Monday Momentum - Holiday Survival

Typically, food is at the center of most holiday celebrations.   This past week was of course Valentine's Day and Valentine's is synonymous with chocolate.   Speaking as a former chocoholic, Valentine's Day can be pretty hard to get around.

As a funny side story, back in the late 1990's, I decided to fast sugar and chocolate for the whole month of February.  For one, I didn't have a boyfriend at the time, so I didn't have to worry about chocolate and also, it's the shortest month of the year so hey, I could survive 28 days, right?   Imagine my surprise on Valentine's Day, when a good looking guy I'd never met showed up at my office with a FIVE POUND box of candy and a dozen roses for me.  That was the LONGEST remaining 14 days of my life...but I held steady.  The first day of March arrived and I made myself sick on chocolate.  True story ya'll.

Anyway, I've found that all these holiday's and special treats tend to be one of the things that really hangs me up, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.  Maybe it's just me, but I'm already thinking of all the coconut goodies that'll be hitting the shelves soon for Easter (and WHY is Easter & coconut intertwined???).

Thankfully, there's a bakery in our town that sells (and ships) KETO desserts.   They have the most amazing peanut butter cheesecake cups, and my dear husband got me four of those for Valentine's Day, and I spread them out over a four day period.  Delish and still on plan.

So, my suggestion to you and me, is to buy things that are on plan, or find recipes and make your own.   If you go into holiday's, birthday's or other celebrations feeling deprived you're not going to do well...and you're not going to enjoy the event as much.  Plan ahead, buy or make an on plan treat and don't feel bad for taking it with you.

This week I hit the goal I was aiming for two weeks ago.  Better late than never, it's all about continuing to make progress and healthy choices.  I didn't get here overnight, and I'm not dropping it all over night.  Speaking from experience, a marathon is a lot harder than a sprint...but few can say they've finished the race.

How do you handle food centered celebrations?

Monday Momentum - Stall Week

This was another week where the scale didn't move.   There's a couple of reasons for that.  First of all, I ate a few things I shouldn't have.   I also drank diet soda over the weekend, and even though it has no carbs or sugar, it causes me to retain fluid like crazy and it typically takes a day or two to get my body to release the extra fluid. 


One thing I've added this past week is daily Biotin for my hair/nails.  Mostly it's for my hair as I've been noticing a lot more coming out in my hairbrush (common with keto).  I've also added daily Vitamin C since I'm not eating any fruits.   This is supposed to help with hair and skin elasticity too.

Honestly I'm a little discouraged at the moment.  I've been in a holding pattern for a little while and it's frustrating to hit a plateau and not see any changes on the scale.   On a positive note, I'm down several pant sizes since the beginning, and my current pants are starting to get really loose, so even though the scale hasn't moved I'm still seeing changes.

In the end, I know I'm healthier than I was when I started and I'm continuing to make better food choices than I have any many years.   I just have to be patient and let my body work.

What things are you seeing as a positive in your journey?

Monday Momentum - Back on Track

The last couple of weeks, I've struggled with getting back in the "zone".  I was craving sugar and just couldn't seem to get back on track, and I was frustrated with myself.  I started looking at what I'd done with success and what I was doing now and really didn't see any difference at first.  Then I had a light bulb moment.

After Christmas, I'd went to one of the stores that sells the Skinny Syrups and at the time they didn't have any flavors I liked (mango...for coffee??? eww).  I ended up buying two bottles of another brand that also had 0 calories and 0 carbs.   I've been choking that coffee down ever since, because even the vanilla was just funky tasting.  

I went back to that discount store this past week and they had Skinny Syrups in yummy flavors, so I brought home a vanilla and a salted caramel, but planned to hold those until I finished the other brands.  Then I decided to compare the ingredients to see that the two off brands had a lot of malitol in them, which is a sugar alcohol.   Malitol affects your blood sugar levels just like sugar, and is a huge no-no on keto.  

Despite my frugal side, I poured both bottles down the sink and made a tasty cup of coffee with the vanilla Skinny Syrup.   That's the only thing I did differently this week.  The sugar cravings left, my mood improved and drum roll....I lost 3.2 pounds this week!

That brings me to a grand total of 49.8 pounds lost so far!   Had I not made such a careless mistake I'd probably have hit my goal last week and then some.   You live and learn, right?

How did everyone else do this week?   What have you needed to tweak?

Monday Momentum - Jinxed

I started this weekly post to help keep myself accountable and to encourage others in their weight loss journey.   I seem to have jinxed myself as my weight loss has stalled, backed up and slowly crept forward over the course of this series.  But, I'm keeping it real for you all, and for me, so there's that.

One thing I still struggle with, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, is stress eating.  The good news is I'm not eating snack cakes and candy bars now, but too many nuts seem to be my go-to now.  Nuts are great, but they stall my weight loss when consumed too often (or tooooo many).

Apple cider vinegar is something I've come to like.  I mix up a drink with 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, 2 tsps of powdered stevia and a tsp of ground ginger.  I mix it really good, fill my glass up with ice and then add water and sip on it all day.  It's tangy, but tasty and I really enjoy sipping on it, and it seems to help flush out my system pretty well.

Saturday our church had an all day meeting (9-3:30) for the folks in leadership, so I was there all day.  Lunch was provided and most of what was offered was not keto friendly.  I did indulge, but not overly so, just ate small portions.   But still it was enough to knock me out of ketosis.

I did drop two pounds this past week.   That put me at 46 pounds lost total, but kept me from reaching a goal I'd set for today.  But at least the scale moved in the right direction, and I'm feeling good about that.

How about you?   What things have you found that help you resist temptation?

Monday Momentum - MCT Oil

Today's "thing" is MCT oil.    All the keto guru's say you should put this in your coffee with butter and have "Bullet Proof Coffee" in the mornings to help curb the appetite.   However, I've found that I really don't like the oily feeling in my coffee, even when I whisk it in.   Instead, I take a tablespoon full in the morning and evening (when I remember).   There's no flavor and I just swallow the whole spoonful at one time and then following it with a beverage of choice.   This does seem to curb the appetite and has helped regulate my digestive tract as well.

Honestly, I'm struggling more with my keto mindset than I did before the holiday's.   Then it was just rigid, "No, I'm not eating that."   Now I'm prone to allow myself more "cheats" and that's not good, it's slowing me down considerably in my goal.  I have to adjust my mindset pretty drastically again.

So having said that, I'm up 2 pounds from last week (last week was over a 6 pound loss).   So I'm still hovering at the 45+/- loss.   Part of the issue is I'm not going to the gym (it's single digits outside, no thank you), I had a Big Mac last week while running people to doctor appointments and I went to dinner with my husband on Saturday...I got a salad but I know it was high on carbs from the dressing.

Today is a new day.   The charge to my next goal weight is firmly in place and doable as long as I keep focused.

How was your week, lose/gain, maintain? 

Monday Momentum - Eggs Are My Friend

My goal last week was to get to the gym at least twice, it didn't happen.   It was a hectic week, most of which was spent away from home, and going to the gym was the last thing on my mind.   I did however still go to volleyball on Friday night and played for two hours straight, and worked up quite the sweat.

I've found that eggs are truly my friend on this way of eating.      Olivia's been bringing home farm fresh, brown eggs, for us and these are so much better than store bought, aren't they pretty?   The photo really doesn't do justice to the color, they are almost an orange/brown.

I like eggs fried in butter, but since I can't have toast I don't want fried eggs.    Instead, I've gone to having 3 deviled eggs for "brunch" sometime between 10:30am and noon, depending on when I feel hungry.   I don't like refrigerated deviled eggs, so each day I make a batch.

I don't use a "recipe", I just mix some mayo, mustard, sour cream (when I have it), salt, pepper and paprika together and then blend it into the egg yolks.   Once I fill the eggs with the mixture I add more paprika and I'm done.   DELISH!

Even though it was a busy week, and I cheated a bit on Wednesday while I was out all day, I still managed to drop weight and am now at a 46.4 pound loss (started September 10, 2018).   I'm really happy to see the number on the scale going in the right direction once again.

I have a goal for January, I want to be down another pounds by the end of the moth.  The gym looks more likely to fit in the schedule for next week and that should help a lot.

How was you week?  What healthy thing did you add, or unhealthy thing did you remove from your lifestyle?

Monday Momentum - Here We Go!

Monday Momentum is a new weekly feature I'm adding to the blog, where I will post weekly (hopefully) about my weight loss progress, what's working and what needs to be changed.   I'm hoping the accountability will help keep me on track.   I'll give you a quick rundown of where I am and how I got here in this post.

I started the KETO way of life on September 10, 2018.  I made the mental switch rather easily and never had sugar cravings or withdrawal issues.  (Sugar has been my drug of choice for years.)  From September through December 23 I lost 42 pounds!    My joints, especially my knees and ankles, stopped hurting and walking became easier.  I joined a volleyball league and have been having a wonderful time.  Typically I kept my carbs under 20 net grams per day.

Christmas week I decided I'd not be so strict and allow myself some holiday treats and not be as limited on the types of food I consumed.  Christmas Eve  we had dinner at my in-laws.   I did allow myself to have some mashed potatoes and a roll, and for dessert I had a small piece of pecan pie.   Within about 5 minutes of eating the pie I had a really bad headache and chalked it up to a sugar rush.

Christmas morning I fixed our traditional eggnog French toast with warm cherry pie filling on top.  We had dinner with my family.   This is where the biggest eating train wreck came from.   Other than the turkey, every single dish was nothing but carbs (potatoes, macaroni, dressing, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, rolls)...and the desserts were MUCH better and more abundant.

The day after Christmas I packed up all the left over cookies, candy, cakes and food gifts and put them in the freezer.   I was nauseated most of the day, and the nausea continued for a couple days.  I've found that sugar really doesn't agree with me much anymore.  My joints started to hurt again and my ankles were poofy again.

I didn't check my weight from Christmas Eve through New Year Day.  I also didn't go back to strict KETO because I knew we'd have a NYE get together at church, a family dinner on New Year's Day and  my husband's birthday is January 2 and I wanted to enjoy his birthday cake with him.    Probably not my best move, but that's what I did.

I read something online this week that said "It's not about what you eat from Christmas to New Year's, it's about what you eat from New Year's to Christmas."    I think that's a pretty accurate statement and I don't begrudge myself having enjoyed holiday foods.

So here we are, January 7 and I weighed this morning and I'm at exactly the 40 pound lost mark.  Yep, I'm up 2 pounds.   My fingers are really swollen this morning, and I need to add more fiber to my diet (ahem)...so those two issues combined could be the cause of the 2 pound gain, or it could just be that hey, I ate stuff I shouldn't and gained a bit.  Either way, there will be a difference on the scale next week.

What's working for me? Skinny Syrup  and Skinny Foam for my coffee is working.   These come in all kinds of delicious flavors, have no carbs and make coffee a tasty treat.  I also add MCT oil to my coffee, and the syrup helps me ignore the oily feeling in my mouth.   You can order the syrup online, but you can also find it at stores like Tuesday Morning, Ross and TJMaxx if you have any of those in your area.

This week my goal is to get to the gym at least twice and drink a LOT more water. 

How did your weight loss week go?  What's working for you?