Join us for the Fall 2016 Low Carb Challenge!
Below are the low carb meals I had on Monday and Tuesday, plus both of my MyFitnessPal food diaries so you can see how I logged those meals.
I got in some REALLY COOL exercise yesterday too, so I’ll share a few pictures & details with you about that.
Exercise should be FUN!
🙂 🙂
I haven’t really been eating anything too exciting lately. In fact, I’ve been eating a combination of the same foods a lot lately. Mostly out of laziness and just because it’s easy (lol), but I did have a great low carb meal at Cracker Barrel last night…
I’m going to eat some interesting (new) low carb foods today, so stay tuned for my next update! Hint: They are from my Keto Krate box. 🙂
Monday’s Low Carb Meals
Monday was a super busy and LONG work day. I didn’t have a lot of spare time for cooking or eating out, so I just grabbed easy low carb foods.
I had my usual “nuts, berries & cottage cheese” for breakfast. I had sliced chicken, colby jack cheese & pecans for lunch, then I had my “low carb cereal” again for dinner – and an ounce of almonds (28 grams) late that night for a quick snack.
Nothing fancy. 😉 I love that eating low carb can be so EASY when it needs to be.
As for that bite on my leg in the last picture… I have those ALL over. Too much playing outside in the woods, no doubt – lol.
Here’s My MyFitnessPal Diary for Monday:
Macronutrients: Simple Explanation Of Low Carb Macros
How To Get A Net Carbs Column in MyFitnessPal
Calories: 1576
Net Carbs: 21
Total Carbs: 43
Protein: 50 Grams
82% Fat, 13% Protein
Water: 48 ounces
Tuesday’s Low Carb Meals
I realize I eat this a lot… but I was down another pound on Tuesday morning. 🙂 Besides, it’s healthy foods and it has perfect LCHF macros!
It’s 1/2 cup pecans, 1/4 cup Daisy brand cottage cheese, 4 small diced strawberries & 17.5 grams of blueberries. Total: 6 net carbs and 85% healthy fat.
The blueberries were hand-picked then frozen. I love frozen berries for the sweet crunch!! I stir it all together and call it low carb cereal. 🙂
Next I headed out with friends to go hike a historic archaeological area a few towns over. Breakfast was WAY early and I knew it would be hours until the next meal… so I fueled up on the way with some healthy low carb foods.
I had almonds, pecans, a couple of cheese sticks, and a tablespoon of peanut butter. It was a little to-go pack of peanut butter I dipped my pecans in. Yum!
The hike was tons of fun!
As usual I played hard, did some rock climbing, and tested my balance by “walking the plank” across a fallen tree overhanging a 25 foot waterfall. 🙂
We only did about 3 miles of hiking, but there was a lot of climbing and exercise involved – in addition to the actual walking.
Just scaling that tree took ALL the core strength, balance and focus I could muster 😛 lol. My fear of heights makes me seriously woozy!
That was quite the challenge, but a FUN one. Dinner though, proved to be even more challenging. I worked up quite the appetite hiking, so I walked into Cracker Barrel both famished and exhausted (and wet and dirty, lol).
Truth: It was hard to even look at the menu. 😯
I just closed the menu and ordered a la carte: bacon, sausage, eggs & strawberries. Fortunately they serve breakfast any time of day, so that made dinner easy!
That’s cheese on the eggs. Normally I would order fried eggs at a restaurant, because I don’t trust scrambled eggs or omelets. You never know if they put milk in them, or some places even put pancake batter in them to make them fluffier. Seriously.
But at this point, the fact that I didn’t just order pancake batter straight up was a total win 😛 lol, so I didn’t sweat it. They were just plain eggs though…
Here’s My MyFitnessPal Diary for Tuesday:
Calories: 1779
Net Carbs: 19
Total Carbs: 35
Protein: 84 Grams
80% Fat, 16% Protein
Exercise: Hiking
Fitbit Steps: 7,707
Water: 64 ounces
It was nice to get some solid exercise in yesterday. 🙂
When you see in my FitBit report that we did “48 Floors” that means I climbed UP at 10 feet at least 48 times, or 480 feet of climbing. It doesn’t count climbing down, which can often be even more challenging than going up -lol.
I use the FitBit Charge HR which records heart rate, in addition to GPS tracking of your workout, calories burned, sleep quality, and lots of other cool things!
Here’s a cool picture from yesterday’s hike:
There were three waterfalls on the hike, and lots of historic sites to see. Don’t make fun of my fanny pack. 🙂 It’s cool because it’s Fabletics! haha.
This is my invite link if you want to check out Fabletics and browse some of their cool athletic wear: http://www.fabletics.com/invite/lowcarbtraveler/
It IS more comfortable than something over my shoulders, which is cumbersome on steep hikes & while rock climbing. The blue skirt is a new Fabletics piece too. It’s lightweight with shorts underneath, so it’s perfect for wet hikes and swimming!
I’m using a CaliCase Waterproof Phone Case, which has been really handy this summer while playing in and around the water. It was great for caving too, because it was really damp in there.
Those cases were a great find!
My weight loss seems kinda stalled for the last week or two. I’m not sure what’s going on there exactly.
It’s just bouncing around half a pound here and there, finally dropped a pound only to go back up, etc. That’s normal to a point, but not for two straight weeks.
If I had to guess I would say it was the low carb ice cream experiments, the coconut chips, or maybe just stress.
But somehow I’ve knocked myself out of ketosis. I don’t test with strips or sticks but I can FEEL the difference. My feet and ankles even got a little puffy after the big hike yesterday, and they don’t do that when I’m “keto”.
I’ve been staying within my carb and macro limits, so who knows. The fix is to keep it simple and stick to my usual low carb foods, just the basics.
BUT, while I’m out of whack anyway… I’m going to make those low carb brownies that came in my keto box this week. 🙂 YUM! Stay tuned, I’ll let you know how they turn out.
I’m going to finish off the Coconut Chips too. They’re very suspect, lol. They are entirely too sweet and entirely too good to be 5 or 6 net carbs per serving. 😛 But why waste a delicious healthy food, right?! Right, haha.
How are things going for you?
It’s day 10 of the 90 Day Challenge. 🙂 How are you doing with your low carb meals & macro tracking? Any questions or struggles? I would love to hear your results so far.
Leave a comment and let’s talk!
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER
Carla Ives says
Love to see your hike pics, Lynn! How are things going? Not well. I got down the 2 pounds on the first weigh-in only to bounce up four more. I know part of the problem and I think the only fix is more intense exercise. Sadly, it’s too hot and humid here so I made a decision. Tomorrow morning I’m headed to sign up at Planet Fitness. It’s 18 miles from me but its only $10 a month and the closer gyms are much more. I wanted a pool, but the only one is at the Y and that’s $50 per month. Can’t do that right now. So. . . . Planet Fitness it is. They have meat locker air conditioning in there. YEAH!!! So hopefully, that will get me back going down again. I’m way too far away from a quote, unquote, “normal” weight to be stalling like this except for my screwy body. So I’ll turn up the exercise and see how it goes. Can’t wait to hear about those brownies! I haven’t had a cake or a brownie in probably over a year. Full disclosure: I HAVE had the very occasional kiddy size vanilla custard in a dish (no cone) and duly recorded it in MFP. π
Lynn Terry says
How would you feel about only weighing once a month, Carla? Think you could do it? π I know you have certain reasons your weight fluctuates so wildly, and since that affects your mood and motivation… it might be helpful to just “eat for your health” and track consistently, then only weigh monthly – maybe on the first of every month. What do you think?
Exercise is good for us – it’s good cardio, heart healthy, and great for toning. Glad to hear you found a place you’ll enjoy!
Carla Ives says
It would cause me to end up in a mental institution. π I tried it. Can’t do it. I think I made it two-and-a-half weeks. Besides, I need the daily info to track things. Certain foods DO make it go one way or the other. But basically, bottom line, I’m way too OCD. We’d have to throw the scale out the window. LOL I appreciate the feedback, though, Lynn! I’ll let you know if the exercise affects it. Even before all my crazy surgeries, I was never able to lose weight without a LOT of intense exercise. Now that I’m old and half-feeble, that’s not all that easy but. . . I’m not as bad as I used to be so I’m gonna go for it.
Gina says
LYN. i noticed that your almonds were the regular salted variety. I yry to get the low salt sea salt ones by blue diamond. I tend to be sensitive to sodium. I can gain a pound or two of water weight from anyting salty or high in sodium like the smoked sausages or bacon. I take a natural herbal water pill sometimes esp if i have eaten these items. My fingers still feel puffy today. Staying in ketosis does help with water retention as well.
you are getting in such great shape. I wouldnt worry too much about some slight fluctuations at this point but i do understand about our love-hate relationship with that scale. π
Lynn Terry says
I actually NEED a certain amount of sodium in my diet, otherwise I get headaches and leg cramps. That’s actually normal, because a ketogenic diet is a natural diuretic, so often I’ll drink chicken broth to replace sodium & electrolytes if I’m not getting enough in my meals.
It’s the smoked sausages that DO get me though, for whatever reason. Who knows why. π
I don’t worry about the scale so much. Being out of ketosis is a pain though. I go back to chronic pain issues, bloating, swelling in my feet & ankles – all the things I had to deal with before going low carb.
I have inflammatory arthritis in my lower back from a car accident that causes fibromyalgia-like symptoms (I refuse that diagnosis) – so staying in ketosis keeps me out of chronic pain. π
Gina says
That is interesting Lyn. My aches and pains have been a little worse lately but i think in my case it is a little different. I have Rheuamatoid arthritis which is an auto immune disorder. I do however have fibromayalgia symotoms as well. That part does seem to be improving on the lchf woe but those joint pains still flare up on me sometimes. I think my stress levels and lack of restful sleep have a lot to do with that and my fibro symptome
that is another great incentive for me to stay in ketosis….i had no idea that this could help but i can tell now that my pain isn’t as bad as it used to be prior to my lc lifestyle. Thanks for reminding me about this added benefit of lc
the pain is no fun. π
Lynn Terry says
Yes, which is why eating “low carb” and eating ketogenic can be (CAN be) two different things. A keto diet of 20 net carbs max / 70% fat minimum has TONS of health benefits. Including reducing or even eliminating seizures, of all things.
Anyway, we’re all different so it pays to really track and watch your own body – for any kind of usual flare ups etc. I knew when my ankles got stiff and puffy after hiking yesterday that I was no longer in ketosis. I had suspected it, but that definitely confirmed it for me…
Jane says
Girl….you were rocking it in the pics. Makes me dizzy just looking at you standing on a log!!! Yikes!! You would have to peel me off if I got stuck out there…Lol I understand the Cracker Barrel confrontation. It is always our “go to” place for breakfast before we go on a trip. I am horrible at eating out and always give in to biscuit/gravy/hash browns. Last month we went on vacay and I ordered low carb!! That was a huge achievement for me. I think I’m making progress…Lol!! As for the exercise, it’s just too hot for me so my walking buddy and I joined Planet Fitness last month. It’s not close by and I guess that’s the worst part. When it gets cooler I want to get back to walking outside. In the mean time I will use all those machines to try to build some muscle and strength. As for you, keep on keeping on and do what you do. You know you feel better and that’s something the scales can’t tell you. Have a Blessed Day!!
Lynn Terry says
LOL it made me dizzy too! π haha
Kudos for ordering low carb on vacation! I think that’s the toughest for most people, so that IS a big win. π Way to go!
I love walking too, just being outside is SO nice. It’s really hot here too right now, so even when I get out near water myself… I don’t feel comfortable having my great dane out for that long in the heat, or on that long of a walk (2-3 miles). Keeping him cool enough in the heat & humidity here in TN is a concern. So I can’t wait for it to cool off so Slim and I can get out and romp every day again!
Melea says
Love your blog and challenges. I am STRUGGLING though. 2 good days 4 bad. Repeat π I need your consistency.
Lynn Terry says
Hi Melea,
Here’s the thing… I takes 3-5 days to get into ketosis. It’s not fun either. You go through a bit of “induction flu”. See: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/4689/ketosis-symptoms-and-low-carb-flu/ But once you are IN ketosis… your appetite disappears, and so do your cravings.
Then it becomes EASY! π
Force yourself to stay on plan for just ONE week. Track closely, go through the crabby days, and see if you don’t feel AMAZING and drop some nice weight. π
Melea says
Thanks for the encouragement! I plan on shopping tonight and starting over tomorrow!
Lynn Terry says
You’re welcome. π Just commit to ONE full week. Anyone can do that! My consistency is only easy because I’m consistent. It’s one of those chicken & the egg things. π
It’s funny because after 100+ days of eating strictly ketogenic, I can’t even MAKE myself eat a french fry. I’m doing a “reset” today with higher carb healthy foods lol (coconut chips & such).
At this point my body totally rejects foods I once thought I couldn’t live without. I still think about them, but get me anywhere near them and my nose turns right up. π That’s a GOOD problem to have!!
Melea says
You’re so right! That is a good problem to have! That’s awesome. Starting small- one week. I can do that!
Kathy Williams says
I have found another benefit to being in Ketosis. Mosquitoes don’t bite me. Used to get a lot of mosquito bites but since I’m been on this program I haven’t had any (all summer). I know it changes how I smell so maybe they don’t think I taste good anymore.
Lynn Terry says
Bingo, Kathy! Wow – I haven’t been bit ONCE all summer, and I usually get eaten alive. Then this past week, I get eat up every single time I step outside. I wondered why we were having mosquito problems all of a sudden this late in the season after such an easy year. π haha. It was ME!
I could tell I was out of ketosis from the bloating and ankle swelling, but the mosquito thing NEVER occurred to me!
Lynn Terry says
I usually get bit incessantly just stepping out on my porch, but I’ve spent most of the spring and summer deep in the woods – and STILL wasn’t getting bit, until this week. π
Casey says
You have me worried I’ll kick myself out of ketosis. I track closely and have had at least 70% fats and less than 20 net carbs. Do I just need to calm down and not worry? LOL. I haven’t lost anymore since Saturday but I’m sticking to it. Could I be eating too much protein? My appetite has decreased and I feel GREAT! So glad I took this step!!
Lynn Terry says
Right Casey – don’t worry. π Stick to your macros and just keep on going! You will notice a hold or even slight fluctuations during weeks 2 and/or 3 after the initial weight loss the first week. That’s totally normal. It’s just your body adjusting.
My weight loss trend has lots of natural patterns of loss, then holds, then fluctuations, then loss – with an overall downward trend. The daily weight is not a big deal, just keep an eye on the bigger picture.
Even when you’re not losing weight for a few days in a row, or even a few weeks in a row (it does happen!) keep in mind how healthy your body is, and all the other health benefits of eating low carb. π
Heather Manning says
I want to but can’t seem to get motivated.
Lynn Terry says
Hi Heather,
Why do you want to? It helps to have a strong reason, something that motivates you. Put some thought into all the reasons WHY, and compare those to the reasons “why not” – maybe that will help?
I can tell you firsthand it is SO worth it. π You’ll be so happy, THRILLED even. Weight loss is great in itself, but I’ve gained so much more just by losing that weight… π
Heather Manning says
I looked all over for a reply. I’m glad it comes to the email too because I forgot which thread I posted under. LOL
Lynn, thanks for responding. My want to is weight loss. I’m fat and I hate it. My clothes are all tight and I get winded going up a single flight of stairs but I have three small kids, ages 9, 10 and 12 and I’m older than most at this stage of life (47). But more than health is vanity I think. But I can’t even work up enough vanity to stay on task. I have no willpower for what SHOULD motivate me which is staying alive and active for my children. What is wrong with me?
Lynn Terry says
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. π Reading your reply reminded me that it was when my children were about that age that my own health & weight started getting out of control.
It’s a busy time, when you’re a mother of children those ages. They require your time and attention, and I often let myself go in favor of taking care of them and all their needs and daily things.
That said, in hindsight, I would give anything to go back and do things differently. It doesn’t take any more time or energy to eat one thing instead of another. Or to go for a fun game of tag or “adventure hike” with the kids instead of watching an hour or two of movies/tv.
I say that because my daughter and I both gained our weight together. I think she was a pre-teen when that started, about 12 years old. And it was my fault. I feel so much guilt for that.
I never EVER mentioned her weight to her. She was pretty, confident, happy, spunky and I did NOT want to give her self image issues. Her spunk & self confidence was something I admired so much about her!
That’s when I went low carb. I wanted to lose weight, but I also wanted to inspire her – by example. And it worked. π She chose her own method for getting healthy & fit – she couldn’t do it my way, lol! But it did work.
I regret not doing it sooner. I regret not raising my children with a healthier mindset, or a more active lifestyle – as a family. There is so much better I could have done for them!
Fast forward and they are beautiful, happy, healthy young adults. And they are proud of me for what I have done for myself. π So I don’t carry around tons of guilt… but boy, I sure would have done things differently if I could go back in time.
I wish I were in your shoes right now, and my children were still those ages. They are turning 20 and 25 soon. Rewind… and I would have been a better example and a better leader in regards to FUN fitness and quality time together… and food /health consciousness.
You still have the chance I missed. I didn’t know better. I was raised with soda in the fridge and boxed mac & cheese and “food is a treat” (little debbies are “snacks” lol).
Relearning how to eat, how to shop, how to cook, how to LIVE healthy – that was a big turn for me in my late 30’s.
We were so much “healthier” – active, cooked & ate at home, etc – when they were younger. But around the ages your children are now is when it all went out the window and life just got busy and “ramen noodles” were an acceptable “fix it yourself” dinner, lol. Ack!
Think forward 10 years. Your children will be 19, 20 and 22 years old. They will be out on their own, or headed that way. What do you want them to leave home with? Who do YOU want to be when YOUR next phase of life begins?
Start now. π You’ll be SO glad you did. And you’ll shape those beautiful children into amazing young adults! I’m glad I started before they left home, but yeah… I’d give anything to go back and do it different. Do it better.
There is nothing wrong with you at all. π *cheers*