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My Keto Journey – Week 2

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My Keto Journey – Week 2

When I began the Keto 28-Day Challenge, I thought I would be able to go through it fairly easily, because I’m a stay-at-home mom. And what do we assume stay-at-home moms do? Right! Stay at home. Mmmm. Not so much.

The first week went well, although I did have to substitute 2 meals because I was running errands. However, during week 2 there were a lot of skipped meals and substitutes. In fact, I reverted back to just trying to maintain my macros as opposed to following the meal plan.

Skipping breakfast was the biggest struggle I had in week 2. I usually don’t eat breakfast and so it was hard for me to remember to eat. By the time 9:00 or 10:00 rolled around, I would remember that I had forgotten and decided it was too close to lunchtime by then since I’m trying to keep my meals at least 5 hours apart.

There were several days spent out running errands in week 2, so lunch was usually a protein and a healthy fat out somewhere, and an unhealthy meal one day. Supper was just as chaotic. I only ate the meal plan two times.

The Success of Any Plan

Well, enough of the excuses. There is always something that comes between us and our “best laid plans”. However, the success of any plan has one key component if it’s to be accomplished; follow the plan. I failed to do that in week 2, which definitely shows in the final results of the week.

Fun Fact

Eating out on keto is not really as hard as you may think. It can be quite simple. For example, most fast food restaurants are familiar with people ordering low carb, so if you order a burger without a bun, they usually place it in a container on top of a leaf of lettuce and give you a spork to eat it with. You can have the meat, cheese, mustard, onions, mayo, tomato, bacon, and depending on how strict you want your carb count, you may also be able to get ketchup.

Arby’s is really keto friendly. A Classic Roast Beef with mayo is almost the perfect percentage of macros:
• Fat 74%
• Protein 25%
• Carbs 2%

KFC is okay, but not great. For example, 2 extra crispy drumsticks macros are:
• Fat 56%
• Protein 32%
• Carbs 12%
You could add some ranch dressing to bring up the percentage. The problem comes when you buy the KFC Value Box for $5 bucks and you are tempted to eat the mashed potatoes, the buttery biscuit, and the warm chocolate chip cookie. Then your macros look something like this:
• Fat 51%
• Protein 14%
• Carbs 35%

Fortunately, the Carb Manager lights up in red, labels the food with an “F”, and sends out warnings to “Avoid this food”!

It helps to have an app like Carb Manager to calculate the macros when you’re eating out.

The Results of Week 2 on the Keto 28-Day Challenge

So what are my results for week 2?

In week 2 I lost 2 lbs. Woo-Hoo! Not the greatest result, however, I did lose 3 inches off my waist, and in the 5 major areas that I’m tracking, I’ve lost a total of 9 inches.

Pros and Cons—So Far

The pros to the 28-Day Keto Challenge is that the recipes are simple and tasty. I’ve become more familiar with the plan, so I’m able to know what meal will allow me to have leftovers, and I’m able to incorporate them with my regular meal planning much easier.

The con has been totally on me. I haven’t used the plan to maximize it’s potential.

There have been other benefits to this way of eating that I would like to share some time, which I’m more excited about than the weight loss. Maybe at the end of this challenge I can.

In the meantime, stay tuned. If you have tried the keto diet, or if you’re on it now, I would love for you to share your thoughts in the comments section below. If you would like to start your own 28-Day Keto Challenge >>Click Here<< to use my affiliate link.

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My Keto Journey – Week 1

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Since January 7 I’ve lost 19 lbs. on the ketogenic diet. Not too disappointing for a 59-year-old woman who has been overweight most of her life. And for a woman who lives by the principal:

“If you’re not gaining than you’re losing.”

So, in 5 months I’ve lost 4 lbs/month. Unfortunately, I screwed up for several days (weeks) when I fell off the wagon .

When I started the keto diet, I had been kind of winging it. I calculated my macros, settled on a certain number of calories I wanted to stay at, and tried to balance my percentages so my diet would consist of 80% healthy fats, 15% protein, and 5% carbs.

Fun Fact

I’m naturally a grazer. Maybe it has something to do with living on a beef farm, but I don’t think so. However, just as the cows like to slowly creep through the field, snipping up some grass here and there, raising their head and chewing on their cud for a little bit, and then go back to creeping and snipping, I do the same—just in the house.

Typically, I drink coffee in the morning, as I’m fixing The Farmer’s breakfast, I may snatch a piece of the bacon, drink another cup of coffee, and around 10:00 I go back into the kitchen to grab a little snack.

As I’m fixing his lunch, usually around 11:00, I may take a bite or two of whatever I’m fixing for him, drink a soda, eat some chips, munch on a cookie, and not be hungry enough to actually eat lunch.

Around 2:00, I go back into the kitchen, snoop through the cabinets or fridge looking for something simple to grab. Maybe a slice of ham, or a bag of chips (snack bag size), another cookie, and a diet soda.

4:00 another pass through the kitchen, but it’s pretty close to supper time, so I grab a snack cake and a cup of coffee.

5:30 we’re eating supper, and that’s after I’ve nibbled while I’m cooking.
Of course, it doesn’t end there, there’s a dessert while we watch TV that evening, then another snack, and if I stay up until 11:00 (which I do every night) there’s time for another snack.

Hmmm. I’m starting to realize that I may have a problem with food. You would think me being overweight would be the first clue.

At any rate, I’m not a big eater—like sitting down at a meal and eating a big ‘ole plate of food. In fact, calculating my calories of what I eat at meal time would show that I don’t eat that much. And when we go out to eat, I bring a to-go box home with half my leftovers. But I always eat the leftovers that I bring home before the night is over. And all the snacking I do is probably the reason I don’t eat more at meal time.

So, the point is I’m a grazer.

Grazing on Keto

I use the Carb Manager App, so it’s been fairly simple to keep track of my calculations while I’m doing keto, even as I’m still grazing. The difference has been that the snacks I’ve been eating have been low carb or zero carb.

However, in hopes of getting better results in weight loss, I’ve recently started a 28-Day Keto Challenge, which I purchased for $37.

After digitally receiving all of the material, I skimmed the plan, skimmed the recipes, made a quick grocery list and began the challenge.

In the first 2 days, I felt like I had the keto flu. Not sure that’s what I was really experiencing, because I’ve been in ketosis before, so my body is adapted to burning fats. It was probably coming off the insane amount of sugars that I had consumed the few days before. However, the material that I purchased included information on how to quickly get through the keto flu, and maybe prevent it altogether, but I hadn’t read it, because I didn’t think I would have a problem—and I was only skimming through what I thought I needed.

The food was better than I thought it would be when I first skimmed the recipes. Some recipes were familiar, like the eggs and ham. I have a recipe similar to it using bacon, but I call it “Birds in a Nest”. But some of the food I had never even bought before. I mean, who knows how to pick out an avocado? Is it supposed to be light green or dark green? Hard, soft, or squishy? Not to mention, every time I write avocado I misspell it—advocado, advacado, avacado

I spent 15 minutes in the cheese aisle looking for prosciutto, and finally remembered it was a slice of meat. Yeah, so there have been a few challenges. I’m still looking for goat cheese for my button mushrooms.

And because I “skimmed” through all the reading material, I messed up the challenge a little. Not too much, but I didn’t follow the meal plan like I should’ve, and there have been days that I wasn’t able to eat off the meal plan because I wasn’t home.

The Results of Week 1 on the Keto 28-Day Challenge

So what were my results for week 1?

I’m back down to my starting weight from where I gained weight! Yay!!

I lost 6 lbs. in the first week, which is not surprising considering how quickly I gained the 6 lbs. a few weeks ago.

Pros and Cons — So Far

Pros to the challenge: it seems to keep me more accountable because there is a plan. I haven’t been grazing.

Cons to the challenge: I think the only con in the first week is that it was unfamiliar to me, so there was a learning curve.

There have been other benefits to this way of eating that I would like to share some time, which I’m really more excited about than weight loss. I’ll share that soon.

Subscribe to my blog if you would like to be notified when I post something new. And if you would like to start your own 28-Day Keto Challenge >>Click here<< to use my affiliate link.

Anyone else out there doing the keto diet? Leave a comment below and let us know how you’re doing.

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Exercise Is So Over-Rated

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Because I’m a full size woman, some people think it benefits me for them to tell me ways I can lose weight.


My favorite advice is when some skinny smart-aleck says, “Just stop eating”.

Wow, genius, I wish I had thought about that!

Although, I have had some good and beneficial advice through the years, nothing ever comes easy. If it did, I guess I wouldn’t continue to need it. With all the advice given, the most common denominator is get out and get some exercise.

I’ve been walking 3 miles almost every day for about 6 weeks, and to tell you the truth I don’t see what all the fuss is about exercising. In fact, I agree with the Bible, exercise is so over-rated. Well, the Bible doesn’t say it’s over-rated in those exact words, but it does say it doesn’t profit us much. (1 Timothy 4:8)

Seriously, I start out each morning dreading going on my walk. In the first place, I have to change out of my comfy pajamas before 6:00 and tug on my socks and shoes (although it has been easier since I lost 8 inches off my waist). Then I force some kind of energy food down my throat, so I will have enough strength to make it back to homeschool daughters #4 and #5. I go out into the cold, dark morning (well, so far it’s been pretty nice, but I’m thinking ahead). Then I unleash an over-excited border collie, who runs ahead and then back to me several times as I’m treading up and slipping down TWO long, precarious hills. Finally reaching the blacktop of a busy highway, I must keep the dog and myself out of harm’s way as we dodge and dart between all the cars and trucks (okay that may be a little exaggerated, but sometimes a vehicle does pass by).

Then horror of horrors! I have to come back home over the same two hills I had to climb in the first place, but this time the most dangerous hill is like a mountain standing between me and survival! When I first started walking, I literally had to stop 4, maybe 5, times before reaching the top. And even though I can usually make it to the top with only one stop, my heart begins beating so hard I’m afraid it will burst through my chest and my breath comes in quick, unsteady gasps leaving me barely conscious to make it all the way up the hill. My calves and quads begin to burn and ache (what if they freeze up and I can’t make it home?). My only choice is to stop and rest before my whole body shuts down. Seriously, how can this be good for me?

I finally make it home, stumble into the door (after watering Baxter), grab my water, and take a long, deep drink of it before switching on the ceiling fan and collapsing on the couch, where I’m forced to recover for the next 15 minutes.

And then this brings on a much bigger problem in my life. The people who know that I walk (and are responsible for encouraging me to get exercise) have turned me into a liar. I’m not kidding. The same people responsible for the trauma exercise has brought into my life, have now forced me to lie to them. The conversation usually goes like this:

Them: “So, are you still walking?”

Me: “Yeah”.

Them: “Great! I’m excited for you. Aren’t you glad you started?”

Me: “Yeah”.

Them: “Exercise is really good for you. Don’t you feel better?”

Me: “Yeah”.

Them: “Well keep it up. Don’t you feel like you have more energy?”

Me: “Yeah”.

What I want to say is “No, No, No”, I’m not glad to be exercising, I don’t feel better at 6:00 in the morning, and I don’t have more energy until after I’ve crashed on the couch. However, that would make them feel badly and make me sound like I don’t appreciate the benefits of walking. So, if you have any respect for me at all, the next time you see me please don’t ask.

Guilty Motivation

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That Mom-in-law!
That Mom-in-law!
I do not like to walk at all!
Would you, could you walk each day?
Would you walk a mile half way?
Would you walk if I ask nice?
Would you walk if I ask twice?
I could not, would not walk each day.
I could not, would not walk…no way!
Could you, would you, we’ll have fun
Come on, come on, we won’t run!
I could not, would not have much fun.
But call me over when you are done.
We’ll work on the computer or make a card,
But walking two miles is way too hard!

Okay, well that’s my introduction to what I’m writing about, with a nod to my favorite author, Dr. Suess.

For years, my Mother-in-law has been walking 2+ miles a day. No matter what the temperature is outside, she is usually walking—Monday thru Friday. She is very determined to live a long and healthy life, and so far she has succeeded…she was fourscore and six in February.

I, on the other hand, do not consider exercise to be my friend—and it shows. So why would I want to get off my couch, tug on my tennis shoes, go out to walk up and down the road for 2 miles every day?

…because it’s the right thing to do.

The Bible says (eww! I hate it when I find Scripture that points to my sin)…
“To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 1:17

There are many good reasons why I should be walking:

  • It’s good for my circulation

  • It makes my heart stronger

  • It increase my lung capacity

  • I need the discipline

  • Because my Mother-in-law needs a walking partner

  • I need to lose weight

  • To encourage others (maybe)

So these are my motivators. These things give me good reason to tug on my tennis shoes, and walk out the door, and go up and down the road. And these things are important, but I must say, I believe my biggest driving factor is knowing that my walking partner is 30 years my senior, (Oh my! When I write it out it’s even more startling then when I think it!) and if she can do it, then I should be able to…probably…right?