Half Assed Fitness

A Diet Joke

2023-12-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

Want to hear something funny?

Me.

Consuming 3400 calories.

In one day.

I never thought I'd see the day but here I am, planning for this very thing.

We've got a hike planned for Saturday. A 16 mile backpacking trip and I'm planning out my meals. Actually, for the most part I'm planning liquid calories since I can't eat that much food. I just can't.

Here is a screenshot from Cronometer, an INVALUABLE tool for planning and monitoring your calories and nutrition. (not affiliated)

You'll notice that I still have some calories to spare as well as only replenishing 40% my daily allowance in fat. Hiking is an endurance sport which means you operate in the fat burning zone for the most part so in essence, this hike should result in some fat loss. Yay! I've got a few to shed right now.

When we're going long term on the Appalachian Trail though, this will be something I'll need to correct. It's very hard to consume enough calories on a thru hike to keep from losing too much weight but the more fat you consume, the more you have for fuel. It's really sort of the opposite of every single thing I've known to be true in the past but...the goals are different so the goalposts have moved!

I'm looking forward to this hike. I feel ready and I'm excited to try out the liquid diet as well as some other gear testing my husband I are planning. We've got ourselves a new tent that is 3 pounds lighter than our last one and he got a new sleeping bag so I'm going to test out his old one which is another 3 pounds lighter than my existing bag. That's a big difference!

Wish us luck!

Pliability Rocks!

2023-12-11T13:11:00.000-08:00

I've always known I should stretch more. I never knew it could be like this!

I've done some Yoga and Pilates in my time. As per my usual approach; I dabbled. Doing it here and there, never getting into a serious routine or making it a priority. I'm such a broken record.

Well, I've been introduced to something that has changed my life. Pliability.

First thing? I joined up. I never join up for things. It made that much observable difference in my daily life that I had to.

With all the intense hiking we've been doing lately, I've been getting very sore. I started watching strengthening videos on YouTube and one of them mentioned adding stretching to the routine to help with recovery. She casually mentioned Pliability and my ears perked up. I went searching to see what that might be.

Originally, it was created in conjunction with CrossFit but it's morphed into an all sport, life, range of motion, and recovery program.

They put you in some really crazy positions for what feels like forever but if you take it slow and learn to relax into the positions, you progress very quickly. That's a really tough concept, relaxing into something that hurts. It works.

I've already noticed improvements in my hiking because of it. I felt like the further range of motion I've achieved made me able to use more of my muscles which in turn made it easier to cover more ground faster.

Another huge milestone for me is I can squat! I have never in my life been able to squat flat footed and I've worked a lifetime of desk jobs that keep me in a limited range of motion. For me to be able to reverse (or correct) 50 years of damage and un-training in a mere 3 weeks is pretty insane. I'm not gonna lie, I still can't do it for the whole 5 minutes recommended by today's routine but I'm impressed.

Another amazing side effect is the feeling of being able to relax muscles you are actively using. That's a new concept to me. I've realized I clench everything. When I stand, I clench all the muscles in my legs, when I lay down, my arms and legs don't relax, etc. Now when I stand, I can relax the muscles in my legs and it actually makes the activity easier with less wasted energy. I've been sort of working against myself. All this intensive stretching is undoing all of that.

It's also helping me to fall asleep faster since I am relaxing better.

Another great resource I've run across is Upright Health over at YouTube. He's the one who introduced the concept of use it or lose it that motivated me to ensure I have a full range of motion as I get older. And how do I get better at things? By doing them.

Even if you don't follow the Pliability program, I highly suggest finding some way to do intense stretching as a way to improve your range of motion. It's been a game changer for me.

Hiking is an Endurance Event

2023-12-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

Most of my life, my health and fitness goals have revolved around losing weight and getting into shape or getting stronger.

For this endeavor though, I have to adopt a completely different mindset.

When hiking long distances and over strenuous terrain, you are being truly athletic. You are working your body longer and harder than it's used to and you need to feed and water it appropriately. I'm not used to this. I've only even eaten when hungry and not eaten when I'm hungry in order to reduce calories. I've never gotten into anything intensely enough to need to alter my food habits to fuel my activities but I witnessed it first hand on the first hike listed in my post How It Started.

I struggled on this hike and my husband got annoyed with me and threw a Clif bar at me and said "Eat this". I'll be darned if he wasn't correct. About 30 minutes after eating the Clif bar, I could feel my energy go up. It's the first time I've ever experienced food as fuel. I just assumed everyone else that ate along the trail was actually hungry. Several hikes in now, I can definitely see the improvements in my strength and stamina and it's not all from getting in better shape, a lot of it is approaching food differently.

One problem I do have though is my stomach absolutely does not enjoy eating when I'm working hard. Getting those Clif bars down while breathing hard and trying not to choke isn't fun. That and if I eat anything substantial, I get a stitch in my side. The idea of doing that for months at a time on the Appalachian Trail does not appeal to me. So I'm looking into alternatives. I'd much rather drink my calories, carbs, and proteins if I can.

The good news is, this isn't a new problem. Apparently many people feel the same way so I'm finding some great resources.

The bad news is that liquid calories are heavy! I don't want to have to carry more weight, that's counter productive. More weight equals more calories burned which means more calories to carry and so on...

So, on to the research!

How it Started

2023-12-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

First hike:

16.5 mile loop
Moderate difficulty
1340 ft elevation
Finished in 7.5 hours

This was the first exercise I'd had in about 3 years. We've been living on a tiny island in the Pacific doing nothing more than riding my bike to work 10 minutes each direction on flat ground. I have a desk job and I was NOT in shape.

The goal is to get into better shape gradually so that I don't die on the Appalachian Trail. This is the first hike my husband decided to drag me on.

I made it. Barely.

I didn't eat enough food to fuel myself and I drug my butt over the last few miles until we started going downhill gain.

Seriously, this should not have been my first hike.

It probably took me 4 days of hot tub time, ibuprofen, ice, and stretching before I could walk around the house without gimping.

Second hike:

Backpacking trip out and back 9 miles (18 miles total)
Moderate difficulty
1650 ft elevation
Finished in 4.5 hours each day
Pack weight 32 pounds

I did pretty good on this one. It's the first time I've carried a full pack in 20 years.

The major improvement was that we got ourselves a set of trekking poles. What a life saver. It helps so much, especially on the uphills.

I made sure to eat every hour or so so I was fully fueled this time, along with plenty of electrolytes and water. We also added a recovery drink at the end of the hike. This facilitates healing. 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein and a dash of caffeine as well.

Still, very sore for about 3 days.

Third hike:

Day hike 6 miles out and back (12 miles total)
Moderate difficulty
1340 ft elevation
Finished in 6 hours

This seemed like a piece of cake compared to the last time with the trekking poles and proper nutrition.

I made sure to add some stretching when we rested and decided I REALLY don't like eating as I'm trying gasping for breath on the uphills nor do I enjoy a full lunch. I'd rather just wait until I'm done to eat. This started my search for liquid calories vs solids. More to follow on that.

Fourth hike:

Backpacking trip out and back 8 miles (16 miles total)
Moderate difficulty
1750 ft elevation
Finished in 4 hours each day
Pack weight 30 pounds

Vastly improved performance on this hike. It was dry this time so actually pretty pleasant.

I did not have to take ibuprofen after this trip, I had started doing Pliability and did it again the day after for some really deep stretching. A little twinge of soreness in my legs but that's to be expected, especially considering this was the steepest trail we've done so far.

So, that's the beginning of my hiking career. 62.5 miles so far, only 2110 more to go if I was on the AT.

Next up....Hiking is an Endurance Event

Time For A New Post!

2023-11-30T13:26:00.000-08:00

I've admitted before that I am a roller coaster ride when it comes to fitness and health. Well, the coaster is back on an upswing and this time it's a big one!

I'm going to document my latest fad; hiking...backpacking specifically.

Previously in life, I've done quite a bit of hiking and a small amount of backpacking. Hiking in 7 miles to a spot you can't reach by car and then staying for a few days and returning. Nothing serious by far.

That is changing. I'm now moving into the realm of hiking/backpacking athlete. We're planning to hike the Appalachian Trail. That means I need to get in shape (again) and I've been learning a ton about feuling my body, recovering, and equipment to make my life more enjoyable while we hike.

I'm having to modify some things as well. For instance, my body does not enjoy eating while on the move. Or eating when I am not hungry. Both of those things are necessary when doing an intense workout so I'll be going over my workarounds and sharing the results along the way.

Wish me luck!

Sugar Is Killing Us

2017-07-21T08:30:00.001-07:00

I saw this posted over at Ditch The Carbs this morning. It goes along with my post Death Wish
from back in May.

It's a cute video but this really needs to be taken seriously.

Do yourselves a favor and stop eating boxed and bagged foods. If you don't, you need to come to grips with the fact that you are killing yourself. Slowly, but surely.

More Alternative Methods To The Rescue

2017-07-13T23:09:00.003-07:00

I'm simultaneously annoyed, frustrated, and thrilled at finding a new way to clean my face.

For 30 years (or more) I've had blackheads and acne issues. My pores are excruciatingly large and therefore prone to filling with junk and causing me to break out. I've always had combination skin, dry around the cheeks and oily across my forehead and around my nose. As a teenager, I usually used an astringent to clear up the oil but it never did anything for the blackheads.

Recently, I ditched all of my other moisturizers for coconut oil, including my face lotion which I usually only used right after a shower. The coconut oil has been great. It's been moisturizing and kind of evening out my skin, I've noticed my skin hasn't been nearly as oily in general. But again, it does nothing for the blackheads and that's what's been driving me the most crazy for the longest time.

Well, thank God for the internet once again because a new search on how to deal with this problem, naturally of course, has brought me this:

The Oil Cleansing Method

Sounds crazy, right? Well, I was halfway there by using coconut oil, it just needed a little bit of tweaking.

Wellness Mama has done it again, I find all kinds of great info on her site. She describes using a mixture of oils to clean your face with by rubbing it in, letting it sit, and then gently steaming and cleaning the oil off with a wet wash cloth.

I've only been doing this for two days and I can see major improvement in the reduction of blackheads!!!

I was so close, if I had been putting the coconut oil on before my showers, I might have seen a difference, or maybe it really needed to be a combination of oils. Right now, I'm using a half and half mix of olive and avocado oil since that's all I had on hand. I may just stick with that since the improvement has been so great.

This post doesn't have much to do with diet or fitness, which are my usual topics but I just had to talk about this. Also, since I've switched to #lchf, my weight has stabilized and I don't have as much to share. It's working.

Hopefully this will help someone else before they spend 30+ years annoyed by their skin. I couldn't be happier!

Probably The BEST #lchf Recipe Yet

2017-06-23T12:18:00.001-07:00

OMG!!!

Honestly, I don't think I'm overreacting just because I've had nothing to eat all day. I didn't even feel hungry at 7:30 pm when I started cooking. That is waaay late for me, but I was busy today. Getting Shit. Done.

I'm typically a recipe gal. I don't do well without the boundaries and guidelines a recipe provides but that is typically just a starting place for me. My real strength lies in doctoring recipes. I always cook them to the letter as much as I can the first time but then once I have a baseline, I like to critique and evaluate them for ways to make them better.

This is more of a mashup than a recipe edit.

I found this great recipe at Damn Delicious and it is fabulous on it's own. I think it's really cute how she says "this is just one of those dishes to make on your “cheat day". LOL. Little does she know, she's made a perfect #lchf #keto recipe that pretty much anyone doing #lchf or #keto could eat every day of the year.

Garlic Butter Shrimp

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chicken stock
Juice of 1 lemon, or more, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Add shrimp, salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
Add garlic to the skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chicken stock and lemon juice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in remaining 6 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until melted and smooth.
Stir in shrimp and gently toss to combine.

Now, this is fabulous on it's own but add it to another #lchf recipe I've recently found and it's a match made in heaven!

Butter Fried Green Cabbage

Ingredients:

1½ lbs shredded green cabbage
3½ oz. butter
salt and pepper

Directions:

Melt butter in a frying pan.
Sauté the shredded cabbage on medium heat for at least 15 minutes or until the cabbage reaches desired color and consistency. (I go for fairly singed)
Lower the heat a little towards the end. Stir regularly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

So much buttery goodness!!!

Seriously, do yourself a favor and try it. It may just be your new favorite thing! This is definitely going in my weekly rotation!

Drink. Water. NOW!

2017-06-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

I spent over 6 hours with friends and family yesterday. During that time, I was the only one who used the restroom, 3 times! I was also the only one of us out of 8 people that was drinking water. This is not an uncommon theme. I've noticed the same thing at work. Not so much the number of times people use the restroom, ain't nobody got time for that, but the water thing. If anyone is drinking anything at their desks, it's usually coffee or soda.

Now, I drink my fair share of coffee, at least a couple of cups each morning and most evenings I have one or more alcoholic beverages. But I always, always, drink water as well and sadly, I seem to be fairly unique in this. Friends have made fun of me for not getting hangovers, I think it's safe to say that my water habit is a big reason for that.

My Mother, a 67 year old woman thinks Gatorade hydrates her better than water. WTF? I've also had people say that they don't drink water so they don't have to go to the bathroom. You realize that that's actually a good thing, right?

Drinking enough water is very important and I'm not even going to pretend that I always drink as much as I should. The old adage of eight, 8 oz glasses of water a day is of course a generic guideline but it's not a bad one and that's why I try to shoot for.

Most people are not getting enough water. Rodale Wellness says that "In fact, most of us function in a chronic state of dehydration."

Attempting to function without enough water is similar to trying to run a car that doesn't have enough oil to lubricate its system. And what happens to a car that isn't lubricated? It heats up, and the engine can crack and get damaged. A similar effect occurs in the body when you're not well hydrated, which often happens because you're too busy and your system is running too fast and too long without a break.

There are a host of problems that arise from or at least are aggravated by dehydration: allergies, joint pain, constipation, depression, irritability, or mental fog, bad breath, dry skin, muscle cramps, and many more. You'd be surprised what a big difference a little water can make.

The easiest way I've found to make sure I get the most amount of water each day is by using a 32 oz Nalgene.

Just one of these is half of the recommended daily amount and still I would guess, more than most people typically drink in a day.

It's not really that hard. I usually finish one during the workday and then I refill it again and keep going. Having a bottle this large, reduces the number of times it needs to be refilled which gives me less excuses for not getting around to filling it. And of course, I'm not using bottled water and wasting all of that plastic every day which makes me happy.

There are reusable water bottles of every size, material, and design out there...you just need to find one that resonates with you and that will work for your lifestyle.

Do yourself a favor; drink. water. NOW!!!

Versatile Spinach

2017-06-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

Did you know that raw spinach and cooked spinach have very different nutritional profiles?

According to Vegetarian Times:

Raw Spinach Benefits: [Raw spinach] is rich in many essential nutrients, some of which are more available to our bodies when we consume them raw. These nutrients include folate, vitamin C, niacin, riboflavin, and potassium.
Cooked Spinach Benefits: When you eat spinach that has been heated, you will absorb higher levels of vitamins A and E, protein, fiber, zinc, thiamin, calcium, and iron. Important carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, also become more absorbable.

Getting a mix of both in your diet is a great way to keep variety in your life and increase your overall nutrition levels.

As an added #lchf bonus, you will get the extra benefit of a higher fat content (and deliciousness!) when cooking your spinach in butter.

I've taken to cooking most of my greens fried in butter with garlic and onions. So yummy!

Change Is Hard!

2017-06-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

No one wants to give up their favorite foods and their "occasional" guilty pleasures. Living without pasta and chocolate may seem like end of the world events but I'm here to offer a different approach.

Don't give up anything (at first) but make sure to add something healthy to make up for some of your bad habits.

Drink too much alcohol?

Drink one extra glass of water a day, then two, then three. It only takes a few seconds to choke down a small glass of water. A lot less time than it does to drink a beer. Do it first thing when you get up, when you are filling the coffee pot, brushing your teeth, whenever you think about it. Don't resist! Your liver will thank you.

Don't eat enough veggies?

Throw a couple into random dishes, spaghetti is a great place to hide diced zucchini. You can't even taste it.
I add peas to my tuna mac, I like the contrast and the occasional "pop" of the peas in my mouth. Don't like peas? Try some other veggie diced real small.
Making meat? Add a frozen veggie side* and eat it first to get it out of the way. No harm in adding butter to make it better! Or kick up your cooking a notch and add sauteed mushrooms and/or onions to your meat. Impress your friends and loved ones! *Fresh is better but I realize not many people actually cook anymore.

Do you eat eggs?

Eggs and veggies were made for each other. Just dice them small and scramble it all together. If you don't like crunchy veggies, add them first and then just stir in the eggs a minute after the veggies are in.
Mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers and green onions are always tasty with eggs. Whatever you can find in the fridge. It's easy!

Eat too much sugar?

Try to add something/anything to up the nutrition value. Ice cream? Add peanut butter or fruit for protein and nutrients. Candy bar? Can it at least be a Snickers? If not, make a deal with yourself to add an extra scoop of veggies at the next meal.
Did you drink a Unicorn Frappe? I'm not sure there is much hope in this case, just forgive yourself, move on, and promise never to do it again.

It's little things like these that will help bring awareness to your eating habits and over time I've found that I start seeing results like better digestion, less hangovers, clearer skin that make it that much easier to move forward to even better food choices (a little more veggies, maybe a little less sugar?). And once you see that vegetables and water really aren't that bad...you get over your aversion and can move toward acceptance.

It's all about the baby steps or in other words, giving it a half assed try.

Tooth Truth

2017-06-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you don't have to lose your teeth as you get older? When I was younger I assumed that everyone loses their teeth, no matter what they do.

Dr. Jack Cottrell, president of the Canadian Dental Associations says

"We absolutely can keep our teeth healthy for a lifetime [...]"

Trauma, disease, and lack of care are the main culprits in tooth loss and all of these things are more or less preventable.

After asking this question of my dentist and finding out it wasn't true, I was motivated to take better care of my teeth and now I'm fully committed to dying with my own teeth in my head! I have had some trauma to one of my front teeth from a bike accident so that one might be the exception but the rest of them have no excuse!

Now that you know this, does it change the way you think about the health of your teeth?

For me, flossing was the one major habit that I had a hard time with. But in this article I provide the tip that made all the difference in the world. I hope it helps you too!

Chia Seed Banana Breakfast Pudding

2017-05-31T10:33:00.000-07:00

OK, I've got to admit; I didn't think I would like this. Using chia can sometimes come with textural results you weren't expecting. But I needed something different for breakfast and after trying it today, I'm looking forward to having it again tomorrow!

I used a very ripe banana, so ripe I almost changed my mind and put it in the compost but, I thought what the heck and tried it anyway. The result is sweet deliciousness! I also put it in the food processor since hand mixing just wasn't getting the consistency I wanted. The results were perfect. After setting up overnight, it's not slimy, or gritty, or too thick as some of the commentors mentioned.

This is a little higher in carb than I like to shoot for in a meal but for a change of pace, and as long as you don't eat too much in one sitting, it hits the spot.

Found at lowcarbhighfatrecipes.com

Chia Seed Banana Breakfast Pudding

Ingredients

1 Can Coconut Milk full fat

1 Medium or small size banana, ripe

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup Chia Seeds

Instructions

In a medium size bowl mash the banana until soft enough to stir.

Add the remainder of the ingredients and stir until combined.

Cover and put in the fridge overnight (or at least 2 hours)

Enjoy!

By Vala Vincent

Low Carb Buffalo Chicken Soup

2017-05-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is one of the better #lchf recipes I've found lately.

First, it's quick. I started with uncooked chicken breasts and it still took less than 30 minutes to make.

Second, it's easy. While the chicken is cooking, mix everything else together, heat it up and when the chicken is done, mix it into the soup. Done. Doesn't get much easier than that.

And if you've been missing buffalo chicken on your #lchf diet like I have, this will satisfy that craving!

From I Breathe I'm Hungry:

Low Carb Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded

4 oz cream cheese

3 Tbsp butter

⅓ cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce

4 cups chicken broth

½ cup Half and Half

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup celery, chopped (optional)

1 Tbsp blue cheese dressing (optional)

Instructions

Combine the cream cheese, butter, hot sauce, chicken stock, and Half and Half in a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and cook until hot but don't let it come to a boil. Just before serving add the shredded chicken, celery and blue cheese if using. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.

And with an approximate nutrition breakdown per serving like this:
406 calories, 27g fat, 5g net carbs, 29g protein, it's the perfect #lchf #keto recipe.

Enjoy!

Processed Foods - What Is That?

2017-05-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

I think the term processed foods is way too generic for a lot of people to understand. I was reading an article the other day that said "it's important to remove processed foods from one’s diet to keep as many toxins out as possible". What do you think of when you hear that term? I just kind of glossed over it like a lot of people probably do.

I like this definition from Healthy Eating SF Gate:

You can determine whether a food is processed by looking at the ingredient list. The longer the ingredient list, the more processed a food is likely to be. Processed foods are usually found in the center aisles of the grocery store and are more likely to contain ingredients that you are not able to recognize or ingredients that you wouldn't have in your kitchen. Avoid foods that you wouldn't be able to produce or make yourself at home. Stick to unprocessed, natural foods, mostly found on the periphery of the grocery store, such as vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat and other single-ingredient foods.

Here is a sampling of what processed foods are:

Pasta
Cereal (even the healthy kind)
Bread
Granola bars (yup, even the healthy ones)
Crackers, cookies
Dried fruit (unless you make it yourself)
Margarine
Any mixes or instant foods - any "just add water" type foods
Fruit juices, soft drinks, drink mixes, flavored water
Convenience foods, pre-made meals, such as microwave meals and frozen meals. (I know, I used to advocate some of these. I've learned!)
Candy, candy bars, snack cakes, snack mixes, jerky, chips
Microwave popcorn
Fast food, pretty much all fast food
Salad dressings, sauces
Anything labeled “light”, “low fat” or “fat free”
Atkins and Weight Watchers foods. Any brand that sells a product to fill a "diet" niche.
There are many, many more

Do you know what this list is? It's about 80% of what's available at the grocery store.

Not all processed (read: boxed and bagged) foods are horrible. There are some redeeming items like un-roasted, un-salted nuts. These come in a bag but they are healthy overall.

The main thing to look for is the number of carbs. That's really all you need to check, the rest is sort of irrelevant, even the sugar levels because if it's got high sugar, it will have high carbs as well.

If an item has more that 10 carbs per serving, find an alternative! A ketogenic diet has a max carb intake of 20 carbs per day. A Low-carb diet is 50 or less.

If you have a serving of spaghetti noodles for dinner, you are already at 40 grams! Just for the noodles alone. Instead, you can have a bowl of spaghetti sauce (homemade is best!) with meatballs and maybe some zuchinni zoodles and you're only looking at 10 grams (give or take depending on brands) for the whole meal. All of the flavor is in the sauce anyway.

I think the more labels you read with this carbohydrate criteria in mind, the more you will see boxes and bagged convenience food as, "not food". Because they are not. They are sugar, fillers, flavoring, and chemicals. That's about it.

Mindset

2017-05-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

When I was mainly counting calories as my weight control regimen, there were 3 foods that I had absolutely no problem avoiding because they were waaay to costly in the amount of calories they had:

Pizza - 300 calories a slice and it takes a minimum of two pieces to stop my hunger. That's half of my daily allotted calories in one meal!
Cheesecake - Just no. About 1000 calories for a decent sized slice.
Doughnuts - Calorie count varies depending on the doughnut but it's high and no doughnut I've ever eaten has ever stopped me from being hungry.

Now that I'm low carb, high fat, I don't eat them because they are sugar. And sugar is poison.

Walking through the grocery store, I now consider 99% of what's on the shelves as "not food" since the majority of anything that comes in a box or a bag contains sugar or carbs (which are the same thing). I find myself seeing advertisements for fast food meals that are "only $5" and saying to myself, "Not food!" If it's that cheap, it can't be real food.

I find that once I'm able to demonize a food, I'm able to not want it any more which makes avoiding it easy and weight loss easier than fighting the cravings.

Do some research on the bad aspects of whatever your weakness foods are and you just may be able to convince yourself how terrible it is and not even want it anymore.

Avoidance is way easier than self control!

Constant Battle, Until Now

2017-05-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it, I've never been the medical definition of obese but I did get to a point where I was completely disgusted with myself and as unhealthy as I'd ever been as well as unable to breathe in my very, very tight pants.

At 25 I had to make a decision. Either go up one more pants size (again) or start losing weight. I chose the latter.

At that point in time I found The Business Plan For the Body and this approach really resonated with me. Being an engineer, the calories in/calories out formula made sense to my logical mind and it definitely worked for me then.

I've never fallen for any of the other BS schemes. I thought about taking pills when I was really feeling frustrated but decided that didn't make sense or sound healthy. I've never gone for a plan that involved a company that sold products. Of course that's a scheme. (To take your money)

Ever since then, (19 years) I've been tracking my calorie intake fairly consistently. Usually when I don't my weight goes up again. I've always been a yo-yo dieter. I get in shape, feel good about where I'm at and then get lazy. I definitely have to keep on top of it or I will get fat again.

Even though I've, never gotten back up to that weight that initially triggered me to get on the weight loss bandwagon, I was continually find myself feeling bloated, constipated, and just plain ill.

Until recently.

For the last 5 months, I've been eating low-carb, high-fat and I'm loving it! I was eating something like 700% of my daily calorie allowance in carbs and it was making me feel terrible! Since I've gone low carb, I've lost 15 pounds, my digestion is better, my skin is better, everything is better. Even my moods have evened out and I don't have hypoglycemic (hangry) moments anymore.

The best part is, I don't have to write down everything going in my mouth anymore. I slipped up for about a month recently and didn't track any of my food intake. (Way too busy) At the end of that month? I was down 2 pounds! That would never be the case if I was just doing calorie in/calorie out and still eating all of those carbs. I've got records to prove it.

Also, there are no name brand products to buy like Atkins or Weight Watchers. Grocery shopping is pretty laser focused anymore. Meat, dairy, vegetables. Done. In fact if it has a name brand on it, I'm skeptical.

I know 5 months doesn't seem long enough to count for anything but I can tell this is working and my health in general is at an all time high. At least since I was 25. I would love to hear that it helped you too. I'm hoping to help you with that.

OMG! OMG! OMG!

2017-05-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before that I have several relatives that are quite unhealthy. My Aunt who has had cancer, twice. My Mom who is pre-diabetic. Her husband who is full on diabetic and takes insulin regularly. As well as other relatives with gall stones, more diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart problems, and all of them, all of them have allergies.

So I have to say I was quite shocked and disgusted this evening when I stopped by to visit and I saw what their snack situation looked like. I wish I was making this up but I'm not...my Aunt, Mom and her husband are in a beach rental this weekend. They will be there for 3 days. Here is a list of what was visible to me, on the counters and the table:

Three 2 lb. bags of M&M's (different flavors)
Two 1 lb bags of Worthers (different flavors)
A can of Swiss Miss cocoa
3 bottles of Jones Soda (green, red, and yellow)
2 packages of butterhorn pastries
Bag of Oreos
A 2 lb bag of Reeses peanut butter cups
A bag of tortilla chips
A box of crackers
A bunch of grapes
A bunch of cherries

All of them, opened. 😨 !!!

I'm pretty sure the grapes and cherries were there as the "healthy" option but those are some of the highest sugar fruits there are.

I'm no saint but I haven't eaten that much sugar in the last 5 years let alone during a 3 day vacation!!!

I'm not really sure what to think but the first thing that comes to mind is that these are grown-assed adults who should know better! I honestly feel like they may be trying to purposely kill themselves.

But seriously, I'm pretty sure the fact that I don't eat like that is why I don't have the ailments that the rest of my family does. It can't just be luck. I just wish there was some way to make them realize what they are doing to themselves. 😢

Death Wish

2017-05-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

Sugar, and by default, carbs, are killing us. Very, very, very, slowly but insidiously. So slowly that it's easy to pretend that they aren't the culprit. But, once you hear this information, once you know that there are studies that support this idea; if you hear this and don't take action to lower your sugar/carb intake, then I feel you have opted for suicide.

Type 2 diabetes is preventable, and reversible. It is not inevitable and I don't really think it's genetic. It's more a matter of inheriting the behaviors that cause it. (Please note, I am not a Doctor, these are my opinions based on my personal experience). There is a high rate of diabetes, obesity, and other types of disease in my family. I however live very differently than they do and I do not have any of these same disorders and I don't intend to get them, you don't have to either.

In summary as related by the Diet Doctor:

Don’t put sugar in

Burn it off

So, knowing that there is a course of action that you can take to prevent or reverse diabetes as well as other diseases and all you really have to do (simplified version) is eliminate sugar and starches from your diet...the next time you stick a doughnut in your mouth, what you are really saying is, I don't care about my health, and that the doughnut is better than living a disease free life.

You can't play ostrich with your health, it will catch up to you.

Words To Literally Live By

2017-05-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

Good advice from Ditch The Carbs on how to avoid insulin resistance:

If it says “light”, “low fat” or “fat free” it must stay in the grocery store – if they took the fat out, they put carbs and chemicals back in

Eat real food – real food does not come in a box and no one should need a label to tell you it’s ‘natural’

Eat when you are hungry. Don’t eat when you are not – no matter what the clock says

No grains, potatoes or sugars – most grains are highly processed, high in carbs, fortified

Insulin resistance is really what Diabetes is all about. In essence, insulin resistance is your body's toxic reaction to eating too many carbs. You eat too many carbs, your body produces insulin and if you do this continuously, you can push your body to the point that you become resistant to it. The only way to stop or prevent this process is to eat a low carb, high fat diet or at a minimum, low sugar, low carb.

It's such a small price to pay to be healthy. Far less expensive then diabetes, for sure.

Product Review - Cronometer

2017-05-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

So my love affair with My Food Diary has come to an end. I've been won over by another diet tracking program called Cronometer. It's become my preference for a couple of reasons but my favorite feature by far is the vitamin and mineral tracking that it does.

In addition to the basic macro nutrient tracking (fats, proteins, carbs) it does vitamin tracking, and also includes 11 common minerals that are important as well. This feature has helped me identify my problem areas like, not getting enough Vitamin D or iron. After seeing that the numbers for these were consistently low, and after doing a significant amount of research, I opted to add a couple of supplements to my diet.

The second thing I like about it is it's 100% free. I did try the Gold version for a month but I didn't find myself drawn to the Gold features enough to continue paying for them. The free version is perfectly satisfactory for my needs.

I also love the fact that it offers ways to dynamically customize your macronutrient target ratios. Just choose default (None), Zone, Low-Fat-Raw-Vegan (LFRV), Ketogenic, or Paleo from the drop down and your targets are automatically set for protein, carbs, and fat to the minimum amounts needed by your body to achieve your goals. This causes all of the displays to update accordingly and saves you a lot of work!

Unfortunately, I'm not a gadget person so I can't speak to how well it works with fitness trackers but I does have the capability to link with several device accounts to help you get a more accurate picture of your overall health.

Overall, I'm very pleased with Cronometer, I've been using it for almost 3 years now and it's been an invaluable tool in making decisions that help improve my health.

Roller Coaster Ride aka Yo-Yo Dieting

2017-04-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

My husband has an unusual job. Not unlike husbands who get deployed in the military, his job takes him away from home for months at a time and then he returns for an equal amount of time. To say the least, it is a very disruptive lifestyle.

When he's home, it's like he's on vacation and by extension, I tend to treat it that way too. We're celebrating him being home, we stay up too late, eat and drink too much and then when he leaves again, I find myself spending the next few months getting my diet back in check.

This time around my whole goal was just not to gain any weight while he was here. No going up means no coming down which means no roller coaster, no yo-yo.

Guess what?! I did it!!!

More proof that the low carb high fat diet is successful and sustainable. Even more so than using it to lose weight when he's gone. That's actually pretty easy. To be able to say that I didn't gain any weight while he's home is practically a miracle.

We've been busy remodeling our house while he's home and that has kept us very busy but I have not been exercising...at all. A couple of dog walks here and there but for the most part, its the diet that is keeping me at my goal weight.

So, needless to say, I'm sold on #lchf and plan to keep at it. It's been so much easier than counting calories. It's easier to recover from a cheat day, it has been providing me with other health benefits as I mention in this post, and it's not difficult to maintain when eating out.

I wish I could sell some of my family members on this idea. There are several who are obese and diabetic and I know this would change their lives but sadly, they are also very closed minded.

All I suggest is if you are truly looking to improve your health on all levels, give #lchf a try. It will probably take 30 days before you see any major differences and it may take longer than that to break some of your other bad habits but if you can stick with it, I know you will be pleased.

One of my favorite motivational resources is Steve Pavlina and he introduced me to the 30 Day Trial. I've used this method several times, sometime successfully, other times not. Sometimes for permanent changes, other times not. If you ever feel like you need a change, this is a good way to give it a solid try.

Coconut Oil! Where Have You Been All My Life!?!

2017-04-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

I have thrown out my body lotion, face moisturizer, makeup remover, hand lotion, foot lotion, lip balm, Neosporin, and Vicks Vapo Rub, all of them, right in the trash...and I have replaced them all with Coconut Oil.

How did I not know about this before? I'm not even sure how I ran across it recently but I'm glad I did.

Even using the most natural beauty products you can find can't stack up to the pureness of Coconut Oil. One ingredient, that's it. It doesn't get much better than that.

I have noticed significant improvements in my skin, less dark spots, rough patches that are not there any more, softer skin, less acne. I burned myself and thought, why not? I put some Coconut Oil on it and the next day it was better. Vastly better. I also use it in my nasal passages. That's what I was doing with the Vicks, not so much for the mentholated aspect of it, mostly just to moisturize my sinuses, especially when sleeping. Did you know that stuff has petroleum products in it? Bleah!

In addition to rubbing it on my body and face all the time, I've been using it to cook with and adding it to my Bulletproof Cocoa when I need a snack.

Bulletproof Cocoa

2017-04-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

Pretty much every site I've run across that talks about low-carb, high fat and/or Ketogenic eating suggests Bulletproof Coffee as a good way to get your daily fat macro. I tried it and it does suit that purpose but it totally ruins the coffee experience for me.

I like my coffee black, plain, unadulterated, whatever you want to call it, anything else and it's not coffee. So if you usually put creamer and flavoring in your coffee, Bulletproof Coffee is the way to go for your daily dose of fats.

For me? I created Bulletproof Cocoa instead. It's perfect for a snack, or a replacement breakfast meal. I find I can go about 5 hours after this without being hungry.

Bulletproof Cocoa

1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
dash of cinnamon
stevia or sweetener of choice

Heat over low heat in saucepan and mix with a stick blender until frothy.

Nutrition:(according to Cronometer)
Energy: 420.1kcal Protein: 2.8 Net Carbs: 5.8 Lipids: 43.3

Random Tip #1

2017-04-02T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is not necessarily weight loss or fitness related but I have a health tip that may help others:

Flossing in the shower.

I, like most people have always hated flossing. Not just because it's another chore, or because it's one more thing to take up my time in a day but it really, really grossed me out!

I'm not sure if it's just me or not but whenever I flossed, it smelled, the chunks that I displaced were not something I wanted to deal with and I was generally disgusted by the whole process.

My solution?

Floss in the shower.

So much less disgusting, easier to rinse, and just far less inconvenient in general. There is no smell to deal with and my dentist regularly surprises me with good status reports since I started doing this.

I keep a skein of floss in the shower at all times. They are typically waterproof so no big deal leaving it there. I've been keeping floss in my shower for many years and have had no problems so...

All I can say is, try it. It may just help.