Feb 28th

Isaac on Adventure in Cost Rica

He said his first day there was the best day of his life.  

I love facebook and the ability to get messages and pictures from our loved ones.

February Update

 It's that time of year to take some cuttings from your forsythia shrubs and bring them inside to get a head start on spring.  February usually seems long and drab but we've had really warm temps lately.  Next week is forecasted for more of the same--50's, 60's, even 70!

But as my friend Doug said last night, "it's all a tease".  He's right, we're bound to have cold and snow and ice again before spring is here for sure.  In the meantime, the bulbs and the weeds in the garden are starting to show their green sprouts.

V had a birthday this month.  She's 79 very young years old.  She and Mark are watching videos from when Betsy and Kyle were little.  Those always make us smile :)

And here's our Skye girl.  She's still really into shoes.  She looks like she's saying, "I'm not doing anything bad.  Really, I'm not!"  But believe me, she can't be trusted with a shoe. . .

Madisonville Visit

We got to see Kyle play basketball during our visit.  He made 4 baskets! 

Here he's opening Grandma Peggy's card and reading it to us.  Thank you for the $20!

We went to the Oasis for his birthday dinner.  I had the best steak salad!  And of course the company made it taste even better :)

We had lunch with Betsy at school and that was fun even though our selfies didn't turn out to be share-worthy.

 And Betsy showed us the book her class wrote at Christmas, all about applying for a job as an elf with Santa. 

Something always going on at the Joneses' house!  I can't wait to go back again :)

Me & my little grand doggie Gumbo

A little before & after

My mama is just the cutest ever!  She's 80 years young and this is proof it's never too late to go low carb.  On the left, taken two years ago when we visited The Farm.  Picture on the right taken yesterday.  Thank you to PJ for sending this one--I love the apron and she looks so happy.  Wish I could have been there to hang out with you all too.  Love love to my Michigan peeps :) 

PS:  Mama--will you make me an apron too??

A New Website!

I've been working on a new website called Keto With Kynda and it's live today! I wanted a space where I could share what's happened to us with this low carb/high fat keto way of eating over the last year.  I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think. 

Canada Garden will still be here too but maybe a bit less keto-ing  and  more flowers  :)

Merry Christmas 2016

Christmas Menu

Here at the end of my first year of keto, Christmas has been so good.  I hope yours was beautiful too.

This was dinner for us.  Ham, green beans, cauli-fried rice this time with Mark's favorite rotel & taco seasoning seasoning, and salad.  But of course, Christmas eating is mostly about the deserts, right?

Meringues, which are supposed to be white, but I left them in too long and they browned.  Still, they're light as a feather and melt in your mouth. They're made of egg whites and Swerve with a squirt of lemon juice so they're extremely low carb.  For next time, I've made a little note to myself to check on them every 15 minutes and pull them out before they brown.

Cheesecake, which is our go-to keto desert for any special occasion.    And then a little scoop of death-by-chocolate ice cream.  I still don't have quite the technique for ice cream down, but this one came out pretty good.  I did use the vodka to make it less icy.  It needs to stand at room temperature a few minutes before scooping.  

Whew!  We were full to the brim.  Christmas is continuing at our house this week.  Betsy & Kyle will be here tomorrow with their parents and we're so looking forward to seeing them.

All the merriest to you and yours this Christmas season!

Mark & V

Christmas Road Trip

 Lisa was so happy to get her Macie dog!  She found her at the same shelter where Biscuit was rescued. 

And Macie's rescue was the perfect excuse for a road trip to Madisonville to see JD and Rach & the kids. 

My mom looks so beautiful!
I wish  PJ could have been there--when is the next road trip?

Merry Merry Christmas to all :)

Coconut Almond Crisps

Are you iced in today?  Mark has chipped out the driveway and we'll try to get out in a little bit, but it looks like we're in for really cold weather and more freezing rain :/

So while Mark was working outside, I made up a batch of these coconut almond crisps from over on alldayidreamaboutfood.  I did sub some sugar-free pancake syrup for the molasses.   She's right when she says they will burn quickly if you don't have them in the top third of the oven.  Mine didn't turn out as thin as hers and they may be a tad chewier than crispy but they are really good!  My recipe made thirteen cookies.

"Only" thirteen would have been my comment back in my sugar days, but now it's not that big of an issue.  Now thirteen is plenty.  Yes.  Life is different when you've been living low carb/high fat for almost a year and it's really really different when your size 12 pants are starting to get too big!

I hope you have good weather where you live today.  And I hope you're having a merry-getting-ready-for-Christmas time too.  And if you've been unhappy about your weight or your health, think about giving yourself the gift of keto for 2017.  You'll be so glad you did.

December Update

I've been busy working on a new website called KetowithKynda.com.  It's taking a while but I'm learning lots.  Also getting another tutorial in that life lesson called patience!

A while back, Mark and I had our pictures taken.  Tabitha took great shots even though I get really nervous in front of a camera.  Mark makes me laugh, so the ones of me with him turned out the best.

  Every single one of Mark was good.  He's a natural ham in front of the camera:)

Thanksgiving

We never take enough pictures of all of us together!  We had a wonderful time and wonderful food.

This was my plate--ham & turkey, cauliflower fajita stir fry, green beans, squash & mushrooms in butter, deviled eggs, and cranberry sauce.  More carbs than I've eaten all together in a while, but they're all from vegetables & the cranberry fruit so it was a perfect plate.  Judson cooked the traditional dishes too, but he was so careful to make sure we had options that would work for all of us.  He even looked up carb counts and kept track for us.  I felt loved :)

The pecan pie recipe needs tweaking.  It was a little overbaked and maybe that was the issue, but I think I'll try again for Christmas and make some changes.  Less crust.  More filling!  The cheesecake was good--it's one I've shared before.  The trivet was mammy's.  She said to always keep it by the stove.  She would have liked this Thanksgiving dinner.  She would have marveled at the dishwasher but would not have understood why I wasn't having cornbread dressing. 

Rachel had their tree up.  She and Mark placed the new lazer lights on the front of the house.  We played apples to apples and went bowling.  It was a great Thanksgiving together. 

So now it's time to get ready for Christmas!

Fajita Cauli-Rice

Okay, so we're on a cauliflower kick here, especially now that our grocery is carrying Green Giant's frozen riced cauliflower.  So easy!

I haven't bothered to make cauliflower in all this keto time because I didn't think Mark would touch it.  But this way it's seasoned and it really does seem like rice.

I used some leftover chicken, green pepper, a little onion, about a half cup of salsa, and plenty of fajita seasoning all stir-fried in some bacon fat with the package of riced cauliflower.    It makes about 3 cups.  For each cup: 8 carbs, 2 fiber; 6 net carbs; 10 fat; 10 protein; 160 calories.

Cauli-fried Rice

We loved it!  Even Mark, who isn't a cauliflower fan. 

One package of green giant frozen riced cauliflower steamed it in the microwave as directed on the package. 

 In a skillet, saute chicken, fresh garlic and a little onion in your favorite healthy fat--I used bacon fat for the flavor. 

Season with coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. 

Take the chicken/vegetable mixture out of the skillet and set aside. 

Add the "rice" to the skillet with more fat and a fresh egg and stir fry together. 

Return the chicken/vegetable mix and stir into the rice. 

 I added a few roasted cashews for crunch and some fresh green onion and more coconut aminos to taste. 

 Mark put dried crushed red pepper on his for heat. No need to miss fried rice to stay keto! If you try it, let me know how yours turns out

Weighing In on Weighing In

How do you use the scale?  Is it a helpful tool or is it the enemy?  As my friend Mary says so often, this keto weight loss journey is about getting our heads right.  And my head has not always been friends with the scale. 

I went for years not weighing.  It was so depressing and I didn't know the first thing about what to do about my weight so I just avoided it altogether.  After all, I knew what it was going to say--it was always a higher number than the last time. 

But now  I know that all that old dietary advice--like cut calories, move more, eat low fat, eat small meals--is based on faulty assumptions.  Now  I know the hormone insulin--not calories--is  responsible for my weight gain.  And I know what to do about it.  YaY!  Stepping on the bathroom scale isn't such a scary thing anymore.

So here are my step by step instructions for making the scale our friend, not our enemy.  Assuming of course that you're eating low-carb healthy-fat!

1. Before you step on the scale, take a deep breath and tell yourself "This is  a number, a piece of information.  It has nothing to do with who I am.  This is a good day before I get on the scale and it's  a good day after I get off the scale.
2. Weigh. 
3. If the number is lower, smile & give yourself a pat on the back.
4. If the number is the same or higher, smile & give yourself a pat on the back.  Then think about--in a non-judgemental compassionate way--what might have influenced the number.  1.
   
   1. Have I been keeping my carbs at a good level? 
   2. Am I eating enough fat?
   3. Have I been drinking enough water?
   4. Have I been eating when I'm not hungry?  (also known as eating too often)
   5. Have I had higher salt intake lately?
   6. Is it that time of the month?
5. These questions are just ways to uncover possible clues as to what's happening.  Maybe there's nothing to change.  Just keep going, don't give up.  If there is something you want to tweak, then make a plan and go for it. 
6. And this last step is as important as the ones above:  Eat good keto food the very next time you're hungry and enjoy your day.  This is the keto life :)

Now there are some people who know that for them, it's better not to weigh very often.  Maybe it's better to weigh no more than once a week or once a month.  Or just when you go to the doctor's office.   Some people throw the scale out and go by the way they feel and how their clothes fit.  And if that's best for you, then that's a great plan.

For me, I know that I need to weigh more often.  At this point in my journey, I need that daily feedback to keep me on track.   For me, going back to not weighing daily would be a way for me to to cut corners, allow a little extra carb here and there, give myself permission to eat a snack even if I'm not really hungry at that moment.  Maybe one day in the future when I'm in maintenance, I'll skip the weigh-ins.   Or maybe not.  I'll have to see when I get there!

I hope these thoughts about using the scale as a friendly tool are helpful.  If you try them, let me know how it goes :)

Fathead Alternative

My mom made this pizza for us when I was visiting with her last month.  She's 81 years young and has been on her own low-carb journey.  She's lost 30 pounds and is now maintaining instead of trying to lose any more.  YaY :)

I am so proud of my mama--she knows her way around the blogging world and is the best cook I know. My sister is next best :)  This one is similar to fathead but uses a little parmesan cheese rather than mozzarella and is nut-free.  It might be a little more fragile than fathead, but I like the taste equally well.  Neither is a strong crust that you can use to pick up a slice.  These are use-your-fork crusts!

1 pkg cream cheese
2 eggs
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup grated parmesan 
Beat together well.  Spread in a 9 x 13 inch pan and bake at 350 til golden brown. 
Eight slices, each one:  132 calories, 1 carb, 12 fat, 5 protein.
Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake again til bubbly.

with my sis and my mom

Ten Months of Keto

 

So here we are ten months later.  I've lost 63 pounds and we've just survived our first no-candy Halloween.  I didn't miss the candy.  But I did miss seeing our kids' friends' kids trick or treating at our front door.  Next year I'll find some non-candy treats to hand out. 

So now we're leading up to Merry Thanksgiving.  I've already got some ideas for sugar free pecan and pumpkin pies!  They might not win a taste test if you compare them side-by-side, but after going all this time without the real (toxic) thing, Swerve tastes better than sugar to me.

I'm hearing from friends who are doing so well on their own keto journeys.  They feel better, they've lost weight, reduced their anxiety,  improved their mood, and drastically reduced their A1C.  It's so amazing to see other people find the same benefits we've found. Hearing their stories makes me keto happy :)

If you think you might be interested in going keto one of these days, don't wait.  It's time.  Even if it is going into the holiday season.  'Cause that means you'll be feeling better before the holidays get here and you'll need a smaller size when you go to the Christmas parties. And when it comes time to make a New Year's resolution, you'll have a head start!

Someone asked what my most valuable keto resource was:  Definitely Ketogenic Success on facebook where they're closing in on 50,000 members.  You'll see one progress picture and testimony after another that will inspire you and keep you going. 

As for books, Keto Clarity is easy to read, understandable, and lays out the science without being overly technical.  

Recommended websites:  Ketovangelist and Dietdoctor.  Both excellent.

And then there's my fledgling Keto With Kynda on facebook.  

Okay, I wanna hear about your keto journey too!   Let me know :) 

Halloween

We missed these trick-or-treaters last night!  The weather was perfect and I know they had fun.

Looks like Kyle might have had a costume change from zombie to baseball player.  I know Mark was thrilled to see Kyle dressing up like a Cub player for his career day at school.

And Miss Betsy was a pop star for her career choice.  Love those leggings!

So we missed seeing the neighbor kids for Halloween too.  We opted out of Halloween candy altogether this year.  Having a big bowl of chocolate in the house?  Not happening these days.  My very favorite trick-or-treaters are the kids of the kids that our kids grew up with.  Mike's kids, Dan's kids, Travis--it's always fun to see the little ones excited and growing up.

We did get to see Drew's little Sawyer this week.  He is four weeks old and such a little cutie.  I want to see him at my front door next year.   We have to think of something non-candy to give away  so we get to be a part of the neighborhood mingling.  And now on to Thanksgiving :)