First Time Mom and Losing It

Weigh In: On Monday I weighed in at 284.2 pounds. That is a weight loss of 2.8 pounds for the week and a total of 21.2. pounds since I started on March 10th.

Recap: Last week I had a couple of cheat days so I planned to take it one day at a time and try not to cheat again. My allergies are getting better or maybe I am just getting used to the fact that I am a person that suffers from allergies. I am trying to take my medicine daily so that it makes me feel better. I had a busy end of the week with a last minute Open House at my daughter's school and a drive out of town. I made those days work by having a bunless hot dog at costco and rotisserie chicken for dinner with some green beans.


Food: I made a plan to stick with the 30 Day Ketogenic Cleanse meal plan. I even changed around some of the meals to what I really wanted to eat. I used some recipes from the Dairy-Free Ketogenic Cleanse cookbook like the Simple Sesame Chicken recipe that we have tried several times and love. Although I did make my own meal plan I found it hard to stick with it. It was foods and recipes that I like but I just wasn't into it. I miss drinking coffee in the morning and it's a lot more work to cook different meals for everyone. I am the only one doing the cleanse so I have to cook a separate meal for myself, for my husband and for my daughter.


Exercise: Last week I did a day of the FeFit Program I am been talking about. I also added it to my Weight Loss Bullet Journal and planned the days I would exercise. The day after I did the FeFit program I felt so sore that it totally turned me off from exercise. I am so busy now with the last month of school for my daughter with Open Houses, trips, Spirit weeks and events going on. I am so active and on the go when it comes to my daughter's school that I just don't have the time right now. I am planning on doing the FeFit program once my daughter is off for the summer. Though I have not been doing any formal exercise, I am still trying to get at least 10,000 steps on my FitBit.


Going Forward: I decided to not continue with the last week of the Ketogenic Cleanse. I just feel too constricted and I am afraid that it's going to make it easy for me to get off track. I plan to still use some of the recipes from both books several times a week so that I can do some dairy-free days. I want to write in my Weight Loss Journal some more and get in 10,000 steps a day. 

This is day 8 of the 30 Day Ketogenic Cleanse. This also marks week two of the 4 week cleanse. As the weeks are going by the food gets even more delicious. I am also getting into the groove of things with the meal planning. I try to chop my vegetables ahead of time so that I am not overwhelmed when I cook. Like I said in my What I Ate on Week 1 post the recipes are very involved with multiple steps and lots of ingredients. Although I complain sometimes when I am making these recipes it is all worth it when I taste how good the food is.

Meal 1: Bacon and Mushrooms with Soft-Boiled Eggs. There is a lot of mushroom eating on the cleanse. Each mushroom recipe has its own unique sauce or seasoning so I don't get tired of eating them. This recipe has lots of crispy bacon with the mushrooms so it gives it a nice texture. The mushrooms really soak up the sauce with oil, vinegar, and dijon so they are extra tasty. Instead of a soft-boiled egg I made a hard one because I like them better. Though this bowl of food make look small, all the healthy fats kept me full until my next meal.


Meal 2: Simple Crab Salad. I didn't want to eat the last two meals together so I had this one at 4pm. Instead of crab I used tuna fish because I don't like crab. At first I questioned why such a simple recipe was in the cookbook. When I took my first bite I understood why. I have never had tuna salad taste as good as this one! The celery and onion gives it a nice clean crunch. The dijon, mayo and lemon juice gives it the perfect flavor. I enjoyed the Simple "Tuna" Salad over some torn butter lettuce. This is a recipe I will surely make over and over again.


Meal 3: Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja. I started cooking this meal at eight in the morning in my instant pot. After the 6 hours I didn't think the meat was tender enough so I pressure cooked it for 20 minutes. That made the meat super tender and the sauce and vegetables combined perfectly. The stew was flavorful, meaty and super filling. The garnishes of olives, salsa and cilantro brightened the dish up and made it fun to eat.


Sometimes I look at the meals and think "Is this enough?". The old me was used to filling my plate to the brim and eating until my stomach couldn't fit anymore food. Now I am learning to satisfy my hunger with healthy fats and less food.

I remember when I first started the Ketogenic diet a few years ago. The diet wasn't well known so it was hard to find a snack on-the-go. I would always have to take nuts or cheese sticks with me. As the years went by, keto became mainstream and "low carb" snack options began popping up in stores. Sometimes they would have good macros but a lot of times they would not. I would spend a long time in the supermarket looking at nutritional labels and ingredients.


Then a few months ago I got the opportunity to be a Keto Krate ambassador. I got to sample the boxes each month for free. Subscriptions boxes are pretty fun because it's like getting a gift in the mail every month. My favorite thing about Keto Krate is that you get to try products from different companies that you may have never heard of before. A lot of these companies are small and really put care and thought into their products.


Every month my husband and I open the Keto Krate together and choose one snack to try right away. Most of the times we enjoy the snacks and sometimes we don't. This is a great way to figure out what kinds of snacks we like.


With Keto Krate you get 8+ snacks a month that are 5g of net carbs or less. Keto Krate does the calculation for you so that you can dig into the box as soon as you get it without having to worry if it will fit into your macros. You also get $20+ in savings with coupon codes and discounts to the products in the box. I also love how they give a recipe to use on their featured product. Check out Keto Krate if you want to try out a Keto Krate for yourself!

One hundred pounds in one year is my new weight loss goal. That works out to be about 1.92 pounds a week or 8.33 pounds a month. This is my ultimate goal, a goal I wish to complete by March 10th, 2019. I know it is a goal that might not happen. I know it is a goal that might not be attainable but it is a goal that I am going to strive for.

For months and months I have tried to get back on keto. I succeed for a week or two and then self-sabotage as soon as I see progress. One cheat meal turns into a day, the day turns into a week and that week turns into months. Months of being off track and back up to the weight I started with or more.

As I was searching for some inspiring quotes one really hit me hard. "A year from now you would have wished you started today." There have been timeless times where I have looked back and was disappointed at where I was at. I want next year to be different. Next year I want to be 100 pounds smaller. Next year I want to be healthier, happier and more confident.

In order to be 100 hundred pounds smaller I plan to follow the ketogenic diet again. I love the way I feel on keto. I love that I am never hungry and I love that I can eat delicious foods. My inflammation goes away, my back pain goes away. I can walk long distances and I have tons of energy.

Last week I started Keto again and worked towards my goal of 100 pounds in one year. I plan to share my journey on my blog, YouTube channel and Instagram. I am hoping that this can help hold me accountable.

Where do you see yourself one year from now?

Thank you DietToGo for sending me a 3 day sample of the Carb30 plan for an honest review. 



The key to staying on track when you are on a weight loss journey is to be prepared! Even though I know that I still find myself unprepared at times. These times are the ones where I have to make choices outside of my home. Although you can go to a restaurant and order something you think is low carb, there can be lots of hidden carbs.

This summer has been busy for my little family as we enjoy the last time my daughter will be home all day. She will be starting kindergarten in late August so we are spending as much quality time as possible. I honestly would rather be at the pool with my daughter than in the kitchen meal prepping for hours. This is when DietToGo came to me at the perfect time.


DietToGo is a meal delivery company that offers three different plans of healthy and clean foods. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is all planned for you within the macros that is right for you. You don't have to think about what to eat, count calories, or cook. All you have to do is look at the menu of the day, pull out the meal, and heat it up.



Since I am following a ketogenic diet I picked the Carb30 plan. DietToGo has perfectly calculated 3 meals every day that equal up to 30 carbs a day. It's that easy and that tasty too. Everything I had was super delicious and fresh tasting. All of the meals tasted like a personal chef came to cook at my place and not like a frozen TV dinner. The ingredient list of each meal was very minimal and full of whole foods. Unlike the frozen diet meals I have purchased at the supermarket, the DietToGo meals kept me satisfied until the next meal.




DietToGo also offers a Balanced menu plan where you get a little bit of everything that is calorie controlled. The Balance-Diabetes plan is perfect for Diabetics and Pre-diabetics to help keep blood sugar under control. There is even a Vegetarian option.

Have you ever tried a meal delivery company? 

On February 2nd I started the 30 Day Ketogenic Cleanse by Maria Emmerich. It is a book that you can purchase anywhere books are sold. I got the kindle version from Amazon. The book gives you a 30 day meal plan with step by step instructions for each recipe. After you complete the 30 days there are numerous other recipes to try.  The Ketogenic Cleanse is full of recipes high on the ketogenic scale. The recipes are sugar free, high fat and dairy and nut free. This is a surefire way to get you keto-adapted or into ketosis quickly!


On March 2nd I completed the 30 Day Ketogenic cleanse and was happy to see a 17.4 pound weight loss. As soon as I finished the cleanse I started eating cheese, heavy cream and Starbucks iced coffees again. I quickly started gaining some of the weight that I had lost. When I saw the weight gain, I started to incorporate some of the cleanse recipes back into my weekly meals and saw some weight loss again.


Although the recipes are delicious on the cleanse I did miss eating cheese and having some heavy cream in my coffee. I know that if I stay strictly on the cleanse I won't be able to continue long term. When I get tired of certain foods I tend to give up and binge on foods I shouldn't be eating.

My plan going forward is to eat recipes from the 30 Day Ketogenic cleanse 5 days a week and eat regular keto foods on the remaining two days. This way I can have cheese on my eggs and heavy cream in my coffee a couple of times a week without overdoing the dairy.


No weigh-in for me this week as I enjoyed the Easter weekend with my family. Stay tuned for a weigh-in next week.

Since our big move to Texas I have been struggling to live a ketogenic lifestyle. I would do good for about 4 days and then eat anything I wanted the rest of the week. This caused me to gain back almost all of the 70 pounds that I lost.

After the holidays and my birthday, I had no more excuses. I joined Maria Emmerich's 30 Day Ketogenic Cleanse Facebook group because I was curious about the cleanse. For a long time I wanted to go back to basics with keto and try to cut out some dairy. The 30-Day Ketogenic Cleanse was the perfect plan because it is nut and dairy free. After a couple of weeks in the group and seeing the success that other members were having, I decided to start the plan myself.


I ordered the Kindle version of the 30-Day Ketogenic Cleanse and decided to start on February 2nd. A few days before I had my grocery list ready and went to Trader Joes, Sprouts Farmers Market and Aldi to find everything I needed.

I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it on the plan. I love cheese, heavy cream and snacking on nuts. I also didn't know if I would be able to only eat two meals a day. Day one was a total success with the Bacon & Mushroom Rosti and Umami Burgers. Everything was delicious, fresh and worth the work. On day two of the cleanse I was hit with a painful case of the keto flu. It was so bad that I didn't think I would be able to continue on the cleanse. I was in bed most of the day and kept telling myself it would be better the next day, and it did.


Currently I am on day 19 and am down 12.6 pounds. I have lost pounds, inches and feel so much better. I have a lot of energy and since I am only eating two meals a day, during a short window, I have time to do so much more.


Check out my YouTube channel for videos on how I did on the First and Second week. I also have grocery haul videos for the First and Second week. I highly recommend this cleanse for anyone just starting or restarting the keto diet. The cleanse is also great for people who want to do keto in a cleaner and dairy-free way.

When you are on a ketogenic (low carb, high fat) diet it is super easy to plan the protein side of your meal. Since meat doesn't have carbs we have a huge variety to choose from. The tricky part comes with the sides. Every side I used to make before starting a ketogenic diet was full of starches and sugar. It was always mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, breads and macaroni and cheese.  To get around all of the carbs you have to be creative in the kitchen and substitute all of the starches and sugars with keto-friendly ingredients.

One of the most typical side dish at a Thanksgiving meal would be a bowl of mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes can easily be substituted for my Low Carb Sour Cream and Chive Mash. Instead of potatoes I use cauliflower. Click on the link to find out the secret to my smooth and fluffy mash that tastes better than mashed potatoes!


Macaroni and cheese is another staple side at Thanksgiving. Since pasta is not allowed on a low carb diet I substituted cauliflower again. With all of the butter, cream and cheese in my Low Carb Baked "Mac" n Cheese you will never miss out on the pasta.


Years ago I saw this deliciously creamy brussels sprouts recipe on a Food Network Thanksgiving special. Full of butter, cream and pancetta I knew it would be easy to modify. I "ketofied" the recipe with my Keto / Low Carb Creamy Pancetta Brussels Sprouts.


You have to have some kind of bready side to complete the meal. One of my favorite breads comes from my favorite Keto YouTuber Cooking Keto with Kristie. It has quickly became my go-to "bread" recipe because I always have the ingredients on hand and they are super easy to make. Keto Test Recipe: Low Carb Biscuits.


What Low Carb Sides do you like to make on Thanksgiving?

*I received the product below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.

Being on a ketogenic diet it is super important to drink lots of water. This is because "one molecule of glycogen usually attracts four molecules of water and as a result of it, when your body gets rid of glycogen, it also exerts water." (KetoDietApp.com). Every time I started a new diet I made it a habit to drink 8 glasses of water. Now that the I am on the ketogenic diet I know that I have to drink even more.


Drinking tons of water can get boring really fast. I am the type of person that needs my water to be super cold in order for me continue to drink throughout the day. I was always filling up my water bottle and leaving it out. As soon as the water was warm I would lose interest in drinking my water for the day. I would put it back in the fridge and then I'd forget about it all day. I would be stuck at the end of the day without getting my daily requirement in.


The answer to my water problems came when I got the Stainless Steel Tumbler by VALRO. It holds 30 ounces of water so all I have to do is fill it up 3 times to get 90 ounces of daily water in. The double wall vacuum insulation keeps my water super icy cold all day. I add some ice in the morning to make it even colder and the ice is still there when I empty it out to pop in the dishwasher at night.


I love the that Valro comes with a stainless steel straw, straw cleaning brush, and air tight splash proof sliding lid. The materials it is made from keeps bacteria at bay and is eco-friendly. The Valro can also be used for hot drinks like coffee and will keep it hot for up to 6 hours.

You can check it out on Amazon to get your own.

The Egg Fast is mostly used when you are on a ketogenic or low carb, high fat diet and have a weight stall of more than two weeks. The Egg Fast formula is where you eat 1 tblsp of fat for each egg you eat. You are also allowed up to 6 ounces of cheese per day. That's it, eggs, fat and cheese for up to seven days. Some people do a 3-day, a 5-day or a 7-day like I did.


Although I technically never stalled since starting on August 31st I wanted to do the egg fast because my pounds lost per month had slowed down significantly. I was getting discouraged and even had a cheat weekend right before starting the fast. I gained 4.9 pounds over the cheat days so the 10 pounds lost was also my body getting rid of what I gained. I might have lost less than 10 pounds during the egg fast if I had not gained the weight.


There was no way I would be able to eat just straight up eggs and butter for seven days so I followed Egg Fast Meal Plan from the I Breathe I'm Hungry blog. I can't not believe how many delicious and creative recipes she thought up with just eggs, cheese and fat. I ate exactly what was on the menu plan and made sure to measure everything. There were times that I wasn't hungry but I still ate what I was supposed to eat. I didn't drink any diet soda, seltzer water or have any artificial sweeteners. I also made it a point to drink 112 ounces of water every day and took a magnesium citrate at night. Every morning I had coffee with 1 tblsp of MCT oil and 1 tblsp of Kerrygold butter.


I didn't exercise during the 7- Day fast because I wanted to see how much I could lose with just eating what was on the plan. I was so shocked and happy when I saw that I was 10 pounds down because that is result I hoped for. I definitely recommend the Egg Fast for a stall or a jumpstart to weight loss if you are already fat-adapted and have been doing a low carb high fat (keto) diet for at least a few months. I think if you are just starting on a low carb journey it might be a little hard to complete.

When I first began my keto journey I was eating lots of eggs, cheese and bacon for breakfast. I was getting tired of eating the same thing so I started researching recipes for something bready I could have as a breakfast sandwich. I found these yummy almond flour mug cakes that I was eating for a while. It was kind of dry so then I started using my oopsie rolls for the "bread" of my sandwich. I wanted something denser so I looked for a biscuit type recipe.


I am a huge fan of the Cooking Keto with Kristie YouTube channel so I had to try her Low Carb Biscuits. The first time I made them they were a hit with my husband and I. I love how easy they are to make and that I could make a batch of twelve at one time.

The recipe is so simple and if you have read my Keto Pantry post you should already be familiar with the ingredients. First you have to take 10 egg whites and froth them up in a big bowl with a hand mixer. I was using a whole container of egg whites to make it easier on myself. Then my local Aldi's never had the carton so I was just separating 10 egg and saving the yolks for a later time.


To make my batter extra smooth I take all of the dry ingredients and put them through a sifter. What ever stays in the sifter I put in my ninja and pulverize it until it is fine. I add that to the rest of the dry ingredients and then mix it into the eggs with the hand mixer. Next to go in is the melted butter and then I fold in the mozzarella cheese.

Evenly divide the batter into a silicone muffin pan and bake for 12 minutes. The biscuits come out golden, dense and crumbly like a biscuit. I love to slice them in half spread on some butter and use them to dip into my sunny side up eggs.