Hey There!

I know, I know.. it's been awhile, but I've been busy babysitting kiddos, being a Mom, and still going strong doing keto!! I've gone past my ketoversary so that was exciting! I've been doing it for over a year now! I've lost weight, still not where I want to be, but I feel like I've come a long way! This is just the first of many posts and activeness to come from me again. Since I've been so busy, I wanted to make it easier on myself so I asked for a Chromebook for Christmas... and what do you know, Santa (my mother-in-law) brought me one!! I have so much to do on here, like all these goals going on in my head and I'm SO excited about getting them done! Now that I have the Chromebook, it makes it more accessible to blog more without a problem so that was the goal for me! :) Anyway, I just wanted to put that out there but I'll start posting more!!

2 Months on Keto and counting

            Yesterday marked 2 months since starting my keto journey. It was Valentine's Day so I was nice and made Jed & Layla lasagna. I rarely ever make it and they loved it! I still did good by me and ate eggs & turkey sausage. It doesn't sound as good, but I very much still enjoyed it!
            I'm feeling great! My scale isn't always changing and I'm okay with that, but I feel like changes are always happening. My stomach is by no means even close to flat but I feel it tightening up all the same. I'm not entirely sure why that is though at the moment, but I'll take it. I've lost a total of 19 pounds since I started my journey. I'm within 10 pounds of my first goal and that's to be less than 200 lbs. It's been a VERY long time since I've been below 200 pounds. It was before Layla was born (10 years ago), when I got pregnant with her I was at 180, then dropped down to 170 from all the morning sickness and then packed it all back on during my pregnancy and then some and never got rid of it. My highest weight was weighing in at 260.8 and I felt awful. I'm not going back that direction and I'm so happy to be making a change in my life to make myself healthy. Doesn't matter if it was on a keto journey or another one, my goal is to be healthy. I don't want to  have to worry about dying at a young age because I decided to eat bad things all the time! I don't eat perfectly even still, but I'm trying to do better with what I'm putting in my body.
            Some days it is a lot more challenging! Challenging to not take the easy way and just pop something in the microwave that is extremely unhealthy for me, but again, quick and easy. I've been really good about not detouring right now, but there's not very often that it isn't a struggle. To be clear, I don't feel like I'm depriving myself of food by no means. It's more of a struggle with how lazy I am, but I'd like to get more active as well. Not just with making my own food, but I'm SO looking forward to warmer weather so I can go for walks. I would now, but right now, I'd have to drag my 6 month old out into the cold too.
            I'm currently in the process of planning a keto potluck meetup. I'm really excited about doing it! I also can't wait to try some keto products/companies- not specifically for the meetup, but in general. :) I haven't lost my excitement for my journey.

Happy Birthday, Layla!

Layla is 10 years old today! I can't believe she's already 10!! Layla has her disabilities but she's a strong little girl that doesn't let any of them stand in her way! She'll have surgery this summer and like everything else, she'll be the warrior that she is and get through it! She's an absolutely WONDERFUL big sister! She's always trying to be so grown up! She tried telling me she was 13, she's trying to age faster- really she could slow down before I lose it!! :P I love her so much, my first baby girl! <3 I need to make her cookies today because she was wanting them! :D 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAYLA MCKENZIE!

My Story starting with Keto

Why did I start the keto diet?

           Well, I have multiple problems that I thought if the keto diet could help me on- that’d be great! I have PCOS, Plantar Fasciitis, Acid Reflux, Degenerative Disc Disease, Obesity, Low Blood Sugar and trouble controlling how much I eat- especially when I’m bored or distracted- I used to much on a lot but not because I was really hungry for it. I don’t have specific expectations but I’m tired of feeling fat! I don’t mean specifically the number on the scale, but you know when you go to lean over and your rib bones are trying to poke through to other places and it just makes you feel all around lousy? Yeah, THAT feeling I don’t like! All in all, I wanted to be healthy and I figured be healthy first and the weight will follow, happily.

What changes have I noticed so far at 1 month in?

           For starters- I’m feeling good. Like I don’t think that I’m physically thinner, but mentally I feel thinner. I’m not sure if that might make sense to any of you, but that’s how I’m feeling. I’ve lost 12 pounds in the last month, but only really 2.5 in the last 2 weeks, which is perfectly fine- I’m not pushing to lose a specific number by a specific day as I think that can just throw me (or anyone) off on the real goal which is still to eat a healthy amount of food! I haven’t had a problem with acid reflux since I started doing keto. I’ve noticed that I don’t feel like I’m missing out on the foods I shouldn’t be eating. Since I’m making myself something different from everyone else in the house, I’ve noticed I’m eating better than I was before. Not just from doing the keto-lifestyle stand point but I’m making better eating choices or eating more in general. I used to skip breakfast and lunch most days and then eat “crap” for dinner. Now, that’s not saying that I’m making the BEST choices in food but I feel I’m doing pretty good! I’m staying below my carb limit and meeting my protein goal for the day or pretty darn close! Oh! I’ve also noticed my energy and motivation levels are really up there! I have so many goals. My ambition to cook more things is going up each day, I’m actually finding it fun!

Is it hard to stay keto or have you struggled at all?

          I don’t feel that it’s hard to stay “keto” for the way I’m happy doing it. I hope to improve my food choices as I go but I’m pleased with how I’m doing right now. I’ve struggled to drink as much water as I should be. It’s not like I’m drinking pop instead- I just have never been the kind of person who drank a lot… of anything. I don’t mind drinking water at all, just trying to build up to drinking as much as I should be. At first, I struggled more not eating the snack cakes like Little Debbies, but the more time that moves on, the less I really want to snack on things. I was snacking on some pork rinds the other day and I didn’t even really feel like snacking on them so I stopped. So at the moment, I’d just say that my biggest struggle is drinking enough water but I’m making a conscious effort to drink more!

Do I plan to do keto for forever?

           I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t. I don’t plan to try to lose weight for forever, eventually I’ll want to maintain when I get to a healthy weight, but I don’t see any reason why I would even want to stop living the keto-lifestyle. I’m enjoying it being the way that I eat and that’s not to say I won’t ever eat a food or meal that isn’t “keto-friendly” but right now, I see no reason to be off of it.

Do I plan on switching to just low carb at some point?

           I don’t have a definitive prediction on this, but again, at the moment, I don’t foresee going off the keto-lifestyle. I don’t know what the future holds, but it’s one of those, don’t fix it if it’s not broken things but we will see.

Am I tracking weight or inches?

     
           Right now, I’m tracking weight, Fat Percentage, and BMI. I’m not very good at doing the measurements or I would probably track it too. I’m not putting too much thought into the number specifically as again, I think that’s just going to throw me off on the real goals here, but I like tracking them to see the overall progress later looking back. I’d like to look back on it and see, this was the journey and only the start.. I have the rest of my life to live- my adventure has only begun!



          Well, that’s all the questions that were come up with right now, if you have any of your own, I’d be happy to answer them :) This is just me starting on the keto-lifestyle. I'm only a month in, I'm not claiming to be perfect- in fact, the opposite but this is my journey so far.