Keto Reboot

I was sitting at my desk in my home office tonight and wondered why I felt so exhausted. I was, beyond just tired. I then realized that I’ve not been fully on Keto for quite some time. So I checked the evil scale. I had gotten down to my lowest weight just a few months ago than I’d been in years, possibly decades. I was 215 and while that was no where close to my goal of 150 I was very happy when that happened.

Since then life happened as it always does. But instead of being upset that I’d raised the scale to 225 I decided to do a Keto Reboot. Some might think I’m crazy doing this so close to the holidays but food doesn’t define the holidays. My happiness does.

While I know that a lot of that weight is bloat and being “backed up” I also know that I have to get back to the lifestyle that I had while living keto fully. I was vigilante about working out. I made sure to get in my 10,000 steps a day in. I was eating healthy and intermittent fasting. I had so much energy. I felt better about myself and therefore projected that on everything I did and everyone I met.

So tonight, I am rebooting myself to a better lifestyle. I’m realizing that a bump in the road doesn’t mean that I should just turn around and give up. I know that I can do this so I’m doing it again.

It’s Thursday night and I’m prepping my reboot by drinking some cleansing tea and by weighing. I’ve also taken measurements. I will be going through my pantry and fridge tomorrow and getting rid of or donating the things that I shouldn’t really have in my home.

A few of the things that have made me successful in the past have been a food journal, my FitBit and my Wii. Below is a picture of my food journal which I will keep on here from now on.

I used this every single day. I tracked water, food, exercise and of course used pretty colors and stickers to make it fun because who doesn’t need glittery stars! The quotes from Buddha didn’t hurt either as any extra motivation works for me.

Typically when I first start I weigh and use the dreadful pee ketone sticks to make sure I’m in ketosis. After a couple weeks I calm down on doing that every day but it gives me an idea of how my body reacts to foods, liquids, a late night out or a different exercise.

Another thing that motivates me is buying a pair of jeans that are one size too small. When I can get into those I donate old pairs and buy the NEXT size down. It’s a small motivation for me. I also have a binder with motivational pictures and quotes in it. We can all find motivation in different things but if one of my ideas helps someone with their weight loss then it’s completely worth it. 🙂

While I do have a gym membership which I do use on occasion my Wii actually works me out just as well. When I do go to the gym it’s usually to get my cardio in but when I workout at home I get my cardio and mix it up with kickboxing and resistance band training. In my journey I will use a format to make it easy which will also detail what I do for my workout that day.

I know there’s conflicting reports on whether 10,000 steps a day is actually ideal it’s worked for me as a goal for the day. Some days it means that once I hit 10,000 steps then I’m good but some days I like to see just how far I can go beyond that. I actually like to workout. I’ve always enjoyed it. I like to sweat for a good reason and it’s a sense of accomplishment.

What’s different this time? Well, I’m not waiting for Sunday or Monday, not waiting for the 1st, not waiting till after something. I’m just getting back on track now. Seriously you don’t have to wait for anything. Just make your next choice a healthy one.

Aside from the obvious weight loss of the keto lifestyle I also gain so many other things. I saved money. When you only eat once or twice a day it really does save money. I slept better, felt better, had more energy. While I did go through the initial phase of losing hair it stopped and began to grow so fast. I also have the best skin of my life. Even my Doctor was surprised at my weight loss. It’s always good to surprise your doctor in a good way.

So today is the day before day 1 and my format will look like this:

• Breakfast: Food, calories, fat and carb count
• Lunch: Food, calories, fat and carb count
• Dinner: Food, calories fat and carb count
• Water intake
• Exercise.

I might add things or not but as I said if this helps even ONE person along the way with their journey then it’s all worth it.

Here we go again… Here’s to a better lifestyle and better health. If you have any suggestions or questions please feel free to ask.

March 2018 Challenge – Day 1

Hello again. So every once in a while when I start to feel stagnant or bored I like to switch things up by doing a month long challenge. Most of the time I like to do five challenges because it keeps it interesting.

The challenges I’ve chosen this month are the following:

1. Eat total Keto all month long – no cheats and blog my food.
2. Exercise both cardio and strength every day (2 rest days possible)
3. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning up.
4. Blog each day using the blog list challenge (pic blow)
5. Dry brush and hydrate everyday.

(1) It’s important to me to detail my food diary to (1) help others if they are curious what some eat on a keto diet and (2) because I will be able to go back and check my progress using it.

(2) Exercise is one of those things for me that I either go in fully and super charged or just stop doing. I ALWAYS feel better when I do though and I know that so setting goals to do cardio and strength each day will be my reminder to feel good.

(3) I had recently lost 90% of everything that I owned including the home I had lived in for over 15 years due to a hurricane. What I realized most is that I don’t really miss anything. Of course there were a few items that I’ll think about every now and then and a few items that had been repurchased like my Keurig but I also realized that I’d been lazy about cleaning because I’d been there so long and I’d accumulated so much stuff. It has been a cathartic experience knowing that “things” do not control my life any longer. Kind of a crappy way to realize that but sometimes we just need that “extra” push”. Because of all that I am keeping my new place clean daily instead of just before visitors come. Dedicating 10 minutes a day will help this. Especially since I don’t have much stuff anyway. 🙂

(4) I’ve always like the blog challenges especially when you want to write but nothing comes out. It’s like auto-pilot journaling.

(5) Another huge challenge for me is to hydrate myself enough. I have very dry skin and want to lose more weight. I have googled many things that help with hydration, skin and weight loss and came across dry brushing. I purchased a Dry Brush Set from amazon (link provided) and use it when I wake up. There’s some great YouTube videos online to show you how but not only does this help wake you in the morning, helps skins especially if you’re worried about excess skin from weight loss but it feels damn good! After I dry brush I usually use a combination of oil and collagen lotion which also helps dry skin.

So there you have my five things that I’m going to do this month. Now I’ll detail my keto foods for the day.

Breakfast: I call this my AF coffee. It’s basically coffee, MCT Oil (Link Provided here) and sugar-free Coffee Mate creamer or heavy cream and lastly top it off with zero carb whipped cream because, well, I’m fancy. Not only is this an awesome coffee but its a lot cheaper than Starbucks.

Snack: I had a cheese stick and I have two biotin gummies and take a Jarrow Formulas Inositol Pill which I’ll write about in another post but it does wonders for your body especially women by giving you energy and helping with those “monthly issues”. Basically I’ve not had cramps since taking the Inositol but I encourage you to do your own research. It is also shown to help depression.

Lunch: I went to Burger King and asked for a double cheeseburger, no ketchup or tomatoes and took off the bun and had a diet coke with a big bottle water.

Snack: I had pork skins and dipped them in salsa verde mixed with sour cream.

Dinner: Small 6 oz rib-eye with some garlic stuff olives.

Exercise: I did a mix of cardio and strength for 32 minutes then took a nice 30 minute walk in the full moon tonight.

I’m about to start my nightly routine which includes my 10 minutes of cleaning.

I dry brushed this afternoon after a late start this morning.

Lastly, my blogging challenge for today is this:

I’m supposed to introduce myself with a picture. I’m going to cheat on this one because I don’t like photos. But I will tell you a little bit about me: I was born in Exeter, England. I moved to Saudi Arabia as a small child and lived there for a very short time. Finally landing in Texas. I have lived here most of my life.

I have worked for a financial company for almost 20 years, yep the same place. I like what I do, just not always who I do it for. I’m a numbers gal. I could play with numbers all day and kind of do. However, on top of that, I also do legal work, have private clients and like to volunteer.

I am not a fan of standard social media. I don’t use my Facebook account unless it’s for work. I use an Instagram account for my keto profile under princess.keto (if you want to follow. I don’t use twitter.

I am single but it’s complicated. My first love is, was and always will be music. Without fail, you can always find a song to fit your mood. I listen to everything from modern rock to jazz to symphonic melodies.

That’s what I got for you today. I’ll be back tomorrow. Have a great day/night wherever you are!

How To Start a Keto Diet

The number one question I get asked, especially after people see the results that I’ve had, is always, “How do I get started?”. Well, this is not a diet that you need anything special for. You don’t need pills, shakes or exogenous ketones as many sites, sellers or people would have you think. That’s not to say that some of those things might not help you but you don’t NEED them. So my first reply is always, “You just need to stop eating carbs and processed foods”.

After that’s said I usually get the “Oh I could never stop totally. I have a sweet tooth”. So  I’m now going to go through the stages of what happened to me on my first real low carb/keto experience and what I did that helped.

1. I cleaned out my entire kitchen of anything that wasn’t keto approved. This, for me, was a necessity because of those late night “sweet-tooth” cravings. I didn’t want anything around me that would make it easy for me to cheat. I donated what I could. Gave my friends some. Boxed up and hid some other items.  DO NOT just throw away items that someone could use. While homeless shelters don’t want your “half-eaten pint” of cookies and cream ice cream, they can benefit drastically from cans of pasta or bags of rice.
2. I realized what my weaknesses were like chips and dip and found substitutes for them. Like instead of chips I’d use pepperoni slices, cucumbers or pork skins to dip into ranch.
3. I made a list of all the keto approved things I could eat and stocked up on them. My basics were meat, spinach or kale, heavy whipping cream, whipped cream, cheese, bacon and some pork skins or pork clouds.
4. I also realized that, for me, this was not something that I would just be great at. I knew I’d need a learning curve and that I needed to find a way to keep motivated. For me, that was the idea of knowing that I was in ketosis. There’s basically three ways to know this:
   • First, you feel different. For some they go through the “keto flu” which could be any of the following: Fatigue, Sugar cravings, Dizziness, Difficulty focusing (or Brain Fog), Nausea, Difficulty Getting To Sleep, Irritability, Stomach Irritability. Some people don’t get this at all. But in another post I’ll explain the keto flu a bit more in detail.
   • Second, you could pee on a stick. Yep, those cheap (less than $10.00) strips probably saved me in the beginning. These are the ones that I used because it required less of the eye squinting to try to read the colors. Keto Testing Strips
   • Third, when you get a bit more advanced you can look into the Keto Mojo. This is that link Keto Mojo I started using the Keto Mojo testing kit because after your body has been in ketosis for a while you might not get a true reading from the testing urine strips any longer. It’s package and contents are a lot like any diabetic testing kit except that it tests for ketones, glucose, hematocrit and hemoglobin.

I still use all three of the above items to make sure I’m in ketosis. My typical regiment is testing with the Keto Mojo weekly and using the Keto Testing strips daily. This helps if you’re unsure how a vegetable is going to effect you or something new that you’ve eaten and it helps keep me honest.

Testing, in the beginning was something that I knew I needed because every single person is different. Everyone’s body is different. What effects me negatively might not effect you at all. For some reason my body doesn’t handle fruit sugar well at all so even though some sites will tell you it’s ok to eat a small amount of berries on the keto diet I am not able to. The other reason that testing is great is that once you see that dark color on the testing strip (after you’ve peed on it) you can’t help but be excited about it.

Another item to discuss is that a lot of people assume that you can just eat bacon an avocados all day and that’s it. Truth is, I’m sure you can but people tend to retreat from a boring diet after a while. Then they cheat and assume it’s all over. Do your research and learn what other things can be eaten on this diet. Learn that you might not be able to have a traditional hamburger but you can find a lot of places that offer bun-less burgers. Maybe you don’t have traditional “fries” anymore but learn to love zucchini fries. In this day and age with the internet and so many people doing a keto diet there are hacks for just about anything from a traditional diet.

Next, expand your expectations. As stated above, you can switch from burgers to bun-less but since you’re not used to it, it WILL taste different. Get it out of your head that you can continue to have the feelings about food that you used to have. Also, you CAN have a treat every now and then but I do NOT suggest this until you’ve been doing the keto diet for at least 30 days. These is a method behind my madness.

Most people eat what is called the “SAD” diet or Standard American Diet which still consists of carbs and sugars. Because we’ve all eaten like that for years and add in the fast food and energy drinks/sodas our body’s need a reset. We need to clean all that junk out first before we attempt to go back to it. For me that took about 30 days. In that amount of time I’d forgotten what ice cream tasted like and when I did try it again it was disgustingly sweet. I was done after one spoonful. French fries seem grossly oily especially knowing that they’re dosed in vegetable oil. There’s a whole movement that includes seeing food differently on the keto diet. It’s amazing to get to that point.

Results: You can see from doing research that so many people’s reasoning for switching to this way of eating differs but the majority would say weight-loss. That was one of my reasons. I’ve attached a chart which shows the science behind the keto diet which is extremely helpful. Here are also so of my other reasons:

• Three of my closest friends had just been diagnosed with diabetes within a 2 year time span. All of them were unaware and ended up in the hospital with outrageous levels that almost killed them.
• I have digestive issues which were only exacerbated by a regular diet.
• I wanted a clearer mind, body and soul.
• I needed something simple that would change my view on eating and food.

Having friends that had gotten so sick so quickly made me wonder just how great their diet was. Honestly, it wasn’t horrible. One of them ate salads, fruit and yogurt and drank water all the time. His weakness was the fruit and that’s what put him in the hospital. The problem with that is the hospital provided a nutritionist that basically put him back on a SAD diet. This kept his numbers high and he was on two types of insulin and two medications every day. It wasn’t until he started lower his carbs that his numbers changed enough for him to only have to be on one medication right now. That entire ordeal was an eye opener for all of us.

Having digestive issues all my life has always brought me into researching what’s the best way to deal with them. I hate taking pills and wanted to find a way that I didn’t have to. Even probiotics didn’t help. What did help though is changing my diet to a clean keto diet. Each time I eat something that is fast food or high in carbs I’m reminded why I don’t any more. It seriously disrupts my gut. It brings painful gas, bloating and terrible bathroom trips. When I’m keto I’m fine. There’s no bloating, no gas and I’m regular and normal.

My clear mind, body and soul trip… I never realized before just how bad I felt after eating fast food until I stopped. I don’t wake up groggy. I don’t have the afternoon slump and my skin, hair and nails have never looked better. In fact, my hair grows faster now that it ever has before. I am convinced that processed food is what is killing humans and by default making humans, Americans feel miserable all the time. In fact, this is the most depressed and unhealthiest that we’ve ever been. I put that on there being a McDonald’s on every corner next too a Shipley’s and a Starbucks. Yes, we all have choices to make however I’m convinced that eating processed, fast food is addictive and therefore it’s the withdraw from it that keeps people from staying on healthier diets. Just my thoughts.

The last reason being my reason to view food differently didn’t come until I’d been on this diet for a couple weeks. After the initial stage of “detoxification” you realize that you no longer crave food. It’s becomes an energy source rather than a distraction tactic. It’s brings to mind a phrase I heard and never forgot.

“Eat to live. Do not live to eat!”

I realized at that moment that most of us, especially that have struggled with weight, do actually live to eat. We’re asking at 9:00 am what someone wants for dinner and we’re planning our outings for the weekend according to who wants what food. After my mind cleared I noticed that I’d gone hours without thinking about food. A lot of times I wasn’t hungry. Do you remember the last time that you waiting until your stomach growled before you ate? I don’t believe that we need to be regimented and eat breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert and snack. We were made to eat when we’re hungry to sustain our energy NOT to keep our belly’s full all the time.

So those are my thoughts today that I hope help you in whatever journey you are one.

Also remember that I am not a doctor and have no medical experience. Only life experience. Please consult a doctor before trying any diet and/or exercise program.

New Starts and Keto… Everyone’s doing it.

I am one of those people that have tried everything to lose weight. I’ve tried Weight Watchers – all it did was make me watch my weight stay the same. I’ve tried pills which were just terrible to swallow. I’ve tried grapefruit and lemon juice and any wacky new workout machine that’s come out on a “As seen on TV” program. The only thing that EVER made me actually get rid of weight was going low carb, paleo, and keto.

This seems like it’s all the new rage now. Everyone is “going keto” or low carb but there’s a reason for that. It works! Think about the things that are the highest in carbs. Sweets, bread, pasta, rice. These are typically the things you end up craving as well. Just some of the advantages on a keto diet…

• Aids in weight loss. Decreasing your carbs, processed sugars and processed foods should allow for decent weight loss. You turn your body from a sugar burning machine into a fat burning machine. Once your body switches to burn fat (since most humans are burning sugar now) the process of burning fat actually takes more energy to do so. Hence working hard and burning more body fat.
• Reduces skin issues including acne, eczema and psoriasis. These skin issues are usually caused by dietary habits or can be lessened or stressed by dietary habits.
• Reduces risks of cancer. Recent studies have shown that mice who eat sugar actually feed their cancer cells.
• Improves heart health. By switching up what you’re eating like going from ice cream (bad) to avocados (good) you’re changing your cholesterol levels. The good cholesterol will become higher while the bad cholesterol will lower.
• Helps women with PCOS or other menstrual issues. Because this type of diet healths in weight loss it can also help with hormone imbalance.
• Helps reduce the risk of diabetes and lowers insulin. Again, because you’re lower your carb intake your sugar isn’t spiking as it might with diabetes.

*Note that I am NOT nor ever have been a medical professional. Please speak with your doctor before trying any new diet program and do your own research as well.

There are many many more reasons to start a keto diet. To be honest with you, I don’t like referring to it as a keto “diet”. This is a lifestyle. Before you make any lifestyle change you need to ask yourself a few questions:

1. Am I ready to change things and possibly be uncomfortable until I adjust to a new type of living?
2. Who or what am I doing it for?
3. Am I ready to completely change my thoughts about how I’m “supposed to eat”?
4. Am I ready to have people around me question what I’m doing? (Everyone has their own opinion).
5. Am I ready to change my life?

Are you ready to change? This is the biggest question of all. If you’re not ready to change, give up some of what might be your favorite food then it doesn’t matter what “diet” you chose. You must have the mindset that you might be uncomfortable for a while, that what you’ve subconsciously considered to be ‘comfort food’ won’t be there to comfort you any longer. To some people that’s a scary thing. But remember this: That breadstick, pasta or fried chicken isn’t helping you. You must change the way you feel about food. I think one of the best things I’ve ever read is, “Eat to LIVE don’t live to EAT”.

Why am I doing this? The answer to this doesn’t necessarily change the fact that you should start this diet but it’s best to do a mental and emotional inventory before making any changes in life. Are you doing this to get skinny for a man or woman? Are you doing this because you think you’ll get the approval of your family? Are you doing this because you’re tired of being “the funny one”? I never truly felt good on a diet that I was doing because of someone else or for someone else. It wasn’t until I realized that I WANT to do this for MYSELF that I became strong enough to do it.

Ready to change how your supposed to eat? We’ve been told for years that food is one way but then at the drop of a hat someone puts out new research which shows something completely different. Don’t believe me? Ask an egg how it’s been treated for years. At first it was supposed to be good, then bad, then only the egg yoke was bad and finally now it’s actually ok to eat eggs everyday.

Are you ready to have people around you question your choices? This one hits home because as soon as I said, “I don’t eat much fruit” or “I don’t eat that type of veggie” I was bombarded with “Well that’s not healthy.” “That doesn’t leave you many choices.” The truth is, I tend to actually keep my eating lifestyle quiet until someone asks “What have you been doing/eating? You look great.” The proof is in the picture I guess. A lot of people eat a SAD diet. (Standard American Diet) which is ironically named. Those people are not always the healthiest people on the planet. The Keto Diet proves that.

Are you ready to change your life? This one is the biggest one of all. Because this is a lifestyle change it means that you might not see the health benefit immediately. However; a lot of people that do the Keto Diet do see very fast results.

So this is the start of something for me. I will be documenting my daily meals, progress and items that help me through this journey. The truth is, and it’s been said a lot, is that you don’t NEED to buy any contraption, pill or shake to do this diet. Just eating low carb (less than 20 grams a day), drinking water and a little bit of exercise WILL get you where you need to go. So please take this journey with me and feel free to ask any questions that you’d like and maybe we can all help each other get in to the best shape of our lives.

Stay tuned for recipes, tips and tricks and hopefully a lot of motivation.

Skin Beauty Review – Skin Food Black Sugar Mask

Okay. I know I’m horrible at posting and I’m going to try to do better especially since I have a lot to review and post. For my next review, I’m reviewing the Skin Food Black Sugar Mask. First, I’m really into natural skincare. I’ve tried everything under the sun from expensive potions to drugstore lotions. The only skincare that has always been great is from Lush Handmade Cosmetics.

So, when I saw this Skin Food I thought, “all natural ingredients is always good”. It’s got a lemony fresh smell, exfoliates the crap out of my skin and after I leave it on for a while, makes my skin feel fresh, soft and healthier. You’re supposed to leave it on for 15 or so minutes but I usually start to do something else and forget about it till I go to rub my eye or nose or something and there is this baby poop looking brown sugar concoction. It is not visually stimulating but that’s not really what it’s made for so I got past that pretty quick.

There isn’t really a downside to this, so far. I found it on amazon for less than $10.00 and use it once a week to make my winter, dry, desert skin look glowy. I would recommend this product with 4 out of 5 stars.

Getting Fit – Sleep Review

Everyone seems to be on the “getting fit” kick. With gym memberships, pills and fad diets on the rise especially starting at the beginning of the year, I’ve done my research. I’ve had years of experience with diets, pills, plans and all sorts of “as seen on TV” products which makes me cry when I think of all the money spent.

The truth is, after all the research, the only thing that’s ever actually worked for me was eating clean or paleo and exercise. I love to exercise. I’m not one of those people who says “Blah, I hate to walk, run or move at all”. I think it’s the second best type of sweating you can do. Exercise makes you feel better, happier and you have a sense of accomplishment after you’ve completed something, whether it’s 10,000 steps a day, a marathon or just walking up 10 flights of stairs that you haven’t before.

Now, with all that being said, I had gone through some personal issues and fallen off the wagon this year. I am ready to change that all now. I’ve got the all clear from the doctor and am ready to complete my journey. You might be asking “Why now?” “Aren’t you going to wait for the first of the year?” The answer is no. I’m not waiting for a Monday, first of the month or the beginning of the year. I’m going into this new year with being healthy already on my mind. Through all my experiences you’ll get to reap the rewards of me reviewing things I’ll try or things I’ve tried along the way. Trust me when I say I’ve tried a lot of everything.

One of the first things I’m recommending is for sleep. My sleep sucks. It has for years. I’ve taken over the counter sleeping pills for years, which I’ll hopefully be off soon but my biggest problem has never been staying asleep. My problem is getting there in the first place. My mind races about things that have happened that day, things that didn’t happen or things that I wanted to happen. My mind races about stories, thoughts or people or even song lyrics. I needed something to get me to sleep and then my R.E.M. state would do the rest.

Being someone who’s taken Unisom for years, I wanted to look for a safer, homeopathic version and I’d taken some stuff before but it never works. Valerian root was one thing I tried but I could never get passed the fact that it smelled like rotting feet after a long run. I’ve tried diffusers, teas, reading and nothing really grabbed me but a few weeks ago I was at some drug store and saw Nature Made VitaMelts Sleep Melatonin. I figured, “What the heck”. To my surprise these suckers work like a miracle.

I take one pill, which melts in your mouth, about an hour before bed and I continue my bedtime routine, finalizing with my head on my pillow and the next thing, I’m waking up to my alarm clock and trying to rehash my dreams before actually moving into some sort of functioning adult. They don’t leave me groggy, sleepy or bitchy. 

I give these little suckers 4 our of 5 stars.

What helps you fall asleep and stay asleep?