 grams carbs each
fries = a little bigger than shoestring, so I’ll say 15 grams to be safe

So I went over 33 grams from “non-keto” eating. And then I went right back to keto-friendly for dinner.

That’s something I’ve decided to try. I’m working on getting rid of this all or nothing attitude, where I screw up one meal, then go on a binge for the rest of the day. Instead, I ate the carbs at brunch, then went back on the keto plan for the rest of the day.

My son (who is doing very well on the keto plan) proposed an interesting idea –

He suggested that I add up my carbs by the WEEK instead of the day. That would definitely help rid the “I’m a failure” attitude that is so pervasive after one binge meal. I’ll think about trying that next week.

Day 294: Perfect keto day

Total weight loss: 41 1/2 pounds

Monday morning and I started out with an egg/sausage/cheese breakfast bowl lovingly made by my hubby.

Lunch was leftover keto-friendly lasagna.

After work, we went over to the sold house – again – to do ONE MORE load of last minute “junk” from the garage. Rick swept the garage floor, and he just needs to go back tomorrow morning to get about 4 boxes and some leaf bags (filled with leaves). I’ll be soooo sooo glad when we finally close on this house.

 

Dinner was at Albert’s on the Alley, since it’s trivia night. I didn’t get the delicious french fries. sigh. I didn’t eat any of Jo’s pizza. I did get the healthy keto-friendly grilled chicken salad with blue cheese dressing. The salad was just packed with yummy layers of ingredients. It took me more than 1/2 hour to eat it and it hit the spot. I ate one steak fry, courtesy of my trivia pal and coworker, Jim.

Before bed, I read a little and had two 72% chocolate pieces. Daylight saving time plus lots of activity has made us both pretty tired. I’m usually up until 1 am, but last night, we both hit the hay at 9! I was starting to get hungry again, so I think I dodged a bullet by just going to bed.

Day 291: Italian restaurant – chicken piccata

This week’s weight “loss”: +.5 pounds

Total weight loss: 40.5 pounds

Today was weigh-in day. I gained .5 pounds since last week. I’m not thrilled, but I’m used to the ups and downs. In order to keep my spirits up, after weighing I put on the smallest jeans I own…and they fit. That made me feel a little better.

Yesterday was Friday. Again, I had no time for breakfast. My son, Brandon, and his new bride, Lindsey, found a house they may bid on, so I called Rick and asked him to take me by on lunch. We wouldn’t be going until 1 pm, so I ate some almonds and 1/2 slice of lasagna around 11 am.

After checking out the house – which we both like very much – we went to the Senate Coney Island. I ordered 2 coney dogs and didn’t eat the buns. Rick didn’t order fries, so no temptations there.

Since I had a few long lunches this week, I needed to work until 6:30 to achieve 40 hours. When Rick picked me up after work, I was really tired and wanted to splurge and indulge in something to fill the emotional void. We debated the restaurant choices, and ended up at Angelo Brothers Italian restaurant. I had been there years ago for a Christmas party with my former coworkers at the school system. Rick had never been. I was really hoping I would find something satisfying AND low carb. I was thinking chicken marsala or some such item.

I actually did find a possibility: chicken piccata. I’d never had it before. When I visit an Italian restaurant (pre-keto), I usually go for something with lots of cheesy pasta. The ingredients listed for the chicken piccata: thin-sliced chicken breasts, garlic, butter, white wine, and mushrooms. Sounded good, so I tried it. I skipped the carb-laden sides and asked for extra mushrooms. The side salad was just a lot of iceberg lettuce, but it helped assuage the hunger while I waited for my meal. So did the glass of red wine.

I ignored the bread basket and dug into the chicken. It was so so so delicious. I checked the carb count afterward, and it ran from 5 to 20 grams per serving, so I’m not sure how well I did. I’m sure there was flour or cornstarch involved; however, I do know that I will be trying a low carb version at home, and I’ll just leave out those items. Rick took about 5 tastes of mine dinner. He loved it….even better than his pizza. The two of us will experiment with the new recipe soon. In the mean time, I’m proud of myself for picking something as low carb as possible, and not pigging out on pasta, pizza, and bread.

Once home, I had an Adkins bar for dessert.

I think I’ll go without the Adkins treats this week and see if that did impact my 1/2 pound weight gain. It’s not a real scientific experiment, but it may give me some indication if I lose a bit more next week after not eating them.

Day 290: Successes and failures…and lessons learned

Total weight loss: 41 pounds

Breakfast – skipped

I took my breakfast bowl to work, but our morning meeting went so long that I wasn’t hungry for breakfast by the time we got out. My friend Wally called unexpectedly and invited me to lunch. I decided to wait to eat until then.

Lunch – Big Boy buffalo grilled chicken salad with bleu cheese dressing. It was delicious, as usual – and Wally treated. Thanks, friend. Good food, good conversation.

Snack – Rick and I decided to go to a 5:00 movie: Cloud Atlas. I knew I wouldn’t make it until after it was over to eat dinner, and I didn’t want to show up at the theater hungry and get tempted to buy something bad at the snack bar. (I am learning to plan ahead.) I was already getting hungry, since the salad for lunch was all I had eaten for the day. Around 4, I heated a leftover portion of lasagna and ate that as a preventative measure. It was really tasty. Most “pasta” dishes seem to taste better when reheated since all the flavors have time to blend.

Movie – 2 sips of Rick’s diet Coke. Very determined NOT to buy concession food

After movie dinner – We didn’t eat out. When I got home, I heated another portion of lasagna. I have no problem repeating meals when I like them.

I congratulated myself on my restraint. I had a perfect keto day.

Then, an hour before bed, I decided to read and have a choco/peanut butter low carb snack.

I went in to the kitchen to get some 70% chocolate and noticed that Rick had eaten one package of the Hostess cupcakes we had purchased for the grandkids. How are we supposed to give only ONE grandchild a pack of cupcakes? Boy, they sure looked good. They were orange frosted. I could just taste the tangy citrus flavor of the frosting and the creamy center. So I did. I ate two Hostess cupcakes.

BLECK. I was SOOOO close to going to bed. Why didn’t I just close my eyes and ignore them? They were a total of 60 grams of carbs. I know I was well under 80 carbs for the day, which is probably fine on a low-carb diet, but for keto, I’m sure I knocked myself out of ketogenesis, and for no good reason. They were just okay tasting, nothing to get excited about.

Lessons learned:

  1. I am not perfect.
  2. I should probably fill up more on water.
  3. Don’t skip breakfast.
  4. I probably did not eat enough during the day, and allowed myself to be too tempted.
  5. NEVER have junk food in the house.

Day 288: Oops, cheat lunch at Chinese restaurant / excellent keto-friendly lasagna

Total weight loss: 41 pounds

We finally decided not to go out to breakfast. Just too costly. Rick made my “breakfast bowl”: 2 eggs, 2 sausage patties, cheese, and Taco Bell hot sauce. He puts it in a bowl, and I reheat, chop up, and eat at my desk. MMMMMMMM. Thanks, honey.

I was going to eat 2 Beddar Cheddars for lunch, but I got a surprise lunch invite from my niece, Marsha. The AUCE Chinese restaurant that we both love is very near my workplace, so I agreed to lunch with her.

I debated if I could do a low carb lunch, or if it was too difficult with the few options that I should just do a cheat meal. I sort of did a blend of both options.

I went to the Mongolian section and made a bowl with chicken, onion, garlic, and a little crab. I asked the cook to use garlic oil – he offered spicy; I said sure. It turned out to be delicious. Unfortunately, the Mongolian counter was at the back of the store, past the crab rangoons and the tempura sushi. Sigh.

So, I sort of did a half and half cheat meal. I had a main course that was low carb, and side dishes that were coated with breading. I do think I’ll get some garlic oil and try to make my own “Mongolian” stir fry at home. It’d be pretty easy, and keto-friendly. Always looking for some fresh ideas for keto recipes.

While I was off galavanting with my niece, Rick was home slaving away over the stove – for me! He made marinara sauce with the low carb tomato sauce and diced tomatoes he found yesterday at Kroger. He also cooked a pound of ground up Italian sausage. He was preparing the ingredients for a new keto-friendly, low-carb lasagna recipe I wanted to try. I thought I’d make it pretty close to my Dad’s traditional recipe, only using spaghetti squash as the lasagna “noodles.”

I saw this idea on several low carb sites, but most of the recipes, although low carb, were too high in carbs for keto. Rick did some investigating while shopping and found that a 14 oz can of Del Monte diced tomatoes with zesty mild green chilis was 7g per can, and Kroger tomato sauce was ZERO net carbs per can. He used 2 cans of each in his recipe, with 2 tbsp of olive oil (og), and various ingredients like garlic, 1/2 cup onion (10g), and 1/2 cup of red wine (4g). The whole recipe is posted here.

After work, I cook a whole large spaghetti squash, gathered the rest of the cheeses and ingredients and assembled a lasagna. Approximately one hour later, we sat down to a delicious bubbly authentic-tasting lasagna meal. At approximately 7.4 grams of carbs per serving, it surpassed my wildest dreams. I am no cook, but Rick’s marinara sauce is really flavorful and added to cheese and pepperoni, this tasted almost like my dad’s traditional recipe!

Here’s a picture of the whole pan…

So, dinner was a hit, and I have lots of servings to warm up during the week. This will definitely be a staple of my keto diet, and I’ll be making it a couple of times a month. I have to recalculate and be sure I didn’t mistake any of the carb counts. For instance, the mozzarella cheese said less than one gram of carbs per serving. Well, if you have many servings, when does that become 1 or even 2?

We each had an Adkins coconut bar for dessert. It was kind of an up and down day in terms of the keto plan, but creating such a keto-friendly pan of lasagna was a real high point of the day.