Tag Archives: low carb eating

October 31, 2024 · 5:01 pm

Snap, Crackle, Pop!

Nourish, Move, Love

I sound like the older-than-dirt Rice Krispies commercial when I exercise. I’m drowning that out with earphones plugged into my computer where I listen to “Ladies Drumming” exercise videos where they use drumsticks to beat on exercise balls on platforms just below chest level to some fun music. Instead of their equipment, I’m holding 3-pound dumbbells and doing exercise moves I’ve learned elsewhere, keeping up with the beat. It makes the movement ALMOST fun. I just finished doing two of the videos before I was feeling it in my neck and shoulders.

I did quite a bit of walking (for me) when my husband and I went to do errands this morning. I’ll walk more before dinner.

Now I’ll go do a session of old-lady stretching yoga that will nicely fill out my exercise for the day.

I’ve tweaked my eating by adding the protein shake my doctor recommended daily, plus eating Zero Net-Carb Mission Tortillas, one for lunch and another for dinner, adding 14 grams of fiber daily. I’m drinking more water in-between.

I’m almost to another milestone for me – one of my interim goal marks, and I hope to be able to claim that by the end of this week.

I splurged, though, today, because my husband wanted to stop at our local grocery so he could get a chicken/mashed-potato-bowl for lunch. I caved and got two chicken tenders. I ate one with lunch today and will have the other tomorrow. This allows me to realize that this is a lifestyle change for the rest of my life, not just a ‘diet’ that will end at some point, and that small splurges from time to time add motivation while keeping me from feeling deprived.

We enjoyed delicious BBQ ribs from Stu’s Clean Cookin’ last night. I divided the rack we bought into two pieces. I put one in the fridge to eat last night and the other piece in the freezer for another time. When it was cooked, I divided it again so we both enjoyed 4 ribs with a side salad. My husband had a roll and I had a tortilla. Tonight we’re eating some leftover “Simply Keto Chicken” by Suzanne Ryan.

If you need a laugh, you can picture me on the floor, snap, crackling and popping my way through my yoga stretches while Monster Cat either tries to bite my toes, sit on my stomach, or walk under me as I stretch up on my hands and knees…

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April 30, 2024 · 10:21 am

More Tuesday Thoughts

Abby

I was doing okay until I caught myself this morning, starting to open the door to the garage to go out and feed Abby. I guess different things will cause me to lose it over the next period of time. I’m happy we got to share 13 years. When I left a message for our son, he answered, “I’m sorry. She was an exceptionally good cat.” And that sums it up.

Since we’re having a nice morning, I’m planning on harvesting some lettuce and spinach this morning, plus seeing what is needed, otherwise, in our small garden. I probably need to prune tomato plants, do some weeding, some added supports for the tomatoes, etc. It’s nice to have a quiet day where I can do several sessions in the yard, resting in-between.

Daisy Brand
Dean Ricciardi – Unsplash.com

My husband asked me to go out to dinner last night, to one of the local Mexican restaurants. I was excited about going, but started worrying about what I could eat, being on my low-carb eating plan. I researched, finally deciding that I could order fajitas, take my own zero-net-carb tortillas, and ask them to leave off the rice, beans, and tortillas, and not bring chips and salsa to the table.

As the day wore on, I kept fighting with myself. I had actually put two small tortillas in a sandwich bag in my purse, and then decided, NO. Last night we had a wonderful time at the restaurant. It had been over a year since we had gone out to dinner. I had chips and salsa. I ate a beef taco salad. It was all delicious. I enjoyed every. single. bite. I gained 2 lbs. I don’t care. It may be another year before we do it again, and life is short. When you’re invited out to eat, or eat at someone else’s home, all bets are off as far as a ‘diet’ is concerned, in my HUMBLE opinion. Eat everything. Enjoy the experience. The next day is soon enough to get back on the more healthful eating plan.

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March 8, 2024 · 9:47 am

I Love the Internet

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I was going to bake pork chops for our dinner tonight, served with a side salad. I got to thinking that maybe my Shake n Bake for Pork might not be keto-friendly. I was right. It’s delicious, and I’ve used it for years, but it’s half of my day’s allowance for carbs. No go. – 12g total carbs, 10.3g net carbs, 13g fat, 26g protein, and 274 calories.

I got on the net and looked for substitutes that WERE keto-friendly. I found 2 –

  • PORK RINDS – this may be the best option long term. 0 carbs, 152 calories, 9 g fat, 17 g protein. I could get a bag, use my rolling pin to make crumbs, and store them in an over-center container. The other question will be taste, of course.
  • ALMOND MEAL/FLOUR – 80 calories. 6 grams dietary fat. 3 grams carbs. 2 grams dietary fiber. (Net carbs = carbs minus fiber, so 1 net gram carb.) 1 gram sugar. 3 grams protein.

Coconut flour and Panko were also listed, but they have 8 net carbs and 21 carbs respectively.

So, a few minutes on the Internet and I found that I HAVE one of the best substitutes – almond flour – to use tonight. I’ll put the pork rinds on my grocery list for next time.

Making the switch to low carb eating takes a bit of work. The fact that my scales are finally noticing my efforts to lose the lard is reward enough.

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March 3, 2024 · 8:20 am

Sunny Sunday 3-3-2024

sam – @Briton65Sam on X

I’m on a definite roller coaster with my weight this past week. I’m still weighing daily as my accountability to myself, but I’m trying to think of it only as a ‘monitor’ – a starting point for the day. It would just be nice if the scales lost their smirk a bit. Yesterday I made keto chili. Suzanne Ryan’s recipes in Simply Keto are really good. I also had a Mission Zero little bitty tortilla, (zero NET carbs due to 7 grams of fiber) and that was good, taking the place of the dinner roll I had been eating before I started watching my carbs again.

Pinterest

I’m earning a sparkly star for my desk calendar daily, continuing since Feb. 18th. Not a ‘habit’ yet, but I’m a tough nut on building those, and will continue my efforts.

I’m doing laundry and we’ll go shopping for groceries later, and that’s the ‘excitement’ for our day, other than the “Sausage, Egg & Cheese Bake” from Simply Keto for our dinner tonight.

I hope your Sunday is fabulous.

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April 25, 2022 · 12:06 pm

Eating, Not Eating…

momzdailyscoops.blogspot.com

I’m word playing off the title of the Demi Lovato song, “Sorry, Not Sorry” in the title of this because I’m “eating, not eating,” a lot of what I used to eat. Some I’m just giving up until further notice, if not forever. I’m substituting ‘acceptable foods’ for other things I don’t want to give up completely in my quest to get and stay healthier.

An example of this is that I now make spaghetti sauce for both of us as usual, the only change being that I look for the one with the lowest carbs I can find. I make macaroni for my husband (he likes that better than actual spaghetti) and make ‘zoodles’ (spaghetti substitute make from zucchini) for mine. This is okay because I really like meals with pasta and will go for a lot of things that are supposed to pass for spaghetti, noodles, and rice. I also use spaghetti squash and plan to make more of the spaghetti squash and zoodles soon and keep individual portions in the freezer. I’m not as fond of ‘cauli-rice,’ (a substitute for rice.) I’m TRYING to convince myself I like it.

Each week my new regimen of low-carb eating and a lot more exercise gets a bit easier. I now write out what exercises I’ll do each day for the week on my desk calendar. I give myself a star for each part. :0) For example, I consider the videos I’m doing daily (warm up, stretches, and one of two weight videos) as one star. A second star is bestowed when I do my elliptical or 30-minute video workout on alternating days. A third is earned when I do my 30 minutes of stretching yoga. It feels good to see all the sparkly stars on my calendar. :0)

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April 22, 2022 · 9:48 am

Cooking to Lose Weight

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I now have enough cooked and frozen into individual serving containers that we can happily switch between them without my having to spend a bunch of time in the kitchen. That really helps me avoid too much of my cooking ending up inside me. :0)

Lately, I’ve cooked –

  • “Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Bake” – Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto
  • “Bacon-wrapped Cheesy Chicken” – Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto
  • “Bacon-Wrapped Hamburger Patties” – homemade
  • “Simply Keto Chili” – Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto
  • “Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Bowl” – Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto
  • “Tender and Fluffy Almond Flour Biscuits” – Healthy Recipes

Each time I either doubled the recipes or made as much as the pan would hold so that I had leftovers. Now our freezer is nicely stocked with individual portions I can pull and simply heat in the microwave. This frees me up to spend more time outside, or take time doing whatever I need or want to do without worrying overmuch about dinner and staying on my new regimen.

Since my husband is almost at his goal, we’re also free for him to eat a dinner from Real Food or Stu’s Clean Cookin’, both places which provide good food at reasonable prices. They are both too high in carbs for me right now, but he can eat one of those while I choose from the other homemade dinners. Easy-peesy. :0)

Yesterday I told you I finally got back down to my pre-pandemic weight. Balloons flew, bands played, and confetti was thrown in celebration. I was hoping that I would break through to new territory this morning, but I just held where I was yesterday. That’s okay. It will come.

I’m hoping that the regimen of low carb eating and exercise will result in some good changes by the end of the month. And if not, by the end of May. We’ll see. One day at a time.

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March 29, 2022 · 10:32 am

Yesterday’s Small Triumphs

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  • I managed to bake some really low-carb dinner rolls for our dinner. (I’m trying to replace the deli/bakery dinner roll we’ve been eating.) They were okay. I will continue to look for a recipe we like better, but this would work. :0)
  • I also cooked a Sausage, Egg and Cheese Bake recipe for a low-carb dinner. It was as good as we remembered. I froze the leftovers into individual containers so we can have two more easy dinners from one cooking session.
  • I got a gold star on my calendar for doing a good session of yoga.
  • I mixed and sprayed two gallons of weed killer under the planter boxes in my raised bed square foot garden. I’ll probably need to spray at least one more time, but I have a good start on it now.
  • My husband mowed our lawn for the first time this season. He had to air up the mower tires first, having to repair a leak on our air compressor in order to DO that, and then get the mower running – always a headache after it sits all winter, but he prevailed and it now looks like someone cares, at least a little, about our yard.

Today I’ll try to weed whack all around the front and back yard to complement the good job my husband did on the lawn. (I have even more motivation than usual because we have a 90% chance of rain tomorrow.)

Happy Tuesday!

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March 8, 2018 · 3:59 pm

Progress of a Sort

BOOMSbeat-YouTube_MrFunnyMals

I have a good start on the ‘reboot’ of my low carb eating and exercise plan now.  I’ve been good for a week now, even managing to lose a bit of weight when we went out to eat. I lost 3 lb this week. My totals are: a loss of 17 lbs and 10.5 inches. I’m still playing catch-up and re-lose from my ‘stumble-and-splat’ when I was concentrating on my husband’s need for low or no sugar, rather than paying attention to that AND low carbs. Lesson finally learned.  I’ve also learned that just working hard isn’t a good substitute for actual exercise.

I’m finding some low carb recipes that are real winners lately. My husband is requesting that I include them on the menus for the week! I’m trying to post – if not the entire recipe – at least the link to it. (One lady asked me very nicely to only give the link to the recipe on her website, rather than posting the whole thing with credit, so I’ll comply.) You can find some of them under two categories here: “Cooking/Canning/Recipes/Low Carb” and “Cooking/Recipes/Low Carb Lifestyle.”

One thing that is really helping me keep my head on straight on how many carbs and calories I’m eating is the MyFitnessPal.com website.  This has the best database of foods I have found. On other websites, you have to list each ingredient in a recipe in order to get a total carb count. I just don’t have the patience for that. On this website, you type in what you hope to find already listed. If it isn’t there, you can add it, all on one short form and then click to share it with others or not. This is really great. They also have a reasonable exercise database. You can record what you did and the number or reps or time you spent. I’m trying to stay under 40 carbs and 1200 calories per day. I can change what I’m planning to fix for dinner so that I stay on track. I like that a lot.

For exercise, I’m on my elliptical trainer in the garage most days. I also do careful stretching via yoga, concentrating on trying to convince this old body to RELAX. After all the work I’ve been doing cleaning out my house and working in the yard lately, I find this takes longer and longer. I just hold a pose – breathing into it until I feel my muscles ‘give’ and I’m comfortable. This is helping me feel better. Today I had extra help with that because I enjoyed a wonderful massage! My therapist, Lynn, really listens and does all she can to help me. Today we discovered that most of my sore muscles were on my right side – I guess from all the hauling of Mel’s Mix to the garden. I’ll have to concentrate on carrying the basket left-handed and see if that helps. :0)  If you live in the Greenwood area, you can contact Lynn Moody at 479-629-7601 or via email at lynnmoody42@yahoo.com. I’m so lucky to have found her.

I feel good that I’m again on the way to getting the lard off and feeling better.

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December 14, 2017 · 3:50 pm

Juggling to Get the Lard Off

I’ve been doing well the last couple of days on my latest effort to lose the lard. This is my 3rd day of doing 15 minutes on my elliptical trainer in the garage (MUCH easier when I can get my music to play.)  I’m also folding myself into a paper airplane – doing 30 minutes of deep stretching yoga for old broads – slowly and carefully, as I’ve apparently tied myself in knots over the period I didn’t practice. I’ve done really well on my low-carb eating plan of  40 carbs per day and 1200 calories per day. Actually, I’ve had an easy time of staying under the calorie limit, but I’ve really had to juggle to get my carbs in line!

My laxness lately and the on-again-off-again cold weather here has caused my usually reasonable judgment to nosedive. My husband and I really like the fried catfish sold for lunch at one of the local deli’s. I’m getting two pieces of fish. (My husband gets the full dinner.)  Today I can make us a nice big salad for dinner with kielbasa leftovers from a recent grill outside.  Several times, though, I’ve wanted to serve our leftover beef stew with low carb garlic bread. It’s obvious that any time we go to the deli that idea is out!

The thing that is really helping me adjust my thinking, portions, and meals is MyFitnessPal.com.

I usually eat the same thing for breakfast every day except Friday, when we go to Lunch Bunch (brunch for us.) I can add things as I go, and then figure out the rest of the day thanks to their really superior, easy-to-use database of foods. I can hunt for something, find it and add it to my personal list, or I can add something if I can’t find it. I can keep changing and juggling until the numbers add up the way I want them to. I’ve tried several other record-your-eating-and-exercise websites, and I find this is the best one for me.

It makes me feel good to be giving healthier eating and exercise my best efforts again.

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August 5, 2017 · 11:36 am

Where is my Act and What Have You Done with It?

Bored Panda

I was doing pretty well, eating low carb, losing weight, getting better numbers on my quarterly blood tests with the doctor, learning yoga for old broads and doing it daily. Then ‘something happened,’ and I lost it.

I have umpteen excuses, but no one, including me, is interested.  What is good is that I am FINALLY wanting to get my act back together, rather than ignoring the whole problem and playing Pitiful Pearl.

I do well on my eating until late afternoon and after.

  • I’m going to start drinking a glass of ‘Meta,’ Appetite Control Sugar-Free Orange Zest Dietary Supplement mid afternoons. I also got some sugar-free gum, hoping that if I’m chewing on something, I won’t stuff my face with anything else.
  • I’m going to start using the crock pot again, getting dinner going in the morning when I have the most energy, rather than waiting until after I’m exhausted to fix dinner.
  • I’m starting THIS MORNING – as soon as I finish typing this – doing at least one session of  “old broad” yoga.
  • I’m starting THIS MORNING listing my food and exercise on MyFitnessPal.com as I used to do.
  • I’m starting THIS MORNING drinking more water. I already do it when I’m hot from working outside, but I’ll try to make sure that I drink much more than I am now regardless of my work load.

I HOPE to be able to report to you soon that I am back in the saddle of good eating habits, plus moving more, and starting to get results again. I hope that if you’re having challenges in trying to treat yourself better, you’ll find the motivation to start again with me.

 

TaoLife.com

 

 

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March 31, 2017 · 1:59 pm

Getting the Lard Off Report 3/31/2017

Today is DAY 5 our renewed efforts on eating healthier and moving more.

YourEllipticals.com

I want to get started gathering ‘goodies’ for the new hummingbird bird bath, but I acted like an adult (at least more than usual :0) ) and did 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer. I’m listing all my food, plus my exercise, on MyFitnessPal.com, getting a more realistic idea of the amount I’m eating and making sure it’s 1200 calories or less, and 40 grams of carbohydrates or less, each day.

Later today I’ll do one session of yoga.

World of Female

I’ll report to you on Wednesday of next week. Hopefully, I’ll be able to tell you that we’re definitely making progress again.

If nothing else, I’m feeling better than I’m TRYING.

taolife.com

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March 15, 2017 · 1:14 pm

Getting the Lard Off – Progress Report 3/15/2017

Funnyblogs – Funnywebsite – Funnypictures

Awhile back I fell off the wagon. Even though I’m eating good, low-carb food most of the day, ‘something happens’ once dinner is over. I feel I’m starving (you can see from the pic above how I’m wasting away) and I keep eating. I’ve been talking to myself, trying to change my ways, but it’s not working yet.

So – I’m at a weight loss of 35 lbs and 20 inches and I can’t seem to get on a downward path.

I have all kinds of excuses, but none that holds any water. I’m giving in to my weakness and stuffing my face. I AM trying to reread the books that got me motivated in the first place, and I’m hoping I’ll find the way to NOT get up and get something to eat after dinner!

YourEllipticals.com

 

BoredPanda

 

I was happily doing my elliptical trainer and yoga until my back started acting up, to the point I’ve been on a heating pad in my chair and in bed, plus taking Ibuprofen and wearing a pain patch. I am almost back to normal now, so I’m promising myself I’ll get back on track with my exercising, too.

Promises, Promises…  Though THIS I will definitely try to do –

taolife.com

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October 30, 2016 · 3:15 pm

Bullets, Spaghetti Squash and Cauli-Rice

shootingpractice

It’s important to my husband that I am able to defend myself if the need arises. To this end, he built this set of metal ‘falling plate’ targets. We shoot at the plates, knowing that if we miss the bullets go into the high hill of slag behind the targets.  (This pic was taken about a week ago, when I hadn’t taken the fabric shade off the garden behind the slag pile.)  When you hit a plate, it falls back and down. When all the plates are down, you stop shooting, set the plates up again, then go back to kill them again. :0)

 

shootingpractice3

Here’s another view of the targets. Today he added half a brick to each of the plate rods, making a nice counter-weight. I hit more than I missed, but need practice again soon. He wants to work on the targets more, since the small one on the end fell down if you hit any of the other three plates.

 

sq-beyondzucchini

Beyond Zucchini

I’ve gotten lax about eating, my excuse being I’m trying new things to satisfy my husband’s sweet tooth now that he has to avoid anything with sugar. I’m trying to get back on track, so I bought a spaghetti squash and a head of cauliflower at the grocery today.

I split the spaghetti squash in half long-wise, then put the halves face down on a tray lined with aluminum foil. I baked it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, then pulled it out and let it cool. When it was easy to pick up without burning myself, I took a fork and scraped out all the squash inside. The one spaghetti squash yielded 4 cups of nice spaghetti-looking squash. I put a cup into each of four sandwich bags and then put the bags inside one gallon freezer bag, labeled it and put it in the freezer. That will be good for four dinners for me, while I make some actual spaghetti or elbow macaroni for my husband, topped with spaghetti sauce, Alfredo sauce, or other goody.

 

cauliflowerrice-yupitsvegan

Yup! It’s Vegan

I cut up the cauliflower into chunks. I put the chunks through the food processor, pulsing. I measured out the cauliflower into one cup increments, putting them into sandwich bags, then into a gallon freezer bag. I got 5 cups of cauliflower, meaning 5 meals for me, when I make rice for my husband.

My husband is really turned off by eating spaghetti squash or cauliflower, but that’s okay. He’s trying to avoid sugar and I’m trying to limit my carbs. This works well because I can make the starchy stuff for him, heat up the squash or ‘rice’ for me in the microwave, and make one sauce to go over both.

 

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October 27, 2016 · 12:24 pm

Crock Pot Roast Chicken Recipe

NYT Cooking

NYT Cooking

I found a nice recipe for crock pot roast chicken at Spark Recipes .  This one was submitted by JESSYLOO.  The picture above shows a regular roasted chicken. This recipe is more of a poached chicken, but it’s delicious. It called for a whole chicken, but my husband doesn’t care for the dark meat, so I simply used six chicken breasts. To have my husband asking if we have some leftovers is quite a compliment around here –

 

Crock Pot Roast Chicken, Spark Recipes, submitted by JESSYLOO

Crock Pot Roast Chicken, Spark Recipes, submitted by JESSYLOO

We’ve already had one meal of this and we both liked it a lot. Tonight we’re having leftovers so that we can enjoy the chicken with the new sugar free BBQ sauce we found. I’ll have enough that I can fix some chicken salad, or chicken alfredo, as well. I will be using this recipe often. Thank you, JESSYLOO!

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