Low Carb Food Diary & Keto Meal Ideas

I went back and forth about writing to you and sharing my keto food diary for the week. I’m not cooking much because I haven’t been feeling well. Most days I don’t feel like eating at all (zero appetite) but I’m still gaining weight – which stinks. 😏 But I *am* staying on track, and I miss sharing my life with you, and our regular chats every week!

There are 12 keto meals & low carb food ideas in this post if you just want to scan through for a quick photo tour, including: zero carb bread cheese sandwich, crustless pizza, healthy low carb farm egg scramble, sugar free breakfast muffins, simple “meat & greens” keto meals, my new Starbucks order, keto pop tarts, easy lunches, etc…

Sneak Peek! Coming up next on my blog – watch for these topics:

🔹 Year-End Goals, Challenge & Accountability
🔹 How To Know (And Increase!) Your Carb Tolerance
🔹 Simple Keto Meals for FASTER Weight Loss
🔹 Creating Routines that make it EASY to Stay on Track
🔹 Easy, Delicious Keto Wraps Recipe
🔹 Skillet Pizza & Bread Cheese Sandwiches

I was actually writing this note to you last night while I had dinner, but I ended up feeling unwell (again) after I ate. That’s typical lately, which is why I haven’t been writing as much, or why I haven’t had a lot of new ideas to share. (long covid really stinks!!)

Dinner was delicious, by the way! A simple plate of grilled chicken and seared green beans. This was a premade meal I browned up a bit in a skillet with a pat of butter, and it had a really nice blueberry balsamic sauce that added a lot of flavor!

(the lighting isn’t great in here in the evening, so apologies for the picture quality)

I didn’t feel well yesterday and had ZERO appetite, so it was 3:30pm yesterday before I ate anything at all – and then it was simply a protein bar and a mozzarella stick – which is actually what I’m eating now, again, while I finish up this note to you. 😉

⬆️ This is my go-to lately when I feel icky because it settles my stomach.

Those are my favorite keto bars, and I think they’re going to go on sale this week. If they do, I’ll be sure to let you know in case you want to try them – or need to stock up.

📌 Update: I found a secret page where you can get 30% off 3 boxes of bars, or 45% off 4+ boxes! See: Secret 45% off PK Bars Page This is AWESOME for those of us that stock up when they’re CHEAP. 🛒 You won’t find that offer listed anywhere on their site, so I don’t know how long it will last, but what a great deal!

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Even with my lack of appetite lately, I’m steadily gaining weight – still. 🙄

It’s pretty annoying. But I’m less worried about the weight gain and just focused on eating, moving, eating healthy and getting well – and some days, just getting by. That’s common with long covid. A lot of people in the long-haulers support group are experiencing a wide range of metabolic health issues and random weight fluctuations.

I have some ideas to fix that, or that I feel hopeful about and want to test at least. I’ll share more about that as I work through it, because a lot of people struggle with stalls or “mysterious” gains, so we can tackle it together. 😉

Here are two recent pictures of me, for reference:

I’m about 20 pounds heavier in these current pictures than I am in the pictures below from my 2016 food diary – and about 27 pounds heavier than my lowest weight in 2017, which was honestly TOO low for me.

I don’t actually mind the weight so much. I’m still a relatively healthy size. It’s the inflammation, gut health issues, and everything else that bothers me. I’m most focused on getting to the root CAUSE of the weight gain, which will hopefully help speed up my recovery.

Side Note: I was eating all these same foods (and way more!) when I was at my lowest weight. I’ve even cut out the “way too often” evening habit of keto ice cream and sugar free chocolate lately. 😉 (and I’ve gained weight since cutting out the snacking, even!)

So my weight gain issue isn’t about calories or carb creep. I only had around 1,000 calories yesterday (Saturday) and 17 net carbs. It’s a more complex issue brought on by post-viral syndrome, which will require some serious testing & tweaking. So we’ll talk about that, about what works, and how to find what will work for YOU if you’re in the same boat.

Here’s the keto food diary from 2016 I mentioned: Low Carb Life: A Week In My Shoes. I got some great meal ideas to have again – that I totally forgot about! That story made me smile – and inspired me to revisit some of my favorite meals AND trails! I can’t wait to get back to hiking. 🙂

I’ve been eating very low carb (keto) for about 10 years now, so there are TONS more of those weekly & daily food diaries in my blog archives if you need ideas & inspiration!

Keto Meal Ideas – My Low Carb Food Diary This Week

I actually cooked this week. 🍳😊 ONCE, lol. Of course it was a really simple one-skillet meal. 🙂

This farm egg scramble is a favorite! This time I used 5 farm eggs, 70 grams of cutleaf spinach, 60 grams of diced onions, a tbsp of butter, and 1/4 cup of Pawley’s Island palmetto pimento cheese ~ topped with a dollup of Daisy sour cream. 🧈🥚🍃🧅🧀

Delicious! 🥰 💯 This made two meals for me (it was a lot).

I made that big of a serving so I wouldn’t have to cook twice – because it reheats as well as a frittata. 😉 I have a recipe for those too (below).

🔹️ Here’s the video from the last time I made this “fancy scramble” (below) if you want to see how I do mine. I used Pictsweet Farms frozen spinach & onions. In the video I used Vital Farms eggs – those are AMAZING and the next best thing to farm fresh eggs! 🥚

I sauteed the onions and spinach in butter, then cracked the eggs in and scrambled those right in the skillet, added pimento cheese plus salt & pepper. Easy!

Normally my days start more like this because I get straight to work in my home office – and don’t usually have a big appetite in the mornings, or get hungry until late morning or closer to lunch. My collagen coffee tends to hold me over for awhile. 😉

My usual: a very low carb protein bar (this one is 2 net carbs) and 24 ounces of water:

Lately I’ve been switching it up a little though, and having a hot breakfast around mid morning some days – just to see if that helps with the nausea or with my appetite.

Some days it does, some it doesn’t. 🤷‍♀️

One of those mornings was a simple scramble of sausage, eggs, ham & cheese. 🍳

I can’t always stomach eggs when I don’t feel well, but it hits me in cycles so every day is different. I’m just going with the flow, and with what sounds good each day.

I’m kind of rambling through my week with you here, because focus is a real challenge some days.

Today is one of those days. 🙃 lol

This picture cracks me up! haha… I was unboxing the meals I got from Evolve, and splitting them up – some I got for myself, and some for my daughter.

Anyway, Luna Rose LOVES ranch dressing – and peanut butter! But ranch dressing is the one thing you have to watch about leaving unattended around here. (lol) She’s usually very well behaved, but if you’re not looking… the ranch is what she goes for. 🤣

This is my box from the Low Carb Meal Delivery Service I told you about recently. I’ve been using it for a little over a year now, and my daughter loves it too.

My discount code is LOWCARBTRAVELER for 20% off if you want to try it out: EatToEvolve.us I order a la carte off the website menu, but you can do weekly meal plan subscriptions too.

I didn’t order for next week, so I’ll have to cook some. Especially since my daughter snagged half my meals from this week’s delivery! Usually I’ll freeze a few if it’s just me at home. They freeze really well, so a box can last me as long as two weeks, unless I’m eating them for lunch & dinner both most days.

👩‍🍳 🍳 I was thinking about making crispy baked chicken thighs (using the recipe below). I also have a big beautiful ribeye in the freezer, and a pack of bacon. 😍🥩🥓 And I’ll probably whip up some fritattas since I still have plenty of fresh farm eggs.

Most of the meals I get can easily be recreated at home if you like to cook!

Evolve publishes the ingredients for every meal on their menu, so that makes it easy to browse their site for ideas – then just look at the nutrition facts to see what they used.

One of my absolute favorite meals that I get from them often, usually at least two a week, is a simple Chicken Alfredo with steamed broccoli. 🥦 If you make it at home, I love the Bertolli brand alfredo sauce you can get in most grocery stores.

Here’s what the meal looks like before you heat it up, which only takes 90 seconds in the microwave:

This has been my go-to evening meal lately.

Right out of the tray like a TV dinner. 🙂

Chicken Salad with Roasted Pecans 🥣

This Old Fashioned Chicken Salad from Evolve is another favorite of mine. It comes in a one pound tray, so that makes two big meals for me since I add Planter’s roasted pecans.

It’s VERY hearty and filling, with no cooking involved: just grab & eat!

Here are the ingredients from their website:
Old Fashioned Chicken Salad (Chicken Breast, Evolve Mayonnaise (Olive Oil, Egg Yolk, Brown Mustard (Vinegar, Water, Mustard Seed, Salt, Spices), Lemon Juice, Red Wine Vinegar, Kosher Salt), Celery, Grapes, Onions, Brown Mustard (Vinegar, Water, Mustard Seed, Salt, Spices))

The meals are very well made. Here’s my Evolve review & discount code if you want to learn more about it.

I tried one of their new meals this week:

Blueberry Dijon Chicken Breast with toasted walnuts and green beans.

That was pretty fancy! 😋

I really liked the toasted walnuts in it. That gave the meal a nice touch.👌

I put half a tbsp of butter in a nonstick skillet and seared the green beans first, then added the chicken and the rest, turned off the eye and covered the skillet to let the steam heat up the chicken – since it was already cooked.

You can just microwave them too, but I love seared green beans – and you can’t beat a one skillet heat & heat healthy dinner! 😉

I am definitely going to recreate something like this at home with chopped walnuts and the wild blueberries in my freezer. That was such a good flavor combo!

Fast, Easy Skillet Pizza 🍳🍕

I recently discovered “bread cheese” (also called: “frying cheese”) and fell IN LOVE with it! I got the Carr Valley brand. I’ll write up a new post because there are SO many ways to enjoy it!

For the crustless pizza, I just sliced it thin (in half) and fried it in a lightly buttered skillet over medium heat with pepperoni.

I did the same thing to make a Bread Cheese Sandwich with the fried cheese, using thinly sliced rotisserie chicken instead of pepperoni. 🥰 Both of those were SO good!

The Carr Valley Bread Cheese is in a lot of stores. I’m guessing in or near the deli. You can Google “carr valley bread cheese” and it should show you stores near you.

I haven’t been able to find it at any local store. I live in the middle of nowhere 🤷‍♀️ lol. But I discovered you can order it on Amazon too, so that’s where I got it.

More meals I enjoyed this week…

Ham, eggs & fried avocado. 🍳 🥑 😋

Bacon & spinach omelet with fried avocado and a dollup of Daisy sour cream. 🥓🍃🍳 🥑 🥰❣

That fried avocado 🥑🥰❣ YUM – Have you tried it yet??

If not, see: Fried Avocado Recipes & Ideas

Grilled chicken & green beans. (again) 🙂

I keep frozen grilled chicken strips in the freezer, and a variety of frozen vegetables too: broccoli, green beans, diced onions, asparagus, etc. You can take them straight from the freezer and toss them into a skillet with butter – and thaw/brown them over medium heat real quick.

That’s a great way to make a FAST simple meal on busy nights!

My keto friendly Starbucks order changed!

We were discussing this on Instagram and Facebook this week, that Starbucks doesn’t have the sugar free cinnamon dolce syrup anymore – or a lot of their sugar free syrups.

🧋 My workaround: sugar free vanilla syrup + cinnamon powder with heavy cream (and no classic syrup, please). ✔ Give it a shake, and it’s perfect! 👌 ❤

You can see my original Starbucks order here, plus my test on their sugar free syrups:
Keto Myths, My Starbucks Keto Iced Coffee & Maltodextrin Hype vs Truth

The two worst dinners I’ve ever tried to call… Dinner. 🙂

Some nights I just don’t feel like cooking, or even thinking about food, or lately – the thought of meat, eggs or vegetables doesn’t appeal (at all). Those are the nights I’ll just grab some cheese and pecans, or maybe some yogurt or a protein bar.

Please tell me you have those nights too!:)

This was actually really good – a cinnamon roll protein bar with natural peanut butter:

Keto Pop Tart Sandwich 👀

I had these “keto pop tarts” because they sent me some to review awhile back.

I’ve been torn on whether I like them or not. They’re from Legendary Foods and our discount code is LOWCARBTRAVELER there. I love their nut butters & seasoned almonds! It’s just this new product I’m on the fence about. I loved them, then did NOT, then – eh, I’m torn lol.

I’m iffy on the ingredients, but my daughter loves them. 🤷‍♀️ I don’t like the cake style version of their pop tarts at all, but she does. And of the original, I prefer blueberry or strawberry, but again – I’m torn on them.

I had the box out though, because she came by and was grabbing some snacks to take with her on the go. So in a pinch I made a sandwich out of the chocolate pop tarts – with Justin’s almond butter.

At least the middle was healthy. 😆

That ended up a royal mess lol, but it was good – or good enough, at least. 😉

I’m MUCH pickier about ingredients than I used to be, and more picky than my daughter is, but “keto junk food” is okay now and then. Every once in awhile as a rare treat I don’t consider it to be the worst thing. It’s better than going off track (for me) at least.

Sinfully Delicious Organic Breakfast Cake Muffins

These muffins are a much better choice. 💯 ❣️

SO good, and made with super clean ingredients: organic, gluten free, sugar free & very low carb.

I love the chocolate muffins with natural peanut butter on top as a quick, easy breakfast.

But just look at the CINNAMON CRUMB muffin. 😍

The cinnamon crumb muffins and strawberry cream muffins are my two TOP favorites from the Just Made Keto bakery. It’s located in southern CA and she also ships nationwide in the U.S.

Just Made Keto Bakery 📲 If you use discount code LOWCARBTRAVELER at checkout, not only will you get a discount on your order (pickup OR ship) but you’ll also get a free mini buttercream frosting in your order! 💕

The buttercream frosting has a threaded cap made to be used with frosting tips! 🧁 How cool is that?

LOOK AT THAT FACE (hers, not mine – lol). Sweet girl. 🐾🐾 🥰

My daughter was asking if she could have the loaf of JustMadeKeto pumpkin chocolate chip loaf cake out of the freezer. I guess Luna Rose was saying, “me too, me too, me too!” haha

That pumpkin chocolate chip loaf cake is great, by the way. She uses real pumpkin, all organic, so it’s not overly sweet – and great with coffee for breakfast. 😉 It’s on the site now during the fall season!

In case you missed it, my sidekick Slim passed away in April this year, and I adopted Luna Rose from the great dane rescue in June – on my birthday. I miss Slim in such a BIG happy/sad way, but Luna Rose has been good company. She’s such a sweetheart…

I ordered her some new toys on Amazon last week. She loves them ALL! haha – she’s very playful.:) But the purple monkey is definitely her favorite. 🥰 These are the three I picked out for her:

I even let her open the box when it came. 🙂 She had so much fun with that!

I ordered myself a fancy new “on the go” lawn chair. It has straps so you can carry it hands free like a backpack, down to the river or down to the beach, it even has a large pouch on the back where you can stash your towel or book or snacks. Pretty cool!

It’s finally Fall here in Tennessee. It got CHILLY last night (dipped down in the 30’s). 😳 I wasn’t ready for that! We still have nice hot days though. Yesterday and today it was in the 60’s with hot sun & clear skies, so I sat in the sunshine for a good hour both days.

Today I got to use my new lawn chair, and loved it!

There are still stripe indents on my legs from how fast I switched out of sweater leggings to a bikini haha 😂 fall weather in Tennessee is crazy like that!

I guess I rambled on a lot more than I meant to. 🙂

How was your weekend? Busy or relaxed, cooking, meal prepping, dining out, any good snacks? I’d love to hear how things are going with you!

I’m doing WAY better lately than I was. The first 5 months with long covid was just AWFUL. 😱 I’m grateful to be recovering, even if it is slow. I do best staying very low carb, and pacing myself. If I try to do too much, it tanks me for 2-3 days.

It’s been 11 months now, but I’m finally able to work again, and I have really GOOD days sometimes where I feel great and can even get in a moderate workout. Those are the days I have to remember to pace myself. 😉

Things are pretty good, regardless of feeling 👎 some days. I’m just staying focused on being the healthiest and happiest version of myself I can be, one day after the other. Baby steps!

How are things with you? Staying on track?

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend. 💕

I would love to hear how your week went, any new recipes you tried and want to share – or any great low carb snack or meal ideas from your week.

Let’s talk goals too!

Do you have any specific goals for this coming week? I’m trying to get consistent again with my simple home workout, as a start. I do 20 tricep dips, 20 glute bridges and 20 donkey kicks. That’s easy enough that I can do it even on days I don’t feel that well – usually.

On better days, I’m shooting for a short walk with Luna Rose. 🙂

What about you?

Best,
Lynn Terry
aka @LowCarbTraveler

p.s. I found the ChocZero PEPPERMINT WHITE CHOCOLATE squares on Netrition this week. 🔎 Those will hopefully be available on their site again soon. Netrition also has their Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, which are sold out on the ChocZero website. You’ll find both here: ChocZero at Netrition. (some of us were impatiently waiting for both lol, so that was a lucky find!)

 

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

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