I have to explain something. Well – two things actually… By the end of this um, interesting read (lol) you might be calling me Mary or Skully – or just crazy. 🙂
First, I was up for 24 full hours yesterday. This is important for two reasons: 1) because it looks like I had a lot of carbs and calories for ONE day. It was a LONG day. And 2) I’ve only slept 4 hours since then, so I’m a little “off” today. 🙂
So that’s the thing you need to know before I tell you what I ate yesterday – which was WEIRD, but good! The other thing I’ll tell you at the end, because… well, it’s creepy odd and totally freaked me out. 😛
Thursday’s Low Carb Meals
I woke up at 4am on Thursday. That’s because Wednesday’s Hike totally wiped me out lol, so I crashed super early. I got up and finished off what little was left of the awesome trail mix – because it’s addictively delicious!!
It’s a mix of Pili Nuts and Pepitas & Kale. Pili Nuts are huge buttery soft nuts that are super nutrient dense, by the way. Check out EatPiliNuts.com (we have a coupon code if you decide to try them: LOWCARBTRAVELER -all caps).
My low carb breakfast was my favorite combination of healthy foods: 1/2 cup pecans, 1/4 cup Daisy Cottage Cheese & 4 small strawberries.
It comes to 5 net carbs and 85% healthy fat.
Totally forgetting I had amazing leftovers from Ruby Tuesday in the fridge 🙄 I was really torn on what to do for lunch.
So I decided to get creative… aka one of my crazy kitchen experiments. 😛
I had 2 packs of Snickerdoodle Keto Kookies left, and about 4 TBSP of the Coconut Goji Powerblend (superfood stuff). I was going to just eat the cookies, but I wanted something less sweet. So I mixed them together. 🙂
And added butter of course! Then I squished it all together real good in a baking dish. This is what that looked like (below). I was like “Hmm. That’ll do!”
They did turn out good. 🙂
Surprise! haha
Confession: I totally forgot about that dish in the oven, because I had a full work day and set off to do some consulting. I should have set a timer I guess, but my nose told me I forgot them (haha) – so they were a little DONE. 🙂 It still tasted great though!
I cut them into “bars” and had a few for lunch (above) then I had a few for dinner (below) with my favorite “low carb cereal” – the same concoction I had for breakfast earlier:
I mixed that all up together like this – which was DELICIOUS:
I finished the rest of the “bars” later that night…
Here’s my MyFitnessPal Food Diary for Thursday:
Macronutrients: Simple Explanation Of Low Carb Macros
How To Get A Net Carbs Column in MyFitnessPal
Net Carbs: 27
Total Carbs: 51
Calories: 2380
Protein: 57 grams
86% Fat / 10% Protein
Water: 64 ounces
Reminder: I was up for a full 24 hours, so those numbers reflect more than a “normal day” of eating. 😉 And now, on to the next thing…
This is ME. 😯
This is NOT me… I mean, it’s not how I normally look!
I took that photo last night when I started swelling up like a hot air balloon.
I don’t recall being abducted by aliens. Of course, I don’t think you’re supposed to have any memory of that. 😛 lol. WHAT THE HECK?! 😯 Wowsa…
The bloating is better today but not totally gone, and my weight has been fluctuating back up lately too. I’m up to 146.4 pounds today, a full TEN POUNDS heavier than I was at the beginning of the year.
I’ve been sick. I haven’t really talked about that much since I originally got sick in January, which lingered on and turned into bronchitis bordering on pneumonia by the end of January.
I took antibiotics, which gave me a horrible case of thrush, I took meds for that, and about the same time my doc switched my antidepressant from Celexa to Lexapro.
I mentioned the Lexapro has been affecting my weight and vision. But on top of that, I’ve continued to feel “sick” (like a cold/flu/allergies) way after the 10-day round of antibiotics – and it’s just getting worse. All my lymph nodes are swollen so bad that it hurts to swallow. I’ve had a low grade fever here and there, that “icky sick feeling” etc.
I think I’m having some weird or allergic reaction to the Lexapro. Maybe? I dunno. I’m seeing my doctor again on Monday morning.
That week I dropped over 5 pounds in one week – I had halfed my dose every day that week. I started taking the regular dose again this week, and bam – I’m looking 17 months pregnant! 😛 lol… and feeling SICK.
Blah.
It’s nothing I’ve eaten lately, by the way. Everything I’ve had in the last week are foods I’m familiar with and eat often. The ONLY thing I’ve been playing with and getting yo-yo results from yo-yo testing is the meds…
I’m ready to ditch the Lexapro.
Which sucks, because it’s actually working for me. 🙄
To lose this miserable 10 pounds, here’s what I’ll do:
Go super clean and super simple: no processed foods or even processed meats, limited cheese & nuts, all Real Food – meat & greens + healthy fats – super low carb (focus on meat & fat mostly, with smaller servings of greens). Only 3-4 ingredients per plate MAX (not including butter, salt, olive oil, mayo, etc). Keep it VERY simple and super low carb, and super clean.
That’s what I’ll be doing. It works. See the 3 Ingredients Rule.
It’s been a great stall breaker for everyone that’s tried it! It’s pretty much how I normally eat – except when I’m testing/reviewing new low carb foods for you.;)
So there you have it.
I got up and ate raw pecans for breakfast – super simple. I’m drinking lots of water. My “sick stomach” is taking care of itself, thank goodness. I had fish and veggies for lunch. I’m just going to take this one day at a time until I see Doc on Monday. 🙂
Oh – and Caroline is coming tonight, so no more weird Kitchen Experiments, lol. She’ll cook something fabulous, I’m sure – so stay tuned for that! 🙂
Plus whatever crazy outdoor adventure we get into on Saturday, because we’re both all about having FUN with our fitness!!
How are things going for you?
Leave a comment & let’s talk. 🙂
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
p.s. I have to hide my Keto Krate goods because Caroline LOVES to raid my boxes! haha – She ate the whole bag of Super Seedz. She said they were fabulous, by the way. I didn’t get to try any 😛 lol.
They’ll be shipping the April box soon…
I can’t wait to see what we get this time!!
Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER
I wish you the best of luck. Have never taken Lexapro but have been on Celexa for years. Hope you find something that works for you. Good luck. You are the best and I look forward to your posts every week.
All will be well I have taken Celexa before. Hang in there and it will fall off in know time! The struggle is real and we appreciate u sharing this with us! We all have med that tend to play on our bodies and minds. I AGAIN I am so happy to have found u! βΊ
Wow Lynn, that is crazy. I hope you get some answers. It has to be really frustrating.
Hi Lynne,
My daughter gets belly bloat like that when she is stressed, it eventually goes down when she gets rest, sometimes it is a combo of stress and eating too much fiber. Get some rest, I hope you can find a med without too many side effects. Thanks so much for your posts, I really look forward to getting them! I am envious of your hikes, it’s snowing here in Boston!
That may be it – stress and lack of sleep combo, PLUS all the extra fiber I was eating. That was helpful!
Hey Lynn! Crazy belly bloat, do you ever use probiotics? I use Andrew Lessman’s Ultimate Friendly Flora. I like his stuff, very pure and high quality and his facility is completely solar and it’s all made in Vegas but here’s the link. I know there are some comparable ones on Amazon, what you are looking for is the billions of CFU’s (colony forming units) The more the better. This really helps control the bloat which occurs sometimes from change of diet, adding fiber or any number of disturbance of our delicate balance in the gut ugh! So maybe check out the link and read the customer reviews. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him but I use many of his supplements and they are wonderful plus he is innovative and very safe. He’s on HSN network every month or so, and explains everything so simply. But anyway, you are so funny and inspiring and helpful and I love and look forward to your posts all the time. I’ve felt so fortunate to run into someone like you at just the right time in my life.. you’ve made this way of life so simple and do-able for me and I can never thank you enough.. so I click through your links as often as I can. And I eat lots of the things you show us.. but those keto cookies snickerdoodles.. they are everything a treat should be. Take care of yourself, I hope you’ll ask the doc if you might benefit from a probiotic. They clean you out in a very gentle unbloaty way.
Yes! π I just went through a WHOLE bottle, lol.
See: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/9566/probiotics/ π
OOPS forgot the friendly flora link! https://www.hsn.com/products/ultimate-friendly-flora-180-caps/7818782
Is that really your NON pregnant belly?? I’ve had 5 children and never looked pregnant(not even like that!) No one ever knew I was pregnant! I do feel bloated at times now but not to the point of looking pregnant! Is this normal?
Good luck with the meds. I was on Lexapro for a while, but switched to Zoloft and have been on it for years. Even the low 5mg dose of Lexapro was enough to have some impressive effects, and while I was less unhappy, I also stopped making art, humming or whistling to myself, and a few more physical symptoms. I hippie you find something that works well for your mind and body.
I stopped taking it. My weight is already starting to move down, so I’m hopeful I can get back in ketosis now – and stay there! π
My Doc also gave me a steroid shot and a new round of antibiotics, and said I have an upper respiratory infection (not an allergic reaction). So hopefully I can get WELL now. π
Lynn, hopefully you are working with your doc to wean you off Lexapro and/or replace it with a different antidepressant. It can be dangerous to quit antidepressants cold turkey. I got worse on Lexapro a few years ago. My doc ordered a blood panel that shows how well (or not at all) your body metabolizes all the currently available antidpressents (it was a list of about 50, I think). Low and behold, my body doesn’t metabolize Lexapro at all. I spiraling back into depression and anxiety because basically it was like being on no medication at all. I’m now on Cymbalta, which works well for me. But, have noticed significant weight gain and poor vision in the past year. Reading your post, I’m now wondering if Cymbalta could be part of the problem! I’m going to do some research. But, before trying another antidepressant, ask your doctor about that blood test. It’s hard on your neurological system as well as your mental health, to go through the “trial and error” process of finding the right meds for you. That blood test helped my doctor avoid meds that weren’t going to be effective, and focus on choosing from the list of those that my body will metabolize. Good luck!
Random suggestion and late in the thread…. but my girlfriend had a similar lexapro reaction. The put her on Wellbutrin and it worked for her. Just a suggestion, not trying to play doctor.