All Nighters and Unusual Behaviors

Yesterday was kind of a busy day. I had a great visit with my mom, we finished school work (I have a Kindergartener AND a 3rd grader now!) I made pizza (low carb crust for me of course) and even cleaned house! Ok only a little, but still! 

All that was finished. The dishes were done. I could think of 5,000 other things I could also do. What do I choose? I paint my nails. Anyone inside my closest circles knows it's been several years since I bothered to paint my nails. Toenails, yes. Fingernails? I just don't bother. It doesn't stay on long enough to warrant all that work! Am I gaining such self confidence that I care what my claws look like? Probably not. But it's nice to pamper myself once in a while. I wonder how many hours the polish will stay on THIS time....

I've been doing lots of things lately that are....unusual. At least unusual for me! 

1) I eat grapefruit

2) I enjoy eating the grapefruit

3) I put lime in my water...I have never liked lime

4) I miraculously now enjoy lime!

5) I have worked out a total of three days this week. And we're only on day number three!

6) I have not had solid chocolate in a while. 

7) I have shaved my legs at least twice in one lunar cycle. 

Who am I?! 

Last weekend I was a chaperone at our church's annual girls' sleepover. So, we're talking kids. Not just kids. Girls. Almost 30 giggly girls. They needed fuel to make it through the night. Lots of sugary fuel. I knew I wasn't going to stay low carb that night, but I didn't realize just how many carbs a person can consume in the course of a night....or how cruddy you can feel afterwards when you're not used to eating that way!

Let's start with dinner Friday night. I had a corn dog. Ok I had TWO corn dogs. And that was the last protein I had for at least 12 hours. A wiener....wrapped in carbs. There were chips and cookies and cake and brownies and honey buns and......then breakfast of cereal and cinnamon rolls and biscuits and fruit and powdered doughnuts and....

By the time I left the church my body was begging me for an egg! I had that sugar crash feeling. Meanwhile the kids are all bright and bushy tailed asking for more! 

Not very much of me has changed though. Sure I painted my nails but I really miss solid milk chocolate. I still despise running, yet I have managed to partake in this loathsome activity no less than THREE times this week!! Me wants a Hershey Bar. Me must persevere....

Low Carb Food....The Good, The Bad and The OMG

So, last time I told you about my induction phase. The withdrawals; the almost fainting. Today, I shall tell you about the food. Oh, the food!! For someone that likes to eat like I do, these recipes were fun to make and mostly terrible to eat. 

For one, I hope I never see another bell pepper again. Bell pepper cups. Bell pepper rings. Bell pepper sticks! I have never particularly cared for bell peppers. After the first two weeks I was so done with bell peppers!! 

Also on the never again list (or at least the not for a long long while list), chef salad. I have made and had some very yummy salads but I hope I don't see another for a long time!

The first two weeks I tried all sorts of recipes. Some were good, but expensive to make, namely, the chili made with 5 pounds of beef stew meat. Yes. You read that right. 5 pounds. I don't think I'll have to worry about iron deficiency for about 10 years. 

I have learned through this process that I do NOT care for goat cheese. In anything. Ever. I made a smoothie. I had a feeling it was going to be terrible when I read the recipe, but it had mostly IBS friendly foods in it and I was trying to be open minded. When you read the name of this smoothie you will most likely say, "what was she thinking?!" Ready? Avocado Gazpacho Smoothie. Yeah. It was bad. It consisted of avocado, goat cheese, chives and almond milk. Oh man!! I even tried to keep drinking thinking it was an "acquired taste". Halfway through the taste had yet to be acquired so I gave up. Ugh. 

I also despise the taste of protein powder. Didn't know that until this venture into low carbedness. And if I'm honest with myself, I'd much rather get my nutrients from actual food. I had to stop taking the vitamins I bought because they made me sick. Through it all though, I learned how NOT to eat low carb. 

I also learned that I could eat eggs multiple times a day for the foreseeable future and never tire of them. I have had scrambled eggs and fresh strawberries for breakfast every day for at least a month. I love eggs. I tried to take the easy way out with shakes and meal bars. While I was still losing weight, I quickly learned that the artificial sweeteners don't agree with me. Well I have always said that stuff wasn't good for me anyway. I use them every now and then when I want something sweet though. 

Someone loaned me a copy of their enormous low carb cookbook and I found some great recipes in it, along with getting a grasp on some low carb baking. I figured out that my belly loves chia seeds and that I can use chia seeds to bake! Hmmmm. So I found a recipe that uses almond meal and flax seed to make bread. Flaxseed and I do not agree. That was a hard lesson....substitute the flax for chia and tada! Bread, pizza crust! I have made low carb pizza that is to die for people. And not a cauliflower in sight! What is people's fascination with cauliflower anyway?

I haven't had a stomach flare up since the first two weeks. I'm losing weight slowly but surely (about a pound a week). I should probably look into growing chia...

        Here's a pic of my low carb pizza. 

Y'all just can't imagine how good this thing was!

Carb Counting...The Highs an the Lows

I have been "low carb" for about 2 and a half months now. I jumped into this with both feet and mind open. I said, "I'll try ALL the foods!" 

First thing's first, what the doctor did NOT tell me. She said "it's easier said than done." She did NOT say, "you are most likely addicted to sugar and you will go through withdrawals and feel like you might die." She probably refrained from saying this for fear I would have not even tried it. She would have been right. During the first two weeks, the "induction phase", I was pretty sure I was either dying or pregnant. I was weak, nauseous, starving and cranky. I'm sure my family was ecstatic. A ray of sunshine I was not. I did not realize that: 1) I was actually addicted to sugar....I mean we say it jokingly but I REALLY was! 2) I would feel this bad! I almost gave up! After about a week and a half I started reading online about symptoms of sugar withdrawal. I had lots of them. Apparently I could have slowly weaned myself off over a period of weeks. Now I find this?! I'm already a week and a half in! I'll stick it out thank you very much! 

Right at the two week mark I decided I'd try exercising...gently. I workout with a group of awesome ladies who constantly push themselves. I explained that I was going to be slow so just leave me behind. I got so tired and winded from the get go! But I was there. Burning fat....slowly. At the very end someone who had already finished her workout came back and got me and encouraged me and I pushed and I did it! I felt great! I went home, made my breakfast talking to my husband all stoked about my accomplishment. I kissed him goodbye and out the door he went. I was bringing my breakfast to the table when the world went dark. I decided I'd better sit down before I fell down. So there I was, plate of breakfast in hand, on the floor. The dog was unsure if he should come steal my food or give me my space. I had pushed a little too hard. Note taken!

Within that first two weeks my husband and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. Coincidentally that same weekend was when my digestive system decided it did not like my new diet. My IBS flared and I stayed sick that whole weekend. Romantic right? What's worse is that I know only one thing that can steady my belly when it's like this. Grains. Easily digestible CARBS! I had to go off my eating plan and get myself better, then regroup and come back at it with a belly friendly plan. But would I really try again? After stepping on the scale at the end of the two weeks I determined I would.

At the end of the first two weeks I had lost 12 pounds! I took this to mean my doctor was correct in her assumption about my body's insulin resistance. I also figured I must be on the right track. Now to figure out what I can and can't eat. With carbs and IBS working against me I was afraid my list of foods to eat would be rather small. 

Next time I'll write about the food I have eaten...the good, the bad, and the OMG what was I thinking?!