Happy Valentines Day! โฅ
This has always been my FAVORITE holiday of the year. Scratch that, itโs my favorite DAY of the year. ๐
For the last 17 years straight, Iโve spent every February 14th celebrating everything I love and appreciate in life.
For many of those years I would also treat myself to all the things I loved most.
This year is no different. Except โwhat I love mostโ has changedโฆ a lot. I love feeling proud of myself, leaner, more confident, happier, more energetic, and healthier.
That doesnโt mean I canโt enjoy a traditional Valentineโs Day treat of course. ๐
I made some delicious low carb melt-in-your-mouth chocolate and nut butter candy hearts last night!
Choosing to live a healthy, active low carb lifestyle is the best thing Iโve ever done for myself.
THAT is worth celebrating!
It has become SO much easier since I stopped treating it like a โdietโ and got off that crazy dieting roller coaster. You know, the one where you tell yourself you deserve a โrewardโ for losing 1.4 pounds. Or you eat a donut to spite your scales that wonโt move for you (as if they care, lol). ๐
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Love Yourself As You Are
To love yourself as you are, right now (today), does not mean that you canโt change.
I donโt think I said that right.
I know that I really struggled with letting go of my old self and embracing the changes in my body โ and in my mind, and just in my life in general.
I struggled with that so hard that I kept going through a self-sabotage cycle every time I would get within 10-15 pounds of my goal weight.
I was afraid of who I would be, or not comfortable with getting comfortable, or just making some weird transition between still having an unhealthy overweight MIND in a lean BODY.
I donโt think Iโm making my point โ apologies, Iโm distracted.;)
Yesterday I woke up with my hand resting on my hip, and still fuzzy and half asleep I felt myself grip the squishy fat there. *sigh* I threw off the covers and got out of bed feeling deflated and disgusted with my body.
Thoughts like last year I was really lean and geez Iโve lost a lot of muscle tone this year followed me to the coffee maker. โUgh.โ
In my recent post about motivation to stay on track I mentioned that the internal dialogue HAS to change, and YOU have to be the one to change it.
Okay so Iโm not as tone and fit as I used to be. Iโm the same weight and in the same pant size, but my body composition has changed. Thereโs no sense beating myself up about it.
I know exactly what to do to get back to where I felt my BEST โ so just do it!
It wonโt happen overnight. I remember the process before, and the process itself was FUN and GREAT โ which got me excited about doing it again!
#mindshift ๐
I love Valentineโs Day so much that I started a day early. And I usually keep celebrating a day past. Because you know: February 15th is a GREAT day to buy flowers and jewelry.
I love to go out the morning of the 15th and buy myself beautiful bouquets to brighten up my โwinter homeโ and fill up my empty vases โ because theyโre super cheap the day after.:) lol
Anyway, hereโs what I ate yesterdayโฆ plus the low carb candy I made last night (in my PJโs, with the music blaring, singing at the top of my lungs and dancing around the kitchen making a beautifully delicious mess!). ๐
My Low Carb Meals on Tuesday
Breakfast was two fried eggs over fresh baby spinach, with the butter from the skillet drizzled over my spinach leaves. Plus a babybel cheese on the side.
Lunch was a delicious bowl full of healthy low carb foodsโฆ
30 grams of pecan pieces, 2 servings of KZ Clean Eating Low Carb Cereal (YUM!), 1/4 cup of Daisy brand cottage cheese, 4 small strawberries and 18 grams of blueberries.
Dinner was a toss up between a Ribeye steak and chicken sausageโฆ
I had my heart set on the ribeye. ๐
I ate the entire 8 ounce steak by itself, saving my carbs for dessert.
I didnโt really have a specific plan for dessert, other than to PLAY and just get creative with all the fun low carb products I had on hand from recent reviews โ to make some fun low carb candy creations, of course.
You can make low carb fudge easily with just peanut butter & coconut oil โ then add unsweetened coconut, salted macadamia nuts, pecans, or even berries.
The options are endless! Just see what you have in your kitchen to work with and get creative with it.;)
Hereโs what I gathered up:
Our coupon code for Legendary Foods is: lowcarbtraveler
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MyFitnessPal Diary for Tuesday
Calories: 1671
Net Carbs: 18
80% Fat, 15% Protein
Protein: 62 grams
Water: 56 ounces
How To Get Net Carbs in MyFitnessPal (Free)
Ideal LCHF / Keto Macro Tracking Explained
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I made a fun variety of low carb candy to enjoy:
My FAVORITES were the different nut butters in milk & white chocolate:
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Yum! So delicious, and VERY low carb the way I made them.
Mixing coconut oil with nut butters makes a really fast & easy fudge โ but it also lowers the carb count of the nut butter WAY down too. ๐
I tried several fun combinations, so I put all the pictures in an album with the details to give you some creative ideas to work with โ and some flops NOT to try.:) haha
You can make low carb fudge easily with peanut butter & coconut oil like I said, but I was using some fun products Iโve been reviewing.
I have coupon codes for most of those products, so if you have any questions about them or want the coupon code, let me knowโฆ
What are your plans for Valentineโs Day?
I always look forward to your thoughts, comments & questions!
Wishing you a beautiful day full of LOVE and smiles. โฅ *cheers*
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
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Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER
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Hi Terry, I love reading anything from you, everything you post is so doable. I made the spinach biscuits yesterday and just wanted to say thank you. They are terrific. I have grabbed them a couple times for a little side to my meals. I have one on the counter thawing for lunch that Iโll have with an avocado salad. Canโt wait. Thanks for all you do.
Oops, sorry, I know itโs Lynn, not Terry, duh LOL
Thatโs okay โ I get called Terry all the time, it comes with having two first names ๐ lol.
Iโm so glad you enjoyed the spinach biscuit recipe! Those are one of my favorites for a sandwich, or just spread with cream cheese and enjoyed fresh out of the oven.
You can replace the spinach with pretty much anything of course. Itโs a very versatile & forgiving recipe. ๐ Itโs in this post: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/17148/low-carb-vegetable-meal-recipe/ for anyone else that wants to try it. *cheers*
Happy Valentines Terry. Always enjoy reading your posts. Today especially! My wonderful loving husband bought me some beautiful SF chocolates. I canโt wait to give them a try. Thank you for all you do for us. I truly appreciate you.
Ooops! So sorry โ Lynn, not Terry!!!! ๐
Thank you, Vickie โ I hope you enjoyed those chocolates and had a VERY happy Valentineโs Day full of love. ๐ Hereโs to great husbands!!! *cheers*
Happy Valentines day!!! ๐ Got my work out in, corned beef and cabbage waiting at home for dinner tonight and a few sf candies to nibble on if Iโd like today. I had some strawberries and cucumbers for breakfast. A sweet patient friend just brought me a rose, that made me smile! Itโs a busy day and I canโt wait to go home to a hug and share a dinner w/ my love. Happy Vday to you. Life is just so preciously amazingโฆgood days and bad days, we are all here to thrive. <3
So true, Amy โ beautifully said! What a nice day. I hope it continued to be FULL of smiles for you. ๐ Happy Valentineโs Day!
Thank you so very much for all your post. I love all your recipes and like your daily menus. I do have one big concern. I follow a very low carb diet (20 or under). I try to eat some of your daily menus or try some of the products you are using and I seem to stay the same or gain weight. I watch my calories and am very high fat ,medium protein. It seems I donโt do well on the processed products. I was so hopeful with all these new products for my life style change but it seems they all make me gain. Been doing this for over a year. Years ago I did Atkins 1972 and lost 70 pounds. Gained it back after 7 years. Then tried New Atkins with products and only lost 6 pounds after 6 months. So now with Keto it has me really stressed and disappointed . I love the food and recipes. I read everything and try to change it up. So my question is are you losing eating all this awesome food ? Your Valentine desserts look divine. But I know better than to even try them.
Hi Maryana,
Youโve been tracking your macros closely and doing 20 net carbs max and 70% fat consistently for over a year now, right? How much weight have you lost in that time, and how much weight do you still want/need to lose? I ask because the last 10-15 pounds is the MOST challenging.
When did your weight loss stall, how long has it been stalled, and what do YOU feel might be the culprit? A specific product or food youโre eating that you introduced since your weight loss stopped?
As much info as you can share with me would be helpful. Iโd love to help you figure it out! Of course the fastest way to kickstart your weight loss again is to stick to super simple real foods with very few ingredients. ๐
I find that even with ideal macros, processed meats cause me to stall or experience a slight gain โ pepperoni, smoked sausage, etc. And not for the sodium, because I eat other very high sodium foods sometimes without that result. Iโm okay with that since Iโm so close to my goal weight right now, and just eat them now and then โ not daily.
Thank you so very much for trying to help me figure this out. Iโve been really struggling this time around. I have only lost about 12 pounds in the entire year. The only thing about that is I will gain 4 to 6 pounds back. Then work hard to get them off. Then the cycle starts over..LOL. I then check for hidden carbs, redo my macro, add more fat ,etcโฆ I have tried some of the products that you are enjoying and like I said before โ they seem to make me gainโ??? You are right about the pepperoni and process meats because I know they put a pound or two on. I like my sweetener like stevia or liquid Splenda and I donโt move the scale on them days either. Also my measuring tape doesnโt budge. Iโm not close to my goal weight. About 60 pounds needed. I am 4 10 and 57 yrs.old. Last time I redid macros it stated I needed to have 985 calories. I am now about 1200- 1500 a day. Not much exercise if any,bad hip. But I work and I donโt take any prescription meds. I think my body doesnโt like any sweeteners,processed foods , almond or coconut flour etcโฆ. Itโs very hard to stay on just meat, egg and cheese for a lifetime. But I know it works because I did it years ago. I just wanted to enjoy your menus and foods because they looked and tasted good. I love your post and they encourage so many of us. So keep inspiring us all.
Hi Maryana ๐
My advice is to keep it REALLY simple. Ignore calories for now, and just do 20 net carbs max and 70% fat consistently.
If I eat ANY leaner than 70% in healthy fats, I stall out. The fat is an important factor for both weight loss and energy.
You can mix it up A LOT with super simple foods, way more than just meat and eggs & cheese. In fact, limit to cheese to an ounce a day โ or try cutting dairy out altogether, or at least way down.
My favorite breakfast is great macros โ 1/2 cup of pecan pieces, 1/4 cup Daisy brand cottage cheese and 4 small strawberries. Plus itโs delicious!
Thatโs just one example. The more โreal foodโ and simple combinations the better, but definitely use all the variety of low carb foods to ENJOY it too. ๐
Thank you,thank you for all the helpful advice. Love my cheese and thatโs the only dairy. Occasionally I will make one of the recipes with heavy whipping cream. You are so right I check my ketone sticks and if I have more then 2 ounces of cheese I am out of ketosis or barely pink. I will try all the suggestions and keep you posted.