Everyone feels SO different about thisโฆ that itโs hard to talk about. The whole virus / quarantine / shutdown topic has become very polarizing โ which makes me sad.
People seem anxious, angry, uncertain, annoyed, frustrated, confused, one or more, maybe all of the above. Either way theyโre all negative feelings, and emotions seem to be running HIGH lately โ which is totally understandable.
As for me, Iโm justโฆ HAPPY.
When I tell people Iโm STILL staying home, this is what they imagine:
This is what itโs actually like, though. ๐ ๐ฅฐ
The only REAL negative in my life at the momentโฆ is the coffee-mate sugar free powdered creamer shortage. ๐ณ๐
Update: Itโs back in stock now AND they just dropped the price!
Iโve settled into a great routine, a nice relaxed flow actually. Iโve fallen in love with my home all over again and have been working on organization & updates.
Iโm cooking at home too, and when I miss dining outโฆ Iโm having fun recreating my restaurant favorites, at home! ๐
At first this whole situation brought on a lot of anxiety and uncertainty and felt like a major disruption to the path I was on in my life.
But now, 11+ weeks into it, this โpause in life as I knew itโ has made me reconsider my priorities, all the things that were usual habits or routines, what REALLY mattersโฆ and has me putting A LOT of thought into my goals going forward.
This feels like a GREAT opportunity to totally recreate (or restructure maybe) my entire lifestyle.
I feel extremely GRATEFUL to be in a position to stay home โ and continue staying home, happily โ by choice.
And then I feel GUILTY for having that option (that โprivilegeโ) even though I worked HARD (busted my ass, actually) to have the choices & opportunities I do at this point in my life.
Still, not everyone got to choose.
I get that.
Iโve thought so many times what my life would be like had this pandemic happened at various phases in my life. Like when I had a house full of teenagers, or when my son was at his sickest, or that time we were camping out in a remote cabin with no hot water or refrigerator when the kids were 5 and 9 years old.
Every time I think about all the different scenarios, I get that huge hit of GRATITUDE again about where I am in my life now (instead) โ followed by that little hit of GUILT for feeling so grateful. ๐คช
Everyoneโs story through this pandemic is different. Yours is unique to you, mine to me. But we still have an amazing community and Iโve been overwhelmed by the support and kindness that runs strong through it. ๐
Speaking of, we had a GREAT live discussion the other night!
We talked about food guilt (and mom guilt), we talked about staying on track โ or getting BACK on track. I also unboxed some of my latest packages because Iโve been hitting the sales, and stocking up on some NEW things to review for you. ๐
I shared what I like, what I donโt like, and there were a lot of great questions and fun topics too โ just an all around fun conversation about low carb life!
Hereโs the video if you missed itโฆ
I mentioned Iโm gearing up (and stocking up!) for a HUGE low carb ice cream comparison review, and the new Real Good Foods ice cream came upโฆ
Yes, I ordered it โ a BUNCH of it. ๐
No, I donโt know the NET carb count on it. They donโt seem to want to disclose that for some reason. ๐ค
I scoured the ingredients though and they LOOK good, and it is SUPER CREAMY and delicious โ so Iโm going to do a blood glucose/ketone test on it just to be sure.
But going by the ingredients alone, Iโd say it should probably check out fine! โ
Their newest flavors are in stock again now AND they marked the price-per-pint down (yay!) plus โ I scored you an additional 15% off their new lower prices. ๐ฏ
Yes, You Can Order Online at Real Good Foods!
๐ฒ Use discount code LOWCARBTRAVELER for the extra 15% off
Their new cauliflower & broccoli crust pizzas are both GREAT, btw. ๐๐
They ship fast & FREE on DRY ICE ๐ง so you can get every ice cream flavor & all the pizza delivered right to your front door still frozen solid! ๐
As you can seeโฆ I am NOT doing without while staying at home. ๐
Iโve been shopping great deals in my spare time, working from home of course (as usual), doing some painting and organizing and rearranging, spending A LOT of time outdoorsโฆ and trying out some DELICIOUS new low carb foods to review for you! ๐
In that video (above) we also talked about Kiss My Keto MCT Oil and their Pumpkin Seed & Sea Salt chocolate bars ๐ซ and what I did NOT like from there.
My discount code is LOWCARBTRAVELER there btw, if you also like their MCT Oil (itโs the only one that comes with a pump).
I unboxed my orders from Netrition and Perfect Keto and ChocZero too. Hereโs my list of favorites from Netrition (which you saw me unbox), and tip: they have the ChocZero peanut butter cups in stock!
* * * * *
Iโve been cooking A LOT more than usual, given Iโm happy staying at home (still).
Mostly itโs easy one skillet meals, or quick salads with LOTS of flavor & nutrients โ that are honestly better than any salad Iโve EVER had in a restaurant!
My favorite meal lately is a โOne Skillet Farm Egg Brunchโ
Here are two videos of me making it, so you can see how EASY it is โ and how DELICIOUS it turns out:
Those garlic-roasted grape tomatoes are my newest obsession!! ๐
I add them on my salads too:
Such an amazing burst of flavor in pretty much any dish!
๐ Hereโs how I make the garlic-roasted tomatoes:
Between those โbrunch skilletsโ and delicious salads, that yogurt parfait (#3 on that page), and ALL the different brands & flavors of low carb ice creams Iโve ordered to try & review ๐ฆ ๐ Iโm definitely enjoying the FOOD at home.
Back to that though:
๐ก Iโm happy to keep staying home for nowโฆ
Itโs interesting really, how just a few short weeks changed my perspective on so many things. Things that were so routine or habitual that I never really questioned them โ I just did them.
Iโm still working that out and making decisions, but I definitely see a LOT of positive changes coming out of this โ and already in the works. ๐
Right now I have everything I need at home: my work, Slim (who is not well, so itโs the perfect time not to be traveling and to stay home with him), I can get any foods I want delivered right to my front door โ easy, all is well. Iโm content here.
Iโm spending a lot of time outdoors of course. ๐ผ I havenโt been hiking because they shut down a lot of the places I would normally go, but those have opened back up so Iโll be back out hiking my favorite waterfalls soon! ๐๐ฆ
Being completely honestโฆ itโs the โweird vibeโ with people that makes me less than enthusiastic about going to a store, dining out inside a restaurant, or going ANYWHERE public really.
Like I said earlier, people seem very odd โ what little I have been out. Some are antagonistic, judgmental, angry, hateful, disrespectful, etc. Others seem anxious โ or look at you and walk WAY around you like you have the plague (oh wait: you might!).
I get it. Most people are on edge in one way or another, or the extreme opposite: there are people who donโt care at all about any of it and donโt mind to get all in your space (which I never liked even before all of this) โ and totally ignore any guides set up, like one way aisles in stores, or even โconsiderateโ social distance.
And then there are the people that are going out of their way to antagonize anyone they think is being cautious or feeling anxious โ which is just crappy.
Itโs just the whole vibe โ itโs SO far off.
It sort of takes the fun out of usual social stuff.
No, it DOES take the fun out of it. (period)
Then thereโs the fact that everything is differentโฆ
Nothing is casual and easy like it was before. Thereโs yellow caution tape around the playground where I used to love to go swing on Tuesday mornings, there are barricades and roped off entrances, there are head-counters at the door, lines in the floor, everyone looking at each other oddlyโฆ yada yada yada.
Iโm simply more content staying home, and staying out of it all.
Everyone gets to make their own choices, what choices we have within our specific circumstances at least, and thatโs mine: Iโm happy at home for now.
I think about all the traveling Iโve done, the five trips to Australia on LONG packed flights, the beaches Iโve visited, all the concerts I went to packed shoulder to sweaty shoulder singing our lungs out together, all the events Iโve attended, fun nights out dancing, crowded restaurants buzzing with conversation and laughterโฆ
It would be one thing if ANY of those things would be the same now, or feel anywhere near the same as they used to. I guess thatโs the bottom line:
Things are not FUN out there anymore โ to me.
Maybe someday they will be again. But not yetโฆ so I can have a dance party in my kitchen to live concert videos on YouTube, cook up amazing meals at home, enjoy the outdoors like I always have, and otherwise enjoy my home life for awhile.
Of course, thatโs easy for me: Iโm a natural introvert. ๐
I canโt imagine how hard this has been for teenagers, young adults, people with large families and full houses, those who lost jobs โ or worse: lost loved onesโฆ
Two of my closest friends had to shut down their business โ for good.
I can only imagine how THAT feels, being in business for 23 years myself, in a career I created myself. Losing something you poured your whole life into has to be โฆ I donโt even have the words for it. ๐
Yes, I feel very fortunate indeed. I do.
Iโm glad both of my children are raised, out of on their own, and safe & healthy. And that I have the option to be home alone, and that I ENJOY being home alone as much as I do.
The only other thing, besides that shortage on coffee-mate sugar free powdered creamer I mentioned ๐คฆโโ๏ธ is WORK โ itโs been extremely busy the last few months, and keeping me going non-stop most days! Which is probably a good thing, and the reason I havenโt found myself โboredโ yet. ๐
Iโve had to โshift with the changesโ with my business and my usual work, so thatโs kept me pretty busy.
It didnโt help that the basement flooded, the water heater went out, the A/C on my car stopped working, my refrigerator went on the fritz, my dane injured his foot โ etc (ETC!) โ lots of extra expenses while work was requiring a lot of adjustments and shifts in flow. Ack!
Thatโs life though, right?
I will confess though that I havenโt been working out at all lately. Iโve pretty much lost ALL of my muscle tone the last few months.
Thatโs my next BIG goal: to get back to my daily workouts! Even if I have to do home workouts for now, until I feel comfortable leaving Slim to go out for a hikeโฆ
His foot seems to be healing up well (fingers crossed!), but the antibiotics made him sick, so Iโm just keeping a super close eye on him right now. Heโs VERY old for a great dane (11 years).
What about you?
Are you back to work and HAPPY to be back to work?
Are you out of work, working from home, back to work and NOT happy about it?
Are you going back out now that things are opening back up, or not really feeling comfortable with that?
I would love to hear what YOUR experience has been, how you feel about it all NOW, and how you think it might change things for you going forwardโฆ
It took me ALL day to hit โsendโ on this note to you because โ well, like I said, this is just a VERY sensitive topic.
So yeah, I think Iโll just stick to low carb recipes & easy keto meal ideas for the next few posts. ๐
But I do look forward to hearing how you are, how you feel, and whatโs going on with youโฆ
๐
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
p.s. Let me know if you have any questions, or if thereโs anything I can help with when it comes to the keto diet or low carb lifestyle, or any problems youโre having lately. I always look forward to hearing from you!
p.p.s. I got my Perfect Keto delivery this morning while I was writing you this note. ๐ I just ordered it a few days ago!!
๐ฒ Get 15% off at Perfect Keto with this Discount Link
Hereโs a video unboxing so you can see what I got:




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Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER

Lynn
Thank you for all you do for us!! This world changing time has been really hard and stressful but I am moving hopefully in the right direction.
I placed a order and maybe because it was our 1st we are still waiting its been 2 weeks!
They say it shipped. Hopefully we get it soon. Again thanks
Hi Frann,
What did you order โ or from where? I had a couple problems with shipments getting hung up in random places. They shipped out fast but got stuck somewhere, like on in Atlanta for some reason. Is that the case with your order: stuck or lost in transit? Or it didnโt ship? Either way, get in touch with customer service and be sure to let them know! ๐ And let ME know if thereโs any way I can help with that.
I love this. Thank you for sharing this perspective, which I share. I am content to be home with my little family, not because Iโm scared, but Iโm the best thing for my community, and for my familyโs well being. Iโm growing more comfortable with not feeling like I owe anyone an explanation why we havenโt thrown our front door open wide.
I donโt mind to admitโฆ it IS nice to be โoff the hookโ and have โan easy outโ (although I cringe saying that, it feels selfish, given the situation) โ but, it IS nice to live life on my own terms, more than ever before, and to feel okay saying no or just not participatingโฆ in things I may have felt obligated to do before.
For now at least, I just get to be ME, on my own terms.
All that, plus a renewed sense of appreciation for LIFE and HOME and LOVE and all the things that matter SO muchโฆ that I think maybe, perhaps, I might have taken for granted a bit โ for too long. xo
Easy outโฆ thatโs what I was thinking. Iโve happily, I mean โsadlyโ, missed a few weddings and graduations this last month. My husband and I and his family donโt mixed well so I was actually a little relieved to not have to attend the events I was stressing myself out over! My husband works but luckily not with the public and I stay home but we have a lawn service company and I do wedding clean ups at a large event center but we donโt deal with customers at those. Just show up, work alone, and get paid. Like you, we have been very lucky and feel very fortunate. My kids have adjusted to being home just fine. I love being home. We go outdoors for hikes and walks to get some sunshine and fresh air. Iโve learned I can make a lot of meals with stuff I have at home. I donโt need to run to the store for one item to make a certain meal. I think this will stick with me and we will โmake doโ with whatโs in the pantry more often. I didnโt realize how many trips I used to make when the house is full of food!
I realized that exact same thing, Trish โ lol. And YES, itโs so much easier and so much simpler to just use what you have and make do with whatโs on hand.
Actually, life is just SIMPLER all the way around! ๐
Iโm so glad this has been a positive shift for you, and allowed you more freedoms and less stress. I feel the same way now that the initial shock has worn off and Iโve settled into a (way better) routine. ๐
Lynn, I couldnโt agree more!!
Going out isnโt in my familyโs best interest right now, despite the reopening. Iโm about to have our second child, so the least amount of exposure to others, the better.
Plus, the vibe is just as you described!!
So much animosity and flat-out selfishness when it comes to taking very simple precautions (ie. mask). And as a nurse, I try to educate where I can, but many are past caring or listening to reason.
And that right there makes me wanna keep away.
Plus nothing is normal yet. And wonโt be for a while. Itโs just not the same to casually go to the pool or the store as we were used to.
Thanks for your post. I couldโve written it myself!!
Congratulations, Lindsay! Adding to your family is such an exciting thing. ๐ How are things going? Iโm just catching up but your note made me smile, parts of it at least โ nodding in agreement with the rest. ๐
The social tension is just too thick to actually ENJOY any kind of outing right now (still) so it suits me to stay out of all that altogether.
I do love that technology allows us to stay connected with people we WANT to interact with, which we can be more selective about now โ or I am. ๐
There are still plenty of great conversations, good laughs and social time. And doing it by video call means I donโt even have to clean the house or even change out of my comfies โ lol.
I hope things are still going well with you! xo
I would like to say that I am also happy! Iโm a 57 yo woman with no, none, medical conditions. I take no medications. I have been following along with you for quite a while. I was diagnosed April 6th positive with Covid-19. Iโm a nurse on the front lines. My husband also contracted from me , we decided to keep co-habitating so he could care for me knowing he put himself in harms way. I beat it! He beat it! We are both alive and well but the virus really ravaged our bodies. As a side effect, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Not happy about that. We jumped back on the low carb band wagon 3 weeks ago. That, along with some medication, has dropped my very scary fasting blood sugar from well over 400 down to 120! My doctor is thrilled! She says keep on low carbing! Thank you for your group and continued success to everyone! Itโs the best way of life!
Hi Patty ๐ How are you and your husband doing now? I canโt imagine what it must have been like working as a nurse on the front line. Are you back to work now? Iโd love to hear how things are going with you both now.
Very interesting about being diagnosed with T2D as a side effect, but Iโm so glad you were able to get that under control quickly!
Iโm sorry I donโt have FB or insta so donโt know the appropriate place to ask. Do you have any suggestions for a popcorn alternative? We love moviesโฆ love popcornโฆ choczero has my candy portion covered but any thing you might suggest to someone mindlessly snack on during the movie? Not that we are going any time soon
Hey Trish! Sometimes I like to have a โsnacky movie nightโ at home and my favorites are roasted salted pecans and/or Lolliโs peanut butter macadamia cookie clusters. ChocZero is always a great pick. ๐
Dear Lynn: I totally get how you feel, of course I am retired and my husband and I pretty much settled into a comfortable routineโฆโฆhoweverโฆโฆโฆyou are so right people have become less than nice, in fact darn right scared or is that just the mask they chose that day. I like to do my own shopping as I am a person who can make a meal out of nothingโฆItalian . So I only go grocery shopping about every 10-12 days, well I have found this week with the stores having more products, people are even acting more strange.. I am sort of social and friendly to everyone even with a mask, and when I speak to someone or give them an act of being courtesy โฆthey practically run out of the store or call 911 on meโฆ..slight exaggeration but I get it this has gone on long enough and I am in Oregon and we are veryโฆ.veryโฆ.very low in outbreaks but our Governor refuses to let us out of our homes, I expect monitors on us next so they can track usโฆโฆ..ha ha. It is up to our Nation to move on, as our livelihood and sanity are being effected and that is serious, I am 76 and have been thru many things and realize this was a universal mistake in the handling of COVID 19โฆ.and that my dear is how I feel. God Bless, keep your smiling face and this too will pass (not soon enough for me) !
Hi Bonnie!
Were you literally not allowed out of your homes there in Oregon, as in you couldnโt be in your yard or weed your flowerbeds, etc? It seems I heard about that in another state awhile backโฆ which is hard to imagine. I live in a small agricultural town in a remote area, and am feeling very grateful for my outdoor space โ and have really enjoyed being out working in the yard or playing with Slim out back the last few months.
I agree that the social tension is HIGH and I experienced similar odd behavior in the store awhile back. Iโm content to skip all that tension and have been happily ordering online for curbside pickup. Itโs such a time saver and convenience for me โ and better for my overall state of mind and well being than the awkward vibes and tension between people. ๐ Not to mention the downright *weirdness* of some! ha
I hope things are still going well for you! I would love to hear an update when you get a chance. ๐
I just signed up for keto Krate using your coupon code. Iโm so excited! June is sold out though
Keto Krate is a lot of fun. ๐ I havenโt opened my July box yet. I got busy with some home projects (painting, etc) โ thanks for the reminder!! Did you open yours, and what did you think of this monthโs box?? That should give you a lot of fun, new snack ideas!