Day 2
Breakfast: two eggs fried in 1/2 tablespoon butter with 5 cherry tomatoes and 3/4 oz of cheese. Also coffee with 2 tablespoons heavy cream. 5g net carbs, 34g fat, 19g protein (410 calories)
Mid morning snack: to be added
Lunch: to be added
Afternoon snack: to be added
Dinner: to be added
Evening snack: to be added
Hydration:
6oz flavored carbonated water
16oz coffee
How did I feel:
Had some really intense dreams and then woke up an hour earlier than usual. In a puddle of sweat of course. So that's pretty much normal for the early part of keto. Mid-morning blood check = 0.4
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Update on week 1 meal plan
Well it turns out this freezer meal app actually has you make two meals out of every recipe! That is common for freezer meal plans but I didn't notice this particular plan mention it and I didn't realize I was buying double the ingredients (although the quantities did seem a little large..) I think that is because I have the app set to two servings per recipe so it's smaller quantities of stuff to buy. I will say I love that about this plan over some of the other meal planners I've used before - they tend to only go down to 4 servings per meal and since my husband doesn't eat meat and the kids don't eat.. well, anything really, that gets discouraging quickly. It feels like I'm overbuying and wasting food when I cook four servings of a meat based keto meal just for myself. Two servings is much more appealing.
So, since I've got all this extra food I'm going to go ahead and make the meals as directed and put one of each in the freezer. That way I'll have all the meals I planned for this week and I'll be covered for another week too. Maybe I'll do the same thing next week and then have two weeks worth of food stored to start off October?
.
.
.
Two hours later....
I decided to get started right away before the keto flu really kicked in. Headache got stronger through the whole thing and by the end of it I felt kind of crappy but at least my fridge and freezer are stocked. Five recipes (10 meals) took a little under 2 hours including the time to clean up as I went and to make and eat a simple lunch. Not bad! When I've done this before it took 8-12 hours which of course I split over several days. I guess I've always made 15 recipes (a month worth) at a time and also 4-6 servings per meal so that's a whole lot more food to get through. It's not really something that I can do every month so I've only done it when I had a big event coming up, like having a baby or having major surgery. I can see myself doing this smaller 5 recipe thing much more often.
So, since I've got all this extra food I'm going to go ahead and make the meals as directed and put one of each in the freezer. That way I'll have all the meals I planned for this week and I'll be covered for another week too. Maybe I'll do the same thing next week and then have two weeks worth of food stored to start off October?
.
.
.
Two hours later....
I decided to get started right away before the keto flu really kicked in. Headache got stronger through the whole thing and by the end of it I felt kind of crappy but at least my fridge and freezer are stocked. Five recipes (10 meals) took a little under 2 hours including the time to clean up as I went and to make and eat a simple lunch. Not bad! When I've done this before it took 8-12 hours which of course I split over several days. I guess I've always made 15 recipes (a month worth) at a time and also 4-6 servings per meal so that's a whole lot more food to get through. It's not really something that I can do every month so I've only done it when I had a big event coming up, like having a baby or having major surgery. I can see myself doing this smaller 5 recipe thing much more often.
Day 1
Here's day 1:
Breakfast: Skipped - was fasting for planned bloodwork at 10am.
Mid-morning snack: Coffee with 2 tablespoons heavy cream and 1oz sugar free syrup (Splenda based). Also 2 eggs fried in 1 tablespoon of butter. 2g net carbs, 33g fat, 14g protein (358 calories)
Lunch: Hamburger patty (4oz). 0g net carbs, 13g fat, 20g protein (199 calories)
Afternoon Snack: 1/2 cup sour cream with 5 strawberries. 9g net carbs, 22g fat, 3g protein (247 calories)
Dinner: One serving beef fajitas with lettuce, 1.5 oz cheddar cheese, 3 tablespoons guacamole. 7g net carbs, 28g fat, 46g protein (471 calories)
Evening snack: 1.5oz cheese (early evening) and a cup of tea with 2 tablespoons heavy cream (late evening). 2g net carbs, 25g fat, 11g protein (272 calories)
Total day 1: 19g net carbs, 121g fat, 94g protein (1547 calories) 70.7% fat 24.4% protein 5.0% carbs
Hydration:
16oz coffee
12oz flavored unsweetened carbonated water
12oz flavored unsweetened carbonated water
12oz flavored unsweetened carbonated water
16oz tea
Total hydration: 68oz
How did it go:
Started out the day pretty excited to be going back to keto. I feel like it matches my natural eating habits really well and in the past I've felt great on it. Spoke with the doctor this morning and feeling happy that she is on board with it.
By lunchtime a mild headache crept in. I haven't had carbs since 8pm last night (was fasting for bloodwork this morning but didn't actually have that done). Probably starting to feel the effects of no carbs. Decided to check my blood ketone readings using my trusty blood meter - 0.2 already!
I was working on a big batch of freezer cooking (5 recipes) so I just had a quick plain hamburger patty for lunch.
Snack - whoops! Way more carbs in sour cream that I remembered. I usually have whipped cream with strawberries but couldn't find the stick blender.
Had to take some tylenol in the afternoon and by dinner I felt much better. Tried the first recipe of the meal plan - the beef fajitas. Supposed to be a lettuce wrap but I ate it as a salad instead with the guacamole as dressing. My store was out of flank steak so I substituted cube steak instead - not a great substitution, came out quite tough. I like cube steak when coated in flour but apparently not just fried straight. Next time I'll just use sirloin if I can't find the flank steak.
Took another tylenol before bed. Was sweating by bed time.
Breakfast: Skipped - was fasting for planned bloodwork at 10am.
Mid-morning snack: Coffee with 2 tablespoons heavy cream and 1oz sugar free syrup (Splenda based). Also 2 eggs fried in 1 tablespoon of butter. 2g net carbs, 33g fat, 14g protein (358 calories)
Lunch: Hamburger patty (4oz). 0g net carbs, 13g fat, 20g protein (199 calories)
Afternoon Snack: 1/2 cup sour cream with 5 strawberries. 9g net carbs, 22g fat, 3g protein (247 calories)
Dinner: One serving beef fajitas with lettuce, 1.5 oz cheddar cheese, 3 tablespoons guacamole. 7g net carbs, 28g fat, 46g protein (471 calories)
Evening snack: 1.5oz cheese (early evening) and a cup of tea with 2 tablespoons heavy cream (late evening). 2g net carbs, 25g fat, 11g protein (272 calories)
Total day 1: 19g net carbs, 121g fat, 94g protein (1547 calories) 70.7% fat 24.4% protein 5.0% carbs
Hydration:
16oz coffee
12oz flavored unsweetened carbonated water
12oz flavored unsweetened carbonated water
12oz flavored unsweetened carbonated water
16oz tea
Total hydration: 68oz
How did it go:
Started out the day pretty excited to be going back to keto. I feel like it matches my natural eating habits really well and in the past I've felt great on it. Spoke with the doctor this morning and feeling happy that she is on board with it.
By lunchtime a mild headache crept in. I haven't had carbs since 8pm last night (was fasting for bloodwork this morning but didn't actually have that done). Probably starting to feel the effects of no carbs. Decided to check my blood ketone readings using my trusty blood meter - 0.2 already!
I was working on a big batch of freezer cooking (5 recipes) so I just had a quick plain hamburger patty for lunch.
Snack - whoops! Way more carbs in sour cream that I remembered. I usually have whipped cream with strawberries but couldn't find the stick blender.
Had to take some tylenol in the afternoon and by dinner I felt much better. Tried the first recipe of the meal plan - the beef fajitas. Supposed to be a lettuce wrap but I ate it as a salad instead with the guacamole as dressing. My store was out of flank steak so I substituted cube steak instead - not a great substitution, came out quite tough. I like cube steak when coated in flour but apparently not just fried straight. Next time I'll just use sirloin if I can't find the flank steak.
Took another tylenol before bed. Was sweating by bed time.
Meal plan for week 1
Let me get one thing straight here - I am not planning to post about every meal I eat every single day! I think that would get tedious for all of us real fast :) But I have found that more careful tracking in the beginning of keto is really key to my success.
The early stages of keto can be pretty difficult so being careful to make sure I'm eating correctly (and enough) really helps. It is tempting to limit calories right away, but when the body is transitioning from carbohydrate based fuel to fat based fuel it takes a little while to become efficient at it. It needs more fat to get an adequate amount of fuel than it will after it becomes better adjusted. So for that reason I choose not to limit calories in the first week or so of keto and instead focus on cutting out carbs, getting the proper ratio of nutrients and having plenty of food available to eat as much as I need. I also try not to have any strenuous activities planned and have plenty of vitamins, powerade zero and medications for headache and fever on hand - keto flu is real and it sucks!
To set myself up for success I used a meal planning app to set up five recipes (2 servings each so 10 meals) for this week. I went shopping yesterday and I should have everything I need to get through the week. Breakfast will typically be coffee with heavy cream plus some fried eggs if I feel like I want actual food. Dinner will be one of the planned recipes and lunch will be leftovers from the day before. Snacks will be things like cheese, eggs, coffee or tea with heavy cream, or possibly a keto friendly meal replacement shake. I try not to drink too many of the shakes as I'd rather be getting nutrition from real food, but if I'm not feeling well or don't have much motivation it does make good emergency food. I'm going to feel like a zombie this week so the easier the better.
My planned recipes this week using the MyFreezEasy app (designed for batch freezer cooking with plenty of keto recipe options that change frequently, but I'll be just using the recipes on a daily basis this week instead of freezing):
1) Beef fajita lettuce wraps (keto version)
2) Beef stroganoff (keto version)
3) Bolognese sauce (keto version)
4) Cilantro lime chicken (keto version)
5) Coconut curried salmon (keto version)
The early stages of keto can be pretty difficult so being careful to make sure I'm eating correctly (and enough) really helps. It is tempting to limit calories right away, but when the body is transitioning from carbohydrate based fuel to fat based fuel it takes a little while to become efficient at it. It needs more fat to get an adequate amount of fuel than it will after it becomes better adjusted. So for that reason I choose not to limit calories in the first week or so of keto and instead focus on cutting out carbs, getting the proper ratio of nutrients and having plenty of food available to eat as much as I need. I also try not to have any strenuous activities planned and have plenty of vitamins, powerade zero and medications for headache and fever on hand - keto flu is real and it sucks!
To set myself up for success I used a meal planning app to set up five recipes (2 servings each so 10 meals) for this week. I went shopping yesterday and I should have everything I need to get through the week. Breakfast will typically be coffee with heavy cream plus some fried eggs if I feel like I want actual food. Dinner will be one of the planned recipes and lunch will be leftovers from the day before. Snacks will be things like cheese, eggs, coffee or tea with heavy cream, or possibly a keto friendly meal replacement shake. I try not to drink too many of the shakes as I'd rather be getting nutrition from real food, but if I'm not feeling well or don't have much motivation it does make good emergency food. I'm going to feel like a zombie this week so the easier the better.
My planned recipes this week using the MyFreezEasy app (designed for batch freezer cooking with plenty of keto recipe options that change frequently, but I'll be just using the recipes on a daily basis this week instead of freezing):
1) Beef fajita lettuce wraps (keto version)
2) Beef stroganoff (keto version)
3) Bolognese sauce (keto version)
4) Cilantro lime chicken (keto version)
5) Coconut curried salmon (keto version)
BEFORE
This will be my official "before" information!
Doctor's office scale: 221 lbs
Home scale: 218 lbs
Clothing size: Torrid size 2, bra size 44 DDD (but worn on a tighter hook), jeans size 22S. Probably a 2XL or 3XL in shirts outside of Torrid. No idea of dress size but definitely more than 22 due to being top heavy. Solidly in plus size sections and stores - absolutely no hope of finding something in the regular section.
Fit issues: Large breasts and large upper arms are my biggest issues with clothing, however a large abdomen also means many styles just don't work. I look permanently 6 months pregnant (my youngest child just turned 8 years old). When viewed from the front I have a highly defined waist but from the side my abdomen sticks out very far in front. All together it means my waist and hip measurements are pretty much the same and it is very difficult to find anything that shows my actual curves rather than making me look like a brick.
Daily activity level: Pretty sedentary. I sometimes walk to get the kids from the bus stop (about 2/3 mile total). I do get up and move around the house to do stuff but not that much. I take the dog outside for potty breaks but don't walk with him.
Daily discomforts and symptoms: Slightly stuffy nose all the time. Occasional mild coughing. Mild to moderate headache almost every day, sometimes severe migraine-like headaches with dizziness and sensitivity to light. Unsure if they are true migraines or severe sinus headaches. Joint aches, especially wrists, hands, knees and right ankle (ankle injured 1.5 years ago). Lower back aches often. Neck and shoulders ache all the time. Frequent nausea and upset stomach symptoms. Feel bloated all the time. I have a hard time catching my breath if doing any significant walking (more than to/from the parking lot). I feel sort of disoriented most of the time. It is hard to focus and my memory seems bad. I alternate between insomnia and sleeping all the time. I have moderate depression and severe anxiety, both of which are well controlled with medication at this point, but I do have break through symptoms sometimes.
Measurements: (to be added later)
Face and body photographs: (to be added later)
Doctor's office scale: 221 lbs
Home scale: 218 lbs
Clothing size: Torrid size 2, bra size 44 DDD (but worn on a tighter hook), jeans size 22S. Probably a 2XL or 3XL in shirts outside of Torrid. No idea of dress size but definitely more than 22 due to being top heavy. Solidly in plus size sections and stores - absolutely no hope of finding something in the regular section.
Fit issues: Large breasts and large upper arms are my biggest issues with clothing, however a large abdomen also means many styles just don't work. I look permanently 6 months pregnant (my youngest child just turned 8 years old). When viewed from the front I have a highly defined waist but from the side my abdomen sticks out very far in front. All together it means my waist and hip measurements are pretty much the same and it is very difficult to find anything that shows my actual curves rather than making me look like a brick.
Daily activity level: Pretty sedentary. I sometimes walk to get the kids from the bus stop (about 2/3 mile total). I do get up and move around the house to do stuff but not that much. I take the dog outside for potty breaks but don't walk with him.
Daily discomforts and symptoms: Slightly stuffy nose all the time. Occasional mild coughing. Mild to moderate headache almost every day, sometimes severe migraine-like headaches with dizziness and sensitivity to light. Unsure if they are true migraines or severe sinus headaches. Joint aches, especially wrists, hands, knees and right ankle (ankle injured 1.5 years ago). Lower back aches often. Neck and shoulders ache all the time. Frequent nausea and upset stomach symptoms. Feel bloated all the time. I have a hard time catching my breath if doing any significant walking (more than to/from the parking lot). I feel sort of disoriented most of the time. It is hard to focus and my memory seems bad. I alternate between insomnia and sleeping all the time. I have moderate depression and severe anxiety, both of which are well controlled with medication at this point, but I do have break through symptoms sometimes.
Measurements: (to be added later)
Face and body photographs: (to be added later)
A new beginning
Hello and welcome to A Keto Blog!
As you may have guessed this is a blog about my experience on the ketogenic diet. There are many keto blogs out there and I can't claim that there be anything unique or special about this one in particular. It will simply be a place for me to keep track of my progress. Hopefully sharing my experience will help others in the future.
Even though I am going to be counting today as day 1, I'm not actually new to the ketogenic diet. I first read about it in December 2017 and so far I've spent almost three non-consecutive months on it in 2018. I started off the year on several medications which caused weight gain. I believe they limited my weight loss success in the beginning and prevented me from seeing some of the other benefits I was hoping for.
My first experience with keto lasted from a few days before New Years through to the end of January 2018. I lost 3 lbs during that month. I never had the initial water weight loss that most people experience - instead the weight came off slowly over the course of the month. I had previously been doing normal calorie counting dieting and was expecting to lose more than 3 lbs during that time frame. Three pounds is really within my normal weight fluctuation so I can't even sure that I lost anything at all. At this point I started suspecting that something else was going on and took a closer look at my medications. I decided it was time to go off of my birth control as that seemed the most likely culprit (this particular type is well known for causing weight gain) and I'd been having some other issues with it for some time. Ultimately the diet was causing family stress due to everyone needing different meals each night so since it didn't seem terribly effective I decided to go off of it at the end of January.
In June 2018 I felt that my body had recovered enough from going off of my birth control and that I was ready to give it another shot. I'd been on an anti-depressant for a year by then and it had been less and less effective. I had read that the ketogenic diet helped some people improve their depression symptoms and I was hoping that it might give me the boost I needed. I stayed on keto for about 7 weeks and lost about 8 lbs - this time I did have the water weight loss and most, if not all, of that 8 lbs was lost in the initial week. By the end of 7 weeks my depression had worsened considerably and I felt that I was entering dangerous territory with symptoms of an eating disorder starting to surface. I decided it was time to go off keto and see if a different anti-depressant might work better. While researching my options I realized that the anti-depressant I was on also causes weight gain.
Over the following four weeks I transitioned to a new medication, one which is known not to cause weight gain and may even help with weight loss. More importantly, it seems to be treating my symptoms and I'm much more stable now. Today I had my medication re-check with the doctor and all is going well. I've decided that it's time to go back on keto and see if I can get some of the weight loss results I was hoping for.
While preparing to go back on keto I decided to research the rest of my medications (an anxiety medication and two allergy medications) and discovered that both allergy medications cause weight gain. At the doctor's office today I brought it up and we decided that I'll try a nasal spray medication and possibly an eye drop and see if that is enough to allow me to go off of the antihistamines. If that works for me then I will officially be off of any weight gain causing medications.
So, that brings me to today, Tuesday September 18th 2018. I've regained almost everything I had lost which is really not surprising since it was just the initial water weight. That means I'm pretty much back at my starting point. But that is ok because I feel like a lot has changed and I'm more prepared now.
Today is not the first day of the month. It's not even the first day of the week. But for me, it's going to be day 1 because this is the day that I feel ready and excited to start. Welcome to my keto experience!
As you may have guessed this is a blog about my experience on the ketogenic diet. There are many keto blogs out there and I can't claim that there be anything unique or special about this one in particular. It will simply be a place for me to keep track of my progress. Hopefully sharing my experience will help others in the future.
Even though I am going to be counting today as day 1, I'm not actually new to the ketogenic diet. I first read about it in December 2017 and so far I've spent almost three non-consecutive months on it in 2018. I started off the year on several medications which caused weight gain. I believe they limited my weight loss success in the beginning and prevented me from seeing some of the other benefits I was hoping for.
My first experience with keto lasted from a few days before New Years through to the end of January 2018. I lost 3 lbs during that month. I never had the initial water weight loss that most people experience - instead the weight came off slowly over the course of the month. I had previously been doing normal calorie counting dieting and was expecting to lose more than 3 lbs during that time frame. Three pounds is really within my normal weight fluctuation so I can't even sure that I lost anything at all. At this point I started suspecting that something else was going on and took a closer look at my medications. I decided it was time to go off of my birth control as that seemed the most likely culprit (this particular type is well known for causing weight gain) and I'd been having some other issues with it for some time. Ultimately the diet was causing family stress due to everyone needing different meals each night so since it didn't seem terribly effective I decided to go off of it at the end of January.
In June 2018 I felt that my body had recovered enough from going off of my birth control and that I was ready to give it another shot. I'd been on an anti-depressant for a year by then and it had been less and less effective. I had read that the ketogenic diet helped some people improve their depression symptoms and I was hoping that it might give me the boost I needed. I stayed on keto for about 7 weeks and lost about 8 lbs - this time I did have the water weight loss and most, if not all, of that 8 lbs was lost in the initial week. By the end of 7 weeks my depression had worsened considerably and I felt that I was entering dangerous territory with symptoms of an eating disorder starting to surface. I decided it was time to go off keto and see if a different anti-depressant might work better. While researching my options I realized that the anti-depressant I was on also causes weight gain.
Over the following four weeks I transitioned to a new medication, one which is known not to cause weight gain and may even help with weight loss. More importantly, it seems to be treating my symptoms and I'm much more stable now. Today I had my medication re-check with the doctor and all is going well. I've decided that it's time to go back on keto and see if I can get some of the weight loss results I was hoping for.
While preparing to go back on keto I decided to research the rest of my medications (an anxiety medication and two allergy medications) and discovered that both allergy medications cause weight gain. At the doctor's office today I brought it up and we decided that I'll try a nasal spray medication and possibly an eye drop and see if that is enough to allow me to go off of the antihistamines. If that works for me then I will officially be off of any weight gain causing medications.
So, that brings me to today, Tuesday September 18th 2018. I've regained almost everything I had lost which is really not surprising since it was just the initial water weight. That means I'm pretty much back at my starting point. But that is ok because I feel like a lot has changed and I'm more prepared now.
Today is not the first day of the month. It's not even the first day of the week. But for me, it's going to be day 1 because this is the day that I feel ready and excited to start. Welcome to my keto experience!
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