operationjustdoit

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Tried keto again and ended up feeling sick at the thought of eating my lunches. So I decided for me, to try weight watchers since it allows more variety in food and is still a distinct plan. I’m hopeful and optimistic - though I’m sure there will be a learning curve to these points allowances.

The plan is to do my own thing for breakfast and my work lunch but to then do a similar dinner with Phil at home since he’s still doing keto.

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Starting Again - Revision 2

MAY 1ST 2017 So I've been off of keto for a bit over a month now and I'll tell you what, I fell hard. I broke down and convinced myself that keto wasnt working for me, that after 2 months i should've seen more changes, and I just wasn't happy overall with my progress. So I stopped following keto. Well, I stopped dieting too. I had lost all my drive, motivation and willpower. I felt that keto was going to be the diet that worked. I committed to it for 2 full months - which is a HUGE deal for me with thr previously established horrible willpower that didn't surpass 2 weeks of anything. So I thought this time I'd lose the weight.... so I was disappointed when I wasn't. So this lead to a horrible passive mindset that "im already fat, cant not be fat from dieting, so i might as well stay fat". So I ate out, had food I wasn't able to have on keto, then had food I wouldn't be able to have on any diet. I lost all drive, motivation, and willpower to better myself. I hit a real low point. I even started contributing less effort into the house and suddenly Phil was alone on the keto journey (our friends are taking a hiatus too). I will say, that after plenty of crying and feeling like a piece of shit, Phil helped motivate me to start figuring out next steps and what would be the best course of action for me to fix these things I'm unhappy with. In the end, I've decided to give the low carb lifestyle another chance but in a different way than before. I'll be doing it the modified "Phil" way. The Phil Way:* - 1 cheat day (within reason, nothing obvs horrible) - Super low carb allowance for 2-3days after to kickstart your body back into low carb. - The rest of the week is low carb, about 20-50g net carbs - Repeat. *he's lost over 50lbs since January of this year and has kept losing weight even after modifying the diet. I figure I'll give this method a shot, skipping the cheat day option for 2 weeks ok low carb and then add them in. Plus, I'll add exercise this time around too and try to nap less frequently. *fingers crossed*

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Day 46 - Since It’s Been A While

Current Weight = 310lbs

Total Weight Loss = 10lbs

I feel like I haven’t seen the significant weight loss that’s common with switching to keto, especially knowing I’m like 50% body fat - it should be falling right off right? Well, I suppose not because after 6 weeks I’m down 10lbs from my starting weight and have seemed to kinda plateau already. 

That being said, Phil and I are trying “Carb Up” days in order to help with adding variety into our diet and to also increase the stores of glycogen in our muscles - which I was interested in since I’ve been SOOOOOOOO low in energy. We’re talking getting-enough-sleep-at-night-but-still-napping-during-the-evening-and-hardly-staying-awake-at-work tired.

It’s been so bad. I’ve tried having stuff for breakfast to help energize me like a protein bar or beef stick to increase fat in my body for fuel, I’ve tried Monster energy drinks, I’ve obviously tried getting enough sleep - none of it worked. So today, after at least a solid 3 weeks of this, I cracked and got a muffin at the gas station during a break at work. Oh man was that banana nut muffin delicious and oh man did that do the trick! The rest of the day I was more alert than I have been in ages and I’m even writing this blog in the evening so you know I didn’t sleep it away tonight. 

Anyway, with that being said I had a semi-breakdown and questioned the whole diet. If being so low carb makes me feel so tired and shitty then it’s not really working then, is it? So I questioned if this diet is even right for me. It is for so many people but for some reason I’m just not getting the results everyone else seems to get that’s my size. So naturally I brought this up to my boyfriend and talked about options. I’m personally conflicted because I don’t want to give up on keto right away because I’m already 6 weeks in and have a support system based around it but I also want to make sure I’m doing what makes sense for my body.

Phil theorized that maybe I’m in an extended keto flu and that I’m not fully keto adapted. The reasoning being that in keto flu you generally feel crappy and tired (which I am) and when you’re keto adapted you start to feel an increase in your energy and even energy spurts after eating keto foods (which I haven’t noticeably experienced). 

So, as a modification to this diet and hopeful keto adaption inducer, I will be adding exercising into my routine AND seriously lowering my net carbs for a few days to help MAKE my body adapt to keto. The idea being that if I’m low in carbs and make myself exercise (even though I still feel tired and low energy) it’ll force my body to go “Oh fuck, we don’t have carbs EMERGENCY WE NEED ENERGY!! FATSSSSS!!!!! BURN THE FATSS!!!!” and therefore enter into keto adaption. 

I’ll update on how that all goes.

p.s. I’m happy with 10lbs down, it’s a healthy weight loss and in the right direction. I just know I could be seeing better, more steady drops.

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Pizza Dough Recipe inspired by Fathead*

Personal Notes: This week my boyfriend Phil requested another pizza night so I made this pizza dough recipe (1.5x the recipe above) and it fit perfectly in my small pan. I followed the directions but added basil and oregano into the dough for flavor, then added the toppings of our choice - which is usually marinara sauce (watch for carbs), mozzarella cheese, jalapeños, sausage, and pepperoni. It’s pretty filling :D

*http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2013/06/30/weekend-bonus-the-older-brothers-oldest-sons-faux-carb-pizza/

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1. Breakfast: Breakfast Cake - keto pancakes baked in a tart pan covered in maple cream cheese frosting 😀 2. Dinner: Fried Cod 3. Dessert: Keto Cheesecake 4. Dinner Out: Steak fajitas with our own low carb tortillas that we brought in. The crew even heated them up for us :) 5. Side/Snack: Bacon grease pan roasted turnips. This is the closest I could get them to being crispy and they were still very disappointing :/ 6. Side/Snack: Oven Roasted Rosemary Cauliflower

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311.6

My scale, February 11th, 2017

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1. Steak and mashed cauliflower with a chicken stock gravy

2. Fried cod fish with a second attempt at turnip fries. They weren’t so bad once you drown them in vinegar haha.

3. Dinner out with friends - ordered a full rack of honey-chipotle ribs with a side of broccoli, side salad not shown. 

4. PIZZA NIGHT - Phil was craving pizza so I decided to make one. Thankfully my friends had tried, reviewed, and posted this recipe earlier in the week so I had something to work with. Turned out pretty well! This particular pizza had sausage, pepperoni, and jalapenos.

5: WING NIGHT with butter buffalo sauce (not pictured was Phil’s amazing sweet chili sauced wings I’ll be having next week :D)

6. Dungeons and Dragons and Dinner - fried chicken and a side salad topped with cheese, bacon and ranch.

NOT SHOWN: Bomb as fuck rosemary roasted cauliflower I made this week, oh man, SO GOOD! Tasted more like potatoes than the turnips did haha

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312.8

My scale, February 4th, 2017

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Week 4 - One Month In

January 29th - February 4th

Health and Hypothyroidism: I got my blood work lab results back from going to the doctor last week. My thyroid levels, blood sugar levels, kidneys and liver all came back normal so there were no changes in my medicine I’m on. I did ask to see if I needed to increase my dose though for my thyroid levels since I’m still really tired and not losing weight like my friends are on this diet but since my lab results came back fine we’re not changing the dosage. Phil has an interesting theory though, that maybe I’ll loose weight very slowly at first (which is typical for hypothyroidism patients) but as I loose weight my weight loss will accelerate as my body tries to readjust to producing the right amount of hormones for my body size. Only time will tell on that.

Overview: It is a bit discouraging that I’m not losing weight like I thought I would going on this diet but this is pretty standard for people with an underactive thyroid apparently. It’s difficult to feel like it’s working when you hardly loose any weight or even go back up in weight some over a two week period. But at least for the first month I have seen a positive change of dropping 7.2lbs in that time period. That’s actually pretty spot on if you go by a max recommendation of 2lbs a week weight loss. Plus, even though I’m not seeing as much of a change on the scale, at least I saw changes in my measurements over a month's time.

CW: 312.8

Up 0.6 lbs this week

Down 7.2 lbs so far

Lost 1 inch in each measurement of my arm, my waist and my naval.

Lost 2 inches in my thigh.

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Meatzza in Castiron

CRUST 1 lb ground beef 2 large eggs ½ tsp dry basil ½ tsp dry oregano   Salt and Pepper to taste/season

TOPPINGS ~½ cup select sauce 2-3cups Cheese of your choice Other toppings as desired

Instructions 1. Combine crust ingredients in a bowl to mix thoroughly.   2. Spread crust out in the cast-iron pan leaving the edges thicker to imitate a crust.   3. Cook at 400*F for 15mins or until cooked.   4. Take out of the stove and add your sauce, cheese and toppings.   5. Place back into oven and cook until cheese is melted to perfection. Enjoy.

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Week 3 - Crazy Cravings

January 22nd - January 28th

Overview: This week I experimented a bit more with recipes over the weekend. I made a chocolate hazelnut spread (meant to be like nutella), spiced maple and pecan fudge, and at the end of the week I made the bacon wrapped meatloaf. I’m still getting used to this diet since I’m still craving foods I used to eat but I’m doing my best to stay strong and reach out to my friends when I’m feeling close to caving. I did get really close a few times but I made it through with the help of my friends and my boyfriend - who has been great and has been trying to help me curb my cravings by making keto friendly versions of it (like mcnuggets and ice cream).

However, this week I didn’t loose much and I don’t think I can really blame my period because that’s gotten WAY lighter this week. Perhaps there's a chance it’s that/water retention but the other possibilities are that I did consume a good amount of ice cream this week causing my calorie intake to be up or that I’m eating less fiber compared to my friends.

Consequently I’m going to try to keep a better count of net carbs and ballpark calories this week since last week I kinda just figured if it was keto that it’s fine if I eat it. 

CW: 312.2

Down 0.8 lbs this week, 7.8 lbs so far.

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1. Dinner: Brats with sauerkraut and left over green bean casserole from friday's get together.

2. Dinner: (on my own) Wendy’s inspired triple cheeseburger with lemonade.

3. Side/Snack: Attempted turnip fries... didn’t turn out. They weren’t crispy.

4. Side/Snack: Homemade keto/low carb ice cream.

5. Side/Snack: My first Halo Top ice cream, cookie dough flavor. It was pretty good but the whole thing was about 44 carbs if I’m remembering right. So it’d be best to eat the pint over a couple sittings.

6. Dinner: Phil knew I was craving mcdonalds chicken nuggets so he made me chicken nuggets with a tangy BBQ :) 

7. Side/Snack: Spiced maple and pecan butter that I used to make spiced maple and pecan butter fudge. It looks like fudge but doesn’t taste like I’d hoped. It’s pretty nutty and seems more like a spread so I put it into a mason jar.

8. Dinner: Chicken tenders and deep fried broccoli.

9. Dinner: Bacon wrapped, mozzarella stuffed keto meatloaf that I made :D Looked so good but was a bit on the salty side - we assume it’s from the bacon.

10. Dinner: A local restaurant was having a deal for 2 Gyros for $10 so we had Gyros for dinner without the pita bread of course. So good! The spiced lamb was delicious!

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312.2

My Scale, January 28th, 2017

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Week Two - period.

January 15th - January 21st, 2017

1/15     We ate out for the first time and it went great! Phil was kicked out of ketosis though for a day or so because we think his chicken may have had a flour based sauce. Oh well, live and learn.

1/16     Started taking fish oils, 5HTP and a multivitamin. Had previously been taking biotin too. 

1/17     I was in a GREAT mood.

1/18     My period has been light and brown until today when it’s turned red when I wipe - even though nothing was going onto my liner. Definitely felt cramped up though.

NOTE: I’m on birthcontrol and normally do not start my period until day 2 or 3 of the “sugar pills” but with keto it can mess with your period for the first few months I’ve read. This totally happened to me because I started about a week and a half early.

1/19     Definitely on my period and feeling stronger cramps than normal.

1/20     Had a get together with a bunch of friends and served a keto friendly dinner! Phil made the bacon and cheddar stuffed ranch chicken breasts, Lexi and Nathan brought the cheesy green bean casserole, Kat and Rachael brought the mini cheesecakes with fruit, Stefan brought the drinks, and Chris brought home made flaxseed bread. It was pretty delicious and everyone loved the meal regardless of their diet status :D 

1/21     Period is still strong and seems heavier than my normal flow, I’m cramping up a lot and even decided to buy midol. Hopefully that helps. 

Overview: I guess I’d call this week period week due to the gradual introduction to an early and more pronounced period lol However, that being said, I think my emotions were generally better this week. I did get pretty irritable as my period came on stronger and even cried a little one night because I was frustrated that my fat bombs didn’t turn out/wasted groceries because I was really craving something sweet this week. Speaking of sweets, we bought an ice cream maker to make keto friendly ice cream for a sweet treat. So far, the cold crock the ingredients go into doesn’t seem to be freezing properly but we think it might be because there's plenty of food in the freezer at the moment (dang costco and their bulk deals hahaha). 

CW: 313.0

Down 2.6lbs this week, 7lbs so far.

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313.0

My scale, January 21st, 2017

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1. Phil experimented with the keto pancakes recipe and cooking method to try to find a way to make them fluffier. 2. The recipe books I ordered that I got Friday. So far, the fat bomb book is by far my favorite. 3. Phil and I went out to eat for the first time since starting keto. The waitress/restaurant was very understanding and accommodating. We brought in our own low carb tortillas, we requested no chips on the way to the table, held the beans and rice from Phil’s order and they helped me order what I wanted too :) They even gave us a discount for Phil’s meal. Will totally go back!

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Week One - Transition into Keto

January 7th-January 13th

1/7   Spent the day with Alexia and Nathan shopping at Costco (we now have a membership and it’s TOTALLY worth it). We ended up going to Walmart too to grab ingredients for “Fluff” that we didn’t have and later that night attempted to make neapolitan fat bombs. This is the first day all 4 of us started keto and the first day I started to feel the effects.

1/8   I was sooooooo sleepy

1/9   I came home from work because there wasn’t enough work for me to do so I ended up sleeping all day. I think it’s safe to say that sleeping is the way my body deals with significant changes lol.

1/10   Sleepy again in the morning. Decided to drink a monster to wake up.

1/11   Nothing worth noting for the diet but my friends Alexia, Nathan and Chris came over and played CAH with Phil and I.

1/12   Two things. One: I REALLY craved mashed potatoes and gravy. Two: I got hit with an evening moodswing and ended up crying.

1/13   When I woke up for work I wasn’t hungry and skipped breakfast, ate snacks during my breaks, and was overall not that hungry. I did end up feeling irritable midday for no real reason. When home, as Phil was making dinner I made some strawberry cheesecake fat bombs. Unfortunately, later that night I had some high anxiety so I stayed home instead of going to a party. Turns out, that’s exactly what I needed because I slept for like 10 hours last night!

Overview: I definitely think that switching to the keto diet has made me really tired and has caused some mood swings. This makes sense though because I’m basically switching to almost no carbs (and no sugar) which was a HUGE part of the way I ate before - so I think there’s some withdrawal there. Worth noting though is that I think this change will be worth it despite the few negative side effects I’ve had from this transition. Good news, I have a great support team and a wonderfully supportive boyfriend :D

SW: 320lbs

CW: 315.6

Down 4.4lbs this week.