Fasting is not a new thing in general and it’s not a new thing for me personally either. I’ve fasted for surgery, for blood work, and I’ve done intermittent fasting on and off for the past year. I’ve never been a breakfast person so it wasn’t a difficult switch for me to do once I got into ketosis. This time was a little different though as I went for three full days. The longest I had ever gone in the past was 24 hours or so.
 
I hadn’t intended to fast for 72 hours when I woke up on Friday morning but nothing seemed good to me, and I certainly wasn’t interested in my packed lunch. In the past I would have likely just thought about what could fit my macros and then gone out and purchased something but as I am trying to save money I decided to just wait until I got home to eat. After all, I wasn’t hungry and I had food in my lunchbox if that changed. Once I got home I got busy with odds and ends… cleaning the house, teaching classes, writing up student feedback and etc. and completely forgot to eat. When I realized I’d gone well over 36 hours the next afternoon I figured I may as well push it and see if I could do a 72 hour fast. I had heard of really good results when it came to autophagy and general wellness for a 72 hour fast and I still wasn’t particularly hungry so figured now was the time to try it.
 
Most of the time during this fast I wasn’t hungry. There were the occasional urges to eat but they were from boredom or that it was the right time with two exceptions so were easy to ignore and go about my day. The first exception was when I was teaching a class all about food. Talking about food and being hungry for 25 minutes made me think hard about going and making something to eat in my kitchen but, as it was the first of 5 classes that night, I was back to being not hungry by the time I was finished teaching for the night and just went to bed without dinner. The second exception was right at the tail end of the fast. I had been cooking hamburgers for meal prep so the house had smelled like burgers for hours and, I’ll admit, I started watching that timer count down to 72 hours during that last hour or so.
 
The experience was actually really good overall. I felt very relaxed all weekend, got in a simple workout routine, cleaned my house and slept really well. I will definitely try to incorporate at least one of these per quarter if not more often as I hope to see some results with tightening skin (from the autophagy) as I continue to lose weight. I would not suggest going from a carb heavy diet directly into a fast though, it would likely be miserable, at least from my experiences with intermittent fasting and OMAD I can imagine that I would not have made it to the end.
 
Results of the fast? I started Thursday at 231.4 and ended Sunday at 226.4. That’s a five pound loss, which is amazing. Not all of that stayed gone after eating my first meal, as expected. The next day I weighed in two pounds heavier and the day after one pound down from that weight. So I would say that it leveled out at four pounds lost for the fast after taking into account that first day’s fluctuation. From the autophagy side of things I didn’t notice much of a difference but hope to as I have more loose skin to get rid of. Fingers crossed!
 
Until next time,

It's been two weeks since my last Keto/weight loss update so it's time for an update. I hid the columns from 1/1/18 to 2/17/19 on my spreadsheet as it was becoming impossible to read (yes there is more than a 1 lb loss between 260 and 234 haha) and I wanted to make it easy to see this week's changes as well as totals. Here we go...

5.6 pounds guys... in two weeks I lost 5.6 pounds! That's awesome news and I'm absolutely thrilled. Even better I went down almost a full point on the BMI scale AND lost inches. I did go up in my chest measurement but I think that I just mis-measured last time as it was exactly what it was the previous measurement day again. That means I've now lost 31.6 pounds and 21.2 inches total. I would really like to get to 50 pounds down by Gaufest in June but I'm trying to not to set unreachable goals (that would be at least 2 pounds per week every single week until then which is not guaranteed even if you are eating perfectly, on any diet plan). Instead my goal is to continue my progress towards 50 pounds gone by the end of the summer and if I get close before then I will adjust the goal to a larger number (such as "below 200 by the end of summer"... for the first time in a decade. That would be beyond wonderful to get there.)

For the last two weeks:

• Favorite Food: Sliced English Cucumber and Homemade Ranch Dip
  • I'm a texture girl and have been missing 'crunchy' foods quite a bit. I haven't found a good keto 'chip' out there (though I did make some cheddar crisps last week which were a good crunchy snack food) for dipping but cucumber and zucchini do a great job and are cheap. For those about to suggest celery, unfortunately I cannot have it. Instant migraine. Random, I know.
• Cravings: Peanut Butter M&M's
  • Those things were showing up everywhere and are my, hands down, favorite candy of all time. To combat this I bought some super dark chocolate chips (meant for baking) and a jar of peanut butter. One tablespoon of peanut butter and a few chocolate chips to assuage that craving for sweets and specifically the chocolate & peanut butter combo without completely blowing my day out of the water. Was it the 100% best thing for me to eat? Probably not... but it fit my macros and kept me from falling back off the wagon on stressful days so I'll take it. 

Another thing that I'm tracking is how well my weight loss correlates with what's going on in my life as those might be useful once I have more information. If I lose a lot less weight when I feel my sleep has been horrible than when its been ok or great then I will know that I need to focus more on that for instance. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest...

Quick Keto Meal Idea:
For lunches this past set of meal preps I've done a number of lettuce wraps: salsa chicken, beef taco, tuna salad, ham and cheese, etc. It's a quick and simple way to eat something you would normally have with a lot of carbs- like tacos or sandwiches- or to mix up the same ingredients in a new way. A few pieces of leaf lettuce and leftovers packs a lunchbox in minutes which is definitely something I can get behind. 
Try some of the following...

• tacos
• salsa chicken
• fajita
• tuna, chicken, egg or crab salad
• lunch meats and cheeses
• leftover Chinese take out (meat and veggie dishes, avoiding starchy items)

What other fillings for lettuce wraps do you do in your household? Let me know!

​Until next time,

So I fell off the face of the Earth on this series for a little while and yes it was because I 'fell off the Keto wagon' but I'm back. If you're reading consistently on the blog you will have likely read the "Comfort Eating" post a few weeks ago and I was just not able to consistently keep myself on track for a while after than, on any plan, not just Keto. Life got a little stressful but I've been working on finding ways to manage my stress more efficiently and am hopeful that my stress level won't be an excuse to ignore my health goals in the coming months. Not hopeful, determined. That is a much better mindset I think. I am determined that I will remain on track towards reaching my goals despite stressful situations that might arise. I've been back low carb for two weeks and Keto for a little over a week and have lost the weight I put back on -at the highest was 7 pounds- as well as 1 additional pound. I also lost an additional 0.4 inches off my chest (I had gained 1 inch as of last week but lost it plus 0.4 inches this week) and 0.2 inches off my waist somehow, not that I'm complaining!. 

My favorite food the last two weeks while I've been getting back on track has been my keto pancakes that I'm sure anyone who follows me on Instagram has seen posted several times lately. They're so good and I'll likely end up doing breakfast for dinner with a few of them paired with scrambled cheesy eggs. A quick meal as I keep a stock of pre-made pancakes in my freezer as part of the meal prep process but still super tasty and filling.

I haven't had that many cravings this week but I did want a couple of carb-y things earlier in the week when I made the transition to keto from low carb. I wanted tomato soup and a (gluten free) grilled cheese when it was cold and wet outside and I wasn't feeling all that great. I expect that one was more of a comforting memory trying to come back into my life- habits are hard to break! The second was ice cream, because ice cream haha. I'm not sure why this one came about but it coincided with some insomnia so that may be related. 

I'm thinking that keeping track of how well my weight loss correlates with what's going on in my life might be useful so I'm adding a scaled list of items that may affect or be affected by my diet. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest...

Compliance/Remaining "Keto": 9
Energy: 7
Sleep: 6
Stress: 4
Cravings: 3 ​

Next update I may add a few sample days of menus as well but I'm not sure what would be the most helpful. Let me know please. Are you guys interested in meal plans or meal prep posts and videos?

​Until next time,

If you're anything like me there are foods that you subconsciously associate with good memories and feelings... and these are foods that you turn to in times of stress or emotional turmoil even though we know it isn't the best choice. Maybe its cookies, or pizza or chips but everyone I know I would say they've done it at some point or another so I would say this is a common enough human issue. We comfort eat, and its often foods that are high in carbohydrates and sugar when you think back on it. Today was one of the time for me. I regret allowing myself to do so but I'm not going to beat myself up about it either. I'm acknowledging the emotions that caused it so that next time I can find a healthier way to cope with those emotions should they come up again which I think is a much more effective use of my energy personally.

So, what happened? It's a bit of a long story that involved days of letting myself get emotionally run down to the point that my decision making ability wasn't up to where it needed to be essentially and I gave into the temptation of easy carbs. What did I learn? Take breaks when I need them instead of forcing myself to push through... I've done this my whole life and its time that I stop and acknowledge that I have limits and need to respect them. So, if you want to read the long version, here it goes: 

I've been spending a lot of time going through boxes over the last few weeks as I unpack items that have been in storage for years while I didn't have my own place. This weekend it was time to go through the boxes I had stored in my guest and office closets as well as the garage as I had most of the weekend free of obligations. Thursday evening was lovely- I went through boxes from my childhood, discovered photos of my family from years ago, sorted through stuffed animals and trinkets I had collected over my younger years. There were moments of intermittent pain as memories surfaced of my mother's parents who both passed over the last year or so but the painful moments were brief and were far outweighed by the happy memories of summers and Christmases with family and friends. 

And then came Friday night. I started out by putting together my brand new whiteboard for my office so that I could begin teaching again online. It was fun and even the dogs were having fun playing in the packaging. I figured that I'd finish up the guest room closet and then still have time to get through most of the office as well since I'm a night owl. The first boxes I opened were wedding memories and the next were boxes of our time in Korea. I had avoided those boxes like the plague for the first year after I came back to Texas and they had been in storage after that while I house-hunted for the next few years so opening them back to back wasn't a great choice but I thought it would be easier after all this time. I wasn't expecting the rush of memories and pain that those memories would elicit. Always logically minded I decided it needed to get done so I may as well finish the job and pushed though sorting the items: photos of our courtship, letters received from a beau in boot camp, a Valentine's Day gift card, photos with mutual friends and ones with family members, even some of his things that had been mixed in with my own because that's what happens when you're married... mostly good memories (I had taken care of the more negatively charged items in a previous purge) that dredged up pain that literally gave me palpations and drained. I should have stopped and waited to go through those boxes another day when the emotion hit me like a brick wall rather than go it alone and all at once but instead I finished as much of the task as I could. I ended up with a pile of items that will go to his parents to do with as they please, a pile for the trash and a few things that I simply wasn't ready to part with. Memories of happy times before the pain that I couldn't yet let go of despite the years that had passed and the hurt he caused me. Once everything was sorted, I did reach out to a friend but not the ones that would have been able to help me sort through the emotions in my head and heart the best and I ended up caught up in my own head for most of the night reliving a life long gone. I ended up watching a movie to try to move away from those memories with thoughts of finishing everything else today and fell asleep on the couch before waking around dawn to move to bed.

Today came, as it always does, and due to the late night movie session I had a really late start to my day but I finished up the little there was to do in the garage and went baby shower shopping- always a fun adventure. I didn't realize that I was avoiding the last of the boxes until I literally had done everything else but sort through them for most of the day. Wrapped presents for my nieces, two baby shower gifts, reorganized the guest bathroom, did the laundry, vacuumed, you name it. It was time to finish the office eventually though so I did, that's just who I am... if there is a job that needs doing I'll wrap myself in as much strength as I can muster and get it done. It needs doing after all and who else will do it? It was easier than I expected as most of it ended up just being paperwork- taxes, business documentation from when I was a dance teacher, lesson plans for my Kindergarten classroom, simple things with either little emotional attachement or good memories. Then there were high school photos which were fun sorting through- graduation, homecoming, choir parties, all kinds of fun. Occasionally a photo with my ex would crop up as we had dated in high school but we attended different schools so they were fewer than I would have anticipated... until wedding photos and family trips post marriage started coming up in the stack. Everyone was so happy and there were dear faces that I will likely never see again amongst the photos. To be honest it sucked, bad, and I had to lay aside the photos for a while but I finished the sorting and thought I had put the issue to bed. Not so much. 

Refusing to just deal with the emotions and pushing them away caused me to make poor choices when it came to a very belated dinner where I was both hungry and hurting. I understood the why as I made the decision but didn't really care at the moment. Eating bad food didn't help the issue of course so I still had to deal with the emotional aftermath of three days of walking down memory lane afterwards. I have started that process already and will likely be continuing to do so for a while yet. But I'm doing it, I'm not tucking it away again to deal with at another time that never comes. 

Why share this failure? Why show the world the cracks in the facade that is the me I've rebuilt the last few years? Because failure happens and that's ok. It isn't the end of the world to make a poor choice and you can come back from it 99.9% of the time without lasting harm. It may take me an extra couple of days to get to my goal weight now but in the scheme of things its not a big deal. I'll still make it there in the end and I'll be a happier person in the end due to the self-care of working on the emotional why's rather than self-torment over failure to stick to an eating plan.

We need to stop pretending that they're perfect 100% of the time and show our imperfections. We can help each other and build each other up rather than forcing everyone to feel a need to hide what is really happening inside themselves. Its the imperfections that make us the beautiful creatures that we are. They show where we've grown, strengthened weaknesses, where people have touched our lives- for good or bad... they show beauty and strength and trust in the person that you are sharing those imperfections with. Share your lives, be bravely imperfect rather than showing the world perfection... perfect is a lie.

Until next time, be amazingly imperfect,

OK, this week is going to be a pretty short update. Right up front: I didn't lose weight... not an ounce. I actually gained and had to work back down to where I ended up last week. This could be due to a couple different possibilities, the highest likelihood being either:

• I could have been exposed to gluten. One of the side effects when I am exposed is bloating that can take a week or longer to dissipate. I once experimented and gained 5 pounds and over an inch over night due to the bloat... amongst other side effects. Not fun.
• I could have eaten too much dairy. Both my allergist and my chiropractor suggested cutting out dairy- which I don't think I want to do at this point- to reduce inflammation and this week I went a little crazy on the dairy. Too many cheese shell tacos and trial recipes. Oops.

Since the weight came off almost as quick as it went on I'm not super concerned with the weight loss this week... plus, I feel pretty fantastic. I'm getting a ton done in the evenings and at work, am relying less on caffeine and generally just feel pretty good. My mood is improving as well (I've been dealing with depression for a few months now, as mentioned in the yearly wrap up) which is my favorite change for this week. Another plus was inches lost: 3.4! Woot! 

I'm trying to do a vlog every week along with the blog overviews. This week's is below.

​Until next time,

This isn't the first time I've gone on a diet nor is it even the first time I've gone keto. Last year I lost over 40 pounds on keto and felt amazing. Unfortunately I let myself give in to stress and go back to old habits and ended the year with a net 20 pound loss and a desire to get back on track. As much as progress photos aren't any fun and I'm definitely embarrassed at how far I still have to go I'm going to be sharing my journey with you all online. I find stories of people's journeys helpful and inspiring for myself so the hope is that I can be an inspiration to others looking to start their own health journeys as well as keep myself accountable.

I started on 1/2/2019 at 240.6 pounds. I forgot to take photos and do measurements as I was coming off of a migraine (I had suffered from several the week before and it was horrible) and it was all I could do to remember my lunchbox to be honest. I actually forgot to put the ice pack into the lunchbox if that helps explain how exhausted I was that morning. I will be taking photos later for the next update and have already done measurements. I definitely suggest you do progress photos and track measurements if at all possible rather than relying solely on the scale. It can help keep you stay motivated when the scale says you're not doing as well as you'd prefer. 

Measurements (taken mid-week so no update this week)

As I mentioned, I went with Keto again because I usually feel amazing on it. This week I would say I felt about like I remember feeling- lots of energy and not super hungry between meals. I ended up moving back to two larger meals within week one rather than in a few weeks as I'd planned as my body wanted to go back there naturally. I will say that I had a few side effects this week which can likely be attributed to the transition:

• insomnia
• upset stomach (probably from the increase in fat)

I'm also still dealing with headaches but those were happening pre-transition to keto so are likely unrelated. I made sure to get enough electrolytes which I am convinced help me avoid the majority of the common 'keto flu' symptoms.

Finally, I lost 5.6 pounds this week which brings me up to 25 pounds lost from the beginning of my journey to now. I say in the video its 35... I don't know what I was thinking *sigh* major former math teacher fail. Anyways, I'm looking forward to week 2!

​Until next time,

Check out the Keto in Canada series of blog posts to catch up on what happened during the Keto Reset then watch my first vlog (ever, eek!) detailing the final results of two weeks completely keto while traveling on business.

Would you like to see monthly updates on my weight loss, and specifically keto, journey? Let me know!

Until next time!

I'm sorry this is so late. It's been a little bit crazy since I got back home. I'll keep this update short and sweet and make up for it with a vlog next week about the final results after the full two weeks which included the second half of the week once I returned home. 

Simply put, this Keto Reset was a success. I had the energy to do as much as I needed most of the days I was traveling- without dips in energy or crankiness. And I am not a morning person, ask anyone. Haha, a little caffeine first thing in the morning to wake up and I was good to go all day. That alone would have been enough of a reason to do this reset but I also lost a nice chunk of weight! 

To recap, I started this reset at 233.2 lbs. Here's what the scale said the morning after I came home...

Its been a long but productive weekend on this Quebec trip and, to be honest, I'm pretty exhausted. I did want to pop online to give you a quick update on how the Keto Challenge has gone so far though. Basically... it's going really well. Both myself and my coworker have been making smart choices when it comes to meal time and are feeling pretty great and confident that we're both back in ketosis again based on our past experience.

Any Keto Flu?
Not this time, thankfully. I think I've got it figured out for my body this time around and with the added water and electrolytes I didn't have any headaches or muscle cramps in the first few days. I'll have to stay diligent though as I'm spending a good amount of time in non air conditioned areas and/or outside right now so losing both water and electrolytes quicker than I would normally back home.

What Has Mealtime Looked Like?
Breakfasts have been at the hotel every day I've been here and have consisted of eggs, cheese, a small amount of meat (usually ham but one day I had a slice of bacon), and possibly a small amount of something with a couple of carbs as I knew that the first few days would have a nice calorie burn before lunch hit- some nuts or 1-2 ounces of fruit.

There hasn't been a lot of snacking really, some nuts or fresh veggies and ranch occasionally here at the hotel here or there but that's about it.

Lunches and dinners have been a little all over the place depending on the schedule and what my coworkers wanted. I can usually find something anywhere and am happy to let them choose so long as there is a gluten free option that I can manage with my eating style (its rare that you can't make that happen here which is pretty great). I'll just write out a list below to make it easy.

Lunches:

• Friday: Burger (no bun) with American cheese and a salad with ranch
• Saturday: Lunch meat, cheese and mayo roll ups (we made a Walmart run the night before for lunches over the weekend as we didn't want to spend time or money running around when there was so much to do)
• Sunday: I missed lunch this day... I just felt too overheated to eat and didn't feel a need or want to do so. This was the day that I did end up having some nuts and veggies pre-dinner as we had a later than normal dinner and had worked really hard.
• Monday: Grilled salmon with lemon and a touch of aioli and a (wonderful) Caesar salad

Dinners:

• Friday: Burger (no bun) with brie and mushrooms and a salad with ranch. This is pretty much one of the only things I can eat other than an entree salad that I have to have them hold things on here at the hotel.
• Saturday: Steak, sauteed mushrooms and Caesar salad
• Sunday: Braised Beef with mushrooms and a small chunk of sweet potato (maybe an ounce at the outside)
• Monday: Burger (no bun) with brie and mushrooms and a salad with ranch

Have I Lost Weight?
I don't know as I don't have a scale with me here at the hotel but my pants feel a little loser which is always a good thing and I am feeling great so I'm content to stick with it.

I'm really hoping for a nice amount to have come off by the time I get back home though. The first several pounds will just be water weight, I know that... they came back on within a couple days and will go back off in the same time frame but I'd really like to lose at least 7-8 pounds in the two week period (including the water weight). 10 would be amazing but pushing it I think, even with the addition of all the stairs I'm climbing here and the change of work environment adding more movement and calorie expenditure to my day. I'm not counting calories, at all, on this trip, by the way. We'll see but I'm hopeful. Even if I lose very little I will be ok with it though as I'm feeling great and my mind is working at full capacity with all the extra fats I'm throwing at it so I'm getting a ton done. Keto's worth it for those two alone in my opinion- weight loss is just the bonus that makes me do a happy dance at the end of the week.

Until next update!

I wanted to jump on to do a quick blog post as the next couple of weeks will probably be a little crazy for me as I'm in Montreal on a business trip. I'm looking forward to the crazy as always but it means I'll be changing up my blog post plan to accommodate the trip just a bit. 

Another coworker (who is on this trip as well) suggested that we do a keto challenge for two weeks as we've both "fallen off the wagon" and will be out of our normal routines together so can hold each other accountable. I, of course. said "let's do it"... then our first evening here we went out for Italian food with a coworker from this office. We didn't make a great start of it *sad trombone* but we're going to start fresh tomorrow and get this challenge knocked out. I'll be making periodic updates about how its going. I'm hoping this reset sets me up for success again once I return back home.

My starting weight before I left:

Not my best weight, obviously I gained a few pounds through the last few months of being lackadaisical with my habits but I'm determined to hit my under 200 goal this year so this keto reset is exactly what I need. Let's do this!