Low Carb Happy @ 5 Months

If weight watchers works for you, then that is terrific! I'm happy  for you and wish you the very best.  I wish it had worked for me. But if--like me--joining weight watchers for the 11th time leaves you feeling rebellious and mad and sad and just plain hungry--well then no more.   No.  More.

Maybe my (your?) body is just not going to process those carbs in a way that makes us feel healthy and energetic and alive. Maybe bread--and yes Oprah I love bread too--causes my body to release insulin and then stashes every single calorie securely in my fat cells.

Maybe eating bread and pasta and yes, even my beloved sugar -- has been making me fat and sick.

I think so. Because now that I've been lchf keto for the last 5 months, here's what's happened:

•  I don't have cravings. I eat good filling food when I'm hungry.
• I know that "cheating" doesn't make me happy (actually when does cheating in any part of life ever make you happy??).  
• I've lost 39 pounds. 
• Everything in my closet fits or is too big. 
• I'm off the NSAIDS for the first time in ages.  Most all of my aches and pains have disappeared.  Without medicine.
• I have peace of mind.   I don't worry about gaining weight week after week after week and where am I going to end up? 
• I'm getting better healthier leaner.  And not knowing what to do about being fat is not one of my life's problems anymore.   

If any of this sounds familiar, join me in learning more about the low-carb high-fat way of eating.  There's tons of research out there, but by far the most inspiring place to start is the online facebook support group:   Ketogenic Success.

Don't let the closed group status scare you--just send a request to join and you'll be part of a group of thousands of people who are losing weight, getting healthy, and lowering their blood sugar.  If it's not for you, you can always leave the group too.  No cost, no commitment, but be forewarned--all those stories of inspiring change and yummy recipes and helpful advice is addicting!

Or if you need to hear it straight from a medical doctor, check out Dr. Sarah Hallberg's video  Reversing Diabetes Starts with Ignoring  the Guidelines.   She practices in Indiana, right next door to us. 

Do you have questions or need any further info?  I would love to help you find this kind of positive change in your life too.   If I can do this, so can you!

What?!?  I can hardly believe it myself. 

What's for Breakfast?

My hat is off to all those professional food bloggers out there.  Photographing food is much harder than flowers!

This was my breakfast today--cashew waffles with blueberries.  Does this look like a diet?  And if I had had some whipping cream made up, that would have been okay too!   Sunday mornings are  waffle mornings here.  Mark loves them and he takes the leftovers  to go with his first coffee when he gets to work.  They help him resist whatever sweet breakfast foods might be around.

As for an update on our journey, we both came back from vacation with weight loss!  Has happened never!  What's it like to go to Patti's 1800's settlement and not get the mile-high pie?  Well, in some ways it's tough.  There is a grief when you give up sugar, potatoes, and grains (GPS as Dr. Hallberg says).  It requires a willingness to embrace the positives.  Like not feeling sick to overflowing after you eat.  Like your pants fitting, even after a good meal.  Actually Patti's can actually be a pretty good place for low-carbers.  Their pork chop sauce is less than 1 carb per serving.

I'm so happy and grateful to have found this way of eating.  I'm thrilled when friends and family  express an interest in going along for a test-drive with us.  One of my friends just lost 12 pounds in her first week!  You go girl!  One of my family members just told me that her digestion has been so improved that she doesn't have to worry about staying close to the bathroom anymore.  Mark's diabetes & blood pressure meds have been halved.  Okay, well you get the picture :)

Are you sticking around for the waffle recipe?  It's adapted from Danielle Walker's Against All Grain,  I love her cookbook and her story.  She's not strictly low-carb, but her bread recipes are easily adaptable to LCHF/Keto.

Cashew Waffles:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream or almond milk whichever you have on hand 
• 1 cup cashews raw & unsalted or roasted & salted whatever you can find for a good price.  I get ours in the bulk section of the grocery.
• 3 T coconut oil
• 3 T coconut flour
• 1/2 t baking power and 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt; if you're using salted nuts, may not need the extra salt
• 4 T flax seeds

Mix them up in a food processor and bake in the waffle maker.  Each waffle is 1 net carbs (as opposed to 30 for your general everyday waffle). Be sure to top with butter.  Butter is our friend even though we've been brainwashed for the last 40 years to believe otherwise. 

The blueberry topping is  frozen blueberries cooked in a saucepan with a little water until they're soft and the liquid is cooked down.  Blueberries are the lowest carb fruit out there.  Still they're 11 carbs for a half-cup with 2 fibers. Total carbs minus fiber equals net carbs, so that little half cup berries is 9 carbs.   But just a tablespoon or so of blueberries is a good way to use them.  It's just enough to light up the waffles and not so much that they spike your blood sugar or stall your weight loss. 

Okay, bye for now!  Thanks for stopping by and checking this little spot of the infinite world of blogs :)

 








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Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Mark, aka the best husband in the whole wide world!  I am so proud of him--this low-carb-high-fat way of life has taken his beloved potatoes and bread away but he's seeing amazing results.  His A1C is down by a third, he's gotten off two long-term meds, and all of his clothes are too big.  YaY Mark!  I love you so much and am so proud of you. 

Mother's Day 2016

By the Artist Betsy

Happy Mother's Day!

 1975

 JD's birthday 2016

Everybody's favorite flowers--straight from the garden :)