Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The Keto Project - Day Three


I know, I know. Where is Day Two? I said I'd update daily, and I've already failed. But I had a good reason - promise.

My daughter flipped over a basketball and landed on her forehead. Why didn't she break her fall, you ask? Go ahead, because it won't offend me...I thought the same thing. Right after I thought, "Oh, God...what's wrong with her now." If you've ever parented a middle-school girl, you may know what I'm talking about. I mean..CRAMPS! HEADACHES! BRUISES (from gymnastics and cheering and dancing)! It's unending.

Anyway, I got off track. Why didn't she break her fall? She said she didn't want to break a wrist. Wrist...brain...hmmmm. Thank goodness for the healing power of the young body, as she's pretty much back to normal after a rough 24 hours.

Anyway, today is Day Three, and I have to say, this is probably the easiest diet I've ever tried. I'm not really hungry. No cravings. Heck, I get chocolate every night! The food is delicious...so delicious. Tonight's dinner was Cheesy Chili Spaghetti Squash Casserole, and oh. my. yum. And it's REAL FOOD. And...the scale has already moved!

More later, hopefully....until then:

Weight change: - 1.5 pounds (yippy!!)
Exercise: Zilch. I had to wake up my girl up every hour last night, so there was no way in tarnation I was going to climb on that bike this morning.


Tweet

Sunday, May 17, 2015

The Keto Project - Day One


Well, isn't this embarrassing. It's a weighty issue...arrgh. If you've read anything here, you'll know I've tried paleo, I've been vegan, vegetarian...my eating habits have run the gamut. They all have benefits - I was vegan the longest. I felt light and energized at first...then run-down and anemic, later. Paleo - probably should have stuck with it. But I have trouble sticking.

But now I really need to lose weight. I really need to get lean. My left knee has been an annoyance since I hurt it at 14. It would flare up now and then, most noticeably after I walked the Breast Cancer 3-day back in 2003. A few years later, my doctor said I had equal chances improving it by surgery or physical therapy, and I chose the therapy. That got me through another eight years. The first weekend of March this year, I fell on it, and it's been the worst it's ever been. I'm having an MRI this week, but no matter what the outcome, I know it will feel better if I lose a few pounds. Okay, more than a few.

I've flirted with different ideas. One was tempting, and that was a ketogenic diet, and then a good friend brought it up while we were hanging out the other night. Her step-daughter has been trying keto, and started losing weight quickly and easily, also losing cravings for bad stuff along the way.

I've long found I Breathe... I'm Hungry to be one of my favorite blogs. Melissa Sevigny makes beautiful food that sounds just delicious. And she's done all the work! Eleven weeks of meal plans, plus a three-day trial. I dove right in, skipping the three-day and going right for Week One.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping. I already had a lot of the items on the pantry list, but there were a few I needed to pick up. I found nearly everything at my local low-price grocery store, and a quick trip to Trader Joe's filled in the rest. It was definitely pricier than a regular week's haul for me, but not by a whole lot, and quite a few of these items will last a while.

I returned home with great hopes to complete all the prep work for the week as Melissa describes. It was a little more time consuming than I thought, but it was all super easy. I'll finish most of it today, and then I'll have a whole week of meals pretty much ready to go.

This morning was Day One for me. I started off with the delicious Sausage, Spinach & Feta Frittata, and let me tell you...it was absolutely delectable. Yesterday while it was cooking, my 12-year-old daughter kept saying how delicious it smelled, and when it came out of the oven we were actually tempted to eat it right then! I wish I'd taken a photo of my own, but it wouldn't have looked as good as the originals. I made it in a 9 x 13 pan, but I think next time I'll try a muffin tin for variety. I rounded off breakfast with Trader Joe's Cold-Brewed Coffee Concentrate and some heavy cream made into an iced coffee drink that was better than anything I've had in years. Drinking iced coffee always reminds me of my mom. It was a favorite summertime drink in the heat of the small Arizona town where I grew up.

I'm going to use this as an accountability tool, so I'll be updating this daily. I can't wait to try more of the recipes!

Weight change:  0
Exercise: 26 minutes recumbent bike (yes, I know it was a weird number, but that's when my knee started hurting)