Real Life Keto (With Chocolate & Wine)

It’s been a tough week. Every time I sit down to write to you, I backspace, start over, delete, start again – then quit and curl back up on the couch. That’s why you haven’t heard much from me lately, and why I haven’t been sharing my usual daily low carb food diaries.

What’s on my mind doesn’t feel relevant, or worth sharing. Or it feels too big and I get overwhelmed. I’m still working it out I guess. Somewhere inside me I feel like my story and my thoughts need to be shared, with another voice assuring me no one cares. But I think maybe – *pause* ugh 🤦‍♀️ I’ll come back to this. Let’s just talk food for now…

In this post: “green fries” for that buttery salty finger food fix, a simple open faced egg sandwich, VERY low carb super clean wine, “low carb tv dinners” and CAKE – plus more simple whole food meals…

SPOILER: my daughter has lost almost 7 pounds eating with me this week! 👀

Real Life Keto

I mentioned in my last post that my daughter is staying with me. I haven’t been well for a couple of months now, and while I’m past the worst of it… having her home has been REALLY good. Being home alone in my condition was pretty scary there for awhile.

After 7 years with an empty nest, being a Mom again has sparked something inside me and perked me back up. 💖 Even better that she’s an adult now, so it’s some fun mix of mother/daughter and friend/housemate – which is new, definitely an adjustment, but good and fun. 🙂

The cool thing is, she started eating low carb the day she got here, so it’s been really fun to share some of my “keto favorites” with her, like: wine, ice cream, chocolate, cake – all the good stuff!

Ann said, “look how pretty this chocolate is!” 🥰 ^ These are the new ChocZero hazelnut truffles, the winter collection. My code is TRAVELINGLOWCARB for a discount on ChocZero.

Mostly we eat eggs, meat and vegetables – pretty simple meals. But it being her first week transitioning to low carb, and having her home being a bit of a special occasion 🥂 we’ve been indulging while adjusting (too) – all low carb and in moderation of course.

That’s made it both fun AND easy for both of us, staying on track with a good mix of focusing on nutrition & health AND emotional well-being. We were both needing a little happiness boost. 😉

I’m trying to teach her that eating keto doesn’t have to be “militant” or feel like “a diet” and that there are low carb swaps for just about anything you might want. That’s been key for helping ME stay on track all these years (almost 10 years, actually).

Ann has already lost 6.8 pounds in her first week here, just eating low carb in a relaxed & easy way – with absolutely no deprivation. 💯❣️

Snacks have been really helpful in helping her stick to low carb eating, especially this first week. She likes the Perfect Keto Lemon Poppyseed bars and Snickerdoodle cookies (so far), and she’s trying out more stuff in my snack stash too.

They came out with a new flavor this week, btw: Banana Bread Keto Bars. They’re soft and rich and really nice for a quick grab in the morning with a cup of coffee:

But my TOP favorites are still Almond Butter Brownie and the newer Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bars (which tastes like “peanut butter cup” to me!).

My discount code is LOWCARBTRAVELER for 15% off at Perfect Keto. That’s where I get the unflavored collagen powder I use in my first morning coffee every day. I like their new Cinnamon Toast collagen powder too 😋 and I don’t normally like their flavored powders!

The keto wine in the picture above is from Secco Wine Club and it’s GREAT, super clean and really impressive. Plus only 2 carbs, for the ENTIRE bottle. I have a discount code for that too, that gives you free shipping on 3 bottles if you want to try a few without signing up for their wine club.

See this post for the details and my review + the comments/discussion:

Low Carb Wine Tonight? 🍷 This Keto Wine Impressed Me & Passed The Test! 🍾

My daughter is 24, so it’s nice that we can enjoy a glass of wine together at dinner now! 🍷🍾

This was Ann’s dinner last night: ribeye, loaded mashed cauliflower and steamed broccoli w/cheese. Simple & delicious! 🥩🥦

As for me… I had a “Low Carb TV Dinner” 📺 🥘 🙂 and finished the last episode of Jack Ryan on amazon prime. 👏 That was such a good series!!

My meal was meatloaf with sugar free bbq sauce and cauli-mash with cheddar. 😋

It’s COLD here in Tennessee this week (which I’m totally OVER already). Definitely a flannel sweater leggings & comfort food kinda night. 💯

My daughter and I don’t always eat on the same schedule, so we’re making good use of my low carb meal delivery service for a quick “dinner on demand” with the heat & eat meals. I’m using Evolve and my discount code is LOWCARBTRAVELER there too. (We’re loving it!)

Here are some more meals we’ve been eating this week…

Eggs are a staple for breakfast. She usually cooks breakfast for both of us, and sausage & eggs has been the quick fix most mornings. She likes boiled eggs with sausage, or eggs scrambled with cheese.

She also makes a sort of “open faced fried egg sandwich” with deli meat and cheese that’s super simple but really good:

For that hot & buttery “finger food dipping fun” type of fix, we’ve been having green beans fried in butter to dip in garlic ranch. 😍🥰

Low carb, delicious, and a great healthy swap!

I call them “green fries” 🙂 – frozen or fresh green beans both work great by the way, whatever you have on hand. For frozen vegetables I’ve always loved the Pictsweet Farms brand – they’re super fresh!

Most of our meals are just meat & vegetables…

Like this grilled chicken with zucchini and red peppers:

Or this grilled chicken & shrimp with steamed broccoli (this is hers, with mozzarella on the chicken & broccoli):

Of course it helps that we have fresh cooked pre-made meals on hand. I’ve been super grateful for this delivery service since I’ve been sick so long – and in quarantine. It just makes dinner EASY…

These meals are from Eat To Evolve and my discount code is LOWCARBTRAVELER if you want to try them out too. I’ve been really impressed with them!

This was Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs with Seared Green Beans:

That’s what we’ve been eating mostly this past week, different variations of meat & vegetables, plus sausage & eggs – and the occasional keto bar, glass of very low carb wine, plus sugar free chocolates & sweets in moderation.

Gotta enjoy life a little while staying on track! 😉

Speaking of, we actually had CAKE FOR LUNCH one of the first few days she was here. It’s from a really nice bakery in SoCal (they ship nationwide) and they use super clean ingredients. I served it with cream cheese and berries as more of a fun social brunch her first weekend here:

My daughter said, “this doesn’t even taste sugar free!” 🥰

It really is the best cake. It freezes well too, so I’m stocked up. The two flavors above are Strawberry and Vanilla Coconut cake, and I really love the Death By Chocolate Cake – but the Cinnamon Crumb cake or muffins (it comes in both) are a personal favorite.

Ann likes the Cinnamon Crumb with Reddi-Wip for an afternoon snack or a quick breakfast:

I met the owner of the Just Made Keto Bakery at a keto event last summer (2019, I mean) and fell in love. All of her stuff is amazing! She has local pick and is in stores in southern California, and she ships nationwide across the U.S. too.

You can see her store locator, local pick & online ordering options on the Just Made Keto website. She gave us a special discount code too. Just add code LOWCARBTRAVELER at checkout for a discount at JustMadeKeto – and right now (Sept 2021) any orders over $40 will ALSO receive a free gift buttercream frosting on top of the discount when you use that code!

Chocolate, Wine & Cake … 🧐

Yeah, I know – that’s a lot of splurges and indulgences in one week. But like I said, it’s her first week eating low carb (and a BIG change for her), and also a special occasion with her coming home.

Most of our meals are just simple meat & greens. She just had grilled chicken and green beans for lunch. I haven’t eaten yet today (I’m not feeling well). But it’s nice to have a sugar free chocolate truffle, a slice of keto cake, a glass of super clean wine, etc… when we want it.

I’m kind of to the point where I need a little indulgence in my life actually. This “pandemic fatigue” is REAL, especially with me being sick the last couple of months and so limited on what I can do. (I miss my adventurous hikes!!)

Besides, I figure the money I would normally spend on concerts and nights out and beach trips… is just as well spent on the highest quality wine and cake. 🙌

Actually, I’m coming out way better, given how much I used to travel – and just be on the go, period. It’s nice to have something special to look forward to and enjoy, even just at home. 😉

It’s helping me get by at least, get through all the things, and keeping me on track and in ketosis. That’s a win!

My daughter and I are planning to start some short walks and easy yoga hopefully this coming week, and I’m hoping to work my way up to some easier waterfall hikes with her. Right now I’m still having to rest/sleep every few hours, which is really getting old 👎 (but I’m trying not to complain, or get down about it).

How are things with you?

We’ll weigh in tomorrow (on Monday)…

I’d love to hear how your week went, and what your goals are for the week ahead.

I hope this post gave you some ideas. I love Ann’s fried egg stack thingy – that was really good, and super simple. The green beans (green fries!) have been a great “fix” for us this week too, so definitely try that if you need a salty buttery finger-food fix. 😉

Once I’m feeling better and we’re both more settled in here, we’ll be doing more cooking. I have a few recipes I want to try, like the “onion ring chaffles” that are so popular around the web lately! Those look delicious…

I didn’t mean to make this so long, and honestly I’m surprised I got this far – but I really do have to go rest again now. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and questions, and any feedback you have. And of course your progress when we weigh-in tomorrow!

Best,
Lynn Terry
aka @LowCarbTraveler

p.s. The new sugar free Raspberry White Chocolate Truffles at ChocZero are AWESOME. 💯 Have you tried those yet? See my last order here plus our discussion about all their new keto chocolates. *Our discount code is TRAVELINGLOWCARB at ChocZero

 

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🔎 Shop Low Carb / Keto at Netrition
Discount Code: LOWCARBTRAVELER

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