Hello! 

My ketones were back up to 1.0 this morning, which was a nice surprise after they had been so low for a few days. I decided yesterday that I need to improve my stress management, and started yesteday with a guided meditation. I used to meditate daily and I really feel like it is effective in so many ways. I feel calmer, more productive and focused, and much less stressed when I meditate daily. 

I also have not been happy with my skating and feel that I do better when I am visualizing skating well and feeling confident, so I need to write out a new roller derby visualization to practice. I also have been finding myself annoyed with people when they suggest things I can do to improve. I get annoyed with people because I am already really hard on myself, and chances are I have already been beating myself up about whatever it is that I did not do well or need to improve on. That said, I know suggestions are intended to help me and I realize getting annoyed when people try to help me is not acceptable. 

The font that I have been using on this blog is pretty hard to read, so I think I am going to go ahead and use something different. 

Something else that bothers me is that I sometimes act like a know it all. I  have a hard time letting things go when I know someone is wrong. I will start out polite saying something like "I don't think that is how it works" but when they insist that it is I usually have a hard time leaving it at that instead of setting them straight. 

Work is busy right now, and I am getting ready to go play OKVD so I need to actually get pretty far ahead. 

Speaking of work- I had better get at it. 

♥
Erica

Enjoy the guided meditation I did this morning: 

Food Journal
Yesterday
----------------------------------------

breakfast 
2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese
2 slices bacon
1 cup fatty coffee.
( I noticed some add supplements. I take Vitamin D, Multivitamin, Potassium, Magnesium and desiccated liver) 

Lunch
not hungry

Snack
2 oz cheese (a variety of what I had small thin slices of: raw cheddar, robusto, dubliner. Yum. ) 

Dinner
5oz chicken tikka masala, less than 1/2 cup sauteed squash, 1 cup salad (mixed greens, dressing, olives, sprinkled with Parmesan) 


Calories:1238 Carbs: 16 Fat: 92 Protein: 73

Water- about 7 large glasses.

Hola! 

I am feeling much better today!

I checked my blood ketones yesterday and they were extremely low. Since I do not seem to be eating to many carbs, or too much protein I think I may need to manage stress better. My husband is convinced that we both should probably also be eating a bit more.

It seems like so many people are so obsessed with calories, and I find it frustrating. I feel like it perpetuates this idea that if you eat a starvation diet  you will get thin- which is not necessarily the case, and it can be more harmful than beneficial. I try not to get annoyed, but it makes me angry that this calorie theory has really made such a mess of my health, and I am probably not the only person experiencing this.

I spent 10 minutes meditating this morning to attempt to decompress a little and asked online for some advice on how to reduce stress. One person suggested yoga, andI really think I would like to try that. I need to find a studio with childcare, but I am sure that is doable.

Take care for now,

♥Erica


Food Journal
------------------------


Yesterday

breakfast 
2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese
2 slices bacon
1 cup fatty coffee.

Lunch- 1c broccoli cooked in butter and herbs, one pickle, 1oz robusto cheese

Snack- Keto lemonade (2-4 drops liquid stevia, apple cider vinegar, lemon wedge squeezed in) 

Snack- beef bone broth

Snack- 2 more slices of bacon after practice ♥ 

Calories: 994 Carbs: 16 Fat: 79 Protein: 37

Water- about 10 large glasses. 

Under on protein again

Good morning! 

Yesterday my vision got spotty in the afternoon and it was followed by a mild headache. I Used to get the spotty vision thing pretty regularly, my husband thinks they are ocular migraines... but this is the first time since in keto. I started feeling a little ill after that and this morning, so I may be catching something. I have felt so invincible lately that this surprised me.  

I also woke up to ketones at 2.2 this morning. I have not eaten anything off plan, so I wonder if it was stress, or because I may be catching something? or maybe I felt unwell because I was kicked out of keto? I don't know. I have been eating more protein, so I may be over- shooting.

Food Journal
------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday

breakfast 
2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese
2 slices bacon
1 cup fatty coffee.

Lunch- Keto Enchilada (1.5 oz raw sharp cheddar, 2 oz chicken, 1 serving green chili sauce, put in oven and broil for a few min. yum) 

Snack- Keto lemonade (2-4 drops liquid stevia, apple cider vinegar, lemon wedge squeezed in) 

Dinner
Broccoli cooked in butter and herbs, Small grass-fed burger topped with pickles. 


Calories: 1257 Carbs: 19 Fat: 85 Protein: 74

Good  Morning! 

I don't feel like I have much to say... so lets see where I go. 

I entered the food I ate last week in to a food calculator. My calories were suprisingly consistent, so that was cool. I did notice I was way under on protein, so I am going to try to step it up. I did well with that yesterday. 

I feel pretty good, but I am bummed out that I seem to be stalling. I am thinking about starting a youtube video blog because I find the vlogs I have seen about others on the keto diet to be really inspiring. I just worry because it seems like people can be pretty cruel on youtube and a lot of people seem to troll around there.

The kids made a huge mess upstairs in their rooms yesterday, so that was disappointing.  I did not see it, but when Adam put autumn to bed he said it looked like they spilled a whole gallon of water on the floor.

I made a new design yesterday, maybe I will post it on my other blog... it is a drawing of one of our cats wearing a crown :)

I am feeling a little apathetic today. I would like to feel happier. I guess the best way to do that is to get happy- I strongly believe we create our lives and are in charge of our emotions ( for the most part, of course, I have also suffered from severe depression, etc. so I know how that feels uncontrollable) .

So... lets end this post with five things that make me happy...

1. My awesome, sweet, handsome, wonderful husband
2. My Children (when they are not driving me crazy, lol)
3.  Cats. I love cats.
4. Being self employed.
5. Playing roller derby.

Life really is pretty awesome.


Food Journal:

Yesterday

breakfast 
2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese
2 slices bacon
1 cup fatty coffee.

Lunch- Still working on that roast chicken, Skin on 1/2 serving (4 small squares) of lillys dark chocolate (no sugar, stevia sweetened) 

Snack, Fatty chai

Dinner
1/2 cup sauerkraut (leftover from yesterday, Brats were cooked in it) , 6 uncured pepperoni slices(large) 1.5 oz Robusto cheese. 1/2 avocado

Calories: 1358 Carbs: 15 Fat: 117 Protein: 70 

I did much better on the protein !

Good Morning!

I had a pretty good weekend :)  Practice on Saturday was fun, but really hot. I enjoyed my bike ride. I weighed in, but I am confused because I actually gained a lb. It reminds me of the last 5 years. Ok... Not really. I am hoping it can be attributed to muscle gains.

Adam and I slept in really well on Saturday and Sunday, so that was really nice. We get 8 hours of sleep every day, but sometimes it is nice to sleep a little extra :)

Last Week Summary:

Monday

Bf: 2 slice bacon, 2 eggs, sprinkled with a little cheese and green chili, fatty coffee

L: Sardines (about 1/3 container), small Salad with oil &vinegar and a little cheese, 1/2 avocado

D: Wild pronghorn Tenderloin Chops... about 3 oz (omg, the pronghorn cut was amazing, Adam was given these at work) Kale cooked in grassfed butter with almonds mixed in.

Fatty Chai. Keto Lemonade (water with a good squeeze of lemon, a little apple cider vinegar and a few drops of liquid stevia)

beef bone broth... not full fat, due to taste

Calories: 1324 Carb: 16 Fat:110 Protein: 52

(carb count is a little funny, the calculator I use has net carbs on some things and total carbs on others)

Workout: 10 min morning intervals and planks, Speed Skating Class 1.5 hr, .5hr of that is off skates (Should be over 800 cal burned, if it mattered, and I don’t think it does)

Tuesday:

breakfast

2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese

2 slices bacon

1 cup fatty coffee.

Late Lunch

Small Salad (1cup spring greens, sprinkled with cheese, topped with goddess dressing)

1/2 avocado

small pieceof salmon broiled in butter. (3oz)

1/4 cup of sauerkraut

No dinner, not hungry, had to go to practice, but I did have some bone broth.

Calories: 906 Carb: 11 Fat: 71 Protein: 40

(carb count is a little funny, the calculator I use has net carbs on some things and total carbs on others)

Workout: 10 min morning intervals and planks, Derby Practice 2 hr (Should be over 1380 cal burned, if it mattered, and I don’t think it does)

Weds:

breakfast
2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese
2 slices bacon
1 cup fatty coffee.

Lunch
Broccoli cooked in a little grassfed butter
one egg scrambled

Snacked on 4 slices of large pepperoni in the afternoon.

Bone Broth Before Practice

Dinner/late snack after practice... 2 slices raw cheese a little carne asada (bought a total of .3 lbs and used less than 1/3 of container... so whatever that is) and 1/2 avocado and fatty chai.

Calories: 1490 Carb: 16  Fat: 140 Protein: 52

(carb count is a little funny, the calculator I use has net carbs on some things and total carbs on others)

Workout: 10 min morning intervals and planks, Derby Practice 2 hr (Should be over 1380 cal burned, if it mattered, and I don’t think it does)

Thurs:

breakfast
2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese
2 slices bacon
1 cup fatty coffee.

Lunch
1/2 avocado (salted) Small Salad (spring mix, dandelion, cilantro, a little cheese, pepper dressing) 3 oz carne asada

Dinner
about 2 oz bison liver, cooked in grassfed butter with onions, Green beans cooked in grass-fed butter and herbs 1/2 avocado and fatty chai.

Calories: 1345 Carb: 20  Fat: 113 Protein: 42

(carb count is a little funny, the calculator I use has net carbs on some things and total carbs on others)

Workout: 10 min morning intervals and planks other than that, off

Friday:

breakfast
2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese
2 slices bacon
1 cup fatty coffee.

Lunch
1/2 avocado (salted) 1/4 cup sauerkraut

Dinner
Small salad with goddess dressing and cheese, Hamburger, no bun, pickles and lettuce and fatty chai.

Calories: 1150 Carb: 14  Fat: 96 Protein: 30

(carb count is a little funny, the calculator I use has net carbs on some things and total carbs on others)

Workout: 10 min morning intervals and planks, stretching via 1 hr light yoga

Saturday:

breakfast
2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese
2 slices bacon
1 cup fatty coffee.

Pre- workout I had a cup of bone broth. It was my long day, ended up being about 6 hours including the bike ride to practice.

Lunch
N/a- workout from 10am -4pm but did eat about 1/2cup of sauerkraut when I got home... and a lot of water...

Dinner
Very small pour of dry red wine, 3 oz grassfed tenderloin, green beans cooked in butter and herbs, topped with Parmesan, 1/2 avocado (salted) This dinner was AMAZING.

I also made some whipped cream stuff (heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, vanilla extract and a little stevia) and had a little of that. Maybe 1/4 cup if I am over estimating.

Calories: 1384 Carb: 26  Fat: 112 Protein: 48

(carb count is a little funny, the calculator I use has net carbs on some things and total carbs on others)

Workout:  4 hours skating 2 hours biking to and from practice.  (should burn about 3300 calories)

Sunday:

breakfast

2 eggs scrambled with green chili and cheese

2 slices bacon

1 cup fatty coffee.

Lunch

1/2 avocado and about 2-3 oz skin on chicken breast. 2 small slices of robusto cheese (less than one oz)

Snack- 1 Cup of bubbies pickle juice

Dinner

1 cup sauerkraut and 1/2 an elk brat.

Fatty Chai

Calories: 1304 Carb: 15  Fat: 105 Protein: 57

(carb count is a little funny, the calculator I use has net carbs on some things and total carbs on others)

Workout: None, but it is an active day, we clean the house, play games with kids, etc. 

Good morning!

Today was weigh in day, and I was only down one lb from the week before, So that was a bummer. I had my period last week, so I am sure that was related.

This weekend was nice and relaxing. I did not practice on Saturday, which is unusual.

I enjoyed taking the kids to the Zoo on Saturday with my husband. We met my brother and his son and it was nice for the kids to get to play together. My brother has done a similar keto diet for a long time so we got to talk about that.

I am finding that I am not really eating. I will post my meals :

Bf: 2 slice bacon, 2 eggs, sprinkled with a little cheese and green chili, fatty coffee
L: not really hungry, beef bone broth
D: still not hungry... 1 avocado, 1/2 cup sauerkraut (it had elk brats cooked in it so I am sure there were some calories there) Fatty Chai.

So... not really enough of anything, I need to eat a little more.

Anyway, time to get to work!

- Erica

Good Morning!

Not that anyone is reading... I don't think... But good morning, world!

I am tired this morning. My Monday workout throws off my sleep schedule, and last night I did not feel like I slept well, so the sleep deprivation is compounding.

I have been checking my ketones in the mornings while they are a little off. This morning they were up to .7, so that is good. I am still not entirely sure what threw me OUT of ketosis... I really think it was the tiniest bit of watermelon- less than a bite- that I had over week ago. I also ate a little less fat last week, and we know our body prefers to burn fat when it is getting it.

My legs are still sore and burning from Monday, so that is annoying. I used to really enjoy a specific yoga/Pilates fusion video when my body got sore, but it is not on netflix anymore. I wonder if I can get it somewhere else? If I am still sore on thursday it would be good to do for my crosstraining.

 My blood pressure is still low, but a little higher than before,  and I have been trying to get in lots of salt and water.

Salut!

♥Erica

Good morning!

I did  not manage to write over the weekend. I guess the only person I cheated with that is myself.

I had an awesome weekend.  On Saturday my league had a mash up bout and I won MVP blocker on my team, so that really made my weekend!

I did feel good about that game and how I played, so it felt really good that others recognized that. I did feel a little brutal in a few cases when it came to blocking some skaters, but my blood-thirst and desire to win overpowered any feelings of guilt caused by that. 

My ketones were really low this morning, and I was actually up two pounds this week when I weighed in this morning. I started my period on Sunday, so I am going to blame the small gain on that. I feel pretty good , but my blood pressure was really low ( 84/49). That is unusual because it is usually high. 

In general, I still feel awesome, still have lots of energy, etc. I am a little confused about my ketones being low, I think I need a little more fat in my diet, I cut back a little last week. 

I am feeling like I need to get started on work, so I think I need to bring this to a close for this morning. 

Hasta,

♥Erica

I got in late last night from Tuscon, where I had attended the Dust Devil  roller derby tournament and skated with my team, the Munecas Mueartas. I have mixed feelings about the weekend. I did not get enough sleep, and I am feeling the effects of that. I know that it is super important and am not feeling like I am functioning as well without it. I also did not have the concentration  wanted to have. I also noticed I was not able to hit out some girls when I wanted to. I think I need to practice some jackhammer style hitting and also work on strengthening my core.

On the other hand, my body felt amazing. I felt like I could seriously go forever, even after the third game of the weekend.  I do really love how ketosis feels.

I started making bone broth last week, and I think that really helps me get a nice dose of sodium, potassium and other nutrients much better than the store-bought broth. It is pretty tasty, too. My salt intake seems to have a very direct impact on how well I skate and feel doing exercise.

 I feel like I am starting to find my glow again, so I love that. I have been so unsatisfied with myself and full of disdain that have not really been seeing a positive reflection of myself in my interactions with others. More often I feel like I am giving off the glow of self-love and confidence, and it seems to be engaging people

I lost about three pounds this week, and I weighed a week early, so that is awesome. My ketones read the highest yet, 1.4 mm. So that is awesome, too.

In other news, I have been really enjoying listening to the relentless roger and caveman dr podcasts :)

I am still a bit behind from the crazy derby weekend, so it is time to get back to the grind :)

♥Erica

Good morning.

I am going to use this as more of a daily journal since I am tracking a lot on My Fitness Pal, and this is really supposed to be a blog about self-improvement- on all levels.

 I am still enjoying this new ketogenic lifestyle and I am continuing to lose weight, and I think I am also gaining muscle. When you are losing weight on a low calorie diet, you are in a catabolic state, or losing muscle, but in keto, even when you are losing weight you are in an anabolic state.

Keto is not exactly paleo, but in many ways they seem to go together and I have really been enjoying listening to all of the paleo, bodyhacking, and ketogenic podcasts and youtube videos. I made my first batch of bone broth earlier this week, and LOVE it. It cooked so long that there were only about two cups of it, so I made a second batch that will be done soon. I used more water and a bigger pot, so I will end up with a larger quantity.

Lately my older daughter is driving me crazy. I feel bad, because she get's in trouble more than her sister, and I often feel like I love her sister more. Right now I am not really sure what to do with Autumn most of the time. She is only almost 6- I fear for her teenage years.

Today I will be leaving for Tuscon, and I still have a lot of work to complete. I know I will get it done, but I feel a little stressed about it anyway. I am looking forward to playing roller derby, but I am sad to be leaving my family. Some drama surfaced within my team this week and while I am glad it was addressed and worked out it has me turned off a bit to derby again already- and we are only a few games in to the season.

I am listening to Autumn play on her leap pad, and her sister is sitting with her. It is cold. I feel awake and ready to get some work done, but more stressed than I would like to be.

Take Care,
♥Erica

Hi All!

I am still loving Nutritional Ketosis, or  LCHF if you are outside of the USA.

My weight has been teetering between 231 and 234 for several days, but I think I have also gained quite a bit of muscle, so it is all good. Last week I was struggling through workouts, but over the weekend it felt like I had a breakthrough, and felt pretty awesome through two hard fought derby games. I also felt pretty good yesterday at my speed skating class.

Here are my top five favorite blogs about Nutritional Ketosis, in no real order:

1. http://www.dietdoctor.com/
2. http://www.grassfedgirl.com/
3. http://eatingacademy.com/
4. http://www.eatlowcarbhighfat.com/
5. http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/

Up next I really want to figure out how to get myfitnesspal.com set up for ketosis.

In other news, my husband, who does not need to lose weight is doing LCHF with me, and starting to sprout a 6 pack. Damn his superior genes, we should all be so lucky! ♥   I am a tad jealous that it is so easy for him, but he is a sweetheart and a very very handsome man, so I forgive him.

So, a few days of food:

Sunday
Breakfast
3 oz green juice 2pc bacon, Scrambled eggs
Snacked on some salami from whole foods during the day
drank some coffee with butter
had a cup of broth
for dinner I attempted keto pizza, which was delicious, but fell apart when we ate it. We had that with a salad.

Monday
2 boiled eggs and green juice
snacked on a few bits of cheese
2 cups coffee with cream, butter and coconut oil
dinner was a filet wrapped in bacon with a salad

Today so far:
bacon, scrambled eggs
1 cup butter/coconut oil coffee
snacked on some pepperoni from whole foods
Steak smothered in butter and mushrooms


Take Care !

♥Erica

Loving Ketosis.

Sooo. I have been doing Keto for almost two weeks now, and that has been really super amazing! I love love love it.

I feel amazing. I know I should be tracking, because I would love something that shows how awesome and effective this is, but I really do not HAVE to track so it has been hard to keep this up.

Every time I step on the scale- which has been daily, due to excitement- I have lost. I have also measured myself and lost inches. After five years of pushing against a brick wall trying to lose this extra weight, I am elated. I also never realized how exhausted and hungry I was until now. I feel like I have boundless energy and I an NEVER hungry. It is so strange. I mean, not really, I know why, but I am not used to feeling this way.

I have been eating less than I was the first week. Since my body can actually access my fat stores, it seems like most of the time that is the preferred fuel.

This is what I ate yesterday:


•2 boiled eggs, half glass of veggie juice (5 carbs)
• 2 cups coffee with butter, coconut oil and heavy cream
• 3 slices of bacon and salad with egg, feta, olive oil and two scrambled eggs(about 2 carbs)
• about 2 oz cream cheese, heavy cream and stevia whipped together (about 2 carbs)
•cup of beef broth
• two more slices of bacon and another 2 cups of butter/coco/cream coffee as a pre-workout for derby practice
•6 large slices pepperoni (from whole foods) and other half cup of juice (5 carbs) .  Also less than one oz of cheese, (sample)

So that was about 14 net carbs for the day.

♥I also went to roller derby practice for two hours

There was a noticeable and serious decline in my athletic performance for a while also, but that seems to be getting back to normal.

I started reading "The Art and Science of Low Carb Living" I am enjoying it. I may have to read it more than once, I feel like I am missing things.

Eeek! Love Ketosis! ♥

Tuesday Food Entry

In Ketosis?  yes

Breakfast- veggie juice, 3 boiled eggs
snack- 2 cups of coffee with 1 tbsp butter, heavy cream, vanilla extract, stevia
Lunch- 2 slices of Bacon and eggs scrambled in grease
Snack- slices of cheese
Dinner-1/2 cup miso broth (sodium helps the transition to ketosis)  Salad, spring mix sprinkled with cheese, annies dresing tomatoes and two slices of bacon
1/8 cup cream, butter, stevia, coconut oil and vanilla extract mixed together

Sleep- ok
Feel- ok. A little off. Derby practice was good, but my body couldn't figure out how to handle the endurance portion.

♥Exercise- 2 hour derby practice. Good endurance but other than that exertion was mild.

I calculated the carbs for the juice and decided to spread out my juice over more time (like the whole day)

Monday Food Log

Breakfast
2boiled eggs and cup of green juice
2 cups coffee with cream, butter, coconut oil

Lunch:
3pc bacon 3 eggs scrambled in bacon grease

Snack: 2 pcs beef jerky

Dinner: Salad Bar, spring greens Lots of cheese and bacon, Blue cheese dressing

Snack: small amount of butter, cream, vanilla extract and stevia mixed together. Delicious,  but could only eat a few bites.

♥For exercise I made up a workout. I concentrated on legs. I also worked on arms. Took an hour.