First Time Mom and Losing It

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?

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.

*I received the products 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 a part of the low carb community Sukrin Products kept coming up in all of the talks. I had never heard of the brand before so I went to their site to see what they had. I was so pleased to see all of the low carb and natural sweeteners they had in stock.


I love that they have different sweeteners for different tastes. The Sukrin: 1 is erythritol mixed with a little bit of stevia. It measures one to one with regular sugar so it's easy to replace it in any recipe or even in your morning coffee. I loved using the Sukrin: 1 in my chocolate mug cake for a sweet treat at the end of the day. I also used some of the Sukrin Melis (like powdered sugar) to make my mug cake look pretty and for an extra dusting of sweetness.

Everytime I see one of those viral recipes on Facebook I start thinking about ways to keto-ize it. When I saw the Sesame Wings from Tastemade I knew the Fiber Syrup Gold would be the perfect substitute for the honey in the recipe.



Keto Sesame Wings

• 10 chicken wings cut into wingettes and drumettes
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tblsp. baking powder
• 2 tblsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. chopped garlic (1 clove garlic)
• 1 tblsp. Braggs Liquid Aminos (you can substitute soy sauce or coconut aminos)
• 3 tblsp. Sukrin Fiber Gold
• 1 tblsp Sukrin Gold
• 1 tblsp. sesame seeds

Step 1: Sprinkle the salt, pepper and baking powder on top of the chicken wings. Mix well. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake in the oven on 400 for 20 minutes. Turn the wings and bake for another 20 minutes.

Step 2: While the wings are baking mix the remaining ingredients (except for the sesame seeds) in a saucepan. Cook until it starts to boil and then lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Make sure to constantly stir so the bottom doesn't burn.

Step 3: Place sauce in a large bowl and top with the cooked wings. Carefully toss to fully coat the wings. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top and toss to coat again.


I am having so much fun with the Sukrin products and have lots of ideas coming up with them. I will post them to social media when they are up. Surkin also offers Sugar Free chocolate, low carb bake mixes and nut flours. Right now Sukrin is offering free shipping on $75+ orders – and low flat-rate shipping on orders less than $75!