First Time Mom and Losing It

My husband and I have been on a Keto Weight Loss journey since August 31. We have lost a combined 132 pounds. I lost 50 and he lost 82. I think that this way of eating has been successful for us because we are never hungry and get to enjoy delicious foods. A ketogenic (keto) diet is where you eat 20g or less of carbs, a low/moderate amount of protein and a high amount of fat. Your percentages of food should be 5% Carbs, 20% Protein and 75% Fat.

Since I have been making so many different recipes I have acquired a great keto pantry (and fridge).

Alternative Sweetener:

• Erythritol - I use this whenever I am baking or when a recipe calls for a granulated sweetener. 
• Liquid Stevia - I use about 5 drops in my coffee every morning. 
• Ez-Sweetz - Liquid Sucralose. I use this in all of my recipes that don't call for a granular sweetener. This is what my husband uses in his coffee. It takes a couple of drops to sweeten without an aftertaste. 

Pork Rinds: They are really good to snack on and to eat with dips. They can also be pulverized into dust to substitute for any kind of breading. I have also used them to make keto puppy chow.


Coconut Oil: It's the holy grail in a keto kitchen. I put it in my coffee to make bulletproof coffee. I also use it to make fat bombs. It's the perfect way to get your fat in on a keto diet.


Avocado Oil: I use this oil to fry, for cooking and in my keto coleslaw recipe. It's great to use in cooking because of it's high heat point.


** Please note that I am not a doctor or nutritionist. I just wanted to share what has been working for my husband and I. Please seek advice from your doctor first before starting any diet or exercise program.

I lost 3.2 pounds for a total weight loss of 49.2 pounds. I decided to weigh myself today, on my birthday to see if I hit my goal of 50 pounds lost by my birthday. I stepped on the scale and could not believe I lost another 0.8 pounds! I am exactly 50 pounds down, what an amazing birthday present to myself!

• Take vitamins and probiotics.
• Try MCT Oil.
• Get in 7000 daily steps. 
• FeFit Exercise Program 4 times a week
• One walk of at least 10,000 steps
• Stay on Plan During Birthday Week

What kinds of foods do you like to do when you are snowed in? ‪

I love chicken fingers because they are crispy and delicious and you can dip them into any kind of sauce. I used a combination of almond flour and parmesan cheese so that I could cut the carbs of the almond flour. I then used the method of flash frying and then finishing the cooking in the oven.


Keto Chicken Fingers

• 1 pound of chicken tenders 
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (the grated green container is best) 
• seasonings to taste (I used onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper)
• egg
• avocado oil, to fry (you can use any other oil you have on hand) 

As the weather gets colder we go outdoors less and less. We had a really cold week a couple of weeks ago so our walks went out the door. I don't want my daughter to be on her iPad or watch TV all day so I try to come up with fun ways for her to use her hands and get creative. It's been cold but not cold enough for snow yet and my daughter has been anxious for the first snowfall to come. To get her excited about the snow that should be coming soon I created this DIY Kids Snow Globe Artwork.

Supplies

• Winter Scene Printable
• Snowman Printable
• White Confetti 
• Silver or White Glitter (Optional)
• Gallon Ziplock Bag
• Scissors
• White glue

How do you keep the kids entertained during the Winter? 

When I started eating keto I looked at alot of YouTube videos to get ideas on what to eat. Before the videos I thought I would get tired of eating bacon and eggs so I sought out different foods and recipes that I could eat. I get to eat pizza, bbq chicken wings, chocolate mug cake, keto puppy chow and so much more. Since I can find an alternative to anything I feel like eating, there has been no reason for me to cheat. Twenty weeks into my journey and I am proud to say I have not had one cheat day or even a cheat piece of food.

I am going to start doing a "What I Ate Wednesday" series at least twice a month to give other keto'ers some ideas on what to eat and what to snack on. I will also try to do a video to go along with the blog post.


Breakfast: I had cream cheese pancakes with pork sausage and sugar-free syrup. I love making these cream cheese pancakes because they are super easy to make and satisfies that craving for real pancakes. They are flat and don't have the texture of real pancakes but they are delicious. I also had some coffee with heavy whipping cream, stevia drops, and sugar-free amaretto syrup.


Lunch: I wasn't really hungry during lunch time so I didn't have the tuna salad lettuce wraps I planned to have. A couple of hours before dinner time I was a little hungry so I had some Boar's Head Hard Salami and Lacy Swiss Cheese. I also had half a serving of pecans.


Dinner: Barbecue chicken thighs with creamy cauliflower mash. I like to brown the chicken thighs in some avocado oil and then I put it in the oven until it is almost cooked through. The last 10 minutes I brush on some barbecue sauce and then bake for 10 minutes.


Snacks: Keto Hot Cocoa and an ounce of my favorite cheese in the whole world, Kerrygold Dubliner!



What did you eat today? 

• Take vitamins and probiotics.
• Get in 7000 daily steps. 
• FeFit Exercise Program 4 times a week
• One walk of at least 10,000 steps

What Do You Do When It's Too Cold To Get Active Outside? ‪

I have been compensated by Glucerna for this post; however, I am sharing my own thoughts. All opinions are my own. #SteadyIsExciting


Coming from a Latin background I knew that the chances of me getting diagnosed with diabetes was high. I grew up with family members getting diabetes one after the other. First it was both of my grandmothers being diagnosed within months of each other. Then it was my dad being diagnosed and then my sister when she was just 22 years old.

This past summer my husband got the news that he was pre-diabetic. I didn't want another one of my loved ones to become diabetic so it was finally time to do something about it. On August 31st we started our journey of eating a low carb diet and have since lost a combined total of 122 pounds. Last month my husband went back to the doctor to get lab work and we got the news that he was no longer pre-diabetic! It is really amazing how just doing little changes to your diet could reverse something as serious as diabetes.


Now that my husband and I are committed to this way of eating we are working hard to bring our other family members on board. I want to show them that it is easy to change what they eat by substituting little things. One of my favorite family recipes is fried barbecue chicken. Now instead of frying it we are grilling it and instead of slathering it with our favorite barbecue sauce we are just using a little.



While browsing my local Target I took a look through the diabetic aisle. I was pleased to see all of the products Glucerna offered. They had some delicious looking shakes in a variety of flavors. As I was reading the label I saw that they contained CARBSTEADY® which helps lessen blood sugar spikes by allowing the body to slowly digest the carbohydrates. On top of Glucerna being the #1 Doctor recommended brand for people with diabetes, Target was also having a cartwheel of 10% off of their bars and shakes. (Live Jan 10th – 30th)



I decided to make the barbecue chicken and bring my grandma a 6pk of the Glucerna Vanilla Shakes. To make the barbecue chicken I took 3 ounces of boneless skinless chicken and grilled it on my indoor grill. I cooked it for about 5 minutes per side. Then I brushed on 2 teaspoons of my favorite low carb barbecue sauce on top and allowed it to cook for about 30 seconds longer. I packed it up and brought it for my grandmother to enjoy.




What small changes are you making to become healthier?